His eyes lit up. “Really?”
She shrugged. “I won’t melt.”
When the traffic cleared they darted across. They hunkered together, jogging down the street, splashing through puddles like a couple of kids. She squealed as rain pelted her bare shoulders and they laughed like maniacs.
When they neared the car she called, “Unlock the doors!”
He went for his pants pocket.
The rain was relentless. Her feet were already soaked, sloshing around inside her sandals.
“I can’t find them!” he called over the maelstrom.
They’d reached the car and stopped at the passenger door. Liam frantically patted down his front pockets, his back pockets. “Where are they?”
Under the glow of a streetlamp, wet strands of hair hung over his forehead like seaweed. His lashes clumped together as he blinked rapidly. Rain streamed down his neck and under the collar of his shirt. Speaking of his shirt. He was soaked to the skin. And still searching desperately for his keys.
Laughter bubbled up and spilled over.
Liam, still patting his pockets, stared at her as if she’d lost her mind even as a grin tugged his mouth. “Have you gone mad, woman?”
“You look like a drowned rat. Anyway, what’s the rush at this point? It’s not as if we can get any wetter.”
He paused his searching, seeming to take her in: soggy hair, drenched dress. Even though she must look a wreck, she couldn’t stop grinning.
Movement over his shoulder, back toward the restaurant, caught her eye. But it must’ve just been the flashing red light on the corner.
Their gazes connected again, the moment lengthening as their smiles fell away. Something passed between them. Something momentous. Something beautiful. Somethingreal. All those intimacies they’d been sharing flowed naturally into the next logical step.
Chloe reached up and brushed Liam’s wet lips with her own.
***
It might’ve ended right there. But Liam had waited too long for this. He framed Chloe’s face and kissed her with all the passion that had been building over the past two months. All those touches and brushes. All those searching glances and sultry smiles. He was a man who’d restrained himself—but for what he couldn’t seem to remember just now.
He forgot about his reasons, forgot about the rain, and homed in on her lips. So soft and warm and responsive. When her mouth parted on a breath he took full advantage. She emitted a soft mewling sound that lit a fire inside. He turned her back to the car. He’d wanted her like this forever it seemed.
And here was the kicker—she wanted him too. And she didn’t just want Liam Hamilton the actor. Or Liam Hamilton the famous rich guy who could pull strings, pave an easy path, or bail you out of trouble.
She wantedhim.
And he was downright heady with the knowledge. Chloe had never asked him for anything outside of their mutual bargain. But their relationship had quickly progressed from business arrangement to friendship and now to so much more.
She liked him forhim.
The fulfillment of something long denied stirred a place deep inside. He hadn’t realized how desperate he’d been for that validation.For the confirmation that he was more than his fame or his money or the heroic parts he’d played. He was downright drunk on the feeling of being the object of her affection.
“Liam, over here!”
The voice jarred him from his thoughts. From the kiss. He straightened and searched over the top of the car. Through the torrential downpour. To the cameramen across the street.
The buzz he’d been feeling evaporated. He glanced down at Chloe’s shadowed face. It was impossible to read her expression.
Liam suddenly wanted to be anywhere else. On a whim he grabbed for the door handle and found it unlocked. When Chloe slipped inside he spied the keys on the console. He shut the door. And as he jogged around the car he remembered that moment just before the kiss. When Chloe had glanced over his shoulder.
Had she spotted the photographers? Spencer had suggested more PDA—had she taken up the challenge?
Maybe the kiss hadn’t been real.
