“Nothing happened,” I say through gritted teeth. “I was cold, and Liam kept me warm.”
Liam, now fully awake, chuckles, his deep, rumbling laugh reverberating to my heart.
“Don’t give me that nonsense about him keeping you warm. It’s roasting in here,” says Lydia. “Probably why he took his shirt off, not that I’m complaining.” She gives him a saucy look, which he blithely ignores.
“Why are you all so loud?” Cat moans.
“I caught these two fragrante.” Lydia passes Cat her phone with the photo of us waking up.
“Whuh?” Cat mutters almost incoherently.
“You know, French for getting it on.”
Liam shakes his head, laughing. The blanket falls from his bare chest when he sits up, giving us all an eyeful. I’m astonished all over again that I slept next to this man and that he seems to really like me.
“I think you mean, ‘in flagrante’ which is Latin,” he says. Okay, it’s not always annoying when Liam corrects people’s vocabulary. “And not at all what you saw.”
“We didn’t even kiss,” I say petulantly.
“True enough,” says Cat. “I stayed up well past two to finish my book. There was a little cuddling and some sweet nothings, but nothing more.”
“How disappointing,” says Lydia.
“Tell me about it,” Liam mutters low in my ear. It takes all of my willpower not to pull his mouth down to mine for a kiss. I would except for Lydia and her phone.
In the morning light. I can see the book Cat read last night. My book,All’s Fair in Love, rests on the nightstand between our two beds. Liam notes the book as well.
“Hey, is that your book?” he asks. For a moment, I freeze, my heart hammering.
“I believe it’s yours,” Cat answers Liam. Oh! He isn’t talking to me. He asked Cat if it’s her book—kind of a weird question. Still, I exhale a big sigh of relief. “I found it in your back seat,” she continues. “Have you read it? It’s amazing. I couldn’t sleep until I finished it.”
Normally, such an admission would make my day, but not today. Because my mind has just reached a terrifying conclusion.
“Wait, that’s YOUR book?” I practically scream to shirtless Liam. He shrugs a sort of yes. “But you don’t read romance.”
“You told me to give it a chance.” No, this can’t be happening. But then again, maybe I’m getting upset over nothing. Maybe he read it and didn’t recognize himself.
“Have you read it?” I try and fail to sound nonchalant. “What do you think?”
“I haven’t read it yet.” Phew!!! Okay, all I need to do is get the book away from him and destroy it.
“Can I see it?” I ask. Cat tosses me the book. “So where did you get this?” I ask, trying to sound casually interested. My book isn’t sold in bookstores. Though you can buy it on Amazon, most of my readers go for the eBook on their Kindle.
“My assistant gave it to me. Apparently, some people think the villain is based on me. Crazy right?”
I’m going to throw up.
“Yeah . . . Totally crazy!”
“I saw it on TikTok,” says Lydia. “Ms. Book Boyfriend. I hate her.”
“I think that’s the lady,” says Liam. “ She put forth the theory that it was written by a disgruntled employee. Reynolds wants me to read it, to see if I can figure out who wrote it.” He turns to me, unsuspecting. “I meant to ask, could it be one of your writing friends?”
“No!” I shake my head violently. “Nope, no way! That’s not possible.” I say all of this in a burst. I know I’m being too dramatic, but I’m freaking out here. I try to speak calmly.
“So... what sort of things is this lady accusing you of?” I’m not sure why I ask. I have a pretty good idea of what people might say. I know all about Ivan Pennington—I created him. And he is arrogant and overbearing, but not scandal-worthy.
“Terrible stuff. Abuse of power, exploiting my employees, preying on women.” Okay, none of that is in my book. Even before I revised it.
