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"Doing what?" he asked, his deep voice far too close for coe to turn around If she did, she was afraid of what she’d see on his face and afraid she’d like it tooather lance over her shoulder to find hi at her appreciatively The way he looked at her was enough to iven in to the te door to the kitchen and propped it open with an oversized antique bronze vase

"I don’t have rits if you’d like," she said as he opened her refrigerator door

"Grits?" His eyebrows pulled slightly together

"You’ve never had grits?"

He shook his head

"Where’d you live before s She kneas originally fro in the States for ue was all but gone Occasionally it slipped into his speech patterns and when it did, her entire body heated up

Liam started to fill her coffeepot ater "All over, really Upstate New York, Montana, all across the West Coast"

"Well, grits are a Southern thing, but I think you’ll like them They’re sort of like polenta but a lot better"

He ly at ease With the exception of her brother she never had anyone over in theLiah he was silent, it wasn’t an aard silence As they moved around the kitchen, it felt familiar Like they’d done it a thousand ti bell went off in her head She wasn’t supposed to feel comfortable around him

He even fixed her coffee the way she liked it She didn’t like that they had the sa They both froze for an instant, but Liam was quicker than her She blinked and he was out of the chair and by the kitchen door "Are you expecting coe to it

Dece to break into her house would ring the bell, but she didn’t say that out loud He looked like he was in battle mode and she didn’t think he’d appreciate the sarcasm It was barely seven, but her friend Kat had told her she was coot "

"Friend?" Liam’s eyes narrowed a fraction

December’s lips pulled into a thin line "First of all, my friend is female, but second, I’m allowed to have male friends And I do Plenty of them"

"Why would any male want to be friends with you?"

His words were like a swift punch to her chest "Excuse esture "No, I mean, just friends I mean, I could never be just friends with you I…shit, never mind" His expression was so dejected and out of character she was tempted to smile, but she didn’t let him off the hook

Liam had a possessive streak a mile wide and it annoyed her She tried to hurry past him, but true to forht up, he’d opened it No doubt after looking through the peephole Or maybe he’d scented her friend December still didn’t understand the animal side of him and what his limitations were

"Hey, December" Kat’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between Liam and December

She wrapped her arms around herself at the sudden blast of cold air that trailed in "Hey, Kat I didn’t realize you’d be here so early" In that moment, December hated the unfamiliar jolt of jealousy she experienced Especially since it was directed at her friend The sun was barely up but her friend looked perfect Her ivory skin practically glowed Kat was tall and sli, dark hair and exotic, almost catlike eyes she was the kind of woht about it, Dece about er And Dece jealous of her

"Sorry, the drive was quicker than I thought in this snow" She looked at Lialy "Uh, hey, Liam I didn’t know you knew December"

December didn’t bother to hide her shock as she turned to him "You know Kat?"

He took a step back and cleared his throat "Sort of I’ll let you two do whatever it is you need…" His voice trailed off as he disappeared back toward the kitchen