I'm Not Charlotte Lucas(18)

But he was such a nice guy. He probably wouldn’t show Naomi how much he was struggling, would he? And I’d promised Vera to do my best. She had explicitly told me how terribly Liam had wallowed after losing Naomi. Maybe that was why he had escaped the ballroom. He probably needed a minute to catch his breath before sitting beside his ex again.

Well, if I never saw him again after this night, at least I could say that I kept my word to Vera and made myself a wall between Liam and Naomi.

A photo slid onto the big screen, catching my attention. Naomi Price in a casual shirt, shorts, and cute tennis shoes, with her hair thrown back in a ponytail, was running down a dirt field, her hands up in preparation to catch the football Liam had just thrown. A gaggle of younger children was running after her, preparing to tackle, and the grins on Naomi’s and Liam’s faces were revoltingly joyous.

Yes. This man had clearly loved this woman very much at one point.

I took the opportunity fate kindly presented and slid over into Liam’s seat. Naomi appeared startled, shooting me a delicate side-eye.

“I can’t believe you actually went overseas with Teaching United,” I whispered. “That must have been such an incredible experience.”

“It was unique.”

If I needed proof that she only talked to me earlier to get to Liam, it was plainly before me. I was about as interesting to her as a bowl of oatmeal.

By the time Liam returned to the table, the slideshow had nearly ended, and I was still in his seat. He silently pulled the chair out beside mine and lowered himself while I was caught in the stream of photos of adorable small children with too-large ratty T-shirts and grins spread over their exuberant faces. My heart squeezed, and I had the sudden, deep longing to hop on a plane and become a volunteer for Teaching United.

It didn’t matter that I didn’t have any teaching experience, right? I could show the kids how to count money quickly, organizing the bills properly as I went. Or how to binge an entire season of The Great British Bake Off with no breaks except to refill the pretzel bowl or grab another Diet Coke.

Clearly I was full of valuable life skills.

“What did you think?”

Liam startled me, and I leaned over. “The slideshow worked. I’m ready to spend my savings on a plane ticket and join you guys.”

Liam looked relieved. “Ruby worked pretty hard on it. I’m glad you liked it.”

“Those kids . . .”

“Exactly,” he agreed, eyes glittering. “Those kids are why we do it. They have the sweetest spirits, so eager to learn. Even if they think my American ball is weird sometimes.”

I laughed. I could imagine them thinking our football was a strange shape.

Ruby returned to the stage and introduced one of the teachers who was going to share her experience while dinner was brought out. The program passed quickly, plates were removed, and Ruby invited all of the guests to enjoy the dancing.

But we wouldn’t be doing that because Liam just didn’t like dancing. That was what he said, right?

He leaned forward and said into my ear, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

Liam’s gaze flicked to Naomi and back. I had been right; he’d been hiding his discomfort earlier. This whole situation was weird, and Vera should have provided me with a rap sheet that outlined what on earth was going on between Liam and his movie-star ex-girlfriend. I wasn’t an extrovert by any means—clearly—but I could step up and guard Liam from Naomi if he needed me to. That was the entire reason I was here.

Once this night ended, I would retreat to my attic, fill my mental batteries with isolation and a good book, and return to my regularly programmed life.

“I’ve got your back,” I said.

“Remind me to thank Vera later for this date.”

“I think it’s me you need to thank,” I said, grinning.

“Then remind me to thank you later.”

Whoa. Heat rushed to my cheeks. I’m sure he hadn’t meant to make that sound like he was planning on thanking me with his lips on mine, but my mind immediately rushed to create that mental image and enjoy it. I turned away to regain my bearings and caught Naomi’s eye. The woman looked two degrees away from crazed.

“Liam,” she said, her voice slightly breathless. “Have you managed to secure your vacation home yet? I know how much you were looking forward to that.”

“No, actually, I’ve put off those plans for a while. Building the office up here has become more of a project than I anticipated.”

He said nothing more, and I leaned back in my seat so I wasn’t in the direct line of fire. As in, fire that was about to shoot from Naomi’s dragon eyes.

“What a shame.”

“I have discovered that I can live without it right now.” Liam leaned back in his seat, his leg brushing mine. “I’ll think about Maui again after Spike graduates.”

“From college?” she snapped.

Tension grew thick, and I searched my brain for some way to change the topic. I was supposed to be buffering. I really wasn’t great at this.

“Will Spike go to college next year?” I asked, hoping that was a safe route to take.

Liam’s mouth quirked into a half-smile. “His goal is USC’s school of dramatic arts. We’ll see.”

“Your brother, Spike? Like the skater kid with band T-shirts and Converse?”