“No, Liam, please… don’t.”
He stopped and looked at me, like he was waiting for me to decide something. I slipped off the bed and walked toward him, still wet and warm from the shower.
The look in his eyes caught me mid-step, and I became aware of everything—the damp heat still clinging to me, the robe, how near he was. His gaze tracked over my skin, then pulled back, a fraction too late.
As if I wasn’t already hotenough.
I stopped behind the sofa, ten feet between us, like the distance mattered. “I’m sorry about what I said.”
“Oh—right.” He kept his eyes fixed on mine.
“It was mean of me, and you didn’t deserve it.”
“I didn’t give it another thought.”
If that was true, then how did he know exactly what I was talking about? Butself-control is simply good manners. Very Liam.
I smiled. “Well, okay. I just wanted you to know.”
I couldn’t let that hang between us all night. It wasn’t right.
“Thank you, Andrea. I appreciate it.”
Always so polite whenever anything felt even vaguely uncomfortable. Was that what it was like being Liam, living in his world?
But he wasn’t always like that—not behind closed doors. A shiver ran up my spine and into my chest at the thought of him leaning over me in my bedroom, his eyes dark like he wanted to eat me. God, I had never been looked at like that by any other man. It was the most impolite, exquisite sort of feeling—being too close to the edge.
“I’m sorry.” I gestured to my robe. “I’m not quite ready. Did you need to use the room?”
“I wanted to see if you were okay, actually.”
“Oh… thank you. I’m just reading through this guide from Bonnie.”
“Yes. About that,” he said. “I apologize on behalf of my strategic adviser. It was bad manners. Throw it in the bin if you like. You’ll be the most interesting person in the room regardless.”
I bit my lip as a flush crept up my neck and into my cheeks.
“Thanks.” I laughed awkwardly.
Interesting.Why did that feel even more risky than when he’d called mebeautiful?
“I did have a question, actually,” I said. “Do you know what Didcot Park Community School is?”
“Didcot Park?” His brow scrunched. “That’s Bonnie’s old school. Why do you ask?”
“That’s odd. It’s in the guide. Says I shouldn’t mention it.”
“Mind if I have a look?” He walked across the room as I turned to pick it up off the bed. “Shall we sit?” He gestured behind him to the sofas.
“Here’s fine.”
He hesitated, then sat next to me on the bed.
What was I doing?We’d only just got here, and already I was sitting on the bed with him in nothing but a robe.
Liam flicked through the guide, frowning. Eventually, he said, “Well, Andrea, she’s given you the keys to the kingdom.”
“What do you mean?”
