Chapter 15 #2
Offering his hand, my mother, Elizabeth, takes it while she blushes, watching as Liam places a soft kiss to her knuckles. When he lets go a moment later, she waves at him like he’s too much for her.
“Oh, Liam, you and your antics. You know it’s Liz. Don’t you ever get tired of making an old crow like me blush?”
Please. Antics? This woman lives for his attention. She’s probably the queen of his fan club.
Or is that you these days?
Liam slips his hand effortlessly and inconspicuously into mine as he grins at her. “If I knew of any old crows, I’d love to answer that question. Fortunately all the women I make blush are beautiful goddesses.”
“Okay, Casanova,” I tell him with a laugh.
His lips brush against my cheek so he can whisper only to me, “That’s Bob to you.”
Before I can respond, my mom is clearing her throat. With her eagle eyes glancing to our hands, she clasps hers in front of her chest. Like it’s a tangible thing, I can see hope rising swiftly within her. “Do you make Jordan blush?”
Now, I know that she doesn’t mean it in anything but an innocent way, but the first thing my mind flashes to is how his eyes devour me when I’m naked and before him.
I know for a fact that nothing has ever made me glow as bright red as his all-consuming stare.
Just thinking of it sends color racing through my cheeks.
“Ah, the most beautiful goddess of them all,” he replies with a low hum of appreciation in his throat.
Taking a step away from me, he lifts our hands and then twirls me around, showing me off to the entire room.
Butterflies erupt in my belly when he pulls me flush to his side, his brown eyes, and all his attention, trained solely on me.
Sliding his hand out of mine, it wraps back around my waist, keeping me close to him.
“There’s never been anyone more perfect than this one,” he adds quietly, creating a new swarm of butterflies to flutter within me.
There’s no doubt left. I’m the queen of the fan club.
But he needs to stop with this perfect stuff—at least in public. We’re only supposed to be acting, but I fear that my expressions, and the way he makes me look at him, are going to give us away to those around us that know we’re only supposed to be pretending.
“Mrs. Miller! Haven’t seen you in ages, how are you?” Quinn says from the other side of Liam as she steps in front of both of us. “Would you just excuse us for a moment? I need to have a word with these two.”
Quinn whirls around to us, her eyes bulging.
At the same time, a hand that doesn’t belong to Liam grabs my elbow and twirls me toward another warm body.
I’m spun straight out the way we came into the busy restaurant.
I hardly have time to recognize that it’s Luke before I’m whisked out into the corridor of the hotel where I find Hailey pacing back and forth while Brody has his arms crossed over his chest, a line formed deep between his eyebrows.
“I knew you were an idiot, but I didn’t think you had a death wish!” Quinn says behind me as we finally come to a stop.
“What the hell?” I ask, pulling my arm away from Luke’s grip. Not that I have to pull very hard. He’s already letting me go.
“Sorry,” he says, tipping his head at me with a sheepish grimace. He raises his thumbs at both Hailey and Quinn. “They decided I’d be more inconspicuous than the big man.”
Hailey, Quinn, and Brody are glaring at Liam and me. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that they want answers to the blaring questions that we’ve raised by coming in together.
“Neither of us have a death wish,” Liam states calmly with a chuckle. He slings an arm around my shoulders, but it’s far more friendly than intimate. “Jordan and I are dating.”
“I told you Vegas would make him crazy,” Hailey says, throwing her hands up. “He’s gone off the deep end.”
“Bullshit,” Brody grumbles.
Quinn nods her agreement. “No way you guys pull this shit at Nate’s wedding. I know you both look to get a rise out of him, but this would be low. Brody’s right. Bullshit. What’s really going on?”
I can feel Liam ready to take a step forward to challenge the question—ready to get a rise out of everyone—but I step forward, out from under his arm, before he has a chance. Glancing quickly over my shoulder to make sure the coast is clear of anyone who may overhear, I turn back to them.
“Fake dating, and it’s not to get a rise out of Nate. It was Nate’s idea to protect me from the vultures that are my aunts.”
All three of their faces relax as a collective wave of “Oh’s” goes around. Except for Luke. Luke is standing to the side of Liam, laughing.
Luke throws an arm around Liam’s neck, pulling him down to give him a playful noogie on the top of his head. “I frickin told y’all nothing was happening.”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Liam protests, wrestling against Luke. “Watch the hair, Pookie!”
“Shave it and you won’t have that problem,” Luke laughs one final time before releasing Liam from his hold.