What a Woman Gets by Judi Fennell

do.”
    Liam’s gorgeous blue eyes narrowed. “What is it?”
    â€œMy new paints. I left them in the bottom drawer of the credenza in the dining room.”
    â€œYou paint in the dining room?”
    She shook her head. “I stuck them there after I bought them the other day. It’s the least-used room in the place, so it’s the last place Dad would think to look for them.
If
he’d even think to look for them. After last night, I’m sure he’ll be more than happy not to have them around as a reminder. So if you could get them for me, I’d really appreciate it. It will allow me to start earning some money to pay you for my stay.”
    Liam rubbed his chin. “We’ll worry about you paying me back later, but, yeah, I’ll get the paints. Anything else? Jewelry, gowns, shoes?”
    She shook her head. “No. Nothing. If I know my father, and unfortunately I do all too well, he’ll have Deborah inventorying everything against the charge slips. I don’t want anything of his.”
    â€œThen you might want to leave those rocks on your ears here.”
    She fingered the diamond studs. “I’m keeping these. I earned them.”
    â€œDoing what? Entertaining visiting dignitaries? Hosting heads of state?”
    She glanced away and blinked back more tears that sprang up at his sarcasm. Silly really, since he was right, but oh how she wanted to be valued for what she could do instead of what she looked like. And the ironic thing was, she
had
earned these. Chit-chatting with people she had no desire to speak with, attending events that left her bored to tears, and being thought of as nothing more than a pretty face with the occasional pass-by ass-patting deserved recompense.
    â€œLook, I get what you think of me. I know what people think of my life. That it’s all wine and roses and I should be happy as a clam living in the gilded tower with my clothes and jewelry and nice things. I get that. The thing is, that’s who he wanted me to be. I bought into it for a while, but I’m not that person anymore. There’s more to me than that.”
    She wanted to wipe that skeptical look off Liam’s face, but words alone would never do it. She had to show him. She had to show them all. And she would, dammit. This was her chance. Her shot at making over her life as she’d planned to do during the lunch yesterday—had it only been yesterday?—with Dad.
    â€œIf you say so.” Liam picked up her bag. “Okay, then. Let’s get going. My truck’s over here.”
    She watched him swagger ahead of her. Oh, it wasn’t an intentional swagger; those, she could spot a mile away. His was all natural grace and athleticism, with one hell of a nice butt—
    Okay, not thoughts she ought to be having at the moment. She was going to stay with the guy just until she got on her feet, not move in with him forever. No sense starting something like that and risk having him think
that
was how she was going to pay him back—
    Uh oh. That wasn’t what he thought, was it? He’d talked about paybacks . . . He didn’t think she was going to . . . That she would . . .
    Titania wriggled in the crook of her arm and started to whine. “Um, Liam? Could you hold up, please? Titania needs a potty break.”
    Liam looked back over his shoulder with his eyebrow arched. “Don’t tell me you got her a throne-shaped one of those as well.”
    â€œNot funny.” She juggled her bag, her purse, the dog, and the leash to get the last two attached to each other. Normally, Titania wouldn’t run away, but with the way Cassidy’s luck had gone the past twenty-four hours, she wasn’t risking it.
    The dog kept wiggling. “Hold still, Titania. The bushes are over there.” She hurried to the edge of the garage where the landscaping was above the chest-high wall, and plunked the cutie-pie