7
Jaz
Stepping into Liam’s guest room shower, Jaz leaned her head against the cool tile while scalding water rained onto her back. Liam’s words played in her head like a loop.
A spoiled teenager who didn’t get Daddy’s car keys.
She felt like that young girl all over again. Stupidly thinking she could go head to head with Liam Rowen, that she’d be allowed to play on the same teasing playing field where he’d welcomed her brother and his friends. That Liam might look at her and see an equal.
She hated her arousal to Liam’s gorgeous face and low voice. To his powerful body. His powerful everything. She hated how, when he’d bracketed her on that kitchen island, his very presence taking up all the air in the universe, she’d felt her heart quicken and moisture gather between her folds. He’d taken her high without ever touching her.
And then he tossed her away to shatter. Because she didn’t matter. She was a favor Liam owed her big brother. Irrelevant for herself. Worse than irrelevant. A spoiled teenager who didn’t get Daddy’s car keys.
She was twenty-five to his thirty-one now. Leaning her head back, she let the water rush through her hair and scolded herself. Eleanor Roosevelt said that no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Through that lens, Liam wasn’t the problem at all. She was, by giving him that power over her.
That would stop this very moment.
The following morning, Jaz got up at her usual dawn hour, printed out a copy of her training plan, dressed herself for a run, and strode into the kitchen just as Liam coaxed a cup of coffee from his high-tech machine. He turned and looked at her wearily.
“Would you like some coffee?” He held out his cup.
“No, thank you.” She handed him the schedule and started rooting around the kitchen. “Where is your blender?”
“How do you know I have a blender?”
“Same way I know you pee standing up.” She hadn’t meant to joke around with him, but some quips came naturally and she wasn’t going to self-censor herself either.
Liam snorted and pointed to a cupboard. Jaz pulled out the appliance, protein and nutrition powders she’d brought from home, and some ice. Getting the fuel just right before a workout was part of her training routine. “Is there anything on the agenda you feel uncomfortable with?” she asked as she poured her breakfast shake into a glass. “It won’t leave you much room to do other work. The on-site climbing locations have no Wi-Fi signal, but I can shift some of the workouts indoors if you need a computer.”
Liam studied her the way one might consider a new species, then cleared his throat. “It’s all fine. The main company movements are with Trident’s legal team now, so between my phone and home computer, I can be remote for a couple of weeks. Getting out from behind the desk once in a while is good for me.” He glanced at the grid again. “Endurance work, two-a-day practices, skills training, strength training—this is enough to make a pro-football player cringe.”
Now he sounded like her father. In Hugh’s eyes, football was a profession. Climbing was a good hobby.
“Then good thing I’m not inviting any football players to join me. I wouldn’t want to make them feel bad.”
“I played football,” said Liam. “We had to play a sport at the academy, so I played football.”
“You won’t need to join either, beyond the runs. Sebastian helps me train and will belay me at the Clash.”
“He is your pro coach?”
“Something like that.” Unlike pro football where the athletes got crazy salaries for training, Jaz’s money would come from endorsements and prize money. Even Vector Ascent, who was covering her gear and providing a small living stipend, wasn’t going to spring for a coach. That had to come out of Jaz’s empty pockets. Fortunately, Sebastian was a champ and a better climbing partner and supporter than most pros. Time to change the subject. Better yet, to stop talking altogether.
With a few big gulps, Jaz finished her green shake, made a face of disgust, and went to the sink to clean the blender and her glass. “Can you be ready to leave in five?”
As Jaz wound the running route along the sidewalks crisscrossing downtown Denton Valley, she wondered whether Percey and Harkness had given Liam a heads-up about the morning routine. Or maybe, despite his larger size, Liam was used to long runs. Either way, he appeared unsurprised by either the pace or distance and kept up with little show of effort. Which was, Jaz had to admit, somewhat disappointing.
But it didn’t matter. She was not thinking about him. She wasn’t.
Jaz’s phone rang about two miles into the run, and she tapped her earbud to answer, knowing exactly who it would be. “Bastian! Good morning.”
“Good morning, beautiful. Where did you sleep last night? Was he gorgeous?”
Jaz cringed. Sebastian sometimes joined her for the runs, and with everything going on, she’d forgotten to get him caught up on the Liam Situation. She did so now as she ran, acutely aware that the Liam in question was keeping pace about a step behind.
Sebastian listened with unusual lack of comment until she finally came to the end. At which point, he cleared his throat. “I can officially say I’m not qualified to have an opinion on this, but what about Friday night?”
“Friday night?” said Jaz.
“The set-up date you agreed to go on,” Sebastian exclaimed. “I have it all set up with Devante and if you think of backing out now, I’m going to crazy glue your climbing shoes.”
Jaz barely remembered agreeing to something like that before the whole fiasco with Liam started, but she knew better than to blow it off now. Sebastian took dates seriously, and she didn’t want to jerk him around. Though perhaps there was still a way out of this. “Of course I’m not backing out. But my shadow and all that. Wouldn’t it be awkward with three people?”
There. Not her fault at all that this wouldn’t work.
Sebastian groaned, and she could imagine him raising his hands dramatically on the other end of the line. “Can’t he wait outside the door or something?”
“I wish. Plus, even if he could, it would still be awkward. I would rather not start a potential relationship with an explanation of a security detail.”
“I see your point.”
Jaz breathed a sigh of relief, though she kept the sound quiet enough to not be picked up on the phone.
“Let me talk to him,” said Sebastian.
“Yeah, tell Devante I’m sorry and maybe another time.”
“No, not him. Him. The asshat.”
“To Liam?” Jaz nearly stumbled over her own feet. “Why?”
“I have an idea. And you know I’m going to be cranky if you don’t let me give this a good shot. Not after you agreed.” Sebastian’s tone took on a stubborn note Jaz knew well. For a moment, she was going to protest, but then realized there was no point. Sebastian usually got his way somehow, and really, what did she care if he and Liam talked?
Without breaking stride, Jaz took her phone out of its armband and disconnected the AirPods. “My friend Sebastian wants to talk to you,” she told Liam.