Chapter 14 Liam #3
“Oh, come on, darling.” Andrea turned to me. “You might as well admit it.” She looked at the group. “It was Comic Con! I got a tote bag.”
“Comic Con?” Ben asked.
“Yes!” Andrea dazzled with a smile. “Comic Con. You know? The dress-up thing?”
“You mean cosplay,” I added tightly, like that made it sound better.
Hugo’s eyebrows lifted. “Really. That’s how you met? A dress-up thing?”
“Well, yes, but it was … work,” I said.
Brilliant. Nothing screams stability like full-costume foreplay. This was really not helping Hugo’s impression of me.
Hugo’s lips twitched, though his eyes stayed cool. “Not the usual image of a steady hand at the helm. But then … surprises can be instructive.”
Miranda looked delighted. “Oh, how romantic, Liam. Didn’t you start out selling collectibles at something like that?”
Andrea’s head turned like a meerkat.
I smiled thinly. “Yes. It’s a … significant place for me.”
“And what were you doing there, Liam?” Hugo asked. “I didn’t know you were still hands on with that part of the business.”
“He was dressed as Galadriel,” Andrea said cheerfully, patting me on the arm. “So brave.”
Ben made a strangled noise behind his champagne glass. “The Elf Queen from Lord of the Rings?”
Jesus, Andrea. What the fuck—?
“Unusual choice, Liam.” Hugo’s face was neutral. “Confident.”
“Oh, he looked so handsome though.” Andrea put a hand on my chest. “He’s very comfortable in his masculinity. Nothing to prove, right, babe?”
This woman!
“Indeed.”
“He carried a purse.” She smiled. “With rhinestones. It was for his phone, bless him.”
“Elven satchel,” I replied grimly. I had the feeling that distinction wasn’t going to help. Hugo was staring at Andrea like she’d just landed from another planet.
“The platinum-blond wig made him look even more manly, if anything.” Andrea was on a roll. “The way the fibers caught the light … just yum.”
“My … my wig …?”
Ben choked behind me. “Yum?” he murmured.
“It was so cute. And he’d repurposed his Vulcan ears from the Star Trek convention.” She beamed at me. “They flapped around a bit at the top, but how often do you find a man who’s creative and looks good in sheer polyester chiffon?”
“Well, yes,” began Hugo, with a chuckle. “I suppose …”
“I stepped on his cloak, and he fell into a cardboard Death Star,” she continued. “Took out half the display with his arse. But it brought us together. Destiny, really.” She looked up at me and fluttered her lashes.
Unbelievable—she was enjoying this. The absolute witch.
“Oh, but Andrea had already caught my eye.” Two could play at this game. “She was majestic, frankly, in that sexy Chewbacca outfit.”
“My … yes.” Her giggle stopped short.
“The synthetic fur didn’t breathe well, unfortunately. Not ideal, was it, darling?”
“It was … warm.” She stared at me, her smile fixed.
“Very sweaty, as I recall. Started as a heat rash.” I turned to Miranda like we were discussing the weather. “Where the skin rubbed together. But then it evolved. Into more of a … boil?”
Andrea let out a strangled laugh. “Maybe boil is too strong a word, darling.”
“Oh no, it was definitely a boil,” I said. “Could have had its own YouTube channel.”
I gave her a squeeze around the shoulders.
Hugo made a faint choking sound.
Andrea took a deep breath, still smiling. “It’s always the ones with experience in full elven makeup who think they’re experts in clogged pores.”
“Oh, I wasn’t judging, babe,” I said mildly. “I was concerned.” I turned back to Miranda. “I had to lance it for her in the ladies’. Not pretty. But I think that experience made us closer.”
Andrea glared at me, then took a sip of champagne like it was poison.
“Well, this is just adorable.” Miranda was practically glowing. “And you’ve been together ever since?”
“We have,” Andrea said sweetly. “Since Comic Con. It’s been a roller coaster. But I guess that’s love.”
“But Comic Con was … last October?” Ben’s jaw dropped.
Shit. That was … what, nine months?
“Oh, well, we haven’t been in each other’s pockets all that time,” Andrea said quickly. “Liam is overseas a lot.” This woman was just digging us in deeper. I hoped to God Hugo didn’t smell a rat.
“October? Sounds pretty serious,” said Hugo.
A huge grin spread across his face. “Liam, I must say, we’re thrilled for you.
A new chapter in your life. And I know Nick and Juliette will be too.
In fact”—he looked at his wife, who nodded the silent nod of a long-term spouse—“we would love to have you both at the wedding. We had no idea you’d be around.
But now with these local roots, this … stability …
” He smiled at us both, indulgently. “You two are quite the item. It will be marvelous to have you there.”
“Oh absolutely,” Miranda said. “You must come. We insist. It’s at Chateau de Chantilly, just north of Paris, in a month’s time. Nick and Juliette will be delighted. Have you ever been? It’s magical. You’ll love it.”
My stomach turned. France, in a month. If Andrea walked before then, the whole facade would collapse—and with it, my plans for Novexia.
“And a good opportunity for us to discuss your latest business venture.” Hugo nodded, lowering his voice. “I heard you may be looking for certain … dispensations. I’d be interested in hearing about your plans for change. Perhaps legislative leniency may be appropriate. Under the circumstances.”
“That would—that would be great, Hugo, thank you.” The window opened again. Maybe Hugo was a fan of cross-dressing elves after all.
“Say you’ll come,” said Miranda. “We’ll make the arrangements. And Andrea, dear, what a wonderful way for you to meet Liam’s old school friends, too.”
Hugo beamed. “I must say, you two do seem made for each other. Like an old married couple already.”
“Aren’t they?” Miranda kissed him on the cheek. “So you’ll come?”
Andrea’s hand was still looped through my arm, her nails digging just enough to remind me we were in this whether we liked it or not.
A month. Paris. A wedding.
“Of course we will,” she said, her voice bright, her smile tighter than a tourniquet.
I matched it with one of my own. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
Brilliant. Exactly the kind of stability Hugo wanted—and the last thing either of us could deliver.
Miranda gave my arm a final squeeze. “We’ll let you two catch your breath,” she said. “It must be exhausting, keeping a relationship this entertaining.”
“Quite,” said Hugo. “And Liam, if this is the woman you’re building a future with, I must say, she’s not what I expected. In a good way.”
He gave Andrea a last speculative glance, then turned with Miranda and headed off toward the auction room.
Behind us, Ben murmured something to Eliza and steered her a few steps away, casting one last raised eyebrow in my direction.
The second they were gone, Andrea dropped my arm like it had started leaking.
“Well,” she muttered, adjusting her dress. “That was … intimate.”
“Next time you want to paint me as a gender-fluid Tolkien tribute act, maybe check who’s in the room.”
Her smile was all teeth. “You didn’t mind when I was saving your arse.”
“Saving my arse?” Was she on drugs?
“I covered your stupid lie,” she hissed. “She’s with me? What the hell? Maybe next time your hero complex flares up, try a rescue mission that doesn’t involve inventing a girlfriend.”
Was she seriously complaining that I’d stopped her and her sister from getting arrested? The woman was insane. There was no other explanation.
“You’re welcome,” I replied coldly. “Would you rather have been tackled next to the headless badger?”
She folded her arms. “You could’ve just let us leave.”
I stared at her, her deep blue eyes flashing, her full lips still red with adrenaline beneath the gloss.
Had I imagined her trembling before? Had it all been an act?
Bonnie’s warnings rang in my mind. This woman was in sales—false fronts were her day job.
And yet …
Her eyes bored into me with an intensity I couldn’t read.
I could have let her leave. Why hadn’t I?
Christ, she was gorgeous, standing there close enough to undo every sensible thought I had. Fury suited her more than it should have.
“I’m sorry I ruined your night,” I said. My mind was a mess, but it was nothing compared to what we’d just signed up for.
“Oh, not at all.” She glared at me. “Analysis of my imaginary skin conditions with strangers is easily the pinnacle of my social calendar.”
“And the public dismantling of my dignity in front of a cabinet minister is a moment I’ll cherish.”
We stared at each other, tight smile to tight smile, locked into a story neither of us could afford to untell.
A wedding in France with a fake girlfriend who hated me, and a politician with my future in his pocket.
Just. Fucking. Brilliant.