Chapter 5
LIAM
P inks, oranges, and yellows painted the sky as the first rays of sunlight glittered across the ocean. I laced up my sneakers, pulling them nice and tight before I stood up from my bed.
It was already made, the corners tucked in with militaristic precision and the duvet smooth. I ironed out the folds I’d just made with my butt, then grabbed my phone and earbuds and headed out for a run.
Muggy air met me when I opened the front door, leaving the dry crispness of the air-conditioning inside behind.
I smiled and inhaled, breathing deep through my warm-up routine as I turned to look at the ocean.
Gentle waves lapped the shore and the scents of salt and brine wafted through the air while gulls called in the distance.
God, I could really get used to this.
Once I’d stretched enough that I wouldn’t pull anything, I popped my earbuds in and slid my phone into the band around my arm.
Then I took off, quickly finding my rhythm.
I had a whole new neighborhood to explore and it was a gorgeous one, the gardens landscaped and green and the streets quiet at this hour.
London had said she wanted to go to the office early, but she wouldn’t even be awake for hours, so I took my time.
My feet pounded across the pavement as I found my rhythm.
As I ran, I tried not to think about her, but knowing I would be going back to her as soon as I turned around brought the subject I was trying to avoid right back to my mind.
Truth was, London was all I could think about this morning. I’d thought about her a lot last night too.
I remembered the first time I’d met her. We’d been young. Kids. But even then, I’d known she was different from the other little girls I’d known. At the tender age of six, London Walker had been sassy, feisty, fiercely protective, and pretty to boot.
Every year after that, I remembered thinking those same things about her.
She’d never lost any of those qualities.
In fact, they’d simply become more pronounced as time had marched on.
Then, we hadn’t seen each other for a few years, and when our families got together again, we were both in high school and she hadn’t just been pretty any longer.
She’d been fucking beautiful. A heartbreaker. A head-turner. A natural blonde with the most intensely bright blue eyes I’d ever seen, an hour-glass figure that had already started filling out, and a tongue so sharp, it could cut glass.
It had taken me some time to convince myself that I shouldn’t try to get her anyway, but I’d finally remembered that she was still my friend.
Our friendship had started changing though, morphing slowly into the love-hate relationship we had today, but we’d also been closer than ever, texting often over the long periods of time we went without seeing one other.
Eventually, both of us had turned our focus to the future. As soon as we’d started thinking about the seemingly elusive one day , she’d told me that all she wanted out of life was success and to absolutely dominate the marketing world.
I’d smiled and said, “That’s awesome. I want to create my own path, away from my family, with my own career and when the time comes, a family of my own.”
Ever since, that had been the biggest difference between us. She’d always maintained that her focus was her career and success whereas I was focused on those same things now, but I was working toward the ultimate goal of building a family and a life with someone. Someday.
A surprised chuckle came out of me when I reached a main road. Damn, I’ve been thinking about this for way too long if I made it all the way here without even realizing how far I’d gone. Who even cares anyway?
London and I would never build a life together. We’re just friends, right?
Just last night, she’d reiterated that point to our waitress. London didn’t want me and that was a damn good thing.
Determined to stop thinking crazy, I focused on every one of my footfalls as I turned around and went home, and it wasn’t long before I wasn’t thinking about anything at all. By the time I got back to the house, I was feeling much better.
Refreshed. Rejuvenated. Ready to work.
Until I walked into the kitchen and found London in her robe with a short, satin nightgown underneath and tousled hair cascading past her shoulders. She was making coffee, looking half asleep, and I slammed to a stop as soon as I saw her.
The powder-blue nightgown accentuated the swells of her breasts and hips, the hem falling to just below her ass. I could make out the shape of her nipples underneath it, and instantly, my mouth was a desert. With my libido suddenly wide awake and raging, there was only one thing to do.
“London, help! Some swamp creature has invaded our kitchen.” I threw my hands up and formed a cross with my fingers, holding it out toward her. “Don’t eat me! Please, I’m willing to sacrifice my roommate. I just don’t know where she is.”
She laughed. “Shut up. It’s your fault I look like this today. Your stupid music kept me up all night.”
“Stupid?” I widened my eyes at her, blinking purposely fast and hard. “Now I know you’re a swamp creature. There’s no way a reasonable human being would call any of that music stupid.”
“I never said I was reasonable.” Her pouty lips curved into a smile. “We’re going to need to lay down some house rules.”
“I’ve never been good with rules.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s do or die, Liam. I need my beauty sleep and I didn’t get any last night.” Wrapping her fists around her messy hair, she held it out toward me. “It’s your fault I look like this today.”
“It’s definitely not my fault that your taste in music is apparently as bad as your taste in men.” I pumped my eyebrows at her and finally made my feet move again.
Blowing past to the fridge, I grabbed a bottle of water and cracked it open, turning my back on her as I brought it to my lips. I heard her huff out a breath behind me. “I never said the music was bad, Liam. All I said was that it made it impossible for me to sleep.”
“Funny. I find it soothing.” It drowned out my thoughts, which helped when all of them had been about the woman in the bedroom right next to mine. “I’ll use headphones from now on.”
“Thank you.” Although I still wasn’t looking at her, I heard the smile in her voice. “Compromise. I love it. I just wasn’t expecting it from you.”
I shrugged, dragging in a deep breath after swallowing half a bottle of water. I turned to face her. “You made a fantastic argument. You really do need your beauty sleep.”
The lie flowed easily out of me, my lips curving into a smirk when I saw that London-fire flaring to life behind her eyes. “Thanks to you, beauty sleep might not be enough. I think I need to hibernate.”
As I ran my gaze over her delicate features, her perfectly bow-shaped lips and porcelain skin, I wondered just what the hell she’d seen when she looked in the mirror this morning. Because it definitely wasn’t the same thing I was looking at.
“You know, I think you might be right,” I said solemnly. “Why don’t you go do that and I’ll open the branch by myself? It could be fun choosing everything without having to argue about why I’m right.”
“You also wouldn’t have to argue about it if you simply accept that you’re not.” She batted her lashes at me and then spun to grab her bowl of fruit salad from the counter. “Anyway, I just came to get some sustenance. We’re leaving in sixty whether you’re ready or not.”
Sliding her coffee out of the machine, she carried that and her fruit out of the kitchen and headed upstairs. Shaking my head, I lifted the bottle back to my lips and drank down the rest of the water.
After making myself some coffee too, I went to my bedroom and stepped out onto the balcony with my mug in hand, appreciating the quiet of the morning with the only sounds being the gentle lapping of waves on the shore and the gulls calling in the distance.
There was nothing but blue skies and sunshine as far as the eye could see, a whisper of a breeze barely rustling the leaves on the trees.
I sat down and kicked my feet up on the coffee table, totally content to just sit and stare at the swells in the ocean as I had my caffeine.
It was bound to be a long day ahead and I soaked up the peace while I could.
Then I heard London’s shower starting and I groaned, my mind immediately back to picturing her naked.
Yeah, living with her is not going to be easy.
Exactly forty-two minutes later, we pulled up in front of a modern, glass-walled office building and London smiled behind her massive black sunglasses. “Home sweet home. Let’s go see our blank canvas.”
She opened the door and climbed out, slamming it behind her and not looking back as she walked into the building. I scrambled to keep up, but after following her through the revolving glass doors into what was supposed to be our lobby, I wished I’d stayed in the truck.
“It’s completely empty,” I said, so shocked that my voice was weirdly quiet. “Oh, man. This is going to be a lot.”
“A lot of fun!” London cheered, clapping her hands and spinning to face me. “Let’s get to work. Would you like a tour?”
“Can you give one?”
“Yep. I’ll make it up as we go along.” She motioned to a living wall at the back of the lobby area. “Obviously, our reception desk will go in front of that.”
“I think our waiting area should be there.” I jerked my head toward the elevators. “The reception desk should go there.”
London’s chest rose on a deep inhale. Then she planted her hands on her hips and shook her head. “That’s not going to happen, Liam. The path to the elevators needs to be clear and that’s a feature wall. We need to use it.”
“You know, I thought we’d at least get to our actual offices before we started butting heads.” I sighed. “As long as I get a room for my lunch dates with the beautiful women of Miami, you can put the reception desk wherever you’d like. How’s that sound?”
“You want a lunchroom for your sluts? Be my guest,” she said without skipping a beat. “I have a feeling you’ll get stood up a lot, though. This is an office building. Women like to be treated, not made to feel like they’re attending an interview.”
I groaned. “Last night, you were complaining about how often I get hit on. Now, you’re saying I’m going to get stood up. You don’t make any sense whatsoever, London.”
She smirked at me, those blue eyes sparkling in the early morning sunshine filtering in through the windows. “I don’t have to make sense to you, buddy. You simply have to agree that the reception desk goes right over there in front of the living wall.”