Her Blind Date Cowboy - Taylor Hart Page 0,24

had refused to talk about the past. “Nothing.” He didn’t want to risk her shutting down. He couldn’t risk her sending him away. “I’m good.” He put on a fake smile. Of course, this couldn’t last. There would have to be a reckoning, but maybe he could get her to see that the reckoning between them would be worth it; that they could get through it.

She leaned in and gently kissed him, putting her hand lightly on his cheek. She pulled back.

But that woudn’t work for him, he pulled her closer, kissing her deeper.

She giggled and kissed him back, putting her arms around his neck.

He wasn’t sure how long they made out but the interesting thing was that his mind kept going through different scenarios of how he could get this woman to marry him. Of how they could be together.

A door opened. “Evie!”

She jerked away, and her eyes widened. “Jason?”

Sunlight obscured the guy’s face. He tore his sunglasses off and gestured to them. “Is that Liam Summerville?”

Chapter 14

Evie had been caught. The clear pain on Jason’s face made her wince with guilt, and she shot to her feet. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

He tapped the watch on his wrist, casting a glance between her and Liam. “When you didn’t show up at the fish and chips place and you didn’t answer your phone, I was worried about you.”

“Henry! I’m sorry. We’ll go.” Even though she was clearly in a pickle between two men, she felt worse for Henry. He relied on them.

“You could introduce me,” Jason said, referring to Liam.

Liam was on his feet. The look on his face told her he wasn’t happy and he didn’t appreciate the interruption.

“Sorry,” she said. She gestured to Jason. “Liam, this is my best friend, Jason. Jason, this is …” She hesitated.

Liam’s eyes caught hers, silently asking her what she would say.

“This is Liam—a friend from a long time ago.”

Jason frowned. “I know who he is. You’re Liam. The Liam?” He looked him up and down. “Liam Summerville?”

The corner of Liam’s lips tugged up, and he put his hand out. “That’s me.”

Evie knew both of them were upset and confused, more so in Jason’s case. But they needed to get to Henry. “Come on. Let’s go.” She faced Liam. “We have a friend who eats dinner with us on these nights; you’re welcome to join us.”

“Wait!” Jason called out as they headed toward the house. “He’s joining us?”

Evie nodded. “We have to hurry if we’re going to eat dinner with Henry, because I have a shift at the gallery.”

Chapter 15

Liam sat with Jason and Henry and Evie as they ate fish and chips on the pier. It was an interesting experience. Henry was homeless, and he clearly had some mental problems. But kudos to Jason and Evie, they treated him like he wasn’t dropping sentences in the middle of the conversation and didn’t stink worse than horse stalls that hadn’t been mucked out in two days.

Henry put his hand on Liam’s shoulder. “So you’re a country music singer?”

“Yep,” Liam said. Evie had told Henry about it, but Liam was trying to just lie low.

“Sing us a song,” Henry said, chortling like it was a great joke.

Liam shook his head. “No, I … Naw.”

“Yes!” Henry exclaimed, turning to some other homeless people sitting on a nearby table. “Come over here, Sarah and Tony. This man is a professional musician. He’s going to sing us a song.”

Liam really didn’t want to draw any attention to himself. And he didn’t want to upstage Evie and Jason and their friendship with Henry. “No. Sorry, bud.”

“Why not?” Jason asked, crossing his arms. “Are you too famous to do small concerts for friends?” He glared at Evie for a second.

Liam didn’t like whatever subtext was going on between Jason and Evie. Honestly, he didn’t understand why Jason would behave this way.

Evie gave Liam a sort of helpless shrug. “Only if you want to.”

He threw up his hands. “I don’t have a guitar.”

Henry shot to his feet. “Easy. I have one.” He rushed to his pile of things in a shopping cart, dug through it, and then extracted an old, beat-up guitar.

Liam laughed, finding the whole situation crazy. He wondered how many germs were on that thing. But Evie was grinning from ear to ear, so he gingerly tuned it. He knew the song he would play—the one he’d been waiting to play for three years.

The other homeless people were moving closer, and a gaggle of curious beachgoers