I looked up at Liam and just like that any sleepiness left and I was wide awake. Shit...I thought of what I’d just said. Unfiltered, sounding like the biggest sap. Had I been looking at him like some lovestruck groupie?
I blinked and crossed my arms and felt a surge of anger at his placatory tone. ‘Relax, Liam, I’m not into complicating things, either, believe me. I’m in New York for lots of reasons. Falling for the first guy I sleep with is not one of them.’
Something in Liam’s eyes flashed, making them look icy. And then he said, ‘Good, we know where we stand.’
I forced a smile. ‘Absolutely. See you later.’
‘Yeah.’ He backed away, frowning slightly, as if not quite sure I meant what I’d said. ‘See you later.’
He opened the door but turned back for a moment, and I couldn’t bear for him to feel as if he had to reiterate what he’d just said, so I called out breezily, ‘Don’t forget to give the main door a good slam, it sticks in the heat.’
I picked up my jeans from where they’d been ripped off me at some point, as if ready to tidy away the weekend.
Liam’s jaw clenched on whatever he’d been about to say and then he was gone, the door shutting behind him. And then a few seconds later a heavier slam. And then...the familiar throttle of his engine.
I stood there for a long time, as if that might contain the gaping hole that seemed to be opening up in my chest. The realization that I had just been the latest woman treated to a Liam Sullivan Weekend Special.
A little later as I rehung the line of feminists over the bed, I caught Eleanor Roosevelt’s gimlet eye and said defensively, ‘I did not fall for him, okay? I just fell for his...orgasm-inducing capabilities, that’s all.’
The slightly scary thing was that I had a prescient feeling that if I had sex with someone else, I’d clam up again...but Liam had the magic touch. I saw my crestfallen expression in the mirror of the bathroom and scowled at myself.
All the more reason to get back out there and prove that Liam Sullivan wasn’t anything special and definitely ignore the fact that this weekend had felt far too magical to be real.
Two weeks later
‘So, if it’s okay with you I’ll be able to keep working here a few nights a week.’
Toby clapped an arm around Caitlin’s shoulders and Liam wanted to rip that arm off. ‘Absolutely. There’s no way we can do without you now, Red, you can do as many shifts as you want.’ And then he whistled appreciatively. ‘An internship with DeLuca and Sons? That’s some coup, they’re a huge company.’
Caitlin smiled and Liam wanted to kiss that smile off her face and turn it to something much more carnal.
‘I know, I’m thrilled.’
With an indistinct sound of disgust at himself for eavesdropping, Liam pushed off the counter and went into his office, slamming the door behind him. He’d had to endu
re Candy and Caitlin poring over ads for apartments earlier, her ass wiggling as they’d bent over a counter almost too much of a temptation to take her upstairs and slap her until she was coming into his hand.
Her aunt was due back soon and she’d have to move out of the apartment. Her New York life was taking off and he could see the excitement in her face.
And yet, it made him feel black inside. Okay, so she was asking for a few shifts now, but soon she’d have a proper job and she’d be gone from the bar and swallowed up into the vastness of humanity that was New York.
A knock sounded on his door and he curbed the urge to snarl like a wounded animal. Candy came in, shutting the door behind her.
Liam did snarl then. ‘I’m busy.’
She ignored him and perched on the edge of his desk, crossing one leg over the other.
Liam sighed deeply and folded his arms across his chest.
Candy’s aquamarine eyes narrowed on him. ‘You’ve been acting like a prize asshole ever since that weekend you and #irishhottie mysteriously disappeared off the face of the earth.’
Liam scowled. ‘Her name is Caitlin.’
Candy pointed a finger at him. ‘Aha! I knew it. You’ve fallen for that peachy butt. Listen, I don’t blame you. I hate to say it, but she’s as sweet as she looks.’
Anger and sexual frustration was a potent mix inside him. ‘What do you want, Candy?’ he bit out. ‘I’m not in the mood.’
Candy rolled her eyes and muttered something indistinct about men being so dense. She bent down so her face was close to Liam’s. He glared at her. She glared back, not intimidated in the least.