Page 82 of Fix Them Up
Liam shook his head. ‘The vanity unit will be a nightmare.’
‘What do you mean?’ I recoiled.
‘The wood. It’s not good in bathrooms. It warps easily and gets watermarks. It’s not practical.’
‘But it’s beautiful. And I can repurpose an old dresser. It will probably be cheaper.’
‘Cheaper, apart from all the hours it will take me to fit the sink.’
I leaned in. ‘If you can’t do it, maybe Danny could help,’ I said sweetly.
Liam’s eyes jumped to mine, a challenge in them that made my blood hum.
Eventually, I won.
Liam sighed. ‘I’ll do it, but I warned you. Don’t complain when the thing is covered in water stains.’
I grinned. ‘Thank you.’
And now, all my hard work convincing him was pointless – there was no way I could afford this design. I’d got so caught up that I’d forgotten to mention the budget. Even Liam was animated, chipping in to recommend particular appliances he’d fitted before and rated. I imagined him behind the huge range oven and flinched.
Throughout all of this, I wasn’t picturing an imaginary family at the kitchen island or kicking off their shoes to sit on the sofa. They didn’t have blank faces.
I was imagining Liam and me.
I imagined him standing at that oven, which sparkled silver, with that beautiful, determined look when he was cooking something new. I imagined us dancing in the kitchen to Glenn Miller like we had at the club. I was imagining a life with him.
I swallowed hard.
This was not happening. It couldn’t happen. There were no strings attached. It was casual.
But as I glanced at Liam, I realised he was watching me, his eyebrows drawn together. His hand came down on my thigh and squeezed.
‘You okay?’ My heart fluttered. Stupid heart.
‘There’s no chance I can afford this,’ I said, keeping my voice low so Andrea couldn’t overhear.
‘Andrea.’ Liam glanced up, a stubborn angle to his jaw. ‘Do you think you could sharpen your pencil on this?’
My head whipped to him. ‘What are you doing?’ I whispered.
‘Trying to get you a better deal,’ he whispered back.
‘Oh.’
Andrea clicked her teeth. ‘I can try, Liam. But it’s tricky with customs. You and Kat have picked out some of our more expensive European fittings – the bath and shower.’
‘If you can do anything, I’d appreciate it,’ Liam said, and Andrea nodded, rising out of her office chair and said she’d call the company and see if any of the prices had come down in the last few months.
‘I can’t believe you just did that,’ I said, flushed.
‘What? You never haggled before?’
‘No.’ I’d never had anything to haggle for.
Liam tutted. God, I wish he’d stop doing that. ‘You shouldn’t accept the price the first time. There’s always some wiggle room somewhere.’
‘No.’ I shook my head. ‘I couldn’t do that. It’s too embarrassing.’
