An arm appears out of nowhere around my shoulders, dragging me into a warm body. There’s no danger of me stumbling. The body holds me up as one of my hands comes into contact with a firm stomach. At the same time, my eyes meet a pair of familiar light brown ones that belong to the sexiest firefighter I’ve ever met.
“Hey babe,” Liam grins at me, placing a kiss to the tip of my nose.
The second the words are out of his mouth my entire body sags against him. The tension created from running into Paul may have been the only thing holding me up before Liam came along.
“Hi,” I breathe, the relief tangible.
No words are needed between us. From the tilt of his chin to the lift of his lip, and the gleam in his eye. He’s got this. He’s got me.
His attention turns to Paul, and he holds up a finger. “Douchebag!” Liam exclaims in his cheeriest voice.
For half a second Paul sputters. “Wh-what the fuck did you just say?”
There’s one thing Paul hates and that’s to be challenged. Through our entire relationship, I kept everyone I knew from confronting him because I knew I would never hear the end of it. I sheltered him from so much. Maybe if I hadn’t, he would have treated me better. Or maybe things would have ended sooner.
“Paul, right?” Liam self-corrects with a smile that says Paul heard him correctly the first time.
Paul’s eyes move between the two of us, his finger waving back and forth. “What is this? The two of you are together now?”
Liam doesn’t answer with words. Instead, he tugs me closer to his side, planting his lips against my cheek. I turn my head toward him, wishing more than anything he would kiss the hell out of me so I would forget everything about this moment. He can read it in my eyes, but instead of giving me what I want—need—his fingertips touch my chin, and he gives me a smile unlike his signature grin. This is soft. Tender. Unguarded.
It feels like this smile is just for me. Like no one else has ever seen it.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Paul spits irritably, a tinge of venom in his voice. “Jordan, you realize how many women this idiot has been with? It’s got to be five hundred.”
With more patience than I would have given him credit for, Liam’s eyes close and he takes a breath. When they open again they’re full of ire, and he turns them on Paul.
The scary thing, seeing the rage in his eyes, is how calm and smooth his voice is when he speaks. “Which makes Jordan five-o-one.”
The smile that crosses Liam’s face and touches his eyes is sinister. It’s like all those times that he had to be held back from punching Paul in the face are coming out to play. It worries me enough that I want to look around for Nate, or Brody, or someone that may be able to pull Liam off Paul if it came to that.
But he surprises me.
His fingertips touch my chin again, his attention back on me, the smile—the one only for me—back in place. “All it takes is one perfect woman to make a guy want to change his entire life.”
If I didn’t know this whole week was leading nowhere, and it wasn’t all about the sex, I would believe every single word. I needto remember that this is all an act.
And I need to act back.
“That’s exactly right,” I tell him, wrapping my arms around his torso, locking my fingers together at his side. Looking at Paul, I offer him as pleasant a smile as I can muster. “You’ll have to excuse us. We’re late to a show.”
“Make sure you get yourself tested, Jordan. Who knows what this fuck is carrying around with all the pussy he’s seen,” Paul hurls at us, trying to get under Liam’s skin.
“I get tested regularly, man.” He takes half a step towards Paul, breaking the lock of my arms. He leans towards him to pretend to whisper while Paul takes a step backwards. “I hope you do too with all the cheating you do. STDs could get you caught.”
Digging in his pocket, Liam pulls out a condom and tosses it at him. “Here, this will help. Keep the world safe. Don’t reproduce.” Then he snaps his fingers. “Shit man, sorry. It’s probably way too big. My bad.”
With his arm still around my shoulders, he turns us in the direction of the casino bar, sauntering toward it. I want to take off at a run, but Liam is deliberate in his steps. I can’t take my eyes off him. He’s the epitome of cool and collected, not allowing Paul to see he’s had any effect on him. Or me.
Actually, probably me. Liam doesn’t seem bothered in the least by any of it. It damn near looked like a game to him. One he enjoyed immensely.
“How did—”
“Just walk,” he says as casually as one of his steps.
Tearing my eyes away from him, I’m met with Nate coming towards us at a quick clip. The furrow in his brow tells me he either saw Paul, or he’s pissed that Liam and I are walking like we’re a couple.
The first thing out of his mouth confirms it was the former. “Are you okay?”
