amusement dancing in his eyes. “When do you start work?”
The elevator dings and opens. “I don’t know.” I dart inside the car,
trying to think of an answer that isn’t a lie.
He steps in beside me and punches the button. “You don’t know?”
“I’m supposed to get settled first.”
He scowls, and even his scowl is handsome. “How well do you know
your new employer?”
Now I scowl. “How well does anyone know their employer?”
“You moved here for this person.”
“A job is not a person, and I know just as much about him as I do
you.” The elevator opens again and I don’t give him time for a rebuttal. I
step into a carpeted hallway that reminds me of a hotel corridor and note
the sign pointing me to my right.
“Your boss didn’t make sure you got here safely tonight,” he points
out as he joins me, and we make our way to the last apartment at the end
of the hallway. “I did. Do you have your key?”
I hold it up between two fingers and stop in front of the assigned
door. I just can’t think of it as “my door”. “I’m all set.”
“I’m coming in to make sure you’re safe.”
“This is good,” I assure him quickly.
“You have no idea what waits on you inside.”
Exactly. “An empty apartment and I don’t know you, Liam. I can’t
invite you inside.”
And I have no idea what makes me say it, but I add, “Not tonight.”
“That’s better than not ever,” he comments. “But I’m not a serial
killer and for all I know, your new boss is. Let me check the place out for
you. You can stay outside while I do.”
“I’m not letting you in.”
He leans in close and presses his hand on the door above me. I can
feel the heat rushing off his body. And as silly as it seems, I can’t explain it,
but I can almost taste the masculine scent of him. Or maybe I just want to
taste him. “I’m going to get a room across the street,” he informs me.
“Your hotel is across the street?”
“It is now. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes with a list of restaurants
open at this time of the night we can choose from. My name is Liam Stone,
Amy. Look me up on your computer. Then you’ll know I’m trustworthy.”
“I don’t have a computer.”
“Or enough clothes to be moving from state to state.”
I left myself wide open for that one. “I had them shipped along with
my computer.”
He doesn’t look convinced. “Right. Of course. Look me up. Use your
cell phone.”
“It’s broken. I have to get a new one tomorrow.”
“It’s broken.” His tone is flat.
“Yes. It’s broken.”
He considers me a moment. “Stay here and don’t go inside yet.”
Without further explanation, he walks toward the elevator.
Confused, I open my mouth to call after him and snap it shut. It’s
midnight. People are sleeping. He steps into the elevator and regardless of
what he’s planning I know he’ll be back, which means I need to act fast. I
unlock the door, flip on the light and tug my suitcase and bag along with
me.
A small hallway leads past a kitchen to my left and directly into a
large open-concept dining and living area. Thankfully, I do have furniture,
which is more than I had when I was sent to New York. I scan and quickly
dismiss the overstuffed brown couch and two chairs. It’s the envelope
sitting on a simple wooden dining table that has my attention. I set my bag
down and sink into one of four chairs, reaching for the envelope. The
contents I find inside are disappointingly uninformative. There is only a
lease to the apartment with a note telling me to sign it and drop it by a real
estate agent’s office. The first month’s rent is paid. Nothing else.
Absolutely nothing. No information about what has happened. No
words to explain the threat I might be under. No triangle symbol. It’s not
there. My heart starts to race. There is supposed to be a symbol on any
instructions I get. I don’t know what this means. Maybe he thought this
note was an extension of the last so it didn’t need it? I can’t think. I have to
get rid of Liam and go to a bank machine and see how much money I have
to live on. Should I run? I don’t know. I just don’t know. I have to take one
thing at a time. Liam first. The rest later.
Shoving away from the table, I rush back to the door, and open it,
gasping when I find Liam standing there, dark blue t-shirt stretched over his
impressive chest, and he doesn’t look happy. “I told you not to go inside. It
wasn’t safe.”
If having him, or anyone for that matter, worry about me didn’t feel
so good I might have bristled at his reprimand. “Well,” I say, “as you see, I
did go inside, and I’m happy to report that Godzilla is nowhere in sight.”
He does not look any more pleased than moments before. “We’ll talk
about that later.”
My brows dip. I’m not sure I’m processing all content properly right
now. Why wasn’t the symbol on the note? “Talk about what?”
“Later,” he repeats tightly, and hands me an iPad. “My Wikipedia
page is up. Look it over. There’s a hotel directly across the street. I’ll get a
room and suggestions for places to eat that will still be open.”
My eyes go wide. “You have a Wiki page?”
“Yes. I have a Wiki page, and despite the unauthorized information it
contains, it’s fairly accurate. I’m going to check into my hotel. I’ll be back to
get you in a few.” He starts to turn away.
“Liam, wait.” He pauses and looks at me. “You do know that I don’t
have a Wiki page.
I’m not a model or an actress or a celebrity of any kind. I’m not even
a secret heiress to a mega-fortune.”
“You’re you. That’s what counts.” He turns away again and I don’t
stop him.
You’re you, he’d said. Only that’s the whole problem. I’m not me.
Chapter Five
Rich, sexy, and powerful no longer seems an adequate description.
Liam Stone is, per Wikipedia, a reclusive billionaire and philanthropist who
lost both of his parents at a young age and was taken in by one of the most
famous architects who ever lived. Liam inherited his mentor’s extreme
wealth and apparently, his skill. At the young age of thirty-one (apparently
most architects are older when, and if, they become established) Liam is
the highest-paid living architect, and is considered an architectural prodigy.
Setting the iPad aside, I press my fingers to my throbbing temples.
It’s almost comical that I actually thought Liam could be my handler. He has
far more to occupy himself with than little ol’ me, and I really don’t know
why he’s hovering around me at this point. Well, except maybe he just
wants to have sex. I’m not above admitting it’s on my mind. Heck, maybe I
should just embrace a potential one-night stand and let Liam take me away
for a few hours. Whatever awaits me tomorrow will still await me
tomorrow. It might even stop me from melting down. So why do I feel so
let
down that this thing with him isn’t more? I can’t have more. There is
no “more” for me. I went to the door to get rid of him. When he comes
back I should pretend I’m not here.
A knock sounds and I discard the idea of not seeing Liam again,
jumping to my feet and rushing past the kitchen. Afraid I might talk sense
into myself, I waste no time opening the door, and then almost swallow my
tongue with the impact Liam Stone has on me standing there. He might be
a billionaire, able to afford the finest of fine, but the man does a pair of
faded Levi’s and a t-shirt as right as they can be done. And he does it while
looking at me like I’m the dinner and he’s going to lick me off the plate.
“Done with your research?” he queries.
“Yes. I read your Wiki page.”
“And?”
“You’re rich, talented, and why are you at my door again?” And why
am I not sending you away?
“Because you haven’t invited me in yet.”
“You sure don’t seem like a recluse to me.”
His lips quirk and he straightens, and before I can blink he’s advanced
on me, his hands coming down on my shoulders, his big body crowding into
the apartment. “Liam,” I object. Sort of. Actually, I’m not sure I object at all.
“Amy,” he counters.
My nerves prickle. “Don’t do that.”
He kicks the door shut, pressing me against the wall, his powerful
thighs encasing mine.
“Do what, baby?”
The endearment does funny things to my stomach and so does the
solid wall of his chest beneath my fingers. “Mock me when I say your
name.”
“Ah, now, little Amy, I assure you I am not mocking you. I already told
you how hot it makes me when you say my name.”
I am so not skilled at this flirtatious word game he is playing, so I
resort to what I do well. “I didn’t invite you in.”
“No?” he asks, his eyes alight with sexy amusement.
“No,” I reply and while I am nervous, out of my league with a man
this experienced, this incredibly sexy, his playfulness somehow takes the
edge off.
“Yes, well,” he says, his voice holding a hint of evil mischief, “I prefer
privacy when I kiss you. We recluses are like that.”
My nerves shoot to the sky. Kiss me. He wants to kiss me. I want him
to kiss me. “You’re no recluse,” I accuse, wondering how the Wiki got that
so very wrong.
His eyes darken, narrow. “Then how would you describe me, Amy?”
he asks, his voice low, gravelly. Affected. By me. The idea is exciting and
frightening all at once.
“Demanding,” I say, and I sound as breathless as I feel.
His fingers curve around my neck, tugging my mouth near his, teasing
me with the promise of a kiss. “You have no idea just how demanding I can
be.” And with that erotic promise, his tongue slices into my mouth, a silky,
hot caress that seems to touch every inch of my now tingling body. The
taste of him, of hot passion and desire, sizzles through my senses, and my
fingers splay on the hard wall of his chest.
A low groan escapes his throat and his hand caresses over my hip and
palms my backside, pulling my hip flush with his, his thick erection pressing
into my belly. “I’ve wanted to taste you since the moment I saw you in the
terminal,” he murmurs, and his breath is warm, a wicked seduction against
my mouth.
“Feel free to do it again,” I whisper, and I am surprised at the
boldness of my words. But then, I’ve never had anyone as tantalizingly male
as Liam Stone to inspire me.
“I’m going to do a whole lot more than kiss you, baby,” he promises,
and his mouth covers mine, his tongue once again pressing past my lips,
and I feel the lick between my thighs, in the deep throb of my sex. I have
never wanted like this and I like it far too much to let inexperience, or a
note on a bathroom mirror, interfere. This is one night for me. One night.
Where that concept had bothered me before, it feels remarkably
liberating now.
My nerves have nothing on my desire to lose myself in this amazing
man, who is like no one I have ever known, who I will probably never see
again. Determined to enjoy every minute with him, and every inch of him
while I’m at it, I sink into the kiss, my tongue caressing his, drinking him in.
Boldly, I slip my hands under his shirt, my palms flattening on hard muscle
beneath warm, taut skin. Touching him is wonderful, addictive. I am
trembling inside, aroused in a way no man has ever made me feel.
Confidence builds inside me and my hand strokes a path down his
zipper. His hand goes to mine and he tears his mouth from mine, his fingers
move from my neck, tangling in my hair, tugging me backwards with a
gentle, erotic force. “How old are you?”
The questions shatters a little part of me not even fully realized. This
is not a reaction a girl wants when touching a man. “Why does that
matter?”
“How old, Amy?”
“Twenty-four.” I don’t even know why I answer. I shouldn’t have
answered.
“How many men have you fucked?”
I gasp. “You can’t ask me that.”
“I just did. How many?”
I don’t like where this has gone. I don’t like how I suddenly don’t
know if he thinks I’m a virgin for my limited experience or a hussy for my
fast actions. Either way, this is not an escape anymore. I try to shove away
from him, but his grip in my hair doesn’t loosen. “Let go,” I hiss.
“This was a mistake. I don’t know you. I don’t do this kind of thing.”
Great. Now he thinks I’m a virgin. I can’t get this right. “I mean, I do. No. I
don’t. I don’t do this kind of thing.”
“It’s quite clear you do not do this kind of thing,” he says, releasing
me, and I hate how much I wish he had not, after what he has made me
feel. Or how relieved I am when he plants his hands by my head, caging me
as if he doesn’t want me to escape. “But I do, Amy. I do this kind of thing. I
have short, quick, well-protected affairs with women who get that I’m not
going to be around tomorrow. Women who do not care enough about who
I am to find out my name or how much money I have.”
My defenses flare, verging on anger. What is he accusing me of?
Being a virgin, a slut, or a money-grubber? “I didn’t try to find out about
you. You made me read the Wiki page. You made me.”
“I know. I wanted you to know me and to trust me. I still do.”
I soften, confused. I stay confused with this man. “I don’t understand.
You just said…and I know and…why are you, and I and…” My God, I’m an
educated woman and I’ve lost the ability to form coherent sentences.
“The same reason I showed you my design on the plane.”
“Which is why?”
“Because against every rule I have ever set, I wanted to.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Then let me be more clear.” His cheek slides over mine, his whiskers
scraping erotically over my delicate skin, his lips pressing to my ear. “You’re
a
beautiful woman who deserves to be properly fucked, which I conclude
from both your actions and answers to my questions, that you have not
been. I want to be the man to remedy that. I want it very much.” His arm
wraps my waist, shackling me to him as if he fears I will get away, his free
hand stroking down my hair, as he huskily adds, “Probably too much.” He
moves then, his intense blue eyes staring down at me, searching my eyes. “I
don’t know what you’re running from, but I know you’re running.”
My heart jackhammers. “No, I’m not. I’m not.”
He brushes his lips over mine. “And I’m not asking you to tell me
why,” he says, rejecting my denial. “But just know that I have every
intention of making you forget everything but what it feels like to have my
tongue and my cock buried inside you.”
My lashes lower and heat pools low in my belly, then settles hard
between my thighs.
I’ve never even had a man use the word “fuck” with me before, let
alone promise to fuck me properly, but I fear he will make me forget why
my silence is golden. “I don’t—”
“Look at me, Amy.” There is a command in his voice and for reasons I
cannot explain, I am compelled to comply. My gaze lifts to his. “I do,” he
promises. “And I like the idea that I am the man who’ll make sure you do,
too.”
He’ll make sure I know. This is exactly everything I need to hear. He’s
promised to be demanding and to take me to unknown territory, but that I
won’t be there in the dark. I am so very tired of being in the dark. I wrap my
arms around his neck and make sure he knows how important this is to me.
“I want to know. I need to know.”
Approval seeps into his eyes, heat simmering in their depths, and one
of his strong hands cradles my face, and then his mouth is lowering to
mine. His tongue licks into mine, tasting me, and he is different now, we are
different now. The kiss is hotter, wilder, passion unleashed, and I have a
sense of being claimed. Like I am his to take and I want to be taken by this
man. I want it very much.
Still kissing me, as if he too cannot get enough of me as I cannot of
him, he lifts me off the ground, his hands cradling my backside. My legs
wrap around his waist, and one of my shoes falls to the ground, so I kick the
other one free. “Where’s the bedroom?” he asks, a gravelly urgency to his
Escaping Reality Page 5