“I hope you don’t mind,” I said, as she gently took them from my hand. “I know it’s a bit cliché by now, but I thought you might appreciate some proper wooing, after how we met.”
“Ah, so I know I’m not just a booty call.” Gabi winked at me and went into the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers.
“I can take care of that,” Kelsie said, taking the bouquet from her. “You need to find something to wear.”
“No pressure,” I said, and I meant it. I didn’t want Gabi to feel nervous about this. I needed her to feel relaxed and at ease.
Kelsie leaned in and whispered something in her roommate’s ear. Gabi nodded and went into one of the bedrooms. “I’ll be right back!” she called out.
I nodded and leaned against the kitchen counter, watching as Kelsie put the flowers in a vase. “These are really nice,” she noted. “She might not say it, but she really appreciates gestures like this. Probably because people hardly ever do this sort of thing for her.”
“Thanks for the tip,” I said, surprised to find that I meant it.
Kelsie gave me an appraising look. Her fear seemed to be gone now, replaced by the strength of her concern for her friend. “So how did you two meet?”
“We met at a party a few days ago,” I said, which was pretty much the truth.
“And you’re hunting her down?” Kelsie finished arranging the flowers and set them on the island. “Did she give you her address?”
“I heard it when I helped her into the cab after the party. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be creepy. I just wanted to surprise her.”
“I understand,” Kelsie replied coolly. “I’m sure you’re a great guy. I’d just like you to know that my mom’s a lawyer.”
She smiled sweetly at me. It was a little terrifying. I knew that she might be pretending not to know who I was, but she knew full well. I was the guy who hired her. She knew how much money and power I had, and she was still threatening to go toe-to-toe with me.
I couldn’t help but admire that.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I promise that I won’t do anything without Gabi’s explicit permission.”
“Good,” Kelsie replied. She smiled brightly and then turned to the fridge. “Do you want some water?”
Just then, Gabi re-entered the room. Now it was my turn to try and keep my jaw from dropping.
She was wearing a bright red backless dress with a flowing shape, almost like water, that was tight around her breasts and had a single strap that hooked around the back of her neck. Her hair was up, showing off her neck. I swallowed hard. The red looked amazing, the fabric clinging to every single curve.
“You ready to go?” I asked. It was all I could do not to wrap my arms around her and see if she tasted as good as I remembered.
Gabi appeared a little shyer tonight. She’d been quiet before, on the yacht, but that hadn’t been shyness so much as when you step into a pool thinking it’s five feet deep when it’s actually ten. That had all quickly disappeared as soon as we’d gotten into the bedroom. Now, though, she was actively shy. She seemed genuinely nervous.
I hoped it was just because she was worried about being discovered. I didn’t like the idea of her being nervous to be around me. I felt a surge of protectiveness that I couldn’t understand. I just knew that I wanted her to feel comfortable and safe.
“Shall we?” I asked, holding out my arm for her.
The gesture made her laugh, and she took my arm. I used it to pull her in against my side, letting her lean into my warmth. “I promise I’ll take good care of her,” I said to Kelsie.
“Trust me, I’ll hear about it if you don’t,” she replied, managing to smile at me while also looking incredibly dangerous.
Gabi blushed and hissed something that sounded like “cut it out” at her friend, and then we were hustling out the door.
“Have fun, you crazy kids!” Kelsie yelled. “And use protection!”
“Oh my God,” Gabi mumbled, burying her face in my shoulder as we took the elevator. “I’m going to kill her.”
“She cares about you,” I replied. “I’d probably do the same thing if a friend of mine was heading out on a date.”
“You’d blatantly yell to them about using protection?”
I grimaced. “Okay, that’s more something Jason would do. I’d just imply it. Quietly.”
Gabi laughed. “I have to admit, I’m glad you came by. Even if it was a surprise. I felt bad about leaving early the other night.”
“Believe me when I say I hated to see you go,” I said, and I found that I was telling the truth. I’d wanted Gabi to stay for the entire party. It had sucked to be cheated out of more time with her, although now I knew why she’d had to leave. It was to prevent us from discovering who she really was.
“You look stunning, by the way,” I added. The elevator doors opened and I led her to my car. It was a smoke-colored convertible, and one of my favorites.
Gabi blushed again. “It’s Kelsie’s dress. I just borrowed it.”
“Well, my point still stands. You look amazing.”
Gabi rolled her eyes. “No need to lay the flattery on so thick.”
“I’m not.” I opened the car door for her. “I’m serious.”
She seemed surprised at that. “Thank you,” she said, her voice soft.
I remembered what Kelsie had said: that men didn’t often do this for Gabi. I had no idea why. She was beautiful. I’d open every door for her if it would get her to notice me. I’d bring her dozens of flowers.
With a start, I realized this was the first time I’d still been as attracted to a woman after I’d slept with her. Sure, I’d had girlfriends, but it had never been as intense after the first couple of times. Those initial moments where you were fucking on every surface because you couldn’t keep your hands off each other, I loved those, but they generally faded within the first month of a relationship. And when it came to the encounters I had at our parties… Well, there was a reason why we were always seeking out new girls. I got bored.
But I wasn’t bored with Gabi. I wanted her just as badly as I had the other night. I wanted to get to know her and spend time with her.
It was a thought that didn’t scare me as much as it should have.
“Where are we going?” Gabi asked as I climbed into the driver’s seat.
“You’ll see,” I replied, grinning at her.
I put the car into gear and drove off, tearing down the street.
Chapter 15
Gabrielle
When I’d seen Liam standing in the living room of my apartment, my first thought had been that I was dreaming. My second thought was that I needed to puke.
I’d suspected that Liam knew where I lived, since Jason had. Every article I’d read about Liam had mentioned Jason as well. They were thick as thieves and had been their entire lives.
But knowing that Liam might know that about me and seeing him in my living room were two entirely different things.
He had given me flowers. Not just any flowers, but red roses, the classic romantic gift. Liam didn’t strike me as the type to give roses. He didn’t strike me as the type to do romantic gestures, period.
After sleeping with the twins, I’d passed out in bed with them for about an hour. Then I’d gotten up, made my apologies, and headed home. Cody and Cameron had been really understanding about it. That whole cliché about Englishmen being gentlemen held true, at least for them. I’d gotten back to the apartment, written and submitted the piece about the hotel opening, and gone to bed.
Today had been all about research.
I still didn’t know if I could go through with the exposé. My conscience was starting to war with me. Was it really worth doing this big story if it could risk damaging Kelsie’s career? And would anyone really take me seriously afterwards? How much benefit would it actually give me?
The more I’d learned over the course of the day, the more I’d called the wisdom of my article into question. Liam se
emed like a decent guy. There was no hint of scandal, from what I could find.
I had managed to find the majority of the other women who’d attended the party. Through them, I’d compiled a list of other women—models and actresses and the like—who’d visited Santa Barbara for a short weekend or so around the time the parties would happen, with no other reason for their visit. After looking into those women and making a few calls, I’d found that none of them had ever uttered a word about the parties.
There were no blog posts, no articles, nothing. And no peep from anyone in the industry. That was, I’d found, the place to look if you wanted to see if a scandal was brewing. It was easy to keep something from the general public, but harder to keep it from your colleagues. It would be one of those “open secrets,” something that people just dealt with and didn’t talk about. But there wasn’t anything like that with Liam, Jason, or the other men. No fraud, no skimming off the top, no bad deals, no drunken misconduct.
One thing that I’d definitely come across was extensive philanthropy work. It seemed that Liam, in particular, was a key supporter of quite a few charities.
I was starting to fear that I’d misjudged the guy. Maybe I was making more out of these parties than there really was. After all, all the sex was consensual, and nobody was involved in a business with anybody else, so there was no risk of conflict of interest.
Then he’d shown up in my apartment and my heart had stopped.
Now I was wearing one of Kelsie’s most daring dresses—the red backless one that she wore when she really wanted to impress someone. It clung to my curves and exposed my back. I’d tried it on once before, so I’d known it would fit, but I hadn’t been prepared for Liam’s look when I’d walked back out into the living room. He’d looked like he wanted to devour me.
I was definitely okay with that.
When he’d taken my arm and led me to his car, I’d remembered how good it had felt to have him in my mouth. The way he’d held out his hand to me to lead me through the yacht. How he was unbearably sexy, but also sweet.
If this night ended in sex, as Kelsie had so unsubtly suggested it would, I was not about to complain.
Liam wouldn’t tell me where we were going. He kept one hand on my knee the entire time, and we drove in relative silence, but it felt oddly comfortable. I was still nervous, but a little less so. Liam seemed relaxed and anticipatory, and the mood was catching. While I’d enjoyed sex with Jason and the twins, I had felt the most comfortable with Liam. I was genuinely looking forward to this dinner. If that was what it was.
He finally pulled up in front of the most exclusive restaurant this side of LA.
My nerves came back in full force. I never dined in places this nice. I heard about them thanks to Kelsie, but I didn’t ever eat here. I just couldn’t justify the expense. Hundreds of dollars for just one meal? No way.
I’d always told myself that when I was finally making it big in my profession, I would treat myself to dinner at a place like this, but it had yet to happen. I was starting to wonder if it would ever happen. My biggest story so far was a potentially unprintable exposé about something that might not be as big of a scandal as I’d initially thought. How was I ever going to get where I wanted to be after so many years of fruitless work?
Liam must have sensed my preoccupation, because he turned his hand over so that he could interlock our fingers and give my hand a squeeze. “You good?”
I nodded, smiling at him. “Thanks.”
He got out of the car and walked around to let me out. Nobody had ever opened the door for me before. I knew that it was ridiculous, but when I hadn’t been on a proper date in, well, ever, it was nice to see him being a gentleman. My last boyfriend had been… Oh Lord, three years ago, and we’d just sort of fallen into dating. There was no, “Here, let me woo you.” I liked that Liam was making an effort to do that.
Even if the idea of dating him was one too dangerous to actually contemplate. I was already struggling with this whole thing. If I did start dating the guy… And who said one date was a relationship, anyway? I was getting way too ahead of myself.
I took a deep breath and got out of the car. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. Shall we?” Liam smiled at me and held out his hand, just like he had on the yacht.
He led me into the restaurant, where it was clear he was a regular by the way the hostess reacted to him. “Mr. Myer.” She smiled. “Welcome back. How are you?”
“Great, thanks. Should be a reservation under my name?”
“Certainly.” The hostess checked her computer, and then Liam leaned over, sliding a hundred-dollar bill toward her.
“We have a lovely table,” the hostess said, her smile growing a bit wider. “Right this way, sir.”
She led us through the restaurant to a cozy table slightly separate from the others, as well as away from the window. I would have liked the view, but I knew that the hostess had sat us away from it on purpose; this way, nobody walking by could see us and snap pictures of Liam Myer with his mystery date.
We sat down and were told that our waiter would be bringing menus along shortly. Once we were alone, my nerves all came rushing back.
“I love this place,” Liam confided. “I know that it’s probably a bit, uh, expected of me. Rich guy loves the most expensive restaurant in the area. But the food really is amazing here. You need to try the salmon.”
“I think you’ll find me a little pickier than most of your dates,” I admitted, even though it probably wasn’t the right thing to say. “My roommate’s a chef and she spoils me.”
Liam chuckled. “Well, we’ll have to see if this place is up to your standards then.”
The waiter stopped by to offer us menus and explain the specials while the busser poured us water and offered rosemary bread. After they left, Liam sat back, obviously relaxed in this place. “The staff are really nice about leaving me alone,” he said. “They treat me politely, but without all the awe and stuff.”
“You don’t like to be constantly reminded of how powerful you are?” I teased.
Liam groaned. “Trust me, it gets tiring. I’ll be honest —the party? I was bored out of my mind until I saw you. The women are gorgeous, of course, but they always act so impressed with me. And I really didn’t do much. I just took over what my father had made.”
“And tripled the profits,” I pointed out. It was only after I said it that I realized I probably shouldn’t be aware of that—but maybe it was common knowledge?
“True,” Liam acknowledged. “But I was raised for this. I took over before I’d planned to, yes, but this was always what I was working toward. I have a lot more respect for people who make it in their chosen field without needing the road paved for them beforehand. Like Jason.”
“His family’s not exactly poor,” I pointed out.
“True, but their influence doesn’t go very far in Hollywood. And even if it did, they wouldn’t support him. His dad wanted him to be a part of the family legacy and Jason’s always refused. His heart is with his stunt work. He started out at the bottom like everyone else and worked his way up. Unlike me; I just…inherited.”
I was shocked at the self-deprecating way that Liam spoke about himself. All that the press could talk about was how successful he was. And he thought that he hadn’t earned any of it.
“You’re being too hard on yourself,” I said, surprised at how firm my voice was. “You could have run the company into the ground. You might not have started it, but you’re continuing it. You think that the president just sits there and says he didn’t found the country so he’s not responsible for where it goes? I admit, I don’t know all about what you do at your job, but I know that everyone thinks you’re a success. And that’s not just because of your dad.”
Liam huffed out a laugh. “You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?”
I shrugged, feeling self-conscious. “When I want to be.”
“I like it.” Liam paused as the waiter c
ame up and we ordered. “You know, I considered going it alone when I was younger. But I really care about the company and I know how much my father cared about it. He wanted to help people.”
“Health in Hand is healthcare technology, right?”
Liam nodded. “Yeah. My father’s mom—my grandmother—died of cancer and he was determined to help create technology that would detect it earlier. He completely changed what his career path was. Before that, he was planning on being a lawyer. Knowing how much he cared about helping people, I knew I had to continue that legacy.”
“I think that you have,” I said. “I can see—you get this light in your eyes when you talk about it.”
“Oh no,” Liam laughed. “What kind of light?”
“A determined one,” I said. “You clearly care a lot about it.”
“I do,” he assured me. “To be honest, though, I care more about Futurescapes.”
“Futurescapes?” I said, playing dumb. This was one of the main charities that Liam supported, according to my research, and one that he had founded himself.
“We spearhead projects to bring better education and scholarships to lower-income areas, sponsoring after-school schemes, better lunches, that sort of thing.” He shrugged. “I know I benefitted from privilege. I had a lot of help and a lot of things were set up for me. Even my dad had my grandfather’s money to help him start the company. I want to try and give these kids a better chance, the kind that their economic situation might not otherwise give them. To balance the scales a little.”
I swallowed hard. That was one of the most selfless things I’d ever heard—and the most attractive. I kind of wanted to jump him at the table for that. “That’s amazing. You have every right to be proud of that. What other projects do you run?”
Power Play - A MFMMM Reverse Harem Billionaire Romance (You Can't Resist a Bad Boy Book 6) Page 13