Chapter 22
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
SOPHIE
I get to see another side of Liam tonight. First of all, he wears reading glasses – something I never knew about him. And damn if he doesn’t look hot as hell with them on the bridge of his nose as he leans over the report I’ve printed out.
He’s taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves so I keep sneaking glances at his strong forearms. Who knew I’d have a thing for those too?
He also can’t stop touching me. He’ll be talking about profit and loss one moment, then he’ll cup my jaw and lean forward to kiss my brow the next.
Then he’ll take my hand, turning it over so he can trace the vein on my wrist, his fingers circling the inside of my elbow which apparently is a huge erotic zone.
Or at least it is for me.
I’m turned on like crazy and trying to concentrate on this submission because I need to get it done as quickly as possible. Luckily he doesn’t seem phased by my gasping response to his every touch.
He’s all businessman and somehow that makes me want him more.
“If you move that paragraph up it will have more impact,” he tells me, leaning across to point at the screen of my laptop. “Remember, they’ll make their mind up before they read the substance. They want you to persuade them that you’re the best choice on the first page. It makes their life easier.”
“Do you make your mind up on the first page?” I ask him, interested.
He gives me a crooked smile. “No. But I’m unusual, I’ve come to learn that. I need the substance before I can visualize whether something is going to work. I don’t trust what I see on the surface.”
He’s standing behind me now, leaning over my chair so he can point out more things to change about my submission.
If it was anybody else I’d probably be annoyed, but this doesn’t feel like micromanagement.
Every suggestion he gives makes my words look better.
And by the time eleven o’clock rolls around I’m actually feeling like I might finish it before the deadline.
“It’s late,” I say to him. “What time do you need to leave in the morning?”
“I have an eight o’clock flight.”
My eyes widen. “That’s like nine hours away. And you’ll have to leave here at six. You need some sleep.” I push closed my laptop, feeling guilty that we’ve spent most of the night on my work. “We didn’t even get to watch Grey’s.”
“That’s not why I’m here.” He takes my hand and I stand, turning to face him. He lifts it to his lips, kissing the inside of my wrist.
My thighs clench.
“I’m not here for that either,” he says as though he can read my mind.
“Then why are you here?” I ask him, my voice low.
“Because I can’t stay away from you. You’re like a magnet.
I’ll be in a meeting about derivatives and then I’ll picture the way your lips curl when you smile and I forget what the hell I’m supposed to be talking about.
Or I’ll be out on a run and all I want to do is keep fucking running to wherever you are.
” He pushes a stray hair from my face. “And yeah, I keep imagining what it’s like to be inside of you, too.
Mostly because I want to know how you feel on me when you come.
I want to swallow your gasps. I want to see your skin flush. I want to smell you all over me.”
“You’re so intense,” I breathe.
His lip quirks. “I know. And if my brothers could hear me now they’d laugh.” His brow dips. “Well, Eli kind of knows.”
“He does?” I’m intrigued.
He runs a finger down my shoulder, pulling me close with his other hand, his palm cupping my waist. “I didn’t understand this pull you have over me. I needed to talk to somebody about it. I hope you don’t mind.”
“What did he tell you to do about me?” I ask him.
“I couldn’t understand why I was still so attracted to you.
Why I couldn’t push you out of my thoughts.
Of course now I understand. It wasn’t just sexual attraction.
It was more. But back then…” He shakes his head.
“I just wanted to stop wanting you.” He pulls me even closer, until our bodies touch.
Then he lowers his face. “He thought I could get over you. He was wrong.”
I lift my head up to look at him. There’s the strangest look on his face. Like he’s not quite sure he can believe he’s here. I’m not sure I can either. It’s hard to remember the man who drove me crazy with his jabs, and teasing, and one-upmanship. This man is completely different.
Maybe that’s why I feel so insecure about this.
“Did he tell you to talk to me?” I whisper.
Liam shakes his head. “He told me to sleep with somebody else.”
I suddenly feel sick. “And did you?” The words can barely escape my mouth. I don’t want to know, yet I do. He’s a grown man and at that point he didn’t owe me anything. He could do what he wanted with whoever he wanted.
And yet I’m completely consumed with jealousy.
“No.” He shakes his head. “I haven’t slept with anybody. Not in a very long time.”
I must look skeptical because he starts to laugh.
“I’m not lying. I know you all think I’m this sex addict who constantly needs to be surrounded by women. But after that morning when I woke up with you and couldn’t remember a thing…” He takes a deep breath. “Something changed.”
“Wait.” I put my hand on his chest. “You haven’t slept with anybody since then?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“But that was months ago. Like almost a year.”
“I know.” His gaze softens. “I’ve done the math.”
“I haven’t slept with anybody either,” I whisper. “It’s been… a while.”
He nods slowly. “It’s wrong to say I’m pleased about that, but I am.” He slides the hand that was holding my waist around to my back, his fingers caressing my spine. “Shall we go to bed?” he asks.
I nod silently. He smiles and takes my hand, leading me down the hallway to my room. I push open the door and pull him inside, glad that I had enough time to change the sheets and tidy up when I got home. I redecorated this room as soon as I moved in and I love the pinks and golds.
“I like your room,” he says, and I flush because I still love it when he compliments me.
“Thank you. Do you want to use the bathroom first?” I ask. “It’s over there.” I point at the door on the far side of the room.
“Why don’t you go first? I need to get my bag, I left it in the hallway.”
“Sure.” I nod. “Sounds good.”
I walk into my bathroom and close the door, leaning heavily on it.
This whole evening has felt strangely domesticated.
He came home from work, I cooked dinner for us, and then we spent the evening working on my report.
If you ignore the fact he also flew for hours to see me, we could be a long established couple.
And we haven’t even had sex yet.
My core clenches at the thought. Has he really not been with anybody in all these months? It’s almost unbelievable that a man as sexual as Liam Salinger can abstain for that amount of time and yet…
It makes my legs feel weak, too. Because he’s not the only one who’s falling here.
I brush my teeth and jump in the shower because there’s no way I’m sleeping with Liam Salinger without being freshly shaved.
But I don’t wash my hair because it takes too long to dry – I’ll do it in the morning before work.
Finally I rub my wrinkle cream and moisturizer into my face and check my appearance in the mirror.
“It’s okay,” I whisper to my reflection who looks as nervous as I feel. “You’ve got this.”
When I walk out of the bathroom Liam is leaning over his bag. He’s unbuttoned his shirt so it kind of flares out, and when he turns to look at me I can see his bare chest, his taut stomach, and the beginning of his hips as they disappear into his gray pants.
He’s absolutely perfect. I think I make a sound like a cat. A kind of a meow that makes him grin.
“You look petrified,” he tells me.
“I think I am.” Why is this man-god obsessed by me? I’m worried he’s going to find me out. Discover I’m just not that interesting. And by then I’ll be in way too deep.
He walks over to me and cups my cheeks with his hands. “We don’t have to do anything tonight,” he says. “Just let me hold you.”
“But I want to,” I tell him. The thought of him leaving in the morning and not having felt him inside of me is too much. “I want you.”
“Let me shower first,” he tells me. “I’m sweaty.”
“I don’t know that I can wait,” I tell him honestly.
He laughs, looking gratified. “You look beautiful.” He trails his finger along the towel where I’ve wrapped it around my chest. “Flushed. Clean. Warm.” He kisses my lips. A sweet kiss, yet it still sets me on fire. “Give me five minutes. I’ll be back before you know it.”
I sit on the bed as he disappears into the bathroom. It’s only a few seconds before I hear the running of the tap and I imagine him stepping naked into my shower. Then I think about last night, about the way he touched himself. My breath stutters.
When he walks out, he has one of my white towels wrapped around his hips and nothing else. His hair is damp, his body as flushed as mine.
“I think that’s the first time I’ve showered without playing with jimmy and the girls in about a year,” he tells me.
I laugh because he knows how to diffuse every awkward situation. I like the way he’s so open, so funny, so real.
I like him. Too much. But I’ll just have to come to terms with that. And to distract myself from that thought, I stand and pull off my towel until I’m naked in front of him.
“Fuck.” His eyes roam my body, and suddenly it’s me who feels like a god. “You really don’t want me to get any sleep tonight, do you?” He walks toward me, his eyes dark, his jaw tight, then to my surprise he drops to his knees.
And breathes me in.
“You’re bare.” His voice is a strangled whisper as his nose presses against the apex of my legs.
“Yes,” I tell him. “For you.”
“Jesus.” He inhales me again, and it doesn’t feel weird like it probably should. He looks transfixed, like I’m a drug to him. His nose brushes my clit and my thighs automatically clench.