Chapter Fifteen
Charlie
Liam paused,breathing heavily. “You’re right. I have to get to the interview and you have to work.”
I nodded even though everything inside me was screaming to keep going. I wanted those clothes off him, wanted to know what it felt like to have his bare skin against mine. More than anything, I wanted to continue what we started, but the annoying blaring from my phone had broken the mood.
“Let me get that,” I said, then awkwardly maneuvered to my feet.
“Tell whoever it is to go to hell,” Liam shouted at my back as I padded to the kitchen on wobbly legs.
Oh my God, I mouthed to myself when I was out of view. I nearly tripped twice as I made my way to the island to answer my phone.
As I hopped on one foot, I swiped at the screen and pressed it to my ear. Whoever it was had better be on their deathbed. “Hello?”
“Charlie, thank God. We have an emergency.”
Liam walked out and now that I could ogle him without repercussion, my eyes feasted on the way his shirt accentuated the lean muscles of his chest. I’d been this close to having my mouth all over him.This close.
“It better be,” I said under my breath and Liam smirked.
“What?” Layla asked.
I turned away from him so I wouldn’t be tempted to drag him back for another kiss. “Nothing. What’s up?”
“My mother is forcing me to attend a mixer tomorrow night with some of her partners from the firm. I need a buffer. Can you come? I promise all the wine you can possibly drink.”
I thought of Liam and what we’d come so close to doing…how much I wanted to do it again. “I’m not sure. Where is it?”
She rattled off the name of an exclusive restaurant. “You have to come,” she said, sounding desperate, which was out of character for Layla, who valued control above all else. “You can’t leave me alone with Dash. His whole family is going to be there apparently and you know how he loves to torment me.”
Dash Hampton was Layla's mortal enemy and competitor in all things from parking spaces and lab partners to grades and prestigious honor society positions. They’d been going at it, and not in a good way, ever since he beat her out as Valedictorian their senior year of high school. He and Liam had become friends since Dash liked to hang around specifically to torture Layla at every opportunity. It would nearly be worth going to the mixer just to see the two of them argue. Ember and I used to joke that whenever the two of them were in a room together, it was like getting free entertainment for the evening.
"Why is he even going to be there?" I asked as Liam came up behind me and pressed a kiss to my neck. I nearly dropped my phone as pleasure zinged across my nerve endings. My eyes shuttered closed. He had to stop doing that or we were both going to be late.
"That's what I said," she fairly yelled in my ear, managing to distract me from my Liam-induced stupor. I carefully edged away from him and glared, but he only smiled in return.
"You have to come," she begged. "Otherwise I may commit murder. Save me." I wasn't sure if she realized how often our conversation turned to Dash, but I wasn't about to bring it up. There was no way she was open to a discussion about why she responded to his goading. Hearing his name was enough to make her rant.
“One second,” I told her, then muted the call. “If you don’t have to work tomorrow with the new job, Layla’s forcing me to go to this thing for her mom’s firm.” I paused, then forced myself to continue. “Do you want to go with me?”
Despite what had just happened between us, my heart pounded in my chest. I’d never risked so much for anyone before. If it had been any other man, I simply wouldn’t have done it. I chose my potential love interests carefully to make sure I wouldn’t get overly involved. Apparently, I couldn’t seem to follow my own rules when it came to Liam.
He adjusted the cuffs of his shirt and glanced in the mirror above the sofa. “Depending on my shifts if I do, I’d be happy to go with you.” When he was satisfied with his appearance, he turned and prowled toward me. “You realize this sounds like a date. You asking me out, Charlie?”
My heart was in my throat. If I had a napkin in my hands it would have been in shreds in seconds. “I know we haven’t discussed it, but we hang out all the time. It wouldn’t be weird if we went together. We don’t have to tell anyone anything. It’d just be hanging out. If you don’t want to it’s okay, I’d understand.”
He smiled and cupped my cheek. “You’re rambling. Of course I’ll go with you. We don’t have to define anything now and we don’t have to tell anyone if you don’t want to.”
I bit my lip. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” He kissed my nose, then crossed the room to bend down and pick up his shoes. I guess one of the upsides about living with him now was I could ogle him at every opportunity without being weird.
I had a feeling it was going to become a habit.
After unmuting the call, I said to Layla, “Count Liam and I in.”
** *
