5.

June 3 Kennedy AS SOON AS dinner was over, Liam drove me back to the condo as a heavy silence fell over us. I still wasn't sure what to think about the fact that he was here . . . right next to me. Parts of that night in Vegas had been replaying in my mind since I first saw him that afternoon. And every single one of them left me wanting one thing.

More.

But I couldn't. Not wouldn't . . . couldn't. From what I remembered of him, and what I was already seeing in just speaking to him today, he was the kind of guy who had me letting down walls faster than I'd originally been able to build them, and had me willingly giving up every ounce of control to him. And I hated that feeling. I was the type of girl who had to be in control at all times. I was the way I was because I stayed in control. There had only ever been one other guy in my life who had made me feel the way Liam did, and it had ended in a disaster. Liam would be no different.

The second Liam had pulled the car up in front of my building, I offered him an abrupt "thanks" and stepped out. Anything more, any extra time with him, and I would start forgetting why I couldn't explore possibilities with him-for the thirtieth time in just a handful of hours.

As soon as I was in the condo, Kira was racing out of her room and up to me.

"You ditched me, traitor!"

"Seriously, 'holy shit' isn't big enough for today! Tell me what happened!"

"You tell me what happened!" I demanded as I walked over to fall into a chair at the kitchen table with Kira not far behind. "I don't even know how to begin wrapping my head around all of this!"

"Seeing as I wasn't there with you two, I can't. Just start from the beginning and I'll try to help you fill in the hows."

"The how is the easiest part," I mumbled, and rubbed a temple with my fingers. "He works for Uncle Eli-"

"No shit?"

"That's exactly what I said. But, yes, he does. Apparently he doesn't just work there . . . they're really close. Liam said that Eli's his mentor. Apparently Uncle Eli and Uncle Mason both approached him about us moving here and needing to meet people or get jobs. They wanted Liam to help-"

"So he already knew that you were here? I bet he jumped on that chance before they could get out the question!"

"Kira! Let me explain first, then you can cut me off however much you want to."

Kira sat back in her chair with her hands raised in surrender, but her face still showed how eager she was to hear everything.

I finished telling her the rest of my conversation with Liam at the restaurant, and true to Kira's personality, she didn't let me get more than two sentences out at a time without interrupting and throwing in her own assumptions about what happened next. The entire playback of Liam's explanations ended up taking about twenty minutes longer than it had when he'd been the one telling it.

"So that's it," I finished, and let my head fall into one hand while the other slapped down against the table.

"What?" she asked quickly, and sat up. "That can't be it. Didn't you guys talk about Vegas? Did he try to set up something to see you again? Don't leave out the best part! I need juicy details in my life."

"You don't get plenty of juiciness from your phone calls with Zane?"

Kira's eyes widened, then dropped to stare at the table. Back home we could never do anything to get her to shut up about her relationship with Zane, but I couldn't remember her talking about him once since we'd been in California-unless it was to complain about their being apart. Just before I could ask what her solemn look meant, she shook her head and glanced back up at me.

"Come on, Kennedy! You can't tell me that there was nothing else said. You talked about this guy for months, and suddenly he's here? There's no way you didn't make plans to see him again."

"Oh, I have no doubt I will see him again. Since we work at his dad's gym, I know he'll probably use that as a way to see me. But I told him nothing was going to happen with us. I said Vegas was just a night, and nothing more."

"What? Bullshit; no, you didn't!" She sat there staring at me in shock before stuttering out, "Ken-I don't-what do-why would you say that?"

"I said it because nothing can happen. I cannot let a man like Liam Taylor into my life."

"Well, why the hell not?"

"Speaking of Zane!," I said loudly, ready to talk about any other subject, "you haven't been talking about him much lately, and it is impossible to miss the way you've been staring down all the guys at the gym. It's your turn to spill the details."

"I have not been staring them down," she said defensively.

"Ha! Yeah . . . yeah, you have. And you're beyond smiley and happy when we're there. I'm also pretty sure I heard one of the guys asking for your number today. Did you give it to him?"

"Of course I didn't! I have a boyfriend, Kennedy."

"Yeah, who is on the other side of the country and who you don't talk about anymore. I agree with Mom, I think this is the perfect opportunity for you to see what other guys can be like."

"No. I don't want to know what anyone else would be like."

I exhaled heavily and gave her a look that let her know I thought she was making a mistake.

"How about this? If you date Liam-and I mean date, as in relationship-then I will spend time away from my relationship with Zane for the rest of the time we're in California to give other guys a shot."

"That is not happening! I can't be with someone like Liam!"

Kira shrugged and grinned victoriously. "Well then, I guess we can both stay just the way we are."

"Kira," I groaned as she stood up and walked toward her room.

"Good talk, sis!"

"I hate you too," I called back, and grumbled to myself. I'd have to tell Mom and Dad I failed at the Zane thing again.

"ARE YOU BUSY tonight?"

I glanced up at the guy currently waiting for his protein shake two days later, and gave him a coy smile before going back to acting like I was very into making his drink so I wouldn't have to give him an immediate answer. I'd seen him every day since Kira and I started work at the beginning of the week, but today was the first day he'd gotten bold in our short conversations. They had been the typical "Hi, how are you?," which led to the rest of the necessities that made up a polite conversation with any stranger-but that had been it.

I'd known today would be different the second he'd walked up and said, "I was hoping you'd be here today." After that, our conversation had been filled with flirting on his part, and kicking up the polite factor on mine-and in his defense, he'd been damn good at his game and was nice to look at. He was never cheesy and never overeager, just always spoke with the perfect amount of I'm-interested-and-want-you-to-know. He looked like he was in his late twenties, and had dark hair that was already starting to gray at the temples. The combination was oddly fascinating, and mixed with his sure smile, it had me wondering if he'd ever had a girl turn him down. The only problem for me was I couldn't get a certain someone out of my head.

Just as I opened my mouth to give him a noncommittal answer, that certain someone answered for me.

"Actually, she is busy. But she won't be busy with you."

My jaw dropped and I sucked in a large gasp and hissed, "Liam!"

Liam looked over at Mr. Smooth Talker-I never could remember his name-and gave him a challenging stare. "The girls are here to work, not get picked up by the members of the gym."

Mr. ST didn't back down. Actually, his smile grew confident. "I'll gladly wait until she's off work to ask again, if that would make you feel better."

"I'd rather you-"

"Liam!" I hissed again. "You can't answer questions for me, and you are being beyond rude right now." Looking up to Mr. ST, I flashed him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, just ignore him . . . I try to. What did you-"

"Are you really going to go somewhere with him? No. No, you're not, and we already have plans."

I couldn't stop my face from falling in horror over the way Liam was acting. I hadn't seen or heard from him since he dropped me off after dinner the other night, and was too shocked by the way he was taking over the conversation to actually continue trying to talk to Mr. ST.

"Are you kidding me right now?" I roughly slammed Mr. ST's drink down in front of him, but never took my eyes off Liam. "You honestly think you can just come in here and act like you have a say over my life? Did you not hear me on Wednesday? And why the hell would I go anywhere with you after what you just did?" I bit out, gesturing to the other guy standing in front of me.

"Wait. Has he been bothering you?" Mr. Smooth Talker asked, and Liam barked out a hard laugh.

"No, he's not bothering her," Kira chimed in. "This is just how they are. And, unfortunately, we do have plans with him tonight. Enjoy your drink!"

"Kira! Shut up!" I don't know what it was about Liam that had me talking like this, but I still hadn't stopped hissing. As much as I wanted to apologize to Mr. ST and say that I would go anywhere with him, as long as it pissed off Liam, I couldn't look away from the man who hadn't left my mind for two days. "You are really something, you know that? It's just too bad I didn't know the kind of guy you were a year ago!"

Liam leaned over the counter; his arctic-blue eyes glistened with amusement. "I don't think that would've stopped you, Moon."

Words failed me, and I made a really unattractive, girly screech. It was also possible that I stamped my foot, but I didn't want to think too much on the fact that I was now acting like a five-year-old throwing a fit.

"Okay, you two. Take it outside."

I turned to look at my boss at the sound of his voice, and pointed at Liam. "I hate your son!"

Brandon sighed and raised his eyebrows as he looked at Liam. "Yeah, well, he has that effect on people sometimes. Go finish telling him how much you hate him outside."

I started to say no when Liam looked directly into my eyes. "Kennedy," he said in a tone that left no room for discussion-and to my horror, I followed him outside without another look at Mr. Smooth Talker.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Did you have fun throwing that temper tantrum?"

My mouth popped open again as my eyes widened. "Are you fucking kidding me? Who the hell do you think you are? Liam, I haven't even spent half a day with you between last year and Wednesday, you can't just come in and act like you have any say in my life! And the fact that you think you can makes you look not only overly confident, but fucking creepy! You do. Not. Know. Me."

"I beg to differ," his deep voice rumbled. His cocky smile had vanished as soon as we'd stepped outside, but the way his eyes were boring into mine made it clear he would do the last five minutes over again if given the chance.

"What if I wanted to do something with that guy? What if I wanted to do something with any guy? You can't stop me! You can't just shove yourself into every conversation I have with a member of the opposite sex."

"Kira didn't seem to mind."

"Kira's delusional and wants us to be together!"

Liam stepped close-too close. I stumbled back a step, but he put his hand around my waist and pulled me close enough that our chests were touching. "Tell me honestly: Did you want to go out with him tonight?" I immediately opened my mouth to respond, but he spoke before I could. "Honestly, Moon."

I stood there staring into his captivating eyes for a few seconds as I tried to figure out what to say. At that moment, I couldn't even remember what he'd asked. All I could think of was the way his smell was putting me in a daze, and how familiar it felt being pressed up against him-and it shouldn't have.

"Moon," he prompted again, and I shook my head as if to clear it.

"No. I wouldn't have gone out with him."

"So I helped you, then."

Placing my hands on his chest, I put the slightest pressure there and whispered, "Please let me go."

Liam immediately released me, but I didn't move more than a couple feet from him.

When I spoke, the anger and shock were gone from my voice, and I hated that I sounded disappointed. Because although it may have come across to Liam as being disappointed in him, I knew it was because I was somewhat upset that he'd actually let go of me. "Just because I would have said no, you did not have the right to answer for me. Liam, we don't know each other. The way you acted in there . . ." I trailed off as I tried to find the right words. "It was too much . . . it was too much for me. All it did was confirm why I do not want to have anything to do with you."

Liam nodded a few times, but the intensity in his eyes never died. "I know, Kennedy."

I stared at him for a moment longer, then turned to go back inside without saying another word. I couldn't figure out how to say good-bye, or how to ask him to leave me alone when all I wanted was to be held by him again. A few feet from the door, Liam's voice had me stopping abruptly.

"He's married."

Turning around, I looked back at him with my face pinched in confusion. "What?"

"Jeff." Liam gestured to the doors behind me. "The guy who was talking to you. He's married."

My head jerked back, and I turned to look at the windowed doors like Mr. ST would be standing right there. "No, he-he doesn't wear a ring."

Liam huffed out a laugh when I was facing him again, and studied me for a few seconds before admitting, "It bothers me that you even checked, because I know that means a part of you was interested. But he is, in fact, married. I was actually there when he and his wife came in and signed up. And every weekend when I'm here sparring with my dad, they're here together-and the wedding ring is back on. He always hits on the girls working the drink station."

"You're serious?"

He shot me a sympathetic smile, which quickly fell. "Like I was on Wednesday, I'm going to be completely honest with you. If you still want me to leave after, I will. A good friend of mine is having a party this weekend, and I was coming in here to ask if you and Kira wanted to come with me. When I heard Jeff, I just . . . well, I took it too far. I know. But I don't like the guy, and didn't like the way he was looking at you. The party isn't even tonight, and before you say anything, I'm not going to ask you to go somewhere with me tonight." Liam glanced at his watch and took a step back. "I only came over here to talk to you two, but now I have to get back to work. Talk to Kira, and if you want to go, let your uncle know. He'll get ahold of me."

I just nodded and took another step toward the doors of the gym, but once again, he stopped me.

"Kennedy." When I looked back at him, I was surprised to find him looking unsure of himself. "Kira's not the only one." With that, he turned and got into his car and drove off; and I just stood there trying to figure out what he meant.

It wasn't until I was almost back to the drink station that I remembered what I'd said to Liam. "Kira's delusional and wants us to be together!"

As much as his parting words had my lips curving up into a smile, I knew that all they really meant was that I had to keep reminding Liam that nothing would come of us.

June 5 Liam I'D MADE IT back to work quickly, the entire time wondering why I hadn't been able to leave Kennedy without that last confession. As if I hadn't pissed her off enough in the minutes before, I knew those last words were going to make her avoid me if I ever saw her again.

I knew I needed to tell Eli I'd tried, but doubted that the girls would go anywhere with me, though at that moment, I couldn't figure out a good enough reason for why they would've said no. Instead of heading right to his office, I stepped into mine and bit back a groan as soon as I was inside.

Leaving the door open, I took the few steps over to my desk and looked at the woman waiting for me in my chair.

"Aren't you going to shut the door?" she asked, her voice sultry as she ran a finger along the top of her low-cut shirt.

"No. Not today, Cecily."

Her eyes widened and she blinked rapidly a few times before cracking a smile and laughing. "Funny."

"I'm serious, I need you to go."