My One And Only (Very Irresistible Bachelors 5)

“That makes sense.”

He flashed me his dimpled smile again, and I had to remind myself not to ogle him.

“Between you and me, I was mostly looking forward to seeing you,” he said in a conspiratorial tone.

I swallowed, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “Liam! Is this you trying hard to behave?”

“This is me trying very hard,” he said with a mock serious expression. “But as you can see, I’m failing already.”

I breathed in and out quickly, feeling lightheaded. How could a little flirting affect me so much?

“Well, let’s see if I can keep you on the straight and narrow,” I said boldly, hoping he couldn’t tell just how much I liked his flirty side. “Give me a rundown of what’s going to happen.”

“Tonight is all about getting to know each other,” he said after a few seconds. “It’s important in a collaboration for the parties to click. From your pitch, I could tell you’re very passionate about what you do and that your business is very personal for you. I like that. Always gives business owners the motivation to go the extra mile, even when things are tough.”

I nodded, happy he noticed

and appreciated that. “It is very personal. It’s something my sister and I built together. We’re very close. Our whole family is.”

“I can imagine that.”

“Are you close to your family?” I had no idea why I asked that. It wasn’t relevant, and yet I wanted to know the answer.

Liam’s smile grew more pronounced. “That’s very personal.”

Damn, I knew I overstepped. “I thought that was the point of tonight. Getting to know each other.”

He laughed. “True, but I can’t say I saw that question coming. And to answer, yes, I’m close to my grandmother.”

He didn’t say anything about other family members, and even I knew it was impolite to press on the topic.

“Come on, Tess. I can tell you want to ask more. I have nothing to hide. What else do you want to know?”

A million questions popped into my mind. I wanted to know the type of person he was in his private life. Did he cross the street at a red light? Was he the type of person who saw a homeless person and thought they were just too lazy to work? Or would he give them a few dollars? I didn’t know why the answers mattered, but they did. I wanted to know about his character.

Before unleashing my crazy on him, I had a confession to make.

“In the name of complete honesty, you must know something about me: I’m inappropriate 99 percent of the time. I talk too much, ask too many questions, and require way too detailed answers.”

Liam chuckled, and the low rumble almost made me swoon. “Good to know. Go ahead. I don’t mind.”

I smiled back. Clearly, he was trying to put me at ease, but he had no idea what he was getting himself into. I eyed him intently, trying to figure him out.

“Give it a try. I don’t bite, Tess. Unless you insist on it.”

Holy shit. Liam wasn’t only trying to put me at ease, was he? He was openly flirting with me. Did he have any intention to behave at all?

My face instantly heated. My mantra just changed from not ogling to not flirting back. But judging by that smoldering glint in his eyes, I was going to fail.

Chapter Five

Liam

Before coming here tonight, I’d been determined to be on my best behavior, and yet within minutes of seeing her, I was flirting.

I had to make an effort. A real effort.

“What made you decide to open an investment firm? Why not enjoy all that money you got when you sold the InvestMe app?” Tess asked.