by Simone Grey
But I can’t pull my eyes away from them. The widening of their eyes, and their gaping mouths give the impression that they can’t believe they were just turned down, and I admit, I can’t believe he just turned them down either.
They glare, huff, fold their arms across their chest before spinning on their heels and storming off.
“Now, where were we?” My eyes immediately shoot back to Liam to find him staring intently back at me. The way he stares at me, with a single-minded intensity does something to my insides.
He’s out of your league.
“Um lo-“
“Hey Liam.”
I see the irritation plainly on his face at yet another interruption.
“What?” He turns sideways to look at the man that just approached our table.
Undeterred the man, who looks very similar to him continues. “There’s a situation at the entrance that you might want to come take care of.”
The infliction in his voice and the way he says it makes me think it’s something serious.
Liam studies him for a moment before heaving a sigh.
“Alright, I’m coming.”
The man smiles.
“Cool, I’ll keep your friend company while you go handle that. What’s your name gorgeous?” He slides into the spot next to Liam and turns his megawatt smile on me.
While he’s undeniably handsome, his smile doesn’t affect me in nearly the same way as Liam’s does. It doesn’t cause my belly to tighten or those butterflies to swarm inside of me.
A scowl tightens the corners of Liam’s mouth.
“Like hell you will.” He shoves the man away from the table and he goes with a laugh.
I watch the exchange slightly intrigued, and slightly amused.
“Sorry about that. That idiot is my brother Levi.”
“It’s alright. He sounds like quite the, uh, charmer.”
“Oh he’s something alright. Listen, I need to go take care of a few things. Will you wait for me so we can finish our conversation?”
Stumped and stunned I stare at him for a minute.
A smirk twists the corners of his mouth before he says “What, don’t tell me you’re trying to get rid of me already.”
“Oh no, I just thought you had, uh, other stuff to do.”
God, I would love nothing more than to stay and talk to him, that’s what terrifies me.
“Nothing as important as talking to you. Give me ten minutes?” he asks.
“O-okay,” I find myself agreeing.
The smile he gives me in return causes butterflies to erupt in my stomach.
“Excellent. I’ll be right back.”
He saunters off.
Five minutes pass.
Then ten minutes.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
A half hour later, he still hasn’t returned, Jayden and Lisa are still on the dance floor and I’m calling a cab trying to convince myself Liam not showing back up was for the best. My brain tells me that’s the logical answer. Too bad my heart didn’t get the memo.
Chapter 4
LIAM
When you meet her, you’ll know.
Those are the words I’ve heard my father say countless times when talking about my mom. Those are words I’ve heard my best friend Simon say when discussing his wife Arielle.
According to my dad all it took was one meeting with my mother for him to recognize that she was the woman that he’d spend the rest of his life with. Almost the same exact thing happened to Simon. Arielle walked into the bar looking for a job a few years ago and from the moment he looked at her you would have thought he’d gotten hit upside the head with a two by four. Even my brother-in-law has a similar story when he talks about my sister, and the same goes for my oldest brother Gavin when he talks about his wife Natalie.
My father has always told me the men in our family fall hard. I never believed him.
When you meet her, you’ll know.
I thought they were all insane. Four sappy as fuck guys who just fell in love fast.
I mean, how could you possibly know after one meeting, one conversation with a woman that you’d want to spend the rest of your life with her?
Hell, when I first met Victoria, I thought she was beautiful, sweet and intelligent. But then again, she is a supermodel so being beautiful is part of the job. Turns out the sweet part was just an act. I still pursued her. We dated and got engaged. And then I found out what kind of person she really was, and we broke up.
I figured love wasn’t in the cards for me and honestly, I could live with that. Besides, I’ve been married to my job for as long as I can remember and I’m perfectly okay with that. Or rather I was perfectly okay with that.
When you meet her, you’ll know.
I never understood that concept. Until last night.
All it took was one look at Ava. One minute I’m standing there talking to Levi, I happen to look up and the next moment I’m staring into a pair of big amber eyes from across the bar. Long curly dark hair framed an oval face. Her skin the richest shade of mocha was dotted with the cutest fucking freckles I’ve ever seen. Long lashes, long legs, curves for days. And when she smiled at me, that dimple in her left cheek nearly brought me to my fucking knees.
It felt like I got hit by a mack truck then backed up over again. One look and I knew instinctually I had to talk to her and when I finally got my opportunity too, I knew I was screwed.
And now I’ve found myself becoming a member of the sappy as fuck crew.
“Fuck,” I mutter shoving a hand through my hair as I spin around in my chair. Away from the mountain of paperwork on my desk. Wasn’t like I was really getting anything done anyway.
Tempest, our Chicago based restaurant gives me the best view of the city. Skyscrapers, store fronts and restaurants litter the busy street. I can even see Navy Pier from a distance.
It’s one of the reasons I was so glad my dad picked this location. While it isn’t at the heart of downtown, it’s close enough to get the view and the customers whether they be locals or visitors from out of town.
While people watching, I see a flash of a woman walking down the street with long, curly hair. Ava. Shooting up from my desk I go over to the window to try to get a better look, only to see that it’s not her.
Just the thought of her name has my heartbeat picking up and my palms getting a little sweaty.
“What the fuck is wrong with me?” I mutter out loud.
“I ask myself that question on a daily basis.” I don’t even have to turn around to know who just walked into my office.
So, I don’t.
I just throw up my middle finger in response.
A husky laugh is the response.
“What crawled up your ass this morning?”
Finally turning tearing my gaze away from the window, I turn to see my brother Levi, plop down in the chair across from my desk. Gavin and his wife Natalie are right behind him. They’re six of us total. Five boys, one girl. We’re all similar in build. While Gavin and I shared out mother’s dirty blond hair color. Levi got our fathers black hair that he keeps shorter on the sides and longer on the top. Levi and I share out fathers’ green eyes, while Gavin’s eyes are hazel. Grace on the other hand, is damn near the spitting image of our mother.
Our whole family is extremely close, we’ve leaned on each other a lot over the years. Being in the public eye, my father always taught us to stick together, no matter what the media may print about us. We’ve taken that into adult hood. I love my family, even if they do drive me fucking crazy a lot of the time. Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I sit back down in my chair.
“Nothing. What are you still doing here? I thought you had an early flight to catch for your next photo shoot.”
Levi is a model. He flies all over the world doing photo shoots for different brands. Chances are if you look on the side of a building or a bus or a TV you’ve seen his face somewhere. He’s building a name for himself.
Natalie takes the other seat, her long curly black hair is pulled up into a bun on top of her head. and Gavin sits on the arm of it.
“Make yourselves at home,” I say sarcasm thick in my voice.
Levi flashes me that smile. The same one he and I have used to get women all over the country. “I plan on it. You never did answer my question. What crawled up your ass this morning.”
“Nothing,” I lie.
Levi studies me for a minute before a shit eating grin takes over his face.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with the situation from last night would it?” he asks.
“What situation?” Gavin asks.
Before I can respond he continues talking. “Last night at the club, I saw him talking to this fine ass woman. He was so engrossed in the conversation that when I came over to interrupt, he almost took my head off.”
“You met a woman?” Natalie’s eyes light up and she shifts forward onto the edge of her seat.
Oh for fucks sake. Between her, my mom and my older sister Sarah, they’ve been trying to get me to settle down ever since I ended things with Victoria. Right after everything went down, I didn’t have any interest. Until now that is.
“Kind of.” I know I have to tread lightly. If I give her any indication that I might be into someone, she and my mom will be planning a dinner party before I know it.
Natalie claps her hands together excitedly. “This is so exciting! What’s here name? Where’s she from? When can we meet her? Is she-“
“Calm down, babe,” Gavin says laying a hand on Nat’s thigh. “Let him answer one question before you start peppering him with more.”
I’m appreciative of Gavin’s interjection but I can see the gleam in his eyes too.
Natalie looks slightly guilty. “Sorry, I’m just so excited! So, what’s her name?”
Knowing I won’t be able to get out of this anytime soon I resign myself to answering questions.
“Her name’s Ava. We had one brief conversation. She volunteers at the same children’s hospital I go to and that’s all I really know about here because some asshole interrupted us and by the time, I got back to the table she was gone.”
“Hey, that asshole was trying to save your ass. Or did you want me to tell the bouncers to let Victoria’s friends into the club?” Levi says looking at me with that stupid smirk on his face.
“Of course, I didn’t want them in the club.”
“Victoria? What was she doing there?” Nat says a frown creasing her brow.
Nobody in my family liked Victoria. She didn’t make the best first impression. That should have been my first clue that it wasn’t going to work.
“She wasn’t there. Two of her friends tried to get into the club. The two that were banned the last time for starting a fight on the dance floor. When they were asked to leave, they caused a scene, so I had to go take care of it. It took longer than I would have liked and by the time I got back Ava was gone.”
God just thinking about that entire situation pisses me the fuck off.
“Well did you at least get her number?” Natalie asks.
“No, I promised her I’d be back in ten minutes, but it took me a half hour just to get them out.”
Natalie’s face falls. “Oh, well I’m sure you’ll run into her again. Maybe she’ll come back to Temptation.”
I sure as fuck hope so because the idea of never seeing Ava again has something akin to panic twisting up my insides.
Gavin must see something on my face because he gives me a slow smile curls the ends of his mouth up before morphing into a full blown one.
“I’ll be damned. Never thought I’d see the day,” he says chuckling.
“What?” I say irritation clear in my voice.
“When you know, you know. And apparently your ass has just been gotten. Welcome to the club bro.”
Motherfucker. At the saying Gavin starts laughing and Levi joins in. Natalie just sits there looking between the three of us with a small smile on her face.
Usually, if they made such a statement I’d protest and tell them they were crazy. But in this case, I just keep silent and let them get it all put because they might be right. I know I have to find a way to get in touch with Ava.
Sooner rather than later.
***
I’m just finishing up one stack of paperwork when my cell phone rings. Glancing down at the screen, my sister Sarah’s name flashes across the screen.
“Hey, wha-.” I barely get my greeting out before she’s speaking.
“Oh, thank God I caught you. I need you to do me a huge favor,” Sarah says. Her voice sounds breathless like she’s been running around.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m stuck in traffic and Jeremy is still at work. Can you please go pick up Christopher and drop him off at his program?” she asks referring to her seven-year-old son.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll leave right now.” I stand shrugging on my suit jacket.
I hear her let out a sigh of relief through the phone.
“Thank you so much. I’ll meet you there. I’ve gotta run. Love you. Bye!” She hangs up.
I shake my head a small smile on my face. Not just anybody could get me to abandon work, but my sister is one of those people. I would do anything for her.
Grabbing my suitcase and keys I head out the door.
Ten minutes later I’m pulling up in front of the daycare, my sister and brother-in-law put Christopher in. Kids and parents are outside the building standing around talking and laughing. I scan the crowd and spot Chris immediately surrounded by a few other boys his age.
He looks up spots me and a smile lights up his face.
“Uncle Liam!” he yells running over to me. Some of the other kids and teachers glance our way. Chris doesn’t stop until he’s barreled right into my legs, hugging them tight.
“Hey buddy,” I say reaching down to run a hand through his hair.
Looking up at me he beams. “What are you doing here?”
“Your mom and dad got caught up with work so I’m going to take you to your program. Is that alright with you?”
“Yeah!” He pumps his small fist in the air.
I can’t help but smile. I love this kid.
“Alright, let’s go so we’re not late.” I usher him into the back seat of my car.
“Oh, Liam is that you?” A feminine voice says from behind me.
I slam the car door and turn around to see one of the daycare instructors making her way towards us. Miss. Wilson. Behind her I see some of the single moms eyeing me.
I sigh. I’m not in the mood for this shit. Since my family is so well known I get stopped a lot. Sometimes I don’t mind, other times it’s just annoying. Especially when I’ve made it clear that I have no interest in hooking up which is exactly what Miss. Wilson wants.
She stops in front of me and bats her eyelashes.
“I thought that was you,” she says in a voice that I’m sure is meant to sound sexy, but it does absolutely nothing for me.
Unlike Ava’s voice. Her low, husky voice had blood rushing to my dick so fast last night I almost got lightheaded.
“What can I do for you Miss. Wilson?”
She lets out a short laugh. “I’ve told you to stop calling me Miss. Wilson. It makes me feel old. Call me Laura.”
I try hard to inject patience into my voice. “Okay, Laura what can I do for you?”
“Well I meant to ask you the last time you picked up Christopher, but you had to rush off. I usually don’t do this, but would you like to go out for a drink with me sometime?”
Shit.
“Um, look Miss. Wil- I mean Laura, I appreciate the offer, but I’m not interested.” I try to be as polite as possible.
Her face falls.
“Oh, well alright.”
/> Trying to diffuse the awkwardness I walk around my car to the driver’s side.
“I’ll see you around.”
I don’t wait for her to respond before getting into the car and pulling off.
Blowing out a breath I focus on my nephew.
“Hey, Uncle Liam, what was the last place you visited? Did you get me anything?”
This is a game we play. Since Levi and I travel a lot every time he sees us, he always asks us those two questions. Since he’s the only grandchild and nephew he gets spoiled rotten and he loves it.
“I just got back from London and I may have brought you something and it may be at my place.”
I glance in the rear-view mirror and see a big smile stretched across his face.
“Really? Cool! What is it?”
“Take a guess.”
“A puppy?”
“Nope.”
“A train set?”
“Nope.”
How he went from guessing a puppy to a train set I’ll never know. We continue to go back and forth until we get to our destination.
Parking in the first available spot I find. I follow Chris into the building.
As soon as we round the corner, I hear Chris scream the words “Miss Ava!” and take off running. My head snaps up and sure enough he’s running right into the arms of my Ava from last night.
Chapter 5
LIAM
I stand there shocked for a moment staring and taking her in. She’s staring back at me, surprise clear in her eyes as she hugs Chris. She’s wearing a pair of blue jeans that are a little baggy. The large cardigan sweater she wears makes it difficult to see much of her shape.
That doesn’t stop my dick from perking up at the sight of her though. God, this woman can probably wear anything, and it’ll still make me hard as a fucking rock for her.
How is that even possible?
I’ve been around more beautiful woman than I can count. When you’re in this business and have money, they tend to flock in droves. I’ve become immune to it. None have ever really affected me.
Until her and what are the fucking odds that I would run into at the library of all places.
I slowly walk towards her and Chris not taking my eyes off her until he grabs a hold of my hand.