“Just not signs?”
He reached across the table, snagged her hand. “Most of that was because I really love the way you look when you’re outraged.”
She gasped and snatched her fingers free.
Liam captured them, lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a fleeting kiss to her knuckles. “See?” he said. “Just like that.”
“You’re impossible.”
“As long as you like impossible and are willing to put up with it.”
“Liam,” she murmured.
“No pressure,” he said, releasing her hand when she tugged back.
“It’s not—” She shook her head. “I’m not normal. I’m not a typical woman who’s going to melt and bat her eyelashes and tell you what you want to hear.”
“Good thing I don’t like normal.”
Mia sighed. “I don’t think—”
“Don’t think,” he said. “Just take some time not thinking and let’s just have fun and ride slides and eat pancakes—or, well, egg-white omelets.” He reached out and squeezed her hand. “This doesn’t have to be heavy or intense. We can just do . . . this.”
Quiet.
A long moment of quiet as intense brown eyes studied him. He told himself to keep being patient, to let her come to her own decision, but when she started to shake her head again, when he knew, instinctively, she was going to cut this down before it even started, and he couldn’t keep quiet.
Liam knew he didn’t want to let this woman go.
She was a puzzle. She was smart. She was beautiful.
He’d be a fucking moron to let that just walk away from him.
“It’s okay to have fun,” he said.
Solemn chocolate eyes. “You wouldn’t say that if you really knew me.”
“I—”
The waiter returned then, setting their plates in front of them, asking if they needed anything else, but Liam barely heard him. Because he might not have pushed learning about her upbringing, but he needed to understand what she meant—
“I’m not going to talk about it,” she said.
Cool words. Challenge in that gaze now.
And he knew if he pushed, she would get right up and walk out of the restaurant. Leave her omelet, leave him, and not look back.
That pissed him off, was beyond infuriating.
Except . . . he hadn’t earned the right to demand anything from this woman. Not one fucking thing. Trust took time to build, and they weren’t even at one full day yet. So, he stifled the urge to push, to find out what had made the shadows fill her eyes, understand the pain that deepened the lines around her mouth.
Instead, he held tight to his patience.
“Okay,” he said, not-so-smoothly changing the subject. “Critical question number two is: What do I have to do to get you to come on that slide with me again?”
Her shoulders had crept up with each word, but by the time he finished the question, they’d relaxed, her lips curving, her eyes rolling. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Fine.” He dumped the container of syrup on his pancakes, mixing it with the whipped cream that was smothered on top. Then he picked up his fork and scooped a forkful into his mouth. Sweet baby Jesus, sweet and sour, acidic and creamy, his taste buds did a happy dance because that was absolutely fucking delicious. “Then what do I need to do to get you to try a bit of this ambrosia?”
Mia made a face. “It looks like it’ll give me diabetes.”
“I’ll try a bite of yours.”
“I don’t think that’ll be a trial for you, considering your diet.”
He gave her innocent eyes. “But it’s my Cheat Day.”
“I don’t like sugar, Liam.” She took a dainty bite of her omelet. “Exposing me to more of it isn’t going to make me like it more.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I was thinking it was like iocaine powder.” He took another huge bite, chewed, and swallowed. “You just need to slowly build it up in your system until you start liking it.”
“Did you just try to slide a Princess Bride reference into our conversation?”
“Maybe.” He lifted a brow. “All right, sugar aside, please tell me that you’re in the camp that likes The Princess Bride?”
She scoffed. “There are people who don’t like it?”
“Heathens,” he confirmed.
“I can’t believe it.” She put down her fork and tucked a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear. “How can anyone not like it? That movie is an absolute classic. ‘No more rhyming and I mean it.’”
“’Anybody want a peanut?’” he dutifully finished.
“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Exactly. So many good things. ‘Is this a kissing book?’, ‘As you wish!’, ‘Twue Wuv.’ There’s so much pop culture in a tiny, two-hour package.”
Movies. She liked movies. She liked romcoms. Well, or at least the best romcom ever.
Liam smothered a grin, filing away the insight. “Have you read the book?”
“Uh, yes,” she said, the ‘duh’ unspoken but still audible to his ears.
“What’d you think?”
“The book is always better,” she said, stating it like the fact it was. “But that movie damn near approached perfection.”
“Speaking of book-movie adaptations, what did you think of . . .” He named a big-name blockbuster that had recently come out. The book had been a worldwide success, and the movie was highly anticipated.
“I haven’t seen it yet.” She sighed. “I want to, but I didn’t get to the theater last weekend.”
He resisted the urge to crow in triumph. She might not like sugar. She might not break or bend the rules, but Mia had at least one vice—and it was movies. “I haven’t seen it either,” he said. “I guess that means you have to come with me. I don’t play on Friday.”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t shrink into herself or back down. In fact, her expression shifted to considering. “I don’t have classes on Friday nights.”
He knew that.
He’d memorized the schedule taped to the door of her studio.
“So you’ll come with me?” he asked. “I hate going to the movies by myself.”
Narrowed eyes on his. “You won’t talk during the film?”
“Absolutely not,” he said, adding and meaning it with every fiber of his being. “Number one pet peeve is people who talk during movies.”
That earned him a smile. “If you’re lying—”
“I’m not, J.B.” He grinned at her. “Come with me? Please? I’ll even spring for popcorn.”
“I don’t eat popcorn.”
Why didn’t that surprise him?
Liam sighed.
She giggled. “But I’ll still let you buy a bucket.” A beat. “So long as it’s a Cheat Day.”
Damn. He hadn’t thought of that.
And Mia knew that, because she giggled again, a light sound that made him feel about ten feet tall. “Friday it is, Sweet Cheeks,” she said. “And maybe I’ll get some popcorn for myself just to torture you with.”