An I.O.U. from a Billionaire

by Olivia B. Dannon

  Liam turned around at the landing looking down at her where she stood halfway up the staircase. “Take responsibility. You started all this. Not me.”

  “I never asked you to take a week off work for me, that reflects poorly on me to the people I work with in the ER. I didn’t make the engagement public either but I get to be the one who’s paying for it. My parents think I’ve lost my mind.” She reached the landing and stood toe to toe with him.

  Poking him in the chest with her pointer finger she continued. “I have crazy people popping up in the ER telling me what a gold digger I am or snapping pics of me on their phones, reporters delving into my family’s person business and airing it on prime time television. And let’s not forget the bodyguards you never told me about that stalked me all over the hospital and chased me down the freeway, which cost me my driver’s license.”

  Liam took hold of her hand stopping the pokes to the chest she’d been delivering and pulled her behind him down the hallway to the left. Joan was taking tons of tiny fast steps in her heels, trying to keep up the pace he’d set. Halfway down the hall he threw open a door and pulled her inside, kicking the door shut behind them.

  “Do you think this has all been a piece of cake for me? You waltz into my life making me feel like a complete ass from the get go. You save my brother and then refuse to let me thank you, like anything from me is tainted.”

  Joan jerked her hand from his grasp. “How does that compare to….”

  “You save my brother a second time and open up to Hansen and Cole showing me how funny and smart you are while keeping me at an arm’s length. As soon as I think I’m free of you, I find out from your boss that we’re engaged.” He drew closer.

  She met his hard gaze without moving back.

  “I put my business on the line to show you that I really do thank you for saving Cole while Crenshaw is threatening me about keeping his daughter Alise happy. Did I ever threaten to back out on you? No. I lost Alise at the benefit, and I’m not talking about getting dumped. Alise is gone. No one can find her, and no one has heard from or seen her since the benefit. Do you realize if something happened to her it will be my fault?”

  “How is that possible? She’s so loud. Someone must have seen her.”

  “I’m lying to my family while they are rallying behind me showing me love and support, and I’m doing it for you. My father is in a bind with Crenshaw. I’ve bent over backward trying to make this work for you, and now you’ll do the same for me.”

  “Was there a question in there somewhere? Because yet again you’re ordering me around. Get off your high horse and ask.”

  He clenched his teeth as he smiled. “Joan, don’t back down. All right?”

  “You’ll need to ask me a lot nicer than that.” Joan cocked her right brow.

  “And you say I’m the one with the ego.”

  Joan put her hand by her ear. “What was that? I thought you insulted me, but you can’t be that stupid, right?”

  Liam lowered to one knee and the butterflies that swarmed her stomach with that one action had her suddenly scared. “Joan Taylor, will you show up to a fake wedding and let me call it off this weekend? Please?”

  “Okay, okay just get up.”

  He stood watching her as she backed away from him.

  “I’m exhausted where am I sleeping?”

  “Well they know you’re not Amish. You’re sleeping in here.” Liam untied his tie and tossed it over a chair that was next to his bed.

  Joan took a step back as he began to unbutton his shirt. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea. You can’t seem to control yourself around me.”

  Liam shed the shirt showing her a very well defined torso and lean muscular arms. “Don’t worry. The last thing I want to do is pretend I’m into you. There’s no one here, no one to put a show on for.”

  Joan folded her arms not wanting Liam to see that his words stung. It was all a game to him. “I wish I could believe that but there was no one in the limo to perform for and you couldn’t keep your hands off me then.”

  “Alcohol. I haven’t been drinking tonight. Don’t flatter yourself, Joan. I don’t have a hard time finding willing women.”

  “It wasn’t me who had trouble walking out of the study.”

  Liam kicked off his shoes and shed his pants. The briefs he wore were thin, and it was impossible to keep from looking when he was standing right in front of her.

  Well I can tell Mae he’s seriously hung.

  “Are you sleeping in that dress?”

  “Evelyn said she would leave the luggage with Hansen. Are you sleeping in… that?”

  Liam opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of shorts. “Better?”

  “Um… yep.”

  Stop looking at his huge dick, Joan!

  “That’s your luggage over there by the armoire.” Liam gestured to the navy leather suitcases. “I’m taking a shower.” He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door.

  Joan went over to the luggage and opened it.

  Lingerie for sleepwear? Come on, Evelyn, what are you doing to me?

  Lifting a white lace piece, she laughed. It was a completely transparent baby doll dress. “Evelyn, you must think we’re having a lot more fun that we actually are.” She folded it and set it outside of the suitcase on the floor beside her. The next frilly pink thing she didn’t bother to unfold – no way was she wearing that to bed.

  “Okay, here we go.” She lifted a silky floral item and groaned at the drastically low neckline and the shortness of the front of the kimono. “Are you kidding me?”

  Shuffling the lingerie to the side of the suitcase, it became clear that Evelyn was leaving Joan very little choice about what kind of message she would be sending to Liam.

  At the very bottom was a long sleeved pale pink shirt with thin, transparent lace serving as the back of the shirt and up the sides of the tiny shorts. It had a note pinned to it that said Don’t pick this one. Be brave.

  This isn’t brave? Half my ass is going to be hanging out of the bottom of these shorts.

  “Having a hard time picking what to wear for me?” Liam’s voice startled her.

  Looking at him over her shoulder, she was relieved to see that he’d put on a shirt to go with the shorts he’d taken to the bathroom. “Evelyn must have misunderstood our relationship. And that was the fastest shower in the world, by the way.”

  He didn’t say anything. She could feel his eyes roaming over the open back of her dress. Joan straightened her back, not because it was a more complimentary view, it was to let him know she knew he was looking. Or at least that was what she told herself.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Taking the two-piece set she stood. “My turn in the bathroom now, right?”

  Liam swallowed and stepped away from the doorway. “That looks like it covers more than the candid photo taken of you in your pajamas at home.”

  “Aw crap, is that in the paper too? Is my dad gonna see that?” Joan asked, stopping just inside the bathroom entrance.

  “No. At least I hope not. I had Evelyn make them take it down and issue a formal apology.”

  Joan nodded. “You wouldn’t want people thinking you’d let them photograph your fiancée. I get that but thank you anyway.”

  “I didn’t want them taking those kinds of photos of you,” he said, his eyes snaring hers and holding her there.

  Her heart dropped like it’d forgotten how to beat. She realized she was holding her breath as the heat of his eyes penetrated her carefully constructed wall of distance. Joan could feel the sudden sensitivity of her skin, the aching need to feel his touch.

  “Thank you.” Before she did something completely stupid, she stepped back and shut the door between them. Breathing fast now she put a hand on her heart as if to manually slow it down.

  How is it, Joan, that you managed to get in this spot? You’re with the sexiest man in America – probably the sexiest man alive – and you’ve managed to complicat
e things so much that you can’t even have a roll in the hay just for kicks.

  Carefully she removed the silk dress and the matching shoes. Naked in his bathroom with Liam just on the other side of the door, she could feel the air pulsing with her throbbing desire for him.

  Cold water. Very cold water. She thought as she turned the knob in the shower. Two showerheads came to life, spraying jets of water. Testing the temperature, she was certain it would cool her own jets and hopped in with a squeal as the freezing water ran over her heated skin.

  And now all I can think about is how I’d like to dash out of this shower and cuddle up to Liam for warmth. Ugh, Joan. You disgust me.

  ***

  Lingerie was strewn all around the floor next to her suitcase. With a huff, Liam walked over and plucked a piece from the floor in an attempt to get it out of his sight. Of course once he picked up the delicate, soft fabric and fingered the texture, he was picturing her in it.

  Joan.

  He wanted her.

  His body was primed and revving with the need to have her. Liam knew better. He was too mature and smart to let his body dictate his actions. Besides, Joan wouldn’t want to have amazing sex a few times and then call it quits. She wasn’t a play around kind of girl.

  He dropped the lingerie into the suitcase only to get his eye caught on another piece. A purple number with a bow tied at the breast and matching G-string panties.

  God I’d love to unwrap her like a present.

  Joan made a squealing sound in the bathroom that had his already hard cock jumping to attention.

  He grabbed up the seductive tormenting lingerie by the handfuls and crammed them back into the small suitcase before closing it. The shower turned off signaling to him that Joan would be coming back out soon.

  Looking over at his giant bed, he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands to himself if he was lying next to her, not with the hard-on he was carrying for her.

  He didn’t have a lot of extra bedding in his room so he took the top quilt and the thin blanket beneath and made himself a bed on the floor. Liam was just grabbing two pillows from the bed when Joan emerged from the bathroom.

  Tossing them onto the floor he looked up at her. “I’ll sleep on the floor….” He trailed off as he noticed her teeth chattering. She was shivering, her lips verging on purple. Looking down at his blankets, he smiled to himself.

  Looks like I’m not the only one affected by physical attraction. Once he wiped the smile from his mouth he asked, “Did I use up all the hot water?”

  Joan had her cold fingers fisted and pressed together under her chin. If she was trying to stop her teeth from chattering it wasn’t working. Her only response was her right brow climbing up a bit higher.

  “You’re shivering.”

  “Oh no, I’m fine. It closes the pores in your skin. It’s healthy actually.”

  “Yeah, it looks really healthy.”

  Joan hugged herself as she stepped onto the plush carpet and then hopped up onto the bed. She slid under the top sheet that was all he’d left on the bed and curled up.

  “Are you cold?”

  “Nope.” Her chin trembled as her body continued to shiver.

  Liam shrugged. “All right, if you’re sure.” He pulled back the blanket and situated himself on the floor. Even once he had his eyes shut, he could still feel her presence in the room and hear her teeth tapping together like she was incessantly shaking a tic tac box like a maraca.

  “You’re cold.”

  “Go…tttt..to...slleeep. You’re waaak..ing mme up.”

  Liam grinned with his eyes still shut. “I’m way-waking yuh you up?” He repeated her shivering stutter. “Your teeth knocking together are louder than brass symbols.”

  “Well if you di..ddi..n’t take all the dd.. amned bbl...ankkk...etts.”

  Liam stood, taking with him the blankets from the floor. He climbed into bed next to her, keeping the sheet between them and wrapped his arms and the blankets around her. Knowing Joan like he did, Liam was ready for her to fight off his attempt to warm her.

  The chill must have been bad enough that she fought her second nature. Joan turned toward him curling into the warmth of his arms. “You’re like a heater.” Joan practically purred. Her cool cheek was pressed against his shoulder. Her breath tickled his neck as she breathed.

  “I’m told I’m pretty hot.” He could feel her smile even though she didn’t laugh.

  “That must be what made your head so big.”

  He laughed. “You’d better be nice to me, or I’m going to go back to the floor and leave you up here shivering.”

  “I’ll be nice. Don’t go, I’m freezing.”

  “You’re not that cold.”

  Joan slid one of her legs out from beneath the sheet between them and pressed her ice-cold toes to his inner thigh. The yelp that escaped him had her laughing as he caught her foot in his hand.

  “You’ve got little icicles under here. That must have been some cold shower.” He rubbed his hand over her cold foot warming them up.

  Maybe it was the warming effect he was having on her cold limbs or some kind of modern day miracle, but instead of taking her usual road of denial or indifference, Joan answered straight forward. “It’s the chemistry between us. My attraction to you doesn’t make any sense.”

  Liam laughed as his hand moved up to her calves rubbing warmth into her skin. “I think I should be insulted by that.”

  “You’re not because you feel the same about me. It’s physical.”

  “It is.” He agreed, deciding he liked this straightforward approach. “Sometimes I just want to stick a marshmallow in your mouth so I can shut you up long enough to appreciate how beautiful you are.”

  “And sometimes I want to rip a patch of your leg hair out and hear you scream like a little girl. Maybe then you’d stop bossing me around long enough that I could admire how well built you are.”

  “My scream is very masculine. You’d be disappointed.” Her body was still trembling slightly. Liam gathered her in closer.

  “Yeah well, I’m not one of the starving runway models you’re used to either. I’d have that marshmallow eaten and out of my way as soon as it was in my mouth.”

  “You’re just saying that because you skipped dinner and you’re hungry.”

  Joan laughed, a warm honey smooth sound. “After Alise, you’d think I eat as much as a horse. I’m not the starving type.”

  “Thank you for agreeing to stay.” Liam rested his chin on the top of her head. It was easier to thank her like this. “For the fake wedding, I mean. I know I didn’t give you much choice.”

  “I didn’t give you much either when my boss told you that you and I are engaged. Thank you for playing along. I’m sorry about the deal.”

  She wasn’t shivering anymore. He should let her go. “It’s not the job is it?”

  “What?”

  “The reason you’re staying. It’s because of your sister.” Joan stiffened slightly. Liam nearly kicked himself for bringing up such a sensitive topic. “The interview you gave. It was very good. I looked up Kenna afterward. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you work at the hospital with the best cancer treatment center in the state.”

  She cleared her throat making a tiny feminine sound. “No. It’s not a coincidence.”

  “You’re the younger sister, but you take care of her like she’s your little sister.”

  “Kind of like you’re protecting your dad from his own poor choices of investing with the wrong business partner?”

  Liam smiled. “We’d be a meddlesome pair if we were really getting together. Wouldn’t we?”

  “One of many reasons why we shouldn’t let this go anywhere.”

  He’d been thinking the same thing but instead of agreeing he said, “There’s always a one-time deal. That wouldn’t hurt either of us since all we have is a physical attraction.”

  “Don’t you think a friends with benefits partnership could really
complicate things?”

  Liam ran his hand up and down the full length of her leg. Her skin was too soft and smooth not to touch. “Not for me. Will it complicate things for you?” His palm made another leisurely pass up her thigh.

  “Probably. I don’t make a habit of sleeping with my friends.” Her thigh inched higher above his hip in total contradiction to what she was saying.

  He wrapped his fingers around her leg so that his thumb was between her thighs. “We’re not friends though. Are we? You don’t even like me.” Liam ran the pad of his thumb along the seam of her legs, feeling the heat off her.

  “I’m not.” She gasped as he pressed against the thin material. He was hungry to explore more. “I’m not some easy woman who’s going to let you do weird stuff to me just because you’re rich.”

  “Weird stuff?” He smiled kissing the underside of her ear.

  “Yeah. No tying me up or… hitting me with a slipper or belt.”

  Laughing into her hair he tugged at her shorts. “One, I don’t hit women. Two, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to feel a woman’s hands on me as much as I do yours.”

  Her dimples deepened as she bit her bottom lip. “And tomorrow we pretend this never happened?”

  “Yes.” Liam agreed. His stroking revealed how wet she was for him and in that moment, he would have agreed to anything if it meant she would allow him to touch her more and experience all of her.

  “If we’re not talking about this ever again then I am going to enjoy myself,” she said rolling him onto his back so she was straddling him.

  Hell yes.

  Leaning forward she flipped on the light switch next to the bed.

  Thank you, God. Thank you.

  When she rocked back into her straddling position she stroked him with her heat through the layers of clothes still between them. “I’ve never done it with the lights on before,” she said pulling up his shirt. Her movements resulted in pressing and stroking him as she rocked forward and back again trying to remove his shirt.

  Liam wanted to grab her hips and grind into her. He wanted to strip away the clothing between them and bury his cock into her wet heat. More than that though, he wanted to be more than she’d ever had.