They reached for each other’s clothes as Mia dragged him toward the bedroom. She managed to get the buttons on his shirt undone and took a second to admire the smooth expanse of his chest as she ran her hands reverently over it. He shrugged the shirt off his shoulders and reached for hers. Mia leaned forward and ran her tongue over the solid mass of his left pec and up his neck. She could feel the throb of his pulse on her tongue and she shivered in anticipation. He pushed her away so he could free her from her shirt and her bra and then fell to his knees in front of her. She threaded her fingers through his hair as he buried his face between her breasts and breathed her in. “I’ve missed you,” he mumbled. “Me or my ta-tas?” He chuckled. “Ta-tas? You can say boobs, Mia. Or breasts. Tits work too.” He took a breath and sobered. “But I meant you,” he said looking up at her. “And these too, of course.” He looked back down at her breasts before cupping them and suckling one nipple
Liam rolled to his side and watched Mia as she caught her breath. His fingers drew soft circles on her skin; his need to keep touching her was something he really didn’t want to examine. He hadn’t intended to attack her like that as soon as he walked through the door, but he wasn’t sorry. Things had been building between them since she had walked back into his life and it was inevitable they would end up here and yet it didn’t diminish what had happened tonight. She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. Her face was soft and satiated and her lips were tilted up in a smile. He leaned forward and kissed her; he couldn’t not. She rolled toward him, her body fitting against his with ease. Bare skin slid against bare skin as she pressed closer, her arms twining around his neck and one luscious leg draped over his hip. He thrust against her, not entering her, but sliding his hardness through her warm, wet softness. It was heaven and yet not nearly enough. He skimmed
His mind fractured for a moment even as his body pulsed with his climax. Everything around him seemed to float, weightless and suspended at a single point in time before it all rushed back in and he collapsed, rolling them to the side and tightening his arms around her. He wasn’t ready to let go. Not yet. Maybe not ever.Mia must have dozed off because she felt herself waking from what seemed like a dream when Liam moved to take care of the condom and clean up. He wasn’t gone long, sliding back into bed behind her and pulling her close once more, spooning her like it was something they did every day. She sighed, relaxing back against him, relishing the warmth of his body and the way it felt to be wrapped up in his arms. She didn’t remember them snuggling last time; if they had, she didn’t think she would have been able to ever let him go. Her stomach chose that moment to remind them there was food sitting out on the counter in her kitchen and she hadn’t eaten for hours. Liam
He shrugged and sipped his beer. “So? The readers know you’re working with me, and I think they’d like to hear from you. Besides, I think you could give some good insight into what women like.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m just one woman. Just because I like something, doesn’t mean every other woman out there is going to like it. We don’t have one shared consciousness.” He laughed. “I never thought that,” he said. “But I still think the readers would be interested in what you have to say.” She picked at the remainder of her gyro, not looking at him. “You really think so?” He tucked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up to his. “Yeah, Mia, I do. I think you have some valid opinions and I think you should share them with the world. There are no wrong answers here. As you said, just because you like something doesn’t mean every other woman in the world will, but that doesn’t negate what you like. You’re allowed to have your own take on things. You’re allowed to have an opin
Mia groaned but nodded, crawling off his lap. He missed the weight of her and the warmth of her body against his. She rolled away and off the bed, scooping up the rubbish from their bed picnic. Liam grabbed the beer bottles—his empty, hers barely touched. “You don’t like beer?” She shrugged but didn’t answer. “Hey,” he said, reaching for her and tugging her against his chest. “You can tell me if you don’t like something.” She blinked up at him. “I don’t really like beer,” she replied. “It’s too bitter.” “What do you drink?” She blushed. “You’ll make fun of me,” she said, dipping her head. “Tell me,” Liam murmured, threading his fingers through the dark just-fucked curls that cascaded around her shoulders. “Sweet wine,” she replied, “Vodka Cruisers, Canadian Club, and dry. I like sweet,” she said with another shrug, not looking at him. He dipped his head and nudged her nose with his, tilting her head so he could brush a kiss across her lips. “Next time I’ll bring some
Friday night rolled into Saturday morning, not that Mia noticed. She was far too blissed out from multiple orgasms and sleeping beside the hot water bottle that was Liam. She had never actually slept with someone before, not in the actual sleeping sense. The nights she and Peyton had passed out on the bed together after an evening of drunken revelry didn’t count. Spending the entire night in bed with Liam—intermittently snoozing and making sleepy love—was a revelation. She liked it. A lot. Maybe too much. The smell of coffee woke her and she fluttered her eyes open, squinting in the bright sunlight. She could only just make out the form of Liam standing over her with a grin and a large takeaway coffee. “Good morning,” he said. Yes. Yes, it was a good morning. A very good morning. “Good morning,” Mia replied and then cleared the huskiness from her throat, laughing. “Sorry.” Liam sat on the edge of the bed and handed her the coffee. “Don’t be sorry,” he said. “I
She took a breath and then tilted her face up to his. “I know I should tell you that we can’t do this again,” he said. Her eyes searched his and he thought she might be holding her breath. “But I can’t. I can’t say this won’t happen again because I want it to happen again. I want whatever this is between us. I know it’s awkward with the internship and everything, but I still want this. I want you.” “I want you too,” she said. Her eyes were wide and glassy and he lifted his hand to cup her cheek and run his thumb across her bottom lip. “No one at work can know,” he said. “I know,” she replied, letting her hand settle on his thigh. “I’m okay with that.” “You can’t tell Peyton.” “I know. I haven’t, I mean she doesn’t know about it before.” She dropped her head and let her hand slide off his thigh. “It seemed too precious to gossip about.” He lifted her chin, his hand sliding around to the back of her neck and tangling in the strands of ha
“Come back to bed,” Mia said as he reached for his pants. He leaned over her and kissed her. He loved kissing her. He didn’t ever want to stop kissing her, but he had to go. He had lunch with his mother in an hour and he needed to go home and change. He only had the clothes he’d worn to Mia’s place on Friday night and there was no way he could go to lunch with his mother dressed like that. “I’ve got to go,” he said, pulling reluctantly away from her. “I have a lunch appointment with my mother and you have family dinner tonight.” He slapped her butt and finished dressing while she watched and pouted. She was too cute and leaving her was harder than he’d expected. He didn’t know what the next week would be like working with her. How the hell was he going to keep his hands off her? At least they would have their nights together. That would have to be enough. It would be the carrot that kept him going through the day…it had to be. He kissed her once more before leaving
6 months later“Are you ready for this?” Anthony asked as they stood outside the courtroom. Talia nodded and gripped Parker’s hand. The judge had called them back in for the verdict on Mark’s trial and she couldn’t deny she was nervous. The weeks spent preparing for the trial and then sitting through the witness statements and being cross-examined by an aggressive defense attorney who made her out to be some sort of diva and ungrateful bitch who was somehow ripping off the father who had done everything for her had taken its toll. And the media beat-up was just as bad. However, not all the media had been on her father’s side. Talia had discovered she had far more supporters than she’d thought. Her fans—the true fans—had gathered in force to support her and she loved them for it. Not enough for her to consider going back into acting, but enough that going through the trial had been bearable. But if not for the constant and unwavering support of Parker, Talia didn’t think she woul
Parker rolled his eyes as he took her hand and stood. “Seal the deal?” “Isn’t that what you said earlier?” He shook his head, his grin still in place. “No, I said celebrate.” “Okay, good. Let’s do that then.” Parker grabbed her and lifted her up, making Talia squeal. He kissed her and she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders. Stumbling, he carried her to the bedroom and tossed her on the bed with a flourish, making her squeal again. “I feel like we need champagne and strawberries or something,” Parker said, standing with his hands on his hips as he looked around the room. “You mean like pouring champagne in my belly button and licking it out?” Talia asked, lifting her shirt to reveal her navel. Parker cocked an eyebrow. “Hmm…that’s something to think about for a later celebration,” he said. Talia pouted. Parker held up his hands. “I don’t have any champagne on hand,” he protested. “Then I’ll just have to
“You called Isaac,” Parker said when he walked into the apartment. Talia looked up at him and bit her lip. “I did,” she said. “But before you get mad, I didn’t say anything about what happened. And I did it because I knew you wouldn’t say anything to defend yourself.” Parker sighed. “I’m not mad,” he said, walking over to where she was seated, working on her miniature diorama. He leaned down and kissed her. “I’m grateful. Thank you. What you said to Isaac helped.” Talia grinned up at him. “So, they’re going to let you do the article?” Parker nodded. “They are.” “That’s so great,” Talia replied. “So it all worked out.” Parker pulled out a chair and sat down beside her. “Things have worked out for me, but what about you? What are your plans now? Without Mark controlling your every move, you can do anything you want.” Talia dropped her head and fidgeted with her fingers in her lap. “I don’t know what I want to do,” she said quietly. “I don’t think I wan
Talia pulled back from the kiss. “Don’t you think it was pretty selfish of me not to sacrifice myself for you?” she asked. “No,” he said, reaching up to tuck some hair behind her ear. “What you did wasn’t selfish, it was survival. There’s a difference. Me expecting you to sacrifice yourself for my job would have been selfish. Are you doing what you need to in order to survive? Not selfish. Not in the slightest.” “It feels selfish,” she mumbled, leaning her forehead against his. “I feel like I need to do something to make it up to you.” Parker cupped her face. “Talia,” he whispered. “This is not some quid pro quo thing. There will be times when you will save me. I have no doubt about it. That’s how relationships work. It’s swings and roundabouts. There is no big tally sheet in the sky and nobody is keeping score.” “I just don’t want you to feel resentful—” Parker cut off the rest of her sentence with a kiss. “How could I be resentful of the fact that I get to have you in my l
“She’s asleep,” Parker said, coming into the living room from his bedroom where Talia had finally succumbed to sleep. He slumped onto the couch beside Stephen and laid his head on his father’s shoulder. Anthony looked over at him from where he was sitting, going through some paperwork on his laptop, and Carter paced, not able to sit still. “I take it the article came out,” Parker said. “Yeah,” Carter replied with a sigh as he raked his hand through his hair. “It’s going to do us some damage,” Parker said. “Maybe,” Carter said with a shrug. “Maybe not.” Parker frowned at him. “What does that mean?” “It gets your name out there,” he replied. “It will drive people to your blog.” “Fucking hell, Carter,” Parker exploded, jumping to his feet. “Seriously? You think this is a good thing?” “I didn’t say that,” Carter replied. “I just said it wasn’t necessarily damaging to us.” “And what about Parker asked. “The article would have tanked that de
Anthony had filed a police report as soon as he arrived in the city. “Their hands are tied,” Anthony said with a sigh. “There is no evidence of force and as she recently hid from the public because of a scandal, we have nothing to say she isn’t doing it again because of the latest issue.” “But can’t they force her to at least speak with them? To check that she’s okay?” Parker asked. “As far as they’re concerned, she has just gone into hiding again,” Anthony reiterated. “Until we have something to say otherwise, they can’t do anything. This has the potential to be a high-profile case because of who she is, so if they make a big deal about it and it turns out to be something innocent, it might blow up in their faces.” “That’s bullshit,” Parker growled, pushing up from his seat to pace around the room. He hated that he was sitting there doing nothing while Talia was trapped in her father’s house. It was torture to know where she was and yet not be able to get to
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Talia said. After Mark’s big reveal the night before, Talia had been left to sleep off the effects of the sedative he’d given her. The fucking bastard. He’d locked her door so she couldn’t get out and the window was too far from the ground for her to escape that way. Not without breaking something, anyway. Which Talia wouldn’t have minded, except with the way she’d been feeling, the thing that got broken might very well be her head, and she was kind of attached to it being in one piece and remaining on her shoulders. So Mark had stalked her and Parker and then kidnapped her and drugged her and imprisoned her and he was under the impression that he was perfectly within his rights to do so. “I’m doing this for you,” Mark said. “Your mental health is at stake here.” “The only threat to my mental health is your arsehole behavior,” Talia snapped. They were sitting in the sunny kitchen at the table and Mark was trying to pretend that it
Carter clicked his fingers. “The original photos, the ones that were taken when you took her out to look at the miniature street art.” Carter turned to Parker. “You were in some of those photos. Your face was blurred, but that could have been done after the fact.” “So he’s been following me?” Parker asked. “You and Carter. Both would be my guess,” Jack said. “So he’s been following us, but how did he know I was sending a car to pick her up?” Parker asked. “Have you noticed anyone following you?” Carter asked. Parker shook his head and then paused. “What?” Carter asked. “What’s that look?” “It’s probably nothing,” Parker said. “Just say it,” Carter said. “I was speaking to Talia just before I went into the meeting he said. “When I hung up from the call, I bumped into a guy…you don’t think…nah. It can’t be. This isn’t some espionage movie.” “Could he have overheard your conversation?” Jack asked, leaning back in his chair and looking up
Parker was on a high. By all accounts, Atticus was on board with his proposal. Isaac just wanted to check in with the rest of the band before giving him a definitive answer. That was fine with Parker. Things would go much more smoothly if everyone was in agreement. The last thing he wanted was a hostile environment and if any of the members had misgivings about the proposal, then he would walk away. It would hurt, but he would do it. For this to work—for everyone involved—there had to be open communication and a willingness to participate. Without that, Parker may as well give up now. He climbed into his car, cursing the parking ticket and flapping on his windscreen. Getting out again, he grabbed it from under the windscreen wiper and shoved it into his glove compartment. The Playbook could pay for that. It was the price of doing business, after all. He turned the music up loud as he navigated through the heavy traffic toward his apartment building. He couldn’t wait to tell Ta