by India Lee
Gathering Amanda with a strong arm around her waist, Liam laughed. The gleam in his dark eyes indicated that he was about to say something snarky but it faded into something else once he held Amanda away from his body to get a good look at her. He raised his eyebrows.
“Hello,” he said to her dress.
Eyes wide, Amanda stared at him and then her hands, which were flattened against his chest. It was harder than she remembered. Broader, too. In all fairness, he did bear some resemblance to marble. Swallowing, Amanda willed her breath to slow down enough so she could speak. “Liam. God, you scared the shit out of me,” she breathed, though the last few words of her sentence faded into gibberish as her eyes roved about him, from his chest to his arms to his neck. Well, shit. For once, the tabloids weren’t lying. He’d gotten big. Huge, even. She blinked, confused by how unfamiliar his body felt under her skin. She was too much in awe to care about the fact that she could actually feel Liam smirking as he watched her get acquainted with his new form.
“I…” Eh, whatever. It wasn’t worth trying to speak when her mind had taken such a decided break from working. And when she apparently had a Spartan warrior for a boyfriend. Biting her lip back, Amanda ran her hands up to his broad shoulders and down to his arms. She delighted in the fact that her fingers failed miserably to wrap around even half of his new biceps. Happy birthday to me, she thought, since apparently, cheesy lines existed for a reason. They couldn’t be helped when someone looked as damned good as Liam did. Tilting her head, Amanda ignored Liam’s amused gaze to watch her own palms return to his chest before sliding down to his abs. She could see her own lashes fluttering like a hummingbird as she ran the tips of her fingers along the new, severely defined ridges of his six pack. Jesus. She exhaled hard and as they did whenever she wanted something, her fingers curled, scratching Liam through his white button down.
Suddenly, he held her wrist.
“Stop.”
Startled, Amanda blinked, feeling her lower lip protrude as she gave Liam a quizzical look. He laughed, gently removing her hands from his body.
“You’re not allowed to feel me up right now. Not while we’re in public and you’re wearing that dress.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to have you up against that wall, that’s why.”
Amanda’s jaw dropped. A grin touched Liam’s lips as he held her chin and eyed her open mouth.
“Don’t make this face either.”
“What — ? Oh!” Amanda slapped his hand hard away from her, the sound echoing loudly in the empty hall. Liam quickly caught her hands, holding them both still with one of his.
“Easy, tiger,” he laughed. “No hitting.”
Amanda failed to fight the huge grin tugging at her lips. “Fine.” She flashed him a look and only then did she really notice his hair. Huh. Despite initially despairing the idea while he was in Jordan, she had to admit that the soldier-like buzz cut looked damned good on Liam, especially since it had slightly grown out at this point. Watching her study him, Liam smiled, wrapping an arm around her waist again.
“So people actually came to your booze-free birthday party. That was nice of them.”
“Mm. Shut up.”
“Ian break a chair over anyone’s head yet?”
“Hey.” Amanda pulled back and gave him a playful smack. “Don’t be mean, okay? He’s really nervous about seeing you tonight. He was afraid you’d punch him in the face or something. I mean that’s crazy, right?”
“I was thinking stomach but if he was already anticipating a mug shot — ”
Amanda flashed him a look. “Liam. Be serious for a second.” She took his hands, holding them at her sides. But her own suggestion suddenly jogged her memory. Amanda blinked, remembering the serious situation that had been at hand before Liam’s arrival to the party. The email. The possible — no, probable — hacking. Her mistake that could very probably turn his career into one massive joke. Her body freezing, she looked up at Liam’s dark eyes, a thick knot suddenly forming in her throat.
“Hey.” Liam furrowed his brows and laughed, touching her cheek. “Don’t make that face. I’m not about to punch your best friend, alright? If I punch anyone tonight, it’s going to be one of those assholes from Pop Dinner. I saw a few outside before.”
“Oh. Wendy said she’d make sure they couldn’t come,” Amanda murmured distractedly. She wanted desperately to tell him about the strange email from herself. But that would be unloading half of the burden onto him and she simply couldn’t. He had only just gotten back and as happy as he looked, Amanda could tell that Liam was tired. Stressed, even. He rolled his neck every couple of minutes, massaged his shoulder between sentences. There were knots and bruises and cuts under that crisp, white shirt of his. She could already see a few peeking out from beneath his collar. More than even Amanda, he needed to relax.
I could maybe tell Ian — nope. Amanda nixed the idea before she could even fully entertain it. Ian was in a good place but it was still a fragile setting. He wouldn’t be able to handle the news.
“Hey.”
Amanda felt Liam’s hand on her chin. She looked up to see a slight frown creasing between his dark brows.
“What’s wrong?”
Amanda stared up at him, her eyelids growing heavy as his other hand combed gently through her hair. Her gaze drifted about his face — that perfect amount of stubble, his perfect jawline, those stupid, perfect lips that always seemed to be slightly twisted up no matter what. He was so ridiculously gorgeous. And he was finally, actually hers. All Amanda wanted to do was enjoy him. It was her damned birthday, after all.
With a small smile, Amanda nodded. “Nothing’s wrong.” She closed her eyes as Liam’s hand slid down to the back of her neck and massaged. Screw the email. I’ll delete my whole account once I get home tonight and it’ll all be totally fine. “I just… want my relaxed weekend with you to start already,” she said, and it wasn’t really a lie. “But otherwise, nothing’s wrong. I’m okay.”
“You should be better than okay on your birthday.”
“My birthday isn’t till tomorrow, technically.”
“Amanda.”
She opened her eyes, meeting his with an attempt at reassurance. “I’m fine.”
“Would this help?”
Amanda let her gaze fall to Liam’s hand, which dipped into his pocket. She squinted at what he pulled out — a thin, steel flask. Thank God, she thought, though outwardly, she gave a teasing cluck. “I see. Breaking my one rule for for tonight.”
“Hey. I just got back from Jordan. I’m beat up. I’m tired.” Liam took her hands and wrapped her fingers around his flask. “I gotta go hang out with Ian in a few minutes.” He gave a little grimace as he started forward, hands in his pockets as he backed Amanda against the wall. “And I have to control myself all night tonight while you’re wearing this goddamned dress. I’m going to need a distraction.”
Amanda bit her lip. She hadn’t even taken a drink yet and she was already hot and lightheaded. “Well, you could’ve called Connor to hang out with you for a distraction,” she said with sass, trying to distract from her sudden breathlessness. “I did invite him.”
“We’ll see him in a few days.” Liam shrugged, his shirt looking about ready to burst at the shoulder seams. “Unfortunately.”
Knowing he would miss her birthday party and first real opportunity to hang out with his best friend’s girlfriend, Connor had scheduled a dinner for them and his own girlfriend on Monday at Lilac, right after Amanda’s big interview with Fleur Magazine. While Liam shuddered at the idea, Amanda couldn’t help being completely excited. A double date. It was the ultimate couple’s activity and she loved doing anything that reminded her of the fact that she and Liam were a real couple. Plus, getting to know the boyfriend’s friends was like a girlfriend rite of passage — one that she missed out on with Brandt since he didn’t really have many close friends.
“Don’t look so excited,” Amanda gi
ggled as she untwisted the cap of the flask and took a swig of the bourbon despite her empty stomach. She could feel it simultaneously burn down her throat and dance up into her head, erasing whatever trace of worry that had been left. It was exactly what she needed. The email was but an afterthought as she watched Liam watch her, leaning back on his heels with his hands in his pockets and his head tilted just so. He lifted an eyebrow as her chug surpassed the five second mark, his hungry eyes drifting to her mouth when she finally tore the flask from her lips, gingerly wiping the wet corners with her middle finger and thumb.
“Come on,” he laughed, shaking his head as he took a step back from her.
“What?” Amanda panted, catching her breath as she handed the flask over. Liam tore his eyes away from her heaving chest.
“Let’s just go, birthday girl.” He nodded toward the end of the hall, his hands still in his pockets but his eyes decidedly elsewhere as he waited for her. Amanda paused, studying Liam and the way his broad shoulders expanded as he rolled his neck, the way his sleeve pulled taut as his arm reached behind his neck to rub his sore muscles. Dropping it to the ground, she let her gaze sweep all six feet and four inches of his body, all the way up to his eyes, which remained fixed on anything but her. Her head light and her body warm, Amanda burst out laughing.
“I see what you’re doing.” Wrapping her fingers around the middle of Liam’s skinny tie, she pulled him back to her, tilting her head to meet his roving eyes. “You’re trying not to look at me.”
His eyes were on the ceiling as he drank from the flask. “Take it as a compliment.”
Amanda hooked her fingers into the collar of his shirt, pulling down to bring herself up to her tip-toes. “It’s a compliment that you won’t look at me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Liam ran his tongue over his lower lip as he laughed, eyes still skyward. “Because your dress looks expensive.”
“It is.”
“I shouldn’t rip it off then.”
A smile twisted Amanda’s lips as she tightened her grip of his collar, her nails scratching the bare skin on his chest. “It was a gift.”
Jaw flexed, his eyes flickered back to hers.
In an instant, Amanda felt her back pressed against the marble wall once again, Liam’s face buried in the crook of her neck. She gripped his muscled forearm, his hand having already slipped between the slit of her dress to cup the back of her bare thigh. A short, sharp gasp escaped her throat when she felt his arms lift her off the ground in one swift motion, his midsection easily pinning her body against the wall. Right. He’s Superman now, Amanda realized, a breathless giggle bubbling from her lips. Holding his chin once again, she brought Liam’s lips to hers, feeling the low rumble of his groan inside her mouth as she swept his tongue with hers. Never really imagined our first time would be in public, but okay.
Then again, maybe she had made the transformation into that girl.
Chapter 2
Happy Birthday, love! I know the party was my gift to you but this is to make up for last night. Had a feeling I should have it messengered here instead of your apartment. ;)
Sitting in Liam’s California king-size bed, Amanda stared at Wendy’s embossed birthday card. Considering the text — and what had happened last night — she could just about guess the gist of what lie within the big white box on which the card had been attached.
“What’s that?”
Looking up, Amanda’s cheeks flushed. Taking up nearly the entire doorframe of the bathroom was Liam, freshly showered with his wet eyelashes spaced into perfect triangles, a white towel wrapped below the V of his hip bones. Amanda blinked at him, doing her best to maintain a casual face. Dork, she chastised herself. What kind of girlfriend of two months hasn’t seen her boyfriend fully naked even once?
Answer: the kind who got walked in on by Wendy Krentz last night. Having gotten cold feet, Ian had left the party early and asked Wendy to alert Amanda, which of course required finding her. And once again, she and Liam were interrupted.
And though she had been ready for about anything last night, Amanda was grateful for the intrusion by the following morning. Something told her that drunk and public wasn’t the type of first time sex she was meant to have with Liam. Plus, she’d pushed it off for long enough at this point — whenever it did happen, Amanda preferred that it happen somewhere private and halfway romantic, with little to no alcohol involved in place of confidence.
“It’s a birthday gift,” Amanda answered Liam, eyeing him as she pulled on the chocolate satin ribbon. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck as he made his way over to the dresser beside his bed. Only he could make those habits completely sexy, and only he could wear bruises the size of coasters like fashionable badges of honor. Amanda felt the ends of her lips curve up as she watched him reach for the drawer. “From Wendy.”
Liam paused in the midst of opening the drawer. A big and surprisingly sheepish grin slid across his lips before he continued. “Oh God.” He laughed and rubbed his jaw as he picked out a pair of charcoal boxer briefs. “Well, aren’t you going to open it?”
“Yep.” Pushing the ribbon off the box, Amanda lifted the top off. And right then, through her peripheral vision, she saw Liam’s towel fall to the ground. Holy shit. Instinctively, her head spun to look at him but by the time she turned, a pair of charcoal boxer briefs was already halfway on his ass.
But only halfway.
Amanda blushed, well aware that she’d been caught looking since Liam paused, leaving them only partially on for a second. Once again, she could feel his upturned lips without even looking. You’re staring at his half-bare ass and he’s watching you do it, you know that, right? She knew but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t know she had a thing for asses until now. Or lower back muscles, or those slanted dimples below them. Biting back both lips, she finally tore her gaze away from him. Eyes narrowed, she looked up at Liam. As expected, he wore the king of all smirks.
“What?” She chucked a pillow at him, which he easily caught.
“We’re dating. You’re allowed to stare at my ass.”
Amanda snorted, rolling her eyes. Still flushed, she decided to distract herself by tearing the tissue paper out of the box in her lap. But when she finally reached her gift, her red cheeks only grew redder. Toweling water off of his head, Liam ambled over to her bedside, staring too at the gift. He lifted an eyebrow.
“That’s more of a gift for me.”
Amanda stared. “I agree.”
Sitting on a bed of caramel tissue paper was the skimpiest excuse for a bra that Amanda had ever seen — three horizontal strips of black lace made up each cup, an inch of nothing between each strip. Which meant flashes of boob and not a whole lot of support, not that support was ever the point of its design. Amanda pinched the thin strips with her fingers to hold the thing up before her wide eyes.
“I… wow. I can’t see myself ever wearing something like this,” she laughed quietly. “Or pulling it off.”
“I can.” Liam grinned at her confusion while pulling on a pair of jeans. “And I have.”
“Really. Where and when did you ever see me wearing anything like this?”
“In my head. While I was in Jordan. Usually while showering.”
Amanda’s eyes fluttered. “Oh.”
Liam laughed, ruffling her hair with one hand as he buttoned the top of his jeans with the other. “Don’t make that face.”
“What face?” she asked, though she could feel the guilt weighing on her brows. She was well aware of the fact that Liam hadn’t had sex for nearly half a year at this point. It was kind of insane. Acting career aside, he was kind of famous for having sex. That was his thing — or at least it had been. Now, thanks to auditions and fake relationships and shooting in Jordan, he’d become essentially celibate.
“That face you make when you feel bad about something.”
Amanda looked at the corset and then Liam. “Well.” She swallowed.
“I do feel weird about the fact that we are together now but we haven’t…”
“Seen each other in months?”
She peered up at him. “It’s kind of you to phrase it like that.” Amanda watched Liam smile quietly as he picked a white T-shirt from his drawer. “Really though. Is this… an issue yet?” she asked slowly, anxiously crinkling the tissue paper in her fingers.
Liam glanced up at her. “Is what an issue?”
“The fact that we haven’t slept together yet. That either I stop it or you’re away or Wendy walks in on us and then we’re exhausted from the party by the time we get home and then it’s back to square one. I know you need it, Liam. You’re a guy and you’re… you. So, is it an issue yet?”
His smile was crooked. The lack of an immediate answer made Amanda’s stomach twist and the laughter in his eye certainly didn’t help. “Nope,” he finally replied as he shut his drawer. She stared dubiously, crossing her arms.
“Liam. Since when were you the type to give one-word answers? That are completely devoid of sarcasm? Or some sort of asshole quality?”
He laughed. “Jesus Christ, easy, tiger.”
“Please tell me if you’re bothered by it.”
Pausing beside the dresser, Liam tossed his T-shirt over his shoulder. He studied her pleading eyes as he made his way to her. “I’m not bothered by it, Amanda.” Bending over, he kissed her lips gently. But when he pulled away, she could see his mouth curved in a smirk. “That doesn’t mean I don’t want to fuck you every second I look at you, but it means I don’t care how long I have to wait.”
“You’ve never had to wait with other girls.”
“There was no point in waiting for the only thing either of us was interested in.”
Amanda pushed her lip out as she considered it. “Fine.”
“Fine.” Liam grinned, whipping the T-shirt off of his shoulder and pulling it on. He crouched down to pull out a brown leather duffel from beneath the bed. “Any other issues you need to take up with me right now?”
Amanda watched him from the edge of the mattress, eyeing the way his thin T-shirt dipped into the crevices of his muscles with every move he made. Her mouth twisted into a wry smile when he looked up at her. “You didn’t wish me a happy birthday yet.”