Chapter 11
LIAM
B ack in my room, I shed my clothes and hit the shower, quickly soaping up and getting out before my body had too much time to respond to my thoughts.
That dang kiss was on replay in my mind.
It had been so hot that I felt like I could spend the rest of my life rubbing one out and I still wouldn’t be satisfied.
Truth was, London was all I wanted right now. Underneath me. In front of me. On top of me. And yep. I need to stop now.
Groaning, I dried myself off, staying away from my aching cock. The slightest brush would awaken the beast. I strode to my closet and pulled on my favorite trunks and a white tee, then sprayed some “Oceanside” cologne on, knowing it always attracted the right kind of ladies.
Tonight, I needed that type. The ones that were fast and easy, who wanted the distraction as much as I did, and who wouldn’t even ask for my name. Simply put, I need to fuck. No more. No less.
In the meantime, I had to try to convince myself not to try to do that with London . I lay down on my bed and snapped my headphones on, blasting some music through them loud enough to drown my rebellious thoughts.
As I lay there, I drummed out the rhythm on my chest and closed my eyes, mouthing along to the words rock and roll legends had written years ago. It never failed me and it didn’t tonight either. By the time I got up again, I felt decidedly calmer and less likely to follow my dick to war.
Because that was what a relationship with London would be: war.
About everything. Anything. And whatever came in between.
Sweet as she could be, the woman was feisty first and she didn’t ask questions later. Being with her would be a disaster. Repeat after me: Do. Not. Try. Anything.
Aside from the fact that I didn’t know if she was interested in ever even talking about marriage or kids, one of us would end up in a shallow grave long before we got that far. Natural disaster, Jones. I’m telling you.
Back in my bathroom for a quick minute, I rubbed some gel through my hair, giving myself a messy, almost bedhead style before I rinsed off my hands and left my bedroom. As I walked out to head downstairs, I saw a flash of red and tan skin below and frowned.
Who’s in the house with us? Did London invite a sexy friend?
I hadn’t even been aware that she knew anyone here, but as useless as she was at flirting, the girl sure had a knack for attracting people to her. Taking the stairs down two at a time, my muscles bunched, and I had a hard time keeping a straight face when I reached the first floor.
London hadn’t made a friend. The red and tan? That had been her.
In nothing but a bikini top and micro-shorts.
Come to think about it, the bikini is pretty micro too.
A shimmering red fabric, it clung to her full breasts like it was barely hanging on, the strap around her neck containing more support than the triangles over her nipples. I’d seen her in swimsuits before, but this one?
My mouth dried up and I swiped my tongue across my lips, dragging my gaze over her slowly. She was Facetiming with Lorelei by the looks of things, and those gals were always completely engaged in their conversations when they spoke.
Taking a few more steps forward, I lowered my gaze to her stomach, not surprised to find that it was even tauter and more toned than it had been just a couple months ago when I’d last seen her in a bikini. She and Olivia had been hitting the yoga pretty hard before we’d left Houston.
Once she’d gotten back from maternity leave, Liv had loved her “mommy pooch” for all of about thirty seconds. As if the windows in the conference room had shown her something the mirror back at the ranch hadn’t, she’d hightailed it back to hot yoga and she’d dragged London with her.
It had paid off. As London paced in the kitchen, her hips swayed hypnotically.
The shadow of her butt cheeks was visible at certain angles under those damn shorts and her blonde hair swished from side to side, loose, and gold, and beautiful.
I swallowed a groan and willed my cock to behave.
The thin material of my swimsuit would not be enough to hide my excitement.
I had to maintain control, no matter how fucking amazing she looked.
She opened the fridge and laughed at something Lorelei had said. “I’m just looking for some fun drinks to pack, but we might have to stop on the way. Liam is still dicking around upstairs, though. Maybe I should go get him. At this rate, we won’t leave till midnight.”
She looked so good, but I’d had a few blessed moments to calm my raging hormones and think happy thoughts. I strode forward into the kitchen, acting totally nonchalant and chill.
“Don’t believe her lies, Lori.” I went to peek over London’s shoulder and grinned at my best friend’s fiancée. “Hey, stranger.”
“I trust her more than I trust you, Liam.”
“Totally fair.” I nodded. “How’ve you been?”
“We’re good, you? London was just catching me up. It sounds like you two have been busy since you got there. Like little bees.”
Her emphasis on the word struck me as weird, but since we hadn’t really gotten busy in the way I wanted to, I laughed it off. “She has me working from dusk till dawn. Send help, Lori.”
“Yeah, you look real hard at work in those swim trunks, Liam.”
“The dress code is more relaxed here,” I said, shrugging.
She stared up at me, oddly assessing until she sighed and shook her head. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you both if it’s okay if Jerry and I stay with you for a night or two when we get there? Our new rental is being painted, but the realtor said they might not be done on time.”
I moved my head back intentionally and shifted on my feet, pretending to be uncomfortable with the idea. “I mean, after those comments about my swimsuit…”
Lori grinned and rolled her eyes. “You’re so sensitive.”
I laughed. “I’m kidding. Of course, you can stay with us. For as long as you need to. Y’all are family.” I grabbed a drink out of the fridge and cracked it open, glancing into London’s incredibly blue eyes. “We leave in ten minutes. If you miss the truck, you’re on your own.”
“Fine,” London said.
“You’re such a grump!” Lori chided through the screen.
Leaving the girls laughing, I headed to the patio outside the living room. A pleasant breeze swept through the night, gently rustling the leaves and creating jagged ripples on the surface of the pool.
I sat down on one of the lounge chairs, kicking my feet up and taking a sip of my drink. Ever since Nate had asked us to come out here together, I’d found myself thinking of London in different ways than I had in a long time.
Maybe it was living in such close quarters and there were pheromones in the air. Maybe her sun-kissed Florida skin took her from gorgeous to irresistible. I didn’t know what had happened, but something had kickstarted an unquenchable thirst in me. After we got here, it’d only been getting worse.
Now my gaze lingered on her too long. My pulse raced too fast when she got close to me. My body howled for hers.
My phone rang, dragging me out of my thoughts, and I smiled when I saw who it was. “Boss man! This is a surprise. How are you, Nate?”
London’s dad chuckled. “I tried my daughter, but she declined the call, so I figured I’d better try my surrogate son. You answer way more often than any of the girls. Why is that?”
I laughed. “They have more friends than me.”
“You and London are practically stitched together at the hip,” he argued lightly. “If she’s busy, you should be too.”
“Nah. She’s just on the phone with Lori. She said she was going to call you when we got home, though. Did that ever happen?”
“I didn’t warrant a full phone call, I guess. All I got was a text,” he said. “ Convention went great. Update soon. Love ya. ”
“Short and sweet.”
He laughed. “Short, for sure.”
“That sounds about right, though. The convention did go great. What do you want to know?”
“Let’s start with everything and work our way back from there.”
I chuckled. “Well, it’s been a ride so far. I can tell you that much. It seems you made some waves with your announcement that we’d be setting up shop here, though. We had a ton of interest today and I feel good about the number of applications we’ve gotten so far.”
“And the shop is all set up, correct?”
“Yep. Did she not send you the pictures? The colors I picked look amazing. She doesn’t want to admit it.”
“Most of what I’ve seen, I’ve seen from you, but sure. She did send some. Looks good. I like the green.”
Pride swelled through me. “You see? Thank you. I knew you would like it.” I chuckled. “Do me a favor and send that in a text to your daughter. She’ll hate it.”
He laughed. “I’ll consider it. So what are your next steps, then? You have desks but no bodies to fill them and a stack of applications instead of people.”
“We’re sitting down first thing Monday morning to pick our top ten. Once we’ve done that, we’ll start the interview process.”
He whistled under his breath. “Whittling it down to ten right off the bat? Good luck with that. It won’t be easy given the amount of applications it sounds like you received.”
I nodded my agreement. “We’ll take a few more if there are some really strong candidates we can’t ignore, but we’ve talked about the personalities we want in each role and we’ve identified the key roles that need to be filled first. All the rest of the resumes, we’ll keep on file for the next round of hires. ”
“Well, it sounds like you two have got it under control.” I heard the smile in his voice. “I knew you were the right choice for this. You guys have always made an incredible team. Keep up the good work, son.”
“Will do, Nate.”
“Take care of our girl out there,” he said. “Keep her safe. You’re all she’s got in the whole state.”
“Always,” I promised without even having to think about it. “Like you said, we’re a team. Teams take care of each other.”
“I know, but it makes me feel better to keep telling both of you to watch out for the other anyway. You’re liking the house? If you need anything?—”
“Are you kidding? This place is perfect. All we need is to figure out a way to thank you for letting us stay here.”
He chuckled. “You’re building out a new branch for me. That’s thanks enough. Keep up the good work. I’m proud of you, my boy.”
“Thank you. That means a lot. Good night, Nate.”
Once we hung up, I drained the last of my drink and stood, tossing the empty can into the garbage. Heading inside, I could hear London’s voice still happily gabbing to her friend, but I didn’t bother going to the kitchen.
“It looks like you’re going to get your steps in today,” I yelled as I walked through the house to the front door. “See you there, Walker. Which is a fitting name for what you’re about to do.”
I couldn’t hold back my chuckle when I heard her curse and take off running. Sandals smacking against the tiles, she flicked me off when she rounded the corner and I laughed. If there was one thing I could always count on about London, it was her ability to hustle when a situation called for it.
It was one of the things I appreciated most about her, but it was also one of the main reasons we’d never work together. London was all about the hustle.
Me? I was happy to go balls to the wall with it for now, but one day, I was desperately looking forward to getting to settle down.