I'm Not Charlotte Lucas(66)

“But maybe you should. I mean, this is Spike’s last year at home, and he needs you.”

Liam sighed, running a hand through his hair again. “I wish we’d brought him up to Bellmead years ago. My mom didn’t even care. I think it was a relief for her to hand him off to someone else.” He rubbed his forehead. “This is what I get for trying to come in at the last second and pretend to be his parent. He’s used to his independence, so I’ve let him keep it. But he’s not an adult yet; he’s still just a kid.”

“Then treat him like it. Be there for him. You don’t work nights, right?” He hadn’t all week. I knew that much.

“It just depends.” He pivoted his body away from me. “Why does this have to be so hard?”

“Because it’s a worthy pursuit?”

He chuckled. “What does that mean? And why did you say it like a question?”

“You know, like a valiant quest. Something that’s worth the inevitable hardship of completing it.”

“So raising Spike is a valiant quest?”

“Yes!” I said, laughing. I stood up, stretching. It was too cold, and I had seen enough of the stars. I was ready to not be a popsicle anymore. “Don’t mock it. You know it’s true. Sacrificing your home, your job, your relationship to be there for him—”

“Whoa, hold up,” he said, standing beside me.

“Sorry, I’m freezing.”

“No, that’s fine. We can go.” He grasped my arms, squaring his shoulders in front of me and rubbing my arms. “But we need to be clear about one thing: I didn’t sacrifice my relationship for Spike. It was doomed from the beginning, and we tried to make it work, but Naomi had different goals than I do. She wants different things.”

He said that now, but if his brother hadn’t given him a reason to leave the LA area, would he still be with her?

“How’d you guys meet, anyway?” I asked.

“My old college friend was a writer for Mad for You and introduced us. We met at his birthday dinner one year. I never thought it would go anywhere, but I told Naomi about my charity that night, and she was really interested in it. Fast forward two years, and she ended up spending time in Africa with me.”

“I saw the pictures.”

His eyebrows rose.

“Hey,” I said, playful but defensive. “It’s hard competing with an ex-girlfriend when she’s the biggest actress in Hollywood right now.”

“You don’t have to compete.” He pulled me forward and kissed me. “She’s the ex.”

I let his warmth wrap around me, filling my cold center with hope and satisfaction. His arms were so safe and secure. How could I ever doubt his feelings for me?

“Actually,” Liam said, leaning down to swipe up the blanket and shake it out, “she might start dating Henry Ferris soon. But their publicists have to work out a contract first.”

He pulled my hand toward the car, but I froze. If Naomi Price and Henry Ferris hadn’t started dating yet, Liam wouldn’t have heard that from reading page six.

He paused. “What’s the matter?”

“When did she tell you this?”

“Last week, when I was down in LA.” Liam looked at me like I was being weird. But it wasn’t weird to dislike your boyfriend seeing his ex, right? Except, at that point, we hadn’t started dating yet. And I was the one who wanted to just be friends.

“That’s cool.”

I let myself into the car and fastened my seatbelt, sitting on my hands to begin thawing them. My fingers were so stiff from the cold they were hard to bend.

“Naomi is one of our spokespeople,” Liam said with an edge of defensiveness in his tone. “She’s done commercials for us and still appears at events. We have a deal, and she doesn’t mind helping us out. I don’t want to sever that cord.”

“I’m not asking you to.” And I really meant that. I didn’t want the charity to give up such great publicity. Children around the world deserved the best Liam could give them. Even if the best was his ex-girlfriend.

He turned the ignition, then clicked a few buttons on the dash. “Your seat warmers should be heating now.”

“Thanks.”

He shot me a look, but I just pressed my hands more firmly into the seat, dealing with the heater searing my cold hands as long as I could. At least they were thawing now.

Liam pulled onto the road. “You seem really bugged.”

“I’m not.” Yikes, my voice was way too high. He was right. I sounded bugged. But I wasn’t . . . well, I mean, I wasn’t pleased exactly that he was seeing Naomi Price. But that was inevitable.

What bothered me the most was that he hadn’t told me.

“Can we talk about this?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said, pulling my hands out and crossing my arms over my chest. “It’s so stupid of me. I can hear how unreasonable I sound. But it just feels weird that you didn’t tell me.” I dropped my face into my hands and groaned. “I’m not a jealous type. I just can’t help but feel inferior to her.”

“Charlie,” he said, reaching over and squeezing my knee. “You have nothing to worry about. You are not inferior to anyone. If it bugs you that much, I will tell you next time I have a meeting with her.”