by Alexia Adams
“What? You’re seeing him again tomorrow?”
“Yup, he’s taking me on a tour of San Francisco.”
“You go, girl.”
“Do you think I’m being a bit rash?” So much for getting some sense knocked into her. Mandy was no help. Lorelei climbed off the bed and paced the floor from the bedroom to the kitchen. Ten steps. Pacing wasn’t going to ease her restlessness. A two-mile jog wouldn’t ease her restlessness.
“You’re asking the woman who agreed to marry a man she’d only known for two weeks. I don’t think I’m the one to lecture you on taking things slow.”
“So you don’t think I’m being overhasty or appear too eager?”
“How do you feel?”
Lorelei heaved a sigh. “Like I’m walking on clouds.”
“Well, be careful, sweetie. It’s a long fall from the clouds. And to be safe, insist on using public transit and only to places with lots of people. And call me when you get back.”
“Okay. ’Night, Mandy.”
Lorelei hung up and resumed staring at the ceiling. If she closed her eyes she could still see Liam’s face, the dimple that appeared in his left cheek when he smiled and the way his brown eyes melted when he gazed at her. Damn, this wasn’t helping.
She’d just give in to the fantasy. Tonight she was going to dream of a tall, dark, handsome stranger who wined and dined her, then disappeared into the night. Tomorrow, she’d find out more about him and if she could trust him. Díos, she hoped she could trust him.
Chapter Five
Lorelei stepped into the coffee shop at precisely nine the next morning. Liam was already there, with a mug of coffee on the table in front of him. As she approached, he stood and her eyes ran the length of him. He was tall, maybe six foot four at least. Today he was wearing a pair of snug jeans that showed off his muscular thighs, and didn’t sag in the back. Díos help her if he bent over. His baby-blue shirt emphasized his brown hair and dark eyes, which at the moment were checking her out.
A smile of greeting curved his lips and the dimple made a brief appearance. Morning stubble covered his cheeks and chin, hiding the cleft she knew was there. He ran a hand through his hair, messing up the too-combed style he’d been sporting. She had a sudden vision of what Liam would look like first thing in the morning, lying on the pillow next to hers. Heat flooded through her body at the thought.
“You are beautiful.” The words seemed to come out of his mouth unbidden and she saw him bite down on his bottom lip. Was that a flush she detected on his cheeks? Her legs went a bit wobbly at the thought that maybe he was as attracted to her as she was to him. She repeated her new decision-making mantra—cabeza, corazón, cuerpo: head first, heart second, body definitely last.
“Thank you.” She didn’t add that she’d been up since six trying on various outfits. Finally settling on a pair of jeans, fitted enough to reveal her shape without cutting off her circulation, and a cotton peasant top with blue flowers embroidered around the neckline. She hoped it said casual elegance and not I couldn’t be bothered.
“Do you want a coffee before we head off?” He stared at her mouth this time. Was he thinking about a kiss? Her lips tingled and she ran her tongue over them. His eyes widened in response.
She cleared her throat before she could answer. “No, I’m good. I had one at home.” No way was she going to risk coffee breath if Liam decided to take action on his thoughts.
“My car is around the corner—”
“I thought we’d take public transit. That way we get the real local experience.”
“Public transit?” Liam regarded her like she’d suggested they crawl on their knees around the city.
“Yes, then we don’t have to worry about parking,” she added, hoping that would seal the deal.
“But, my car…”
“Public transit or I don’t go.” She crossed her arms and waited for him to adjust to the change in plan.
“You drive a hard bargain, lady. I’m going to have to brush up on my negotiation skills.”
Lorelei smiled. At least he wasn’t having everything his way. She was determined, this time, to maintain her backbone. With previous boyfriends she’d given in on everything from where they ate to what she wore, just to keep them happy—to keep them from leaving.
“Great. Let’s get you a one-day passport so we don’t have to find correct change all the time.”
Liam grumbled something she couldn’t understand. After a minute he shrugged off his sulk and started to tease her.
“You’re not one of those environmentalists, are you, who think cars are evil and everyone should ride bikes and wear hemp and bamboo clothes?”
“No, of course not. I had a car in Buffalo. It’s just everything is so convenient here I haven’t felt the need to get another one. And…” She put her hand on his shoulder and stood on tiptoe to get near his ear. “I have at least twenty pairs of leather boots,” she whispered.
Liam stopped walking and turned to face her. “Twenty pairs of leather boots? You decadent woman! Dare I hope at least one pair is thigh-high that you wear with a leather outfit?” Laughter danced in his eyes and a mischievous grin split his face.
“You may never know,” Lorelei said with a smile to match his. Did he have any idea how gorgeous he was? She hadn’t once caught him checking out his reflection in the shop windows they passed. Why did she keep comparing Liam to past boyfriends?
He shook his head as if to get his mind off the image of Lorelei in all leather. “I hope you realize that by making me take the bus you’ve completely destroyed my upper hand. I haven’t been on public transit in years. I have no idea where to go.”
“Then you’re in for a treat,” Lorelei said. Liam appeared skeptical. “Come on, you’re a people watcher. Public transit is a veritable cornucopia of human diversity.”
“Hmm, we’ll see.” He still didn’t seem convinced about the merits of her plan. “Anyway, while we’re in the area we might as well go up Coit Tower, unless you’ve been already?” When she shook her head he continued. “And I suppose you’re going to make me walk up the stairs.”
“Of course. Unless you don’t think you can make it?”
“Oh, I think I can make it.” The look he shot her from under hooded lids said he had the stamina for all kinds of activities. He certainly appeared fit enough.
After ten minutes Lorelei started to slow. By fifteen minutes she was gasping for breath, while he could have been taking a gentle stroll along the beach. “All right, hotshot. So you’re fit,” she gasped out as the finally made it to the top of the hill. “Please tell me there’s an elevator inside and we don’t have to climb more stairs.”
“There is. You can catch your breath while we check out the murals.”
They wandered around the base of the tower and examined the artwork. More than once Lorelei caught Liam’s eyes on her and not the paintings. When she saw the depiction of a family of immigrants by the river, she grabbed Liam’s hand to show him. Realizing the silliness of holding hands with a man she’d only met the day before, she tried to withdraw but Liam tightened his fingers. So by the time they joined the dozen other people waiting for the elevator, they were hand in hand.
When they stood on the observation platform, Lorelei had to pull free of Liam’s grasp to find her camera in her bag. She missed the physical contact and when he put his arm around her shoulder instead, she leaned into him. His warmth, his strength, felt so good she forgot what she was looking for, until she spotted her camera under her EpiPen case.
“The view is spectacular,” she said after snapping a dozen shots through the various windows.
“I agree.” Liam’s voice was soft and low, and Lorelei glanced up to find that he was staring at her and not the skyline. Warmth invaded her body that had nothing to do with the sunshine beating down on them.
“Would you like me to take a photo of you and your husband?”
Liam stiffened at the word husband. Lorelei turned h
er head to find a woman with a small child standing next to them. She’d almost forgotten there were other people around.
“Thanks, that’d be nice,” Liam said, gently taking the camera from her hand and passing it to the woman. “Smile, sweetheart,” he said as the woman lined up the shot.
“There. Lovely picture,” the lady said as she handed the camera back. “You make a beautiful couple. You’ll have gorgeous babies.”
Lorelei glanced up at Liam at the woman’s pronouncement. A shadow crossed his eyes before he blinked. “Thank you.” His voice sounded strained, colder. Or was it her imagination?
He cleared his throat and looked over her shoulder, not meeting her eyes. “If you’ve got enough photos we can head down the Greenwich Street stairs. I think a cold drink and a snack are called for. We’ve worked off the calories on the climb up.”
“Sounds great.” Lorelei said. It was far too soon in their acquaintance to discuss marriage and babies, no matter how often the thought had flitted through her brain during the morning. Díos mío, she was more like her mother than she wanted to think. She only hoped she could make it through the day without dropping onto one knee and proposing.
…
They sat at a small metal table on the sidewalk. He gave up trying not to touch her legs with his. He’d given up trying to stop himself from touching her since she’d slipped her hand in his at the tower. They’d descended the stairs hand in hand, and when she’d stopped to take photos his arm had naturally gone around her shoulders or her waist.
Nope, no touching was no longer an option. Best he could hope for now was to keep to his clothes-on rule. Except the image of Lorelei in leather with thigh-high boots kept creeping into his mind every time he stopped reciting “get a grip” in binary.
“So, where to next, Mr. Tour Guide?” Lorelei sipped a glass of iced tea; her face was slightly flushed from the decent from Telegraph Hill. Still, nothing like it’d be after they made love. Damn, 0100011101…
“Liam?” She put her hand on his on the table.
He coughed, pretending he’d choked on his muffin and not been caught up in an illicit fantasy. “Well, if I had my car I’d suggest we drive over to Golden Gate Park…”
She dug around in her cavernous handbag and pulled out a ratty map. “Golden Gate Park, hmm, we can take the number 10 bus from Sansome and Broadway, get off at Sutter Street and then catch the number 71 at Market and Second.”
“You’re kidding me, right?” Liam swigged his pomegranate juice, wishing it were something stronger. “My car’s five blocks from here.”
“Where’s your sense of adventure?”
Still imagining you in those boots. “It died at the age of sixteen when I got my driver’s license.”
“Niño!” Lorelei stuck her tongue out at him and he had to grip the juice bottle with all his strength to stop himself from pulling her into a kiss. When was the last time a woman had teased him like this? When was the last time a woman hadn’t let him have his own way? There were perks to being rich, but now he was realizing there were pitfalls as well. No woman he’d been with had stood up to him the way Lorelei did. And he liked it.
“All right. As you insist on dragging me around by bus we’d better get a move on. It’s going to take all day at this rate.”
“Hey, you promised me a full day’s sightseeing. Got someplace else you’re supposed to be?”
“Nope. Just wanted to give you the full tour. If I don’t do it right, then the state gets after me and I have to do it all over again.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t be making any complaints.” Her eyes did that quick rove over his body thing they’d done in the coffee shop this morning. Her tongue peeked out of her mouth and licked her upper lip.
He shot to his feet. If she did that one more time he’d drag her to his car and take her back to his place for a sightseeing adventure of an entirely different variety.
An hour and a half later, Liam pulled gently on the oars as they sat in a boat on Stow Lake. Lorelei trailed her fingers in the water, a blissful expression on her face. “This is absolutely gorgeous. I never knew a place like this existed in the city.”
“To be honest, I’ve never been here before, either. I read about it last night and thought it sounded interesting.”
“Are you sure you’re okay rowing? I don’t mind walking around.”
“The view’s better from the water,” he said, distracted. Actually, rowing kept his hands busy and less likely to roam all over her sexy body. He gave himself a mental shake. This was only a game to get into the spirit of Marcus’s character. At least he’d managed to get half a chapter written last night when the hero and heroine first met. It was complete crap and read like a five-year-old had written it, but the words were down. Liam had to give it to his brother. It was slightly easier to write how the main character felt at seeing the heroine, having experienced the same feelings himself a few hours earlier. Today’s adventure had given him further fodder for the growing romance between the characters.
“So, what exactly do you do with computers?” Lorelei looked as though she was trying to keep a grip on reality as well.
“I work for a company that specializes in security. We analyze our clients’ systems for vulnerabilities and then suggest changes or sometimes even create programs to prevent hacks and breaches.”
“Sounds interesting. How do you check for vulnerabilities?”
“We try hacking into their system. The longer it takes, the better their security.”
“Have you ever hacked into a system of someone who wasn’t your client?”
“I plead the fifth on that one,” he said quickly.
She hesitated for a moment then asked, “What company do you work for?”
“IWC Security.” A bead of sweat tricked down his brow and he wiped it with his sleeve. He hadn’t been prepared for an interrogation. Although this is probably what most people talked about at the start of a relationship. Relationship. Even the word sent a shiver through him.
“You said last night they were mega-rich. Have you been with them long?”
“A while now. I work from home at the moment.”
“Do you know William Manning, the CEO?”
Had she found him out? He darted a look at her face but it was serene, innocent. His stomach fell to the bottom of the boat and the trickle of perspiration turned into a torrent. He dropped the oars and splashed a bit of cold water on his arms, giving him time to answer. “I’ve met him. He’s very private, doesn’t get out much. I’ve heard people say that when you look into his eyes you can see lines of code scrolling across.”
Lorelei laughed and the tension in his shoulders relaxed a fraction. He needed to turn this conversation away from him.
“What about you, what do you do?”
“Hmm?” Lorelei seemed lost in thought. “Oh, I’m an Event Director for the Happy Day charity. We arrange days out for children undergoing treatment for long-term illnesses. I organize some of the fundraising events.”
“Sounds like satisfying work. Do you enjoy it?”
“Yes. It can be difficult to come up with new ideas to keep the events fresh, but when I see the smiles on the kids’ faces after they’ve had their dreams come true then all the effort pays off.” A frown creased her brow. But before he could ask what was worrying her, she shrugged her shoulders. “Anyway, it’s not what I really wanted to do in life. I just kind of fell into the job and discovered I had a knack for it.”
“What do you want to do?”
She fiddled with her necklace, not meeting his eyes. “You’ll laugh if I tell you.”
“Now I’m intrigued. I promise not to laugh.”
She looked him full in the face, her gorgeous green eyes wary yet resolute. “I want to be a mom, a wife, and a mom. Ideally, I’d like to stay at home and care for my family, cook, keep the house and garden, that sort of thing. I know, though, in this day and age most wives have to earn money as well.”
A chill swept through him at the thought of marriage and babies. He should stop this charade right now. This was not the woman for him. His chest tightened at the longing on Lorelei’s face and the wistful way she spoke. It had been bad enough when the woman at Coit Tower assumed they were married and said they’d make beautiful babies. To see the same desire written all over her had him wanting to jump out of the boat and swim for shore.
He had to clear his throat before he could draw in the air to answer, and judging by her face, he needed to answer. “I don’t think that’s funny. I think it’s great. Most women want a career at the expense of family life. It’s refreshing to find someone who wants to put her family first.” From the expression of relief that flooded over her face he knew he’d made the right reply. Oddly enough, he hadn’t had to think long before he spoke.
“Was your mom the stay-at-home kind, or did she work?” Lorelei’s innocent question unleashed a torrent of painful memories.
“She worked.” He hadn’t meant to speak so sharply. Lorelei’s smile faded. He plastered a grin on his face and pointed at the shore. “There’s Huntington Falls—you should get a picture.”
After Lorelei snapped a couple of photos, Liam headed back to shore. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Let’s get a bite to eat at the Japanese Tea Garden.” He’d been about to suggest Spruce, one of the priciest restaurants in the area and one he’d frequented before with some dates. That probably wasn’t in keeping with a casual date for a regular guy. There must be a hot dog stand somewhere nearby.
Lorelei was quiet and Liam wished he hadn’t been so abrupt when she’d asked about his mother. She had no idea of the loathing that churned in his stomach when he thought of the woman who had given birth to him.
He took Lorelei’s hand in his and led her along the tree-lined path to the garden. “So, why did you choose to move to San Francisco? Was it your job? Seems a big move if it’s not something you plan on doing long-term.”
“I wanted to leave Buffalo and this job became vacant at the same time. It was a win-win.”
“Well, Buffalo’s loss is San Francisco’s gain.” Oh man, that sounded so trite. Where was the comfortable companionship of earlier in the day? He’d ruined it by snapping at her. He’d have to make up for it with their next destination.