Page 52 of Liberating Lily

“You like that, baby?” he asked, his gaze centered on her lips.

Lily was transfixed by the note of arousal in his voice. Was he attracted to her right now?

How? Why?

She wasn’t in the least bit attractive at the moment. Her hair still needed a wash. She hadn’t had the energy to do it this morning. The dark circles under her eyes seemed to have taken up permanent residence, and she had no idea how to evict them.

Not to mention that her poor lips were chapped and she desperately needed some lip balm.

“You’re a really good cook,” she told him.

He shook his head. “I’m actually not that good, not compared to some members of my family, but I do know how to make a decent grilled cheese.”

“Compared to what I can do, you’re a master chef,” she told him. “I can’t cook at all.”

Harvey shrugged. “We don’t all need to have the same skills. You’re not going to go hungry while I’m around.”

“I think I’d like to know how to cook though,” she said. “Maybe how to bake. Perhaps I can take some lessons when I get myself more together.”

She’d need to learn how to cook if she was going to take care of herself. But even if she couldn’t get to a class, there were always online videos.

She could do this. She just couldn’t let herself get overwhelmed.

“I’ll be happy to teach you. The cooking part, anyway. I can’t bake. One of my sisters is a good baker, though. I’m sure she’d be happy to help.”

Would she ever meet his sister?

“How many brothers and sisters do you have?” she asked.

“Two of each. I’m exactly in the middle. My oldest brother is Ronan. He’s a bossy bastard. And cold. But he won’t harm you. No one will harm you while I’m around.”

It was so tempting to just jump from her mother’s control to his. Not that she was saying they were anything alike. She was certain that Harvey wouldn’t harm her.

But it would be all too easy to rely on him the way she’d relied on other people all her life.

“I’m sure your brother is a nice man,” she said.

“He’s not,” he said almost cheerfully. “But you get used to him after a while. And if it helps, he’s extremely loyal and protective.”

Okay. She would take his word for it because she didn’t think she was ever going to meet his brother. Things would finish between them before that happened. She’d get her answers and she’d move on. Harvey would find somebody else.

Someone more fitting for him. Someone stronger. More intelligent. With far less baggage.

“Next is my older sister, Fiadh.”

With names like Ronan and Fiadh, were they Irish? Well, Gallagher sounded like an Irish name.

“She’s the baker in our family. She even owns her own bakery.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. What does your brother do?”

“Ahh, he manages the family business.”

Right. She had a feeling she shouldn’t ask further questions about that. Were they the Mafia? The Irish Mafia?

Harvey wasn’t a very Irish-sounding name, though.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.