Turning my shoulder into Liam, I tilt my head up while keeping my eyes on the room—though away from the prying eyes of my aunt. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
Cool, calm Liam is back. I glance at him briefly to see his eyes scanning the room, his charming smile making my stomach swirl in a different way as he nods to someone. It’s like we’ve been switching places back and forth since we met in the hallway upstairs.
“For Nate, you can.”
Right. Right, we’re doing this for him. And given that we’ve both completely and utterly betrayed his loyalty, and I’ve broken my promise to him, this is the least I can do. It would just be a lot easier if I didn’t feel like everyone’s eyes were on us.
Liam ducks closer to me, his lips near my ear while his hand slides around to my hip. “Later, I’ll show you what happens to good girls who can do scary things.”
My eyes fly to his, big and wide, taking in the mammoth size smirk he’s wearing. “You can’t say things like that right now!”
“Jordan, dear—” A woman’s voice rings out.
My stomach dives again. “Oh no—”
“What?” Liam asks, bracing beside me.
“—I just saw…” The woman’s voice trails off before finishing her thought.
“—my mother.”
Oh lord, this isn’t good. I don’t know how I didn’t think about my mom in this whole thing. Maybe because all we kept talking about were the aunts. Newsflash to all of us, though—she’s part of them. And now, not only do I have to deceive them, but I also have to lie to her. There’s no way this works out if she knows the truth. While she might not be the nosiest, there’s no way shewon’t encourage the others to ask questions if they know I’m single.
The woman wants grandbabies, and she doesn’t think Nate’s going to do it fast enough. If she only knew I wasn’t convinced I wanted them.
“You’re fine,” Liam whispers a second before he turns us both to stand directly in front of her. “Mrs. Miller. Looking breathtakingly flawless tonight. That dress brings out the blue in your eyes.”
Offering his hand, my mother, Elizabeth, takes it while she blushes, watching as Liam places a soft kiss to her knuckles. When he lets go a moment later, she waves at him like he’s too much for her.
“Oh, Liam, you and your antics. You know it’s Liz. Don’t you ever get tired of making an old crow like me blush?”
Please. Antics? This woman lives for his attention. She’s probably the queen of his fan club.
Or is that you these days?
Liam slips his hand effortlessly and inconspicuously into mine as he grins at her. “If I knew of any old crows, I’d love to answer that question. Fortunately all the women I make blush are beautiful goddesses.”
“Okay, Casanova,” I tell him with a laugh.
His lips brush against my cheek so he can whisper only to me, “That’s Bob to you.”
Before I can respond, my mom is clearing her throat. With her eagle eyes glancing to our hands, she clasps hers in front of her chest. Like it’s a tangible thing, I can see hope rising swiftly within her. “Do you make Jordan blush?”
Now, I know that she doesn’t mean it in anything but an innocent way, but the first thing my mind flashes to is how his eyes devour me when I’m naked and before him. I know for a fact thatnothing has ever made me glow as bright red as his all-consuming stare. Just thinking of it sends color racing through my cheeks.
“Ah, the most beautiful goddess of them all,” he replies with a low hum of appreciation in his throat.
Taking a step away from me, he lifts our hands and then twirls me around, showing me off to the entire room. Butterflies erupt in my belly when he pulls me flush to his side, his brown eyes, and all his attention, trained solely on me. Sliding his hand out of mine, it wraps back around my waist, keeping me close to him.
“There’s never been anyone more perfect than this one,” he adds quietly, creating a new swarm of butterflies to flutter within me.
There’s no doubt left. I’m the queen of the fan club.
But he needs to stop with this perfect stuff—at least in public. We’re only supposed to be acting, but I fear that my expressions, and the way he makes me look at him, are going to give us away to those around us that know we’re only supposed to be pretending.
“Mrs. Miller! Haven’t seen you in ages, how are you?” Quinn says from the other side of Liam as she steps in front of both of us. “Would you just excuse us for a moment? I need to have a word with these two.”
Quinn whirls around to us, her eyes bulging. At the same time, a hand that doesn’t belong to Liam grabs my elbow and twirls me toward another warm body. I’m spun straight out the way we came into the busy restaurant. I hardly have time to recognize that it’s Luke before I’m whisked out into the corridor of the hotel where I find Hailey pacing back and forth while Brody has his arms crossed over his chest, a line formed deep between his eyebrows.
