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“Only for two minutes. We ran into each other in the bathroom.”
Ghislaine ran a tight ship, but Taylor said it was all about the media cycle. Liam personally couldn’t wait for that cycle to be done. He imagined she felt the same way.
“What else did Sophie tell you?” Liam asked, sensing there was more when her mouth quirked in humor.
“She also said not to imagine everyone in the audience naked like people tell you to because it doesn’t work. Not. At. All.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Naked, huh? I can’t imagine why someone would suggest that.”
“It’s supposed to distract you from your nerves.” She slid her finger inside the top of his shirt, looser than it might be because he’d forsaken wearing a tie. “But if I imagined you naked—which I do at least six times a day when I need a mood lift—I’d definitely be distracted. Of course, I’d also moan a little on the podium, which would be awkward. Liam, I tossed and turned all night, wanting you.”
He’d had to pull away after she’d tugged his shirt off last night during a movie neither one of them had managed to watch. They’d both thoughtDante’s Peakwould deliver. It hadn’t. “Me too,a stór. And talking about it is not helpful when we need to go soon. Come. At least have some fruit.”
She kissed him before reaching under the table for her shoes and prying them onto her cute little feet. “I didn’t expect you to take care of me like this. I really like it.”
“You went all domestic on me too.” He tossed her an apple, which she caught deftly. “I really enjoyed watching you mutter to yourself while you cooked spaghetti and meatballs last night.”
“I got tomato sauce on my work clothes, and I hear from Ghislaine that she hasn’t yet found a dry cleaner that she trusts.”
Yeah, there was that—they were in the boonies, after all, something she was so not used to. “Despite our lack of modern conveniences like you had in the city, you have to admit this is really working.”
She bit into the apple with the kind of passion with which she did everything. “You mean you and me, right? It really is. Minus the sex we’re not having. But I have it on good authority that the time for that is almost upon us.”
That paused him from biting into his own apple. His mouth went dry as other parts of him roared to life.
She smirked. “Are you thinkingthank Godlike I am? Because I’m close to losing my mind. But I think it’s probably better we didn’t do it before today because I probably would have blanked out while I was giving my statement, thinking about your six-pack and those sexy green eyes of yours as you hovered above me, doing what I can only imagine right now.”
He wasn’t going to ask who the authority was. Sorcha was the only one who fit that bill.
“You want to tell me a little more about those hot visions of us?”
“Not at the moment,” he said with a laugh as she fanned herself.
“Wait! I’m imagining it.”
His phone rang—making her slap her hand over her mouth to cut off her moan. He headed to the counter to see who it was. Mum. He decided not to pick up, as he didn’t feel any urgency to it. She’d been calling before work, saying she wasn’t sure if they’d run into each other at the center. He and Linc were meeting with Tom Sarkesian for the museum after the architect had flown in Wednesday. But they both knew the truth: she was being a bit more mother hen-like lately. Not smother mother crazy, though, thank God.
“Your mom again?” Taylor called, tossing the apple core in the garbage. “How does she feel about us practically living together already?”
He picked up her purse and walked over to her, holding it out. “She hasn’t said anything about it beyond being glad you’re not alone. So far…”
Taylor rolled her eyes. “Whew! I’ve felt a little bad waving to her from the media room. My life has been Ghislaine and whatever media person I’m talking to. Then I collapse in your arms.”
She made a show of leaning back like he’d catch her, so he walked over and enjoyed the feel of her playfully slumping against him. “We’re on a roller coaster right now. It will settle down.”
He took the opportunity to kiss her thoroughly, knowing she’d be putting her lipstick on shortly. Her sigh feathered his lips when he released her mouth, but she kept her arms around him. “When you do that, I forget about feeling a little guilty we haven’t spent time with anyone else. I haven’t even seen much of Sophie.”
“She understands.” He kissed her again softly as he set her on her feet. “Everyone does.”
She nodded and walked over to her purse and took out a lipstick, doing her lips without a mirror, a sight he was surprised turned him on. “Time to get serious. We have a big day ahead with some big fish in town. Including Arthur Hale, all of our illustrious board members, and some other major artists coming to support the center.”
“Yeah, when I ran into Ellie yesterday, she jumped up and down and babbled about someone named Dinara Zalensky coming. I had to look her up.”
“She’s been imprisoned for her anti-government art in Russia. I interviewed her a couple of years ago, before her last prison sentence. Six months for a watercolor. She inspired me to sneak into Moscow and paint a mural about her. It was one of my scariest trips ever. Man, the police are everywhere.”
His sternum tensed. Until this week, he’d been a fairly calm person, but he’d had to increase his yoga and meditations in the morning to counter the surges of anxiety he’d been experiencing. “We’re still learning each other’s stories, I know, but how many trips have been like that?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. A fair number, I suppose. You didn’t look Veritas up? Not once?”
