[Six Months Later]...
After months of preparations, Eden's weeklong exhibition at Fugue was a smashing success. She even managed to sell two of her paintings. But with all the smiling and pandering she had done to Rock Castle's uber-rich, she would not have expected anything less.
So when Saturday rolled around, the only thing she wanted to do was to crash on the couch and put up her feet. Not a lot for a girl to ask. But she wasn't destined to enjoy the little things in life.
Having tried every trick in the book to get her to give up her spot on the couch and leave the house with him, Liam finally let the cat out of the bag. Her friends had tasked him with the sacred job of dropping her off at Heat for a surprise baby shower.
Eden didn't want to go anywhere, but she would never hear the end of it if she didn't show up. So she threw on a pair of black leggings—the only thing in her closet that still fit her— and Liam's denim
"Can someone please tell me why I left our perfectly comfortable couch to freeze my ass off here?" Eden McBride glared at her three friends waiting patiently in the queue with her. It's been over an hour, but the long line snaking its way around the block had barely moved. Out of all the hangouts in Rock Castle, they had to choose Crush, one of the most challenging clubs to get into, especially on the one weekend when the hottest DJ in town makes an appearance. "To help you get over the man whose name we won't mention!" Sienna, her best friend since primary school, said in a hushed tone. The clear plastic beads dangling on the ends of her long ombre braids chinked as she turned her head to match her death glare. On her 'bad' days, Sienna was cute. But on a good day, like tonight, she was smoking hot. The guys milling about, desperate to get inside like they were, clearly thought so too. They could barely peel their eyes from
Liam was the lucky random stranger. Eden didn't care that another woman, a Barbie look-alike, dressed in the tightest, shortest, blackest latex dress she had ever seen, was trying to call dibs on him. "He's with me," she slurred as she propped herself between the two. Barbie looked ready to murder her with her glacial stare, as she sized her up, her collagen-pumped lips curling with distaste. "Yeah," Liam chuckled, his cheeks and ears matched his flame hair. "I'm with her!" "Your loss," Barbie flicked her long blond extensions over her shoulder and pranced off, vanishing in the herd of vacant-eyed zombies swaying to the music. "Thanks," Liam said with a smile. "You saved my life." "I guess we're even now," Eden said softly. "Thanks for getting us in." She wasn't planning to thank him. But, he did save her from the cold earlier. "I guess being indecent helps sometimes?" He chuckled, and she liked him a little the
Eden woke up with a start, groggy and disoriented. She sat up and immediately wished she hadn't when a throbbing pain pierced her temples. A spark of desire surged through her when she turned and saw a naked Liam sprawled beside her. Even in his flaccid state, he was still impressive and even when she knew she shouldn't, she wanted him still, needed him, craved him. Just thinking about last night, all the things they'd done, left her breathless. She stretched and yawned silently, amazed at how every inch of her body ached with the slightest of movements, even the parts that she didn't think should be, were oddly alive. But as deliciously ravished as she felt, she had to get out of there quick before Liam woke up. The last thing she wanted was an awkward chat about her temporary lapse in judgement with the man who seemingly knew her body better than she knew herself, a man who was getting married soon. She said a small prayer of thanks when she
Eden had a suspiciously long nap during the thirty-minute drive from Willow Hills to her apartment in Forrest Creek, an artsy neighbourhood in the east of Rock Castle, jerking awake when the car skidded as they hit a pothole on the road. She yawned and stretched as she looked outside her window, feeling oddly embarrassed for passing out on her Uber driver. The last thing she remembered was him asking her if the air conditioning in the car was okay. She couldn't decide if she was brave or just plain stupid for falling asleep in the back of a stranger's car, especially when she was dressed in nothing but a man's shirt and her coat. She shifted in her seat and crossed her legs demurely, praying she hadn't inadvertently opened them while she slept. Going commando wasn't as liberating as she thought it would be. She felt vulnerable and well, naked. Now that she had time to put some distance between her and last night's terrible decisions, she had to figure
Eden circled back to her apartment and unlocked the fourth-floor unit she shared with her friends. She took off her shoes and snuck inside quietly, careful not to bang the door in case she woke everyone up. But when she turned around and found three pairs of eyes, shining with anticipation, her plan of making a quiet entrance went up in smoke. "Hi guys," Eden grimaced, her face as red as the angry birds T-shirt Sienna wore over her grey pyjama pants. "It smells like a walk of shame in here," Lydia sniffed the air dramatically, and the other two broke into peals of laughter. "Tsk tsk," Sienna clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "So much for saving yourself for marriage!" "We've revoked your sainthood," Cassandra chimed in as she took the muffin box from her, scowling when she peeked inside. She hated any store-bought goodies because she knew she could do a way better job. But today her disappointment, as she loudly made it known, was not with th
It was past midday when Liam finally came out of his postcoital coma. He expected to find Eden beside him; it wouldn't be the first time his hookups overstayed their welcome.But when he turned onto his side and found her spot empty, he was strangely confused.He sat up and groaned. His pounding head made worse by the glaring light bursting through the floor to ceiling windows as his butler flicked the switch on the wall to draw the blinds."Christ, Dave, do you mind?""I'm sorry, Sir, you have been summoned to the house. Your father wants to see you immediately.""Tell him I can't see him today," Liam groaned as he gladly accepted the hangover cure and two Aspirins. He had a feeling he'd need something stronger than an Aspirin if his father has his way."He needs you home in an hour," Dave said and turned to leave.Liam stopped him, "Handle Eden for me.""She's gone already, Sir.""What do you mean gone?" Liam asked, st
As Liam cruised through the quiet, jacaranda tree-lined streets of Glen Eagles, an affluent suburb north of Rock Castle, it wasn't the meeting with his father that occupied his thoughts. He was still fuming over Eden, bewildered that she had the nerve to leave him.It would have been comical if it wasn't so mortifying.He stopped outside the massive, black iron-wrought gate in front of a sprawling mansion on the cul de sac, rolled down his window and jabbed at the intercom irritably.He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently to the beat of the fast-paced dance tune shaking the metal walls of his Ferrari as he waited for one of several housekeepers and butlers to buzz him in. The Lamborghini he drove last night was at the garage. He vaguely remembered Steven, his driver, mention something about it needing maintenance before he left.Within seconds the gate squeaked inward, and Liam eased into a circular driveway surrounded by manicured lawns
With several bookshelves and thousands of books lining the wood-panelled walls and the dark furnishings reminiscent of a centuries-old gentleman's club, his father's study was probably the most intense room in the house. But, it was also one of Liam's favourite places. He remembered all the rare times he, Willow and Holly had spent in here, crowded on the floor while they read or played with their toys, happy to have their father home and wanting to be as close to him as possible because they never knew when they'll see him again. Clarke was always out of town, out of the country, chasing one big fish of a client after another. He missed so many important days. Probably why most had ended up as snapshots lined up on the fireplace. Liam and his sisters never resented him, though. When Clarke was present, he was the best father in the world, and when he wasn't, he spoiled them rotten with insane gifts flown from all over the world to make up for his absence. "T