I furrowed my brow, wondering where Liam had went so hurriedly. Concerned, I slid open the glass door and stepped out before turning off the water. His pajama pants were still in a heap on the floor along with my own clothing. I grabbed one of the grey towels from the rack and draped it around myself, tucking the ends so I could freely use my hands. I stepped over the shards of broken ceramic and looked in the mirror.
Wet, faded makeup was still smeared across my face. Irritated, I finished wiping it off with a couple of the astray cotton swabs and opened the bathroom door.
Confusion evident in my expression, I peered out the doorway to see where he had gone. His bedroom door was slightly cracked, and a movement from inside caught my eye. I slowly approached the door and knocked on the door frame, holding my eye to the opening. Liam turned around and looked at me before turning back to his closet.
He pulled out a pair of trousers and slipped them on, continuing to ignore me. I frowned and opened the door, gripping my towel close to my chest, as I felt the poorly-tied makeshift garment slipping. “What the hell was that about?” I blurted, angrily.
“What was what about?” he asked, not making eye contact with me. He seized a pink button-up shirt and began buttoning it in the full-length mirror beside his closet. “Don't play dumb,” I snapped.
“You can't just have sex with me and then run away like that!” “Listen Ally,” he said, turning to me, buttoning the last few buttons of his shirt. “Sometimes there are certain things that just freak me out a little bit. Everything that just happened there, well...” I frowned.
“Making love to me freaked you out? Is that supposed to make me feel better?” He closed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. He touched my shoulders and slowly opened his cerulean eyes. Both kindness and confusion were evident in his expression and I did not know what to think. I did not want to believe that the most incredible morning of my life was a mistake.
“Aaliyah, I like you a lot and I really feel myself falling for you fast,” he started. “But remember how there was something I wanted to talk to you about earlier? We never really got to discuss that and—”
“And we're business partners so this can't happen, et cetera, et cetera. Look, I know—” I interjected, rolling my eyes.
“No, that's not it at all,” he corrected, his eyes pleading for me to allow him to explain. I chewed on my lip and crossed my arms over my chest, my gaze averting to the floor as they oftentimes did to avoid difficult situations. “Well, it's partially it, but you need to listen.” He touched my arms lightly and gently turned my chin towards him to force me to look at him. “Please.”
“'Kay, I'm listening,” I replied, my voice laced with impatience. “Listen, Aaliyah, I know I don't know you very well, but ever since that first time I saw you at the investment meeting, well, I was drawn to you. Now I know we're business partners, and that is potentially problematic but hear me out,” he explained. “We can't make our situation obvious to others in your company or mine, clearly. We'll both be destroyed by the media and our P.R. team will ask us to stop at once. So we have to meet here and only here.” I nodded, understanding his point entirely, though a part of me questioned whether or not it was because he was doing this with multiple women. However, my reputation was on the line as well as his. I knew that I had to trust him to keep building my brand. “Okay. I can deal with that,” I muttered. “That still doesn't explain why you ran away from me like I was the plague.” He sighed and nodded, seemingly ashamed. “This is just new for me. There's this gift that every woman wants that I've never been able to give—”
“You're a billionaire and you've never bought a woman diamonds?” I scoffed. He chuckled, nervously, and replied, “Diamonds aren't an issue. That's not what I was talking about, Ally. My career has always kind of kept me from seeing anybody as often as they would have liked. It's been really hard to commit to a relationship because of it. Considering our situation, it's kind of the opposite. We're business partners so I'm going to be seeing you fairly often. In a strange way, the forbidden element only makes me want you more. “He spoke beautiful words, but they hardly seemed relevant and I was still frustrated about how he had treated me in the shower. Out of irritation, I interjected, “So what are you getting at here? I don't see what any of this has to do with a gift. Your gift to me is a forbidden relationship in which we have to tiptoe around everybody we know? That's the gift every woman wants? You're terrible at this whole apologizing thing.” He laughed softly and shook his head. “That isn't the gift I was talking about, no,” he answered, softly. “What is it then?” “Time, Aaliyah,” he murmured. “I just want to give you my time. I'm not familiar with it. It's something I've never given anyone, but for some reason I want to give all of it to you.” His face flushed and he scratched the back of his neck, laughing nervously. “Damn, that sounds so lame when I say it out loud.” My expression softened and I looked at him with a small smile. “No, it's not lame. It was honest. That's all I could ask for,” I said in a quiet tone. I took his hand in mine and he looked into my eyes. “Let's go have some cold breakfast before we have to go play pretend at work.”
He grinned and nodded, “I'd like that.”
*****
Chapter 5
I angrily dropped two massive paper bags on Patrick's desk and glared down at him, my arms crossed. He looked up at me, innocently, and took a sip from his coffee mug as the aroma of Americanized-Chinese food filled the office.
“Is this my food?” he asked with a smile. He opened one of the bags and took out a Styrofoam container. “Ooh, the sweet and sour shrimp smells great! It'll go well with the orange chicken.” He opened the package of plastic silverware and began to eat as I tapped my shoe against the floor.
“Patrick, when I said I would buy you lunch for a month, I didn't mean fifty-eight dollars!”
“Or what? You and your boyfriend will fire me?” he asked, sarcastically, shoveling egg-fried rice into his mouth.
I felt my heart race and I wondered if he knew about my relationship with Liam. I squatted and looked him in the eye to determine whether or not he was bluffing.
“We're business partners,” I corrected him, although I knew that it was a lie. “Nothing more.”
He chuckled and stabbed a piece of shrimp with his fork. “The way you two look each at each other around here hardly says 'business partners,' but I suppose that isn't really my business.”
“And how do we look at each other?” I demanded. “You know it's not a good idea to accuse your employer. You might not have a job very long if you keep it up.” I hoped that the threat would be enough to convince him to stop his accusations.
“Okay, okay, I won't order five-eight dollars worth of Chinese food again,” he said. “Can I please get back to work now? You want me to call over ninety businesses in one day and you're holding me up.”
I rolled my eyes and waved at him, gesturing for him to keep working. “Alright, you can eat while you're on the clock. But for the love of God, don't talk to anyone with your mouth full.”
“Aye aye, boss,” he replied, sweet and sour sauce dripping from the corner of his mouth. He saluted me and turned to his computer.
I wanted to escape the situation as quickly as possible. Liam needed to know that Patrick was suspicious of our sexual tension, and the only private place to speak with him was in my office. Rushing towards my office door, I looked behind me to make sure nobody was watching. My paranoia was probably a little extreme, but Patrick's comments had thoroughly concerned me. If my own assistant was willing to blackmail me in exchange for copious amounts of Chinese takeout, there was not much telling what employees that did not like me would do. The sea of cubicles seemed calm enough, but how long would it take them to recognize the flirtatiousness in our interactions? My nerves were beginning to get the best of me. I made a mental reminder to discuss everything with my therapist.
I opened the door to my office and saw Liam sitting in my executive chair, his
feet on my desk. He was on his cell phone and he held out an index finger, gesturing that he would be another moment.
“Yeah, sounds great, sounds great,” he said, leaning forward and grabbing a pen from my desk. He scribbled something down on a sticky note. “Yes, thank you. Thank you so much. I'll see you then. Okay, thanks again, bye.”
“Who was that?” I asked, curiously.
“Goldman's Deli wants to sign up for a subscription tomorrow,” he said, proudly. He stood and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I've made ten sales in the past hour. We're gonna take this thing to the top, babe.”
“Don't call me that,” I snapped, shrugging off his arm.
“What?” he asked, giving me a confused look.
“Sorry,” I murmured, sitting in the leather chair facing my desk. I rubbed my temples and added, “You know how you made that rule that we aren't supposed to flirt or anything here?”
“Well yeah, but we're alone in here,” he replied.
“I know, but people are starting to talk,” I whispered. “Patrick mentioned it when I was just talking to him.”
“What?” he asked. “We're pretty careful. How could he tell? Are you sure he wasn't just pulling your leg?”
“I don't know, but is it really worth the risk? What we do at your apartment is private, but we have to be more careful here. It's only been a few days and you're already breaking your own rules,” I said. I looked up at him and sighed. “I had to threaten to fire Patrick and I can't be doing that all the time.”
Liam frowned and sat back down in my executive chair. “What, you can't find another assistant? If he's becoming a problem, just fire him.”
“Are you suggesting I fire him just because he found out about something that I shouldn't be doing anyway? Liam, you can't think that I would do something so unfair,” I replied. “Threatening it is one thing but to actually do it... I just couldn't. Patrick has been with me since I've been working here as an exec.”
“But you said he's made you late to three meetings in two weeks,” Liam responded with a condescending laugh. “How good of an assistant can he be?”
For some reason, I found it incredibly rude for Liam to suggest that I fire Patrick. Although he was my business partner, he did not have the right to tell me that I should fire a dear friend. No matter how upset I was with Patrick, I did not have it in my heart to fire him. He was the only friend in New York that I had and I had no intention of ruining that.
“Would you fire me?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?” Liam asked with a frown.
“Would you fire me if I caught you doing something wrong?”
“What? Of course not. We would talk about it and—”
“Exactly. Patrick has been my only friend in New York, Liam. I would never fire him. Please understand that no matter what he finds out about us, he isn't going anywhere,” I stated in a matter-of-fact fashion. “That's final.”
“So you're saying you'd risk your entire career for that skinny bloke? Aaliyah, I have worked with friends before, but that's absolutely ridic—”
“It isn't,” I interrupted. “Patrick is a good employee and he has been loyal to me for a long time. If you can't understand that, maybe we shouldn't be doing business together.”
Liam sighed and laced his fingers together. He sucked on his teeth for a moment before replying, “Alright.”
“Alright?”
“Alright, we won't fire him. We'll be more careful. But if he does find anything else out, what's your leverage for him to keep quiet?” Liam asked. “I won't suggest you fire him ever again if he has a price to keep his mouth shut.”
“All he wants is ridiculous amounts of Chinese food,” I said. I laughed a little, realizing how silly it was. “I think we can afford that if it comes to it.”
“Chinese food? That's your leverage? You've gotta be kidding,” he said. “You think he's going to keep his mouth shut for Chinese food?”
Liam was beginning to frustrate me, but I understood his concern. He was a high-profile individual and he was risking a lot by being with me. Patrick's simple demands were little and he had a hard time believing that it would be enough to keep him quiet if it came to it. However, I knew that Patrick could never betray me. Despite all of our small arguments and his sarcastic remarks, we were friends. If he wanted fifty-eight dollars worth of Chinese food a day to maintain my reputation, so be it.
“I promise he won't be a problem,” I asserted.
“I just can't—”
“Liam, I don't want to discuss this anymore. Let's do business.”
He nodded. “Fair enough...”
*****
Chapter 7
Liam ran his fingers through my thick, blonde hair as I rested my head in his lap on the sofa. We were having a lovely lazy day together.
I was adorned only in his tee shirt and he was only in his boxers. We were just enjoying the feeling of being close to one another. I closed my eyes and blissfully took in his scent until my cell phone vibrated against the glass coffee table. I rolled my eyes and buried my head in one of the throw pillows.
“You gonna get that?” he asked, amused.
“Who is it?” I asked, my voice muffled.
I heard him pick up the phone and he replied, “Patrick.”
I frowned and sat up, taking the phone from him and putting it to my ear.
“H-hello?”
“Aaliyah?” he asked. “Where are you?”
“What do you mean where am I?”
“I mean you were supposed to meet me at Madeline's Coffeehouse thirty minutes ago to talk about the new accounts,” he said. “I left a note on your desk and I texted you three times.”
“You never texted me,” I argued. “I never got a note either.”
Liam held up a finger to try to tell me something but I could not quite understand what he was trying to say. I waved him off and waited for Patrick to respond.
“Well you texted me back 'I'll be there' like two hours ago,” he muttered, confusedly. “Ally, what's going on with you? Are you seeing someone?”
I felt my heart thumping in my chest and I covered the receiver and hissed, “Liam, he wants to know if I'm seeing someone.”
“Well tell him no,” he hissed back.
“But it's too suspicious,” I whispered. “I'm going to tell him that I am.”
“What? Ally, you can't!”
“I'm not telling him it's you,” I hissed. I uncovered the receiver. “Sorry Patrick, I was just talking to...Nate! My boyfriend, Nate!” I looked at Liam and shrugged, unsure what else I was going to say. My actions had clearly pointed to me seeing somebody, but I sure had not remembered replying to his text message. Regardless,
I had to cover my tracks. I had to tell Patrick I was dating someone that was not Liam to throw off his radar.
“Nate?” Patrick asked, audibly drinking something on the other end. “Nate the janitor? Oh honey, please tell me he showered before he took you out.”
“Y-yeah, Nate the janitor!” I blurted. I had not even thought about the name that I chose to use. In fact, I did not even remember that we had an employee named Nate. “He's been working me like a broom.” I laughed, nervously and watched Liam stifle a chuckle.
“Exec and janitor. Sounds like the love story from hell,” he murmured. “Well whatever, then. Will you be here soon? We need to talk about the accounts. If you want to bring your boyfriend, he can grab a mop and wipe off my coffee mustache.”
“Yeah, I'll be there,” I replied. “Can you hang on for fifteen minutes or so?”
“Ally, I've been waiting a half an hour. What's fifteen more minutes going to hurt?” he said, airily. “See you then, bye for now.” He hung up.
I narrowed my eyes and looked at Liam. Something told me that he knew about the text message that Patrick had sent me.
“Liam, when I went to the bathroom, did you touch my phone?”
“I may have,” he said, scratching the
back of his neck. He looked away from me and I knew that he was not being forthright.
“Liam! You're going to blow our cover! You're the one that made such a big deal about this and now you're going to ruin it! I don't have a billion dollars to keep me afloat if I get fired from Hoffman,” I scolded. “Listen, just don't do that again, okay? Why would you do it in the first place?”
“I wanted to spend more time with you,” he admitted. “If you left to go get coffee with Patrick I wouldn't see you for the entire afternoon. I know you had that appointment later and I just wanted a couple more hours with you. I'm sorry.”
My expression softened and my heart skipped a beat. I smiled at him and pressed my lips against his. After a moment, his tongue found mine. He ran his hands under my shirt and cupped my breasts.
I let out a moan against his lips and draped my arms around his neck. I felt him shudder.
“Have time for a quickie?” he murmured, burying his face in my neck. He sucked on my shoulder and massaged my breasts. “Pleeease?”
I moaned and nodded, “It has to be really quick, th—oh, Liam!”
He smirked against my neck and ran a hand down my body, rubbing me, sensuously. I groaned as he stroked me softly.
I squeaked and he inserted a finger inside of me. Gasping, I ran my fingers through his messy, brown hair. I tugged on it gently and he moaned against my neck.
“You want it, don't you baby?” he murmured in his smooth, Australian accent. His words sent a shiver down my spine.
BILLIONAIRE: Protected (A Dark Billionaire Romance) Page 4