“I just am. I haven’t stopped working since I graduated from college and it’s hard to find Mr. Right when you’re almost always encamped in your apartment, trying to meet a deadline.”

Liam seems to accept my answer, though I’m sure he knows there’s more there.

“How about you?” I ask. “Why are you here alone?”

Liam pauses, his gaze dropping to his gelato before he looks back up at me. “I’m here alone because I didn’t think my wife would care to join me after our divorce.”

My eyebrows pop up. “You were married?”

“For two years. Pathetic, really.” He’s trying to laugh it off, but I can tell just how affected he is.

“It’s not pathetic.”

I can’t help but suddenly see Liam through a different, softer lens. Guarded as he is, there was a time when he trusted a woman enough to fall in love with her—to propose to her—to marry her.

“We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to,” I say after a bit. “This is all really personal stuff.”

“No, oddly enough, I don’t mind. This is one of the first times I’m willingly talking about my divorce and it feels...interesting.”

“Interesting?”

“I guess verbalizing your feelings is beneficial, after all. It appears I owe my mum an apology.”

I laugh quietly, thankful that the mood has been somewhat lightened.

“And before we finish up with today’s conversation, I have one last thing to ask you.”

“Go for it,” I say.

We stop walking just outside our courtyard.

“Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” he asks.

I’m taken off guard by his question and end up squeezing my Styrofoam cup a little tighter. Even though I’ve spent almost every morning with Liam for the past few weeks, we’ve never ventured into dinner territory and I’m surprisingly nervous of disrupting our normal routine. But still, I don’t see any reason to say no.

“Sure,” I answer. “What time?”

His face remains indecipherable but relaxed. “How about eight o’clock?”

“Eight it is.”

With our plans secure, we enter the courtyard with easy smiles, but the air between us feels different. It’s not as carefree and there’s the slightest hint of tension and I’m not sure if I like it. I shake it off as best I can as I go into my building and Liam crosses the courtyard to go into his.