He tugged her closer so he could wrap his arms around her. “Maybe if it had just been a hook-up I would’ve told him, but…” “It wasn’t?” she asked, raising her eyes to his. “No. It wasn’t.” She leaned her head against her chest and breathed him in. She didn’t know where her bout of uncertainty had come from. She’d thought the first time with Liam had been special too but she hadn’t really believed it had meant any more to him than just one night. “Come on,” he said, tilting her face up to his and dropping a kiss on her nose before capturing her lips in a searing kiss. “You need to get dressed and I need to get out of here before Peyton turns up. Text me when you get home and I’ll come over and we can finish what we started.” She smiled up at him shyly. “You want to come back? You don’t want to sleep in your own bed tonight?” “Not if it means I have to sleep by myself,” he replied and kissed her again. “Maybe you could sneak me into your apartment.” “I would love nothing
“Not exactly. We just didn’t have a chance to go through them together today.” Liam was just digging himself into a deeper hole with every word that came out of his mouth. “I’m going to get a drink since none of you bastards bothered to order me one.” He shoved up from the booth and stalked across the room toward the bar, kicking himself for his thoughtless comment. He needed to be more careful around his friends. A heavy hand landed on his shoulder and Liam turned to see Parker standing behind him. “You want a beer?” Liam asked, not liking the way Parker was eyeing him. “Sure, if you’re buying.” He gave their order to the bartender and twisted to lean casually against the bar while they waited for their drinks. “What’s going on?” Parker asked. “Nothing.” “Sure. I don’t believe you, but whatever.” Liam gritted his teeth and groaned. “Look, I can’t get into it. It’s…complicated.” “Does it have anything to do with why you didn’t want Mia working at the office?” “Do
He rose to his feet, swaying just a bit, a goofy smile on his face. “Are you drunk?” she asked. “‘Course not,” he said, but she didn’t believe him. “You didn’t drive here did you?” she asked over her shoulder as she got her door opened. “Nah. Parker drove me.” Mia froze and slowly turned to look at him. He was still standing in her doorway, not having quite made it over the threshold. He filled the entire space with his body. “Parker dropped you off here?” He reached for her, tugging her close and nuzzling her neck. “I like this dress,” he replied instead of answering her. “Well, you would,” she said, gently disentangling herself from him. Her dress was black and short and tight with a scooped neckline that showed just a hint of her cleavage. “But you didn’t answer me. Did Parker drop you off here?” He reached for her again but she danced out of his reach and headed for the kitchen hoping to put some space between them. It wasn’t much—her apartment was tiny—but at
“Come on, get up,” Liam said, shaking Mia awake. “Five more minutes,” she mumbled, turning over and burying her face in the pillow. It was Saturday and Saturdays were for sleeping in. “No, you have to get up now,” Liam said, stripping the blankets off her. “We’re going to be late.” “Late for what?” she asked, finally sitting up and looking at Liam. He was dressed in jeans and a footy jersey. “Is that a Brighton jersey?” she asked, frowning. “Yep,” he said, tossing her a Kensington jersey. “You didn’t tell me you were a Brighton fan,” she grumbled, rolling out of bed and heading for the bathroom. “You didn’t ask,” he called after her. “Don’t take too long. We have a tram to catch.” Mia grumbled her way through a quick shower and pulled her hair up into a messy bun. She quickly swiped on lip gloss and mascara and met Liam in the living room wearing her jeans and Kensington jersey. “Where are we going?” she asked, taking the travel mug of coffee Li
“The articles on the Manscaping blog are doing well,” Carter said to the morning meeting but was looking at Liam and Mia. “Liam won the last round of voting, but this week looks like it will go to Mia. There's lots of interest, and not just in Darius. Good work.” Mia flushed with the praise, her body warming under the glances and soft applause of her co-workers. She wasn't familiar with the feeling; public praise wasn't something she'd ever received much of. It felt good. “What's next for our two contestants?” “Waxing,” Liam said with an evil grin, and the people gathered around the table laughed. “We have a couple of appointments this morning at a salon that specializes in ‘manscaping.’” “Have you spoken to them about buying some ad space on the blog?” Carter asked. “They approached me,” Liam replied. “They’ll be sponsoring this blog post and another six weeks’ worth.” “Excellent,” Carter replied rubbing his hands. “Okay then, if that’s everything, get back to work.” Mi
Mia squeezed his arm once then removed her hand and waited for him to explain. He seemed to be struggling to find the words. He ran his hand over his newly cut hair and rubbed his neck, tipping his head back to the sky before he spoke. “The reason I was late this morning was because I had a meeting with my manager and coach.” “Okay,” Mia replied slowly. “Is there a problem with the blog?” “No,” he shook his head and even managed a crooked smile. “That’s actually one of the better things in my life at the moment.” “Okay, so what’s going on then?” “There’s someone threatening to go to the press,” he said. “They have….photos of me.” “Photos of what, exactly?” Mia asked, trying not to judge him but also being fully aware of his past behavior. “That’s just it,” he said. “I don't know and they’re not saying. All they’ll say is that they’re embarrassing for me and may bring disrepute on the game.” Mia knew that was a cardinal sin for a football player. Bringing the game into
But that would be wrong…right? Darius pushed through the door into the salon and smirked at him and it was a very near thing that Liam didn’t throat punch him. “Your technician is waiting for you,” he managed to get out between gritted teeth. “No problem, boss,” Darius said, sauntering past Liam and down the short hall to where a salon employee waited for him. “Are you okay?” Mia asked, looking up at him. “I am now,” he replied as he lifted his hand to brush her hair away from her face. He continued to slide his hand behind her neck and draw her close enough that he could breathe her in and then drop a kiss on her lips. “Liam,” she whispered, pulling away from him and tilting her head up to search his face. “What are you doing?” What was he doing? He was trying to replace the scent of Darius that he imagined lingered on her with his own. He wanted to touch every part of her where Darius had had his grubby hands and erase his touch, replacing it
Liam knocked on Mia’s door. “Mia, it’s me. Please open up and talk to me.” Mia had avoided and ignored him all day. He knew he fucked up but he couldn’t apologise if she wouldn’t talk to him. He knocked again, the bag of takeaway Thai food swinging in his hands, all but forgotten. He’d even bought her a Vodka Cruiser because he remembered she didn’t like beer. He could hear the soft noise of the television, so he assumed Mia was home, but so far he hadn’t heard her moving around inside. “Come on Mia, sweetheart. I know what I said was wrong and I want the chance to apologize to you face to face. Please let me in.” “Do you really mean that?” Mia’s voice came through the closed door. “That I was wrong?” he asked, leaning his head against the door. “Yeah, I do. I acted like a bastard and I’m sorry.” “And what if I do decide to go out on a date with Darius to help him out? Will you be okay with that?” Liam gritted his teeth and tried to keep his breathin