“Even though I’ve expressly asked you not to?”

She threw up her hands in frustration. “This isn’t about wind chimes! I was just giving you an example!”

“You’re not getting off that easily. You’re the one who brought the subject up.” Now he was on his feet. “I’ve told you I don’t like the damn things, but you’ve said you’re going to hang them up anyway, is that right?”

“You’ve lost your mind.”

“Is that right or not?”

“Yes!”

“Fine.” He gave a martyr’s sigh. “If it’s that important to you, go ahead and hang the damn things. But don’t expect me not to complain. Bloody noise pollution. And I’ll expect you to give in on something that’s important to me.”

She clutched her head. “Is driving me crazy your idea of seduction?”

“I’m trying to make a point. One you seem unable to understand.”

“Enlighten me.”

“You’re not going to let any man run roughshod over you, not anymore. I just tried, but you wouldn’t let me, and if I can’t do it, no one can. You see? We don’t have a problem.”

“It’s not that simple!”

“What about me?” He touched his chest, and for the first time he looked vulnerable. “What about my fatal weakness?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Maybe if you’d think about someone other than yourself, you would!”

His words didn’t sting as Craig’s would have. Liam’s were intended to goad her, not to wound. “You’re impossible!”

“What is a man like me supposed to do, tell me that? I don’t know how to pull my punches, and I’m too old to learn, so where does that leave me?”

“I don’t know.”

“Strong women are my weakness. Tough women who don’t fall apart just because a man doesn’t always say what they want to hear. Except the strong woman I’m falling in love with doesn’t want to put up with me. So where does that leave me, Lilly?”

“Oh, Liam … You’re not falling in love with me. You’re—”

“Have a little faith in yourself,” he said gruffly. “In the woman you’ve become.”

She felt trapped by his brutal honesty. He didn’t know what he was saying. The person he saw when he looked at her wasn’t the person she felt like inside.

He moved to the edge of the patio, his hands in his pockets. “You’ve been slamming doors in my face for long enough, I think. I love you, but I have my pride, too.”

“I know that.”

“The painting’s almost done, and I’d like you to see it. Come to my house on Thursday evening.”

“Liam, I—”

“If you don’t show up, I won’t come looking for you. You’re going to have to make a decision, Lilly.”