I'm Not Charlotte Lucas(25)

His thick, dark eyebrows pulled together, and a crease formed between them. “Hey, maybe I think Vera has good taste. I had a good time last night. You didn’t?”

“I had a great time last night,” I agreed. “Because there was no pressure.”

He held my gaze, stepping closer. “No pressure.” He rolled the words around on his tongue like they were foreign and meant to be examined. His pure-blue eyes fastened on me, clear in the sunlight, freezing me in place. “In my experience, when there’s no pressure on a date, it’s because you find the other person repulsive and know it won’t lead anywhere. Do you find me repulsive, Charlie?”





Chapter Eleven


Liam knew I didn’t find him repulsive. He’d caught me staring at him how many times today already? I shook my head, because despite my desire to tell Liam that I thought he was hideous—however big of a lie that would be—I was ingrained with a severe integrity vein that I couldn’t break no matter how hard I tried.

“So if you don’t find me repulsive, then why didn’t you feel any pressure on our date?” He stepped closer again, his eyes narrowing in thought.

“Come on.” I swallowed, forcing myself not to take another step back. I couldn’t betray how much this guy affected me. Especially not now. “You know.” I indicated him and then myself.

“I know that I don’t repulse you,” he agreed. “And I know that you looked incredible last night.”

His gaze swept over me, and I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. Was he seriously comparing me in a fancy dress, my hair and makeup professionally applied, to me in yoga pants and with a dirt facial? Unfair.

“And now I know that you look gorgeous in anything.”

He did not just say that. What was his angle?

“You’re a charmer,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. Something about Liam’s frank speaking made me uncomfortable. I didn’t know how much to take seriously.

He shook his head. “You don’t seem like the type of girl to ask for compliments—”

“Because I’m not.”

“—which is why I feel completely fine giving them to you. But don’t worry. I’ll keep it to a minimum.”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “I don’t think you need to worry about that. I’ve got it on good authority that Vera won’t push us together for much longer.”

His voice dropped. “Oh yeah? Why is that?”

“Because I’m going to tell her that I’m seeing Andy again.” The upper hand regained, I picked up my shovel and knee pad. “So now that we’ve got all of our feelings sorted, I’m going to get started on the other plot.”

A few minutes later, Liam followed me to the other side of the porch and went back to work. We got this side done a lot quicker, and I had to laugh when we got to the bottom of the tote box and found a stack of gardening books. So that was why it felt so heavy. I was vindicated, but Liam only chuckled.

I still thought that maybe I should head back to Zumba if I could find the time.

It was late afternoon when we finished cleaning up, and I wiped my hands together, standing beside Liam outside of the garden shed. “Thanks for the help. I guess maybe I’ll see you around.”

I rather thought that I wouldn’t, but I kept that part to myself.

He watched me, nodding, his eyes calculating. I couldn’t quite read what he was thinking, but I thought maybe that was a good thing.

“Have fun on your date,” he said, his voice low. “I hope he doesn’t disappoint you.”

I tried for a playful smile. “Don’t you mean you hope I don’t dash his dreams?”

“I don’t care about his dreams. Dash them all you want.”

I paused, unsure how to proceed. Did that mean he cared about mine? Well, he probably cared in the sense that he cared about Vera, and she cared about me a lot. I turned to go, waving a hand over my head.

“See you around,” I hollered, making my way to the side gate. I wasn’t going to track dirt into Vera’s clean white house. I would call her later about the paintings.

Liam never said anything back, but it felt like his gaze was pinned to me as I left. I was so tempted to glance over my shoulder and see if he was watching me, but I forced myself to walk forward and not look back.

***

“Where did I put it?” I yelled, tearing the blankets from my bed and shaking them out. No one was home, which I knew, but that didn’t stop me from venting my frustration very loudly anyway.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d held my phone, but I knew it wasn’t today. Which was really very strange for me. I mean, I wasn’t attached to my phone like it was a lifeline, but I was used to checking my social media accounts at least a couple times a day.

Now I had a date tonight and no phone to discover what time that date began. Or whether I was driving or Andy was picking me up—I would prefer to drive myself—or whether he’d canceled because something else had come up.

I refused to be that girl sitting in the restaurant waiting for my date for an hour.

Ugh. Where was my blasted phone?

My room was officially torn apart, and it was not here. Sofa cushions were upended and clothes strewn over my floor. I ran downstairs and lifted the landline, dialing my number and putting the phone to my ear. I flung my wet hair over my shoulder and bounced on my toes. I really needed to resolve this phone thing so I could blow-dry my hair before it dried in a terrible, frizzy way.