She’d had her back to him as she undressed, slipping into an oversized T-shirt, more than a little self-conscious about being naked around him, which was laughable considering he had already seen everything the night they had slept together. Now she turned, wanting to see his reaction. He wasn’t looking at her though as he knelt on the floor beside Tank’s bed, making a fuss of him as he settled the dog down.

‘She just seemed so certain she had known you.’

‘I guess I must just have one those faces.’ He shrugged, getting up. ‘What time do you want to head back tomorrow?’

There it was again, the subject change. Always when he wanted to divert attention away from himself. It was getting irritating and only made her more suspicious.

‘You always do that.’

‘Do what?’

‘Change topic when you want to avoid talking about yourself.’

Liam laughed, but she could see the annoyance in his eyes. ‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. I asked a simple question.’

She could push it, but suspected it would result in an argument she didn’t have the energy for. ‘After breakfast,’ she said snappily. ‘No point in hanging around.’

Ignoring the confused look he gave her, she pulled back the duvet.

It was weird getting into a bed with him just to sleep, their one night together now almost a distant memory. She hadn’t given this scenario a whole lot of thought when she had agreed to the whole fake boyfriend thing, but now it was all she could concentrate on and she hated the awkwardness.

At least it was keeping her distracted from being back in Hixton.

Stiff British politeness had her rolling over to face the wall when he started to undress and she tensed as the mattress dipped and he climbed in beside her.

They lay in silence for a few moments and Hannah was aware of everything. The heat from his body, his light masculine scent. Every movement, every tiny noise, from the ticking of the alarm clock to her shallow breathing and the thump of her heart.

She couldn’t spend the whole night like this. It was painful.

‘Hannah—’

‘What are we doing?’

They both spoke at once, rolling over at the same time and bashing elbows and heads.

Rather than make things more uncomfortable, it broke the moment. Hannah getting the giggles, which in turn brought a burst of laughter from Liam.

‘We didn’t think through how awkward this bit might be,’ she spoke eventually, candidly, studying his face in the shadowy darkness.

He didn’t speak for a moment, rolling onto his back again and staring up at the ceiling, huffing out a heavy sigh. ‘Awkward and difficult,’ he agreed eventually. ‘You know this is killing me, right?’

Hannah’s throat constricted. Her mouth was dry. ‘It is?’