Blue Moon.

Chapter 15

I led Liam to my car, and patted the hood of it twice before I opened up the driver seat door, sliding inside. I put the keys into the ignition and turned it on, but when I glanced to my right, I saw that Liam was still standing in front of his door, peering at it with a raised eyebrow.

I rolled the passenger side window down and he peered into the car, a smirk on his face. "You call this a car?" he chuckled, looking around on the inside. I glared at him with a grin.

"Yeah, sorry it's not your usual chauffeur service, Your Majesty." I teased and his face fell, his eyes narrowing. He ducked his head out of the window and pulled the door open, sitting with a grumble in the seat.

"I don't have a chauffeur service." He said flatly, and I shook my head with a scoff.

"I've seen you get into the back of a black shiny car, and I've seen the driver. If you don't want to call it a chauffeur service we can call it something else." I chuckled, pulling out of my parking spot and straightening my car out.

"He's not a chauffeur... he's my butler. And before you go off saying anything snooty about that," he said pointedly, frowning. "He's more a family friend than a butler. He picks me up from school because he wants to, not because he has to." He explained, and I glanced at him, a little surprised.

That would explain the struggle between Liam, the butler, and the groceries that one night.

A small smile crept onto my lips. "Well, that's still no reason to rag on my car. Some people have to pay for their own things around here." I sighed resignedly, driving out of the parking lot and starting down the main street.

He shook his head. "I didn't mean anything against your car; it just sounds like it doesn't work well. When you turned it on, it was like someone launched a rocket shuttle. That can't be the sound of a healthy engine..." he mumbled, leaning his head against the window.

I glanced at him with an appraising look. "Do you know a lot about cars?" I asked and he shrugged.

"A bit. But I'm more into motorcycles. I'd drive myself to and from school on my own bike, but Cliff would freak." He said lowly, and I tilted my head curiously.

"Who's Cliff?"

"Butler." He answered simply, and I chuckled.

"Gosh, that must be nice..." I sighed as I turned into Cotton Wood.

Liam observed me curiously, his elbow propped up against the camisole between us. "What's nice?" he asked and I shook my head.

"You know, having a butler... someone who does things for you without a fuss." I said, the car winding through streets full of rich suburban homes.

He made a sound of skepticism. "Nah, we don't really order Cliff around. I mean, yeah his official title is our butler, but that's not how we view him. He's more... a helper. He does everything a butler should do, but it's not like we ring a bell when we need something, or tell him to go clean the whole house. I dunno... he's family, not just a butler..."

I turned my head and spared him a glance, catching his icy blue eyes. There was a small trace of tenderness peeking through his face that I had never seen before, and I felt my heart leap as I noticed it.

"What?" he asked as I looked away, focusing back on the road ahead of me.

I grinned. "I figured out your weakness." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

"What?" he asked again and I chuckled lightly.

"You are always so serious and grumpy, Liam. Getting you to laugh is like pulling teeth. I have to earn every smile. It's like you are impervious to human emotions but just then when you were talking about your butler being part of your family... I could see it." I said, my house now in sight further down the street.