“Okay, okay,” he said, holding up his hands. “I believe you.” He continued to smile at me before his expression slowly relaxed. His gaze dropped to his lap before he glanced back up. The look in his eyes took my breath away as he softly whispered, “I guess other women just don’t interest me anymore.”
He held my gaze as his words settled around me. The entire world faded away, and all that existed was Liam and me. My heart pounded in my chest, and I wanted to believe that what he was saying was true. That he wasn’t just flirting with me.
That he really cared for me.
I really needed it to be true, because I couldn’t deny it anymore.
I liked him, too.
14
LIAM
My thoughts were swirling as the car pulled into the hotel parking lot fifteen minutes later. Not only was my head full of thoughts about Sabrina and the conversation we just had, it was also full of what Jonas, my financial advisor, had told me.
Not only did I not have enough petty cash to pull out for Frankie’s good faith money, but Katie had been withdrawing money at such an alarming rate that they’d made the decision to freeze my assets.
When we first broke up, I allowed Katie access to my accounts because I wanted to make sure that Ana was taken care of. I never suspected that she would go behind my back and steal from me.
My heart sank when Jonas told me just how bad things were. Not because I especially loved buying things, but because I wanted to make sure that Frankie was taken care of for good. Now, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to cover the full amount—whatever it was.
It was a strange juxtaposition to go from complete anger to the joy I felt while watching Sabrina’s cheeks flush and her gaze turn shy when I teased her about winking. She had a way of erasing all my frustrations and making me smile.
I enjoyed having that woman in my life a little too much.
When we got up to the hotel room, I took a shower and dressed in my signature ripped t-shirt and jeans. Bonnie had texted that I needed to be on set at five to warm up.
Sabrina was rocking Samuel and eyeing me as I stood in front of the full-length mirror in the living room and put on all of my bracelets and rings. I met her gaze through the mirror, giving her a wink just to watch her blush again.
It was becoming an addiction, watching her reaction to me.
Once I was ready—Bonnie no doubt had my stage outfit waiting for me in my dressing room—I walked over to Sabrina and held out my hands. She studied them before she glanced up at me with a quizzical look in her eyes.
“Go get ready. I’ll hold Samuel.” I wiggled my fingers.
I could see her hesitation, but that only lasted a moment before she nodded and slowly started to stand up. I didn’t even try to stop myself as I steadied her forearms so Samuel wouldn’t jostle too much. Sabrina’s eyes were wide once again when she was standing in front of me, but I didn’t care.
I liked this woman. And I wanted this woman to know that I liked her.
She was centimeters from me now. Her rich brown eyes stared up at me, and the room around us began to fade. Time began to slow as she stared at me. She didn’t look scared. She didn’t look frightened. She looked…content. Nervous.
I smiled at her. “Hi,” I whispered. I feared if I spoke too loud, it would spook her.
“Hi,” she replied.
I didn’t let her go. I was going to stand here and take her in for as long as she would let me.
There was something in the air between us. A crackling and zapping energy. It was intoxicating. My hands were still on her forearms, so I slowly started to slide them up, memorizing the feel of her skin under my fingertips.
This was so wrong and so good at the same time. I was her boss. I shouldn’t be touching her like this. I cursed myself. Yelled at myself to let her go. To walk away. Sabrina was not mine to have. I’d hammered the last nail into that coffin when I asked her to work for me.
I was certain I was committing about a million HR violations, but I didn’t care. I wanted this, and from the heated look in Sabrina’s gaze, she wanted it too.
“I should…” Her voice trailed off as her gaze drifted to my lips.
Damn. That. Woman.
Why did she have to do that? I had convinced myself that she didn’t want what I so desperately wanted. That I was the only one who felt this way. But, now, I couldn’t lie to myself. Not after her gaze slipped back up to mine and I could see the desire that resided there.
