Chapter 4

“You do something to me that I hate,” Liam breathed as he pinned me to the wall of his suite. He was looking right at me but it felt as though he could see through me which was unnerving.

I don’t know how I had found myself agreeing to go with him again after lunch. There really was something wrong with me and each time I was in his presence I told myself it wasn't going to happen again, but here I was, being pinned to the wall.

“Let go of me, this isn’t why I agreed to come with you,” I said and tried to push him off of me but he held me tight, his body pressing hard against me. “I’m not some hooker you know, I have standards and this is definitely not how I imagined my first hookup to be,” the words left my mouth before I could even process what exactly I had just said.

A half-smirk appeared on Liams face before he sighed and nuzzled my neck lightly, leaving a trail of kisses in his wake. A shiver passed through me. Dammit I wasn’t supposed to be reacting to him and his touch but it seemed my body had its own mind and wasn’t going to listen to me when it came to this man whose hands were roaming over my skin, making it burn with each touch.

“You smell good,” Liam said, not actually listening to what I had just said. “I want to taste every inch of you but I also don't want to scare you off.” He sighed again and then pulled back, leaving his hands on my waist, his chest pressed hard against mine and I could feel how defined he really was under that suit. “Tell you what, if you say you’re mine from now on until I have no use for you, then I will try and be as gentle as possible, but if not, then I cannot guarantee you anything, much less your safety.”

He was looking at me with a straight face as I burst into laughter. Of course he had to be joking. There was absolutely no way I was doing something like that to myself. I had dreams that I still wanted to accomplish and there was no room for me being treated like a one-night stand to a man I hardly knew. Just because I was inexperienced with dating didn't mean I didn’t know how I wanted to be treated should, I one day, decide to give the whole dating thing a try.

Pushing him with all the strength I had, I took a step away from him and turned to the door. “Just who the hell do you think you are trying to tell me how to live my life?” The words came out cold and emotionless. All my life I had lived with my parents telling me how to behave and how to act and when they found out I wanted to study art full-time, they weren’t happy. I’ve had to live in the shadow of my parents and the fact that I was mixed didn’t help anything.

Growing up, the Korean kids always treated me as one of their own until they found out I was half Korean and half American that they stopped hanging out with me and I became a loner. But that changed when I transferred schools and met Nick and Kai who didn’t care what or who I was. I owed them a lot and this wasn’t a story that would make them proud of me.

“I won’t stay here and watch me degrade me as if I’m some cheap hooker who doesn’t have any sense of dignity.” I held the door handle ready to leave when I suddenly felt a pair of hands wrap around my waist and hold me in place.

Liam placed his chin on my shoulder. “I can’t let you leave,” he said he spun me and kissed me, hard.

His hands moved from my waist and to my hair, pulling and tagging. I found myself slowly responding to his kiss and before long, Liam was deepening the kiss, kissing me harder as if he was branding me, claiming me as his. Deep down I wanted to push him away, I wanted to slap him and tell him I wasn’t interested in starting anything with him but my mind and body weren't on the same page as usual. Liam’s touch was burning me alive but I liked every bit of it.

A soft moan escaped my mouth and that made Liam smirk against my mouth. I mentally rolled my eyes, of course he would like that. There was just something about him that pulled me close and deeper into the unknown and as much as I wanted to turn and run for the hills, that something was keeping me rooted in one spot, hands in his hair and allowing him to ravish my mouth with an intoxicating passion I’d never known existed before him.

I was getting pulled so hard that I didn’t care about breathing anymore, all I cared about in this moment was this man who was igniting something in me that I never knew existed. Was this how everyone felt? Or was I just feeling everything because it was my first time?

I felt Liam’s hands begin to pull my shirt above me and I was let him. But the sound of the door opening behind us brought me back to my senses and I immediately pulled away from him as if I’d just been burnt. There was a man with dark hair wearing blue faded jeans with a white shirt. He stood when he noticed us and a smirk appeared on his face.

“Now I know why you wanted me to look for the kid,” he tilted his head to the side, looking right at me before he walked past and patted Liam on the back and then walked over to the couch where he made himself comfortable. “He’s a catch, I’ll give you that, but I wasn't expecting you to already be making the moves and have him wrapped around your finger so fast.”

I felt heat creep up my face, this was really embarrassing and I didn’t think I was ever going to live it down. I was ashamed at myself for almost allowing him to undress me in the middle of his living room like a desperate person. God, what was this man doing to me? I needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

Liam grabbed my hand, his touch so soft I would have melted if I wasn’t so embraced,  and walked us over to the other couch directly opposite the one the man was sitting on. I just wanted to disappear and let the earth open up and swallow me but Liam had other plans. He sat down and pulled me down so that I was sitting next to him as he held my hand in his protectively.

“Just because I gave you a keycard to my suite doesn’t mean you can budge in here whenever you feel like it,” Liam scowled. “You interrupted me in the middle of something.”

I looked down at my hands as a thought of what would have happened if this man hadn’t shown up and heat crept up to my cheek once again. I should be happy that nothing happened but why then did I feel sad about it?

The man lifted his legs and placed them on the coffee table, the smirk still plastered on his face as he spoke. “I’m your PA and best friend, I have more perks of being in your life than anyone else does,” he said coolly, his eyes never leaving mine. “Besides, if it wasn’t for my skill, you would have never found him and I would never hear the end of it, so, you’re welcome.”

Liam hired a PA to look for me, just who was he exactly and why did he want me of all people?

Liam was rubbing circles on my hand without knowing it but my body stiffened from the contact. “I need to leave.” I pulled my hand from his grasp, ready to make an exit but Liam’s hand grabbed a hold of me and pulled me so hard I fell onto his lap and looking right at his grey eyes that held me in place as my breath caught in my throat. I hadn’t noticed his eyes until now and I never wanted to look away.

“Pete, leave us,” Liam’s voice flowed so smoothly yet so cold, but he didn’t look away from me, just held my gaze.

I heard Pete stand and something in me snapped, forcing me to leave Liam’s hold. I turned to Pete who looked amused at everything. “Can I get a ride back?” I didn’t wait for him to say anything, I just needed to get out of there and I didn’t want to call Keith to come and pick me up or get an Uber.

I didn’t look back once as I walked out of Liam’s suite. It wasn’t until I was outside the hotel did I feel my heart slow down and my senses coming back to me. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath while chastising myself for letting things go so far. What kind of person I had turned into?

“Come on,” I heard Pete’s voice say from behind and I turned to find him heading in the direction of the parking lot. Quietly, I followed after him and got into the car with him.

Pete started the car and off we went. I stared out the window, lost in my thoughts until his voice pulled me back. “You seem like a smart kid, just be careful when it comes to Liam,” his voice rang out loud and clear in my head. “He’s my best friend and I know him better than anyone, so for you sake, I know what you are getting yourself into.”

I risked a glance at Pete and he winked at me and turned back to the road. I had so many questions I wanted too ask Pete about Liam but something stopped me, the less I knew about him the better it would be for me.

We rode in silence all the way back to my apartment and I wasn’t surprised that Pete knew where I lived. I opened the door and got out but then turned back around. “Thanks.”

Pete nodded at me and then drove off. I had a lot of thinking I had to do and I was glad the apartment was empty. I picked up the phone and called the last person on my mind.