Evidently, I’m stuck with him for the time being.
“Guess we’re engaged.” He doesn’t look happy about this either. In fact, he gazes longingly toward the dining room where all the computers report back status updates about his friends.
A fake relationship?
“I’m not good at pretend. Never have been. It’s one of the reasons I rarely got away with anything growing up.”
“Is that so?” His husky voice whispers across my skin, lifting the fine hairs as it sinks in and wakes up my nervous system. There’s simply too much of him to process.
“My father always saw right through me.”
“What about your mother? She’s the one we have to convince.”
“Mother?” I give a shake of my head. “Not so much. But my father always knew when a lie touched my lips.” I turn my attention to CJ and Sam. “I don’t think I can do this.”
“If you don’t convince them, the lives of those women are at risk.” CJ doesn’t sugarcoat it.
That makes me take a step back. I try to swallow, but there’s a thick lump of fear closing off my throat. If I don’t pull this off—it’s not just those women who are at risk. What’s to keep my family from thinking I’m working with the Guardians?
You could tell them the truth … Liam abducted you.
I could, but that would start an all-out war. The Guardians are not the bad guys in this twisted and fucked up world. It’s the ones closest to me who are evil. They kidnap, then sell, women. Children too, if I understand what Forest said.
Sam glances at his phone. “The car will be here in five.” His attention shifts back to Liam. “Mitzy sent a list of places if you need ideas. You know the drill, keep moving.”
“Got it.” Liam runs his fingers through his hair.
Why something like that is so damn hot perplexes me, but a tiny shiver of anticipation shoots through me.
“Behave out there.” Sam gives Liam a look, then shifts his attention to me. “You’ve got this, Maria. Tonight is simple. All we’re doing is covering up your disappearance, but keep in mind this isn’t a first date between the two of you.”
“What does that mean?”
Liam saunters up to me, the man has the sexy swagger down pat. When he slides an arm around my waist, I flinch and push him away.
He leans down and whispers in my ear. “A couple like us touches … intimately.”
He runs his hand through my hair, twirling the strands around his fingers. Softly, he tucks the hair behind my ear and leans down to press his lips lightly against my earlobe.
My mouth dries up like the Sahara, and I gulp when I get the meaning of what he says.
His heated breath against my skin sends a riot of sensation shooting through me, accelerating my heart rate, deepening my breathing, and heating the skin of my cheeks.
“For example …” Without warning, Liam backs me up against the wall.
Bracing one arm over my head, the tiny sliver of air left between us is a fragile thing, vibrating and humming with need. Like a string stretched taut, it plays a melody that is uniquely him and me.
My heart kicks into overdrive. My skin flames white hot, spiking temperatures in other parts of my body.
He’s magnetic. Unstoppable. He’s determined and dangerous.
What he is … is overwhelming.
And he’s going to kiss me.
He takes my senses and puts them in overdrive, like a drug-fueled high lifting me up. That’s not good because there’s always a precipitous drop on the other side, and I’m terrified of heights.
My head tips back, staring up at him while he leans down. I know where this is heading. I’m unable to stop what comes next. There’s too much power vibrating in the space between us, stirring up physical needs and wants best ignored rather than indulged.
I don’t do pretend, which means I can easily fall for him if I don’t keep my head in the game. Liam’s not only attractive, he’s also a protector, a defender, and a warrior. He’s walking sex on a stick.
I’m in a terrifying free fall. Too vulnerable to be in a position to make rational decisions.
I will fail.
I’ll do something stupid like tumble into his arms, maybe even his bed, and my heart will gladly follow when it should remain locked up tight, safe from his charms.
“Please, don’t.” I press my hand against his chest, pushing him away. Not that I can. The man is a solid wall of muscle, steel beneath skin.
“Princess, if we’re to be believed, this is necessary.”
By this, he means kissing.
Touching.
Intimate things.
How intimate?
“I don’t see how shoving your tongue down my throat proves we’re a couple when there are other things that involve far less slobber.”
“Slobber?” He pulls a face. “What kind of men have you been dating? Trust me, princess, there will be no slobber when I kiss you.”
When.
Not if.
Liam makes that clear.
“How about we table that?” The sudden shakiness in my voice isn’t something I can hide. That right there is why we’re doomed to fail. I’m incapable of covering up my reactions.
“Table what?” He pulls back.
“The kissing.”
“Princess, tonight you and I are going to a few clubs. We’ll visit some bars and stroll down the street. I’ll hold your hand, kiss you senseless in the bar, and grind suggestively against you on the dance floor. My hands will be all over you, and yours should be all over me.”
He already said babysitting me was a shit assignment.
“It’s a bit much, don’t you think?” Maybe I can get him to agree to hand holding and a hug?
“You do get what we’re trying to do here? Kissing is just the beginning.” His left eyebrow lifts and a smirk fills his face.
Our whole goal tonight is to cover up my abduction by pretending Liam and I have been secretly dating.
Shit, he’s right.
The whole groping hands and kissing thing needs to be convincing. I inhale in a deep breath.
“Do that again.” Liam’s low, sultry voice should be bottled as an aphrodisiac. It’s potent, sensual, and smooths away all the rough edges. He’s got the kind of voice you want to wrap your whole soul around.
“Do what?”
“Breathe.” He takes in a deep breath, gesturing with his arm as he sweeps up from his diaphragm all the way to his mouth. His gaze pins me in place while I follow. His hand moves down as he exhales. “Two more times.”
“I don’t—”
“Humor me.” The smile tilting the corners of his lips is soft and gentle, impossible to resist. He takes in another breath while I join him.
We breathe together. Each time, his hand moves from his diaphragm to his mouth and back out again, almost as if he’s pulling and pushing the air in and out of his lungs.
It works.
I hate to admit it, but the slow breathing soothes my anxiety.
At some point during our exchange, CJ and Sam leave us. Too focused on Liam, I miss their departure. I open my eyes after the last breath in time to see headlights flickering through the window as a car pulls around the stately drive.
“That’s our ride.” Liam extends his hand. “How about we slow things down? Begin with holding hands? Graduate to wrapping my arm around your shoulder? Your waist? Move to a hug? I’ll try not to slobber on you when we kiss, but we will kiss.”