Liam glanced at the clock on his computer. Then at his watch. Scribbled some doodles on his notepad. Then looked at his phone.

She's late.

He'd compared Ayumi to a lamp in his head. Man, did he feel stupid now.

But in all honestly, she'd always just been a sort of fixture. Someone he'd had to talk to occasionally when Wulf had been busy, and then later, a no-nonsense bookkeeper who cracked the whip on his lazy accounting habits. He liked to tease her, she was good natured about dealing with it, but that was it. They got along on a polite, basic level.

Still, he'd always known she hadn't liked him. She'd been Team Katya all the way, and of course she was loyal to Wulf, so those were two instant strikes against him. On top of those things, he was like the antithesis of Ayumi Nakada. She was punctual and smart and proper and had gone to an ivy league school. Liam didn't ever use an alarm clock, could barely spell proper, and instead of going to college, he'd opted to go surfing. He was a corny, over the top goof ball, who also slept with just about anything that moved. Ayumi was stern and serious.

Though apparently, her morals regarding sex were shockingly somewhat similar to his own.

Ever since his little mistake with Brighton Stone, Liam had been on somewhat of a sabbatical. Fucking around only seemed to get him into trouble anymore. First Katya had made him feel like shit. Then his little arrangement with Lana in building one had ruined everything with Katya. Brie had waltzed into his life right between the two women, and now she wouldn't leave him alone. Women were just trouble.

No sex for a man like Liam Edenhoff was like asking an alcoholic to give up drinking cold turkey. There were nights when he wanted to set his hair on fire. When coming down to the club and picking up random women seemed like a good idea. Sometimes he even caught himself looking at Tori.  She was more like one of his guy friends, a bro, not to mention a dear friend and an employee. If he was considering her as a sexual conquest, times were getting desperate.

So when prim and proper little Ayumi Nakada had oh-so-politely asked him to fuck her, the part of his brain saying “this is a really bad idea” had been completely drowned out by his libido screaming “THANK FUCKING CHRIST, NAIL HER TO THE WALL!”

It had been totally worth it – the sex had been mind blowing – but her personality had almost given him whiplash. First she was shy and quiet, then funny and silly, then suddenly she was taking off her top and throwing herself at him. Strong and confident and sexy as hell. Then she'd done another one-eighty and turned into an insecure bitch. Clearly, she wasn't as comfortable with her little no-strings-attached sex plan as she claimed to be. He was pretty positive that when she came back to work, she would inform him that her little deal with him was off.

IF she ever comes back.

“I can't believe it,” he chuckled to himself. Her little act of bravery and sassiness had been nothing more than liquid courage. He was a little surprised. Ayumi may have been a quiet person, but her silent strength could fill a room. He never would've imagined she'd get embarrassed over something as silly as casual sex.

I guess she wasn't ready for an adventure.

Just as he was thinking that, though, he noticed the knob on his office door turning. He put a huge grin on his face and leaned back in his chair, ready to tease Ayumi until she turned that sexy shade of pink again.

*

LIFE IS SO UNFAIR.

Ayumi hurried down the street, shoving her way through crowds of people. There was some sort of parade going on that she hadn't been aware of – the street which Liam's club sat on was completely closed off. She'd had to park blocks away, downhill. To make matters worse, people had lined the sidewalks, making it almost impossible to get through. She shoved and poked with her attache case leading the way, trying to worm her way along.

Of course she would be running the late the day after making an ass out of herself. She'd been a little tipsy and a lot stupid and a good looking man had been standing very close to her. That was no reason to fuck him! Yet she had – she really, really had.

Ayumi wasn't the type of girl who did things like that, though. She didn't make rash, stupid decisions based on liquor and hormones. She didn't leap into some random dude's bed just because Wulf said annoying things to her.

And she certainly wasn't the type to run away from her problems, which was why she was so pissed about the stupid parade. Liam would take her not being there as a sign that she was too embarrassed to face him. Technically, she was a little embarrassed, but she would never let that get in the way of doing her job. Would never let him wear that stupid, smug smile of his for too long.

She finally got to the alley that led to his club and she jogged down it as fast as her tight skirt would allow. She loved a tailored pencil skirt, but they weren't exactly great for being active. She waved hello to the large bouncer and he held open the door for her so she could keep hurrying through the club.

When she finally got downstairs and was heading for his office, she was surprised to see that his office door was already ajar. Oh no, what if he was already gone for the day? Or in another meeting?

What if he's with a girl?

Ayumi didn't want to take a moment to explore the sour feeling she got in her stomach at that thought, she just continued right up to the door. She paused long enough to straighten out her outfit and run a hand over her hair, then she knocked sharply on the door jam.

“Jesus christ, what is it now? Locusts!?”

She blinked in surprise, shocked at the nasty tone in his voice.

“That's a new insult,” she finally replied. “I've never thought of myself as a plague.”

There was a pause, then the sound of footsteps hurrying towards her.

“Thank god you're here,” Liam breathed as he pulled open the door.

“I'm sorry I'm late, I didn't realize there was going to be a ...”

Ayumi's voice trailed off as she walked across the office. The room looked normal enough, with the remnants of his lunch still spread across his desk. No, it was the new fixture that caught her off guard.

“What are you doing here? Did Wulf send you to spy?” Brighton Stone demanded.

“No. Wulfric isn't even aware of the fact that you and Liam are 'acquainted',” Ayumi replied quickly.

“This is not what it looks like,” Liam finally cut in. Both women turned and watched as he shut the door.

“Oh, it so fucking is,” Brie laughed.

Ayumi frowned. Before last night, she wouldn't have even really considered Liam a friend. Just a guy she worked for occasionally. Now, though, hearing someone be nasty to him, it got her hackles raised. He didn't deserve it, especially not from someone like Brighton Stone.

“That's good to hear,” Ayumi said, flicking her long hair over her shoulder and tossing her case into a chair. Both Liam and Brie looked surprised.

“It ... is?” Liam finally ventured.

“Yes. You're finally telling her you've moved on,” she said. Surprised gave way to shock on Brie's face and confusion on Liam's.

“Moved on? With you?” Brie exclaimed, her eyes bouncing between them.

“Um ... yes?” Liam still seemed to be struggling to catch up.

“I've been telling him and telling him,” Ayumi sighed. “He should just be direct with you, you're a big girl, and what you two had was nothing special. I knew you wouldn't care that he'd gotten involved with someone else.”

“Nothing special,” Brie echoed, narrowing her eyes into a glare.

“But he's such a sweetheart, he was so worried you wouldn't take it well. What were the words you used, Liam? 'Total fucking meltdown', if I remember right. But she seems fine to me. Do you feel like you might have a meltdown?” Ayumi asked.

It did actually kinda seem that way, a little. Brighton's face was turning red, like her head was going to explode at any moment. She clearly wanted to argue. Wanted to really lay out a piece of her mind. But unfortunately, Brie also knew anything she said or did could, and most likely would, get reported directly back to her big brother – aka the guy who paid for her apartment and entire lifestyle.

“Oh, I'm fine,” Brie finally collected herself enough to answer. “In fact, that's the reason I came down here. To tell Liam it was over. I need a real guy in my life, not some man-child. I hope you two have fun together, good luck dealing with his bullshit.”

Before Liam could add anything, Brie had grabbed her purse and was sailing out the door, slamming it shut behind her. Everything was silent for a second, then he burst out laughing.

“Did you really just do that?” he gasped for air. Ayumi shrugged and turned to face him.

“Yes. Hopefully she'll buy it and leave you alone from now on,” she said.

“You know, I didn't think you were going to show up today, and now I find out we're involved. You make me dizzy, Ice Queen,” he chuckled.

“Okay, first of all, we are not involved,” she was quick to interject. “And second of all, maybe cool it with the ice queen references, okay?”

“Cool it? Ice queen? Did you just make a joke?” he guffawed. She stared blankly at him.

“What joke?”

“Never mind. How you feeling?” he asked, heading back to his chair. “Hung over? Embarrassed? Still caught in the afterglow?”

Ayumi snorted and moved a chair to his side of the desk, sitting down next to him.

“None of the above, I'm fine. Let's not talk about it and just get to work,” she said, smoothing her jacket into place before turning his computer monitor towards her.

“Hey, we're involved now, remember? If you want this relationship to work, you have to be nicer to me,” he teased her. She rolled her eyes.

“We don't have a relationship.”

“We kinda do. We're non-friends who occasionally sleep together.”

“Occasionally? One time is not occasionally,” she corrected him. He shrugged.

“Hey, odds are if it happened once, it could happen again.”

Before she could loudly proclaim that no, it would not happen again, there was a commotion in the hallway. Loud shouting from several women. Liam kept the upstairs bar open during the day, but the downstairs club wasn't open until later in the evening. The only people down there were Ayumi, Liam, and some skeleton staff, cleaning and prepping for opening hours.

“If it's not one thing, it's another,” he sighed as he climbed to his feet. “Give me a second?”

Ayumi nodded and stepped out of the way so he could leave.

Once the door was shut behind him, she sank into her seat. What was going on with her!? Up until a few days ago, her life had run like clock work. She got up, she went to the office, she went home, she worked out, she went to bed. Every day was rinse, repeat. It worked for her.

Then, suddenly, Wulf says a couple things that get her hackles raised, and what ... she can't control herself?

Be honest with yourself, this started before Wulf ever said anything.

Since moving to San Francisco, Ayumi'd had several casual relationships. She wasn't interested in anything serious – work came first. She knew a long time ago that hitching her wagon to Wulf's star would take her places, and she wasn't about to let any man ruin that for her.

She had basic needs, though. She wasn't a complete prude. So within two months of buying her apartment, she'd come to an arrangement with a sublet in the floor beneath her. Twice a week, they'd met up for a game of Scrabble and sex. Then he'd met a yoga instructor and had moved to Oregon. After him, there'd been the clerk from the health food store. Then her bisexual personal trainer, and he'd left town over a month ago to join a traveling production of Rent.

She hadn't had sex since then. No one had come along that had piqued her interest, so she'd been pouring all her frustrations into exercising and work. Hence her firm ass and deciding to do accounting for Liam.

Liam.

Before last night, she'd never once considered him as an option. Liam was a non-person to her. He was just ... there. Like a matinee show you only went to if you were bored and had nothing better to do. Funny and good for a laugh, but ultimately shallow and a waste of time. She never thought of him before she walked into his office, and she stopped thinking about him when she left.

Yet Ayumi had to admit, he fit her wish list for the perfect casual affair. They didn't technically work together, he wasn't interested in a relationship with her or anyone, and he was ridiculously good looking. Beyond good looking, he was practically a 3D print of her ideal type of man. Tall and lean and strong. Good teeth, great bone structure.

Jesus, I sound like I'm picking out a show pony.

And now she also knew for a fact that he was phenomenal in bed. Those rumors had all been absolutely true. When she'd woken up that morning, she'd made the decision to tell him it had all been a mistake. Just a drunken, stupid mistake. But after seeing him again and being near him, remembering those moments in that laundry room, she was questioning her decision.

He does fit the mold ...

Her head was spinning from all the thoughts she was having, so it was a while before she realized an alarm was going off. Startled, she got out of her chair and hurried to the door.

When she yanked it open, she couldn't believe her eyes at first. There was water, everywhere. She glanced up and realized the sprinklers were going off. There were none in the office, it seemed, but the ceiling covering the hallway and main bar area had them. She stood in the doorway and watched as Liam stepped out from one of the rented rooms off the main hallway.

“Are you shitting me?” he was yelling. He seemed to be struggling with something, then he finally yanked Brighton into the hallway.

“How was I supposed to know it would set off the sprinklers!?” she shrieked back at him.

“Maybe all the 'no smoking' signs everywhere should've been a fucking tip!” he shouted as he dragged her out onto the floor. “You're fucking paying for any damage.”

“I am not going to -”

“It's your bill, or Wulf's.”

“You wouldn't!”

“Try me. And you can also explain to the fire department why they had to make a trip all the way down here,” he told her.

“You can't make me do that!” she argued.

“Oh, yes I fucking can. Jan, make sure she doesn't go anywhere until the fire department shows up,” Liam instructed his bear of a bouncer. The large guy nodded and basically carried a struggling Brie up the stairs.

Ayumi stood still and watched as a very angry looking Liam prowled back down the hallway. He disappeared into a room for a moment, then the sprinklers finally turned off. She got out of the way as he finally made his way back into his office.

“What happened?” she asked, shutting the door behind him.

“Fucking Brie,” he growled, raking his hands through his hair. He was completely soaked, his black button up shirt now more like a second skin. “Smoking a goddamn joint in one of the guest rooms. Why does she have to do that shit here?”

Ayumi didn't have an answer for him, so she stayed quiet while he walked into his en suite. She listened to the water running and tried to think of something to say.

“She wants attention,” she finally said in a loud voice. “She never got it growing up, so now she does whatever she can to get it.”

“But why me?”

“Because you slept with her,” Ayumi pointed out the obvious. That earned her a laugh and Liam finally reappeared, rubbing a thick towel over his wet hair.

“As good as I am in bed, sweetheart, I don't think I'm quite worthy of stalking,” he chuckled.

Hmmm, that's debatable.

“I don't think you even had to be any good – attention is attention. You were giving it to her, now you've taken it away. She doesn't like that,” she replied.

Before she could say anything else, Liam started unbuttoning his shirt. Ayumi could only stand and stare as he struggled to peel off the clinging material. The wet shirt was tossed onto a counter top, then he pulled open a drawer behind his desk. A fresh t-shirt was laid on the counter, then he started rooting around for something else.

Her eyes wandered over his cinnamon skin and lean muscles. Watched as they moved and bunched together while he fidgeted about in the drawers. Last night the apartment had been dark, the laundry room had been cramped. She hadn't really gotten to look at him. Now she was soaking him in.

“This is a bad idea,” she said, slowly moving so she was behind him.

“What? Oh, jeez,” he was startled when he realized how close she was. “I didn't hear you. What's up?”

“I think you're annoying, and shallow, and you lie as often as you breathe,” she told him.

“Is this like a pep talk, or something? Because you kind of suck at it,” he laughed.

“But you're also nice, and at least with me, you're straight forward,” she kept babbling. If she stopped, she would lose her momentum.

“Seriously, what's going on? It was a weird night, and now it's an even weirder day,” he sighed, turning to fully face her. She glanced at his chest briefly, then stared him in the eye.

“The deal is still on the table,” she told him.

“Oh, your sex-and-nothing-but-sex deal,” he said, yanking the fresh t-shirt on. “I thought you'd rescinded that offer last night.”

“I've had time to think about it since then.”

“Hmmm, maybe I've changed my mind,” he replied, leaning back against the shelving behind him. Ayumi shrugged.

“Okay, good to know. I'll just go find someone else,” she said, turning away from him.

“You give up to easily,” he laughed, pulling her back around. “I would be honored to be your sex toy, your royal Icy-ness.”

“We need some rules,” she said, pressing her hands against him so he couldn't pull her close. “No more nicknames.”

“Oh, c'mon, have you met me? I call everyone by a nickname. Better get used to it.”

“You're very annoying, you know that, right?” she asked. He nodded.

“Yeah. But I make up for it in other ways,” he said, leaning down close to her.

“If we do this, I can't work for you anymore,” she warned him.

“Okay. You're fired.”

“You can't fire me – I'm freelance.”

“Call it what you want to call it, but don't come crying to me when you have to file for unemployment.”

“Rule number two – no more stupid jokes. Seriously, they're so bad, I can't -”

Normally, Ayumi hated it when people interrupted her, but when someone kissed as good as Liam, she figured it was okay. She moaned into his mouth and leaned into him.

“Why so many rules?” he asked when he pulled away to kiss along her jaw. “Are you like a gremlin? Can I feed you after midnight?”

“I don't eat after eight,” she informed him, raking her fingers through his hair. “I won't be meeting your friends. You won't be meeting mine. I don't like people sleeping over at my house.”

“What about where and when I can fuck you? Any rules about that?” he asked, swinging her around so she was the one pressed against the shelf.

“Never at my work,” she replied, wiggling up so she was sitting on the shelf. He barked out a laugh and worked on shoving her skirt up her thighs.

“Afraid Wulfy will found out about your new fuck buddy?”

“Yes.”

“I don't know how I feel about fucking someone who's ashamed of me, maybe I should make you -”

While they'd been talking, she'd managed to get his belt undone. She didn't want to hear any more cheesy jokes, so she bit the bullet and shoved her hand down his pants. He choked on a word as she wrapped her fingers around the base of his dick.

“I think you'll get over it,” she whispered. He let out a deep breath and pressed his forehead against hers.

“You are so different from what I thought,” he whispered back. He had his hands on her thighs and he curled them into fists as she started stroking him.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“At the moment, it's very fucking good,” he chuckled, and suddenly his hand was on top of hers, showing her how to touch him, how fast to move, how tight to squeeze.

“We need to work out a schedule,” she told him, leaning closer so she could trail her tongue down the side of his neck.

“A ... what?” he grunted.

“Schedule. Of when we should meet up.”

“Oh. Uh ... every night should be good.”

“Every night!?”

“And every other afternoon.”

“That much sex would kill a person,” she laughed. He yanked both their hands out of his pants and suddenly he was gripping her head.

“But what a way to go,” he sighed before kissing her again.

She had gone to his office that day with every intention of actually working. They were still in the process of setting up his online bookkeeping software. Business and pleasure should always be kept separate, in Ayumi's opinion.

But right that moment, she couldn't imagine doing anything else. She struggled to take off her jacket while Liam quickly unbuttoned her shirt. Her arms were still trapped behind her back when he was cupping her breasts.

“Your body is sick,” he groaned. “I can't get over it. You shouldn't wear these suits, they hide how amazing you are.”

“Then what should I wear?” she asked, finally flinging the jacket onto the shelf behind her.

“Nothing.”

“You're ridiculous,” she laughed. “And wasting time. I have to be at my real job in forty-five minutes.”

“So we can have sex twice, then go for donuts.”

“That's impossible.”

“You say that so much,” he said, wiggling one hand inside the cup of her bra. “I feel like it's a challenge to prove you wrong.”

“Maybe it is,” she breathed, letting her head drop back as he rolled her nipple between his fingers.

“I think this is the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship, Ms. Nakada,” he chuckled, grabbing her hand and pressing it against the bulge in his pants.

“A long and beautiful partnership,” she corrected him. “And now we're down to forty minutes, Mr. Eden -”

A loud banging on the office door brought her out of her lust-induced fog. She squealed and practically leapt off the shelf, making herself as small as possible, hiding behind Liam's much bigger form. He laughed at her, then looked over his shoulder.

“Yeah?” he called out.

“The fire department is here!” Jan the bouncer yelled back.

“Shit, I forgot,” Liam said, rubbing his hand over his face. “Okay. Okay! Tell them I'll be right out!”

“I can't believe we forgot about the sprinklers,” Ayumi grumbled, buttoning her shirt back up. She looked for her jacket, then remembered tossing it over her shoulder. She turned around and leaned over the shelf.

“This is most definitely 'to be continued', correct?” Liam asked, pressing up against her from behind, forcing her to bend in half. She bit into her bottom lip and nodded.

“Correct,” she managed to say, then she bit down again when she felt his hand sliding over her ass. Her skirt was bunched up around her waist, so his hand was free to move over hip, across the front of her hosiery, and down between her legs.

“Then until 'continued' happens,” he breathed in her ear. “I want you thinking about this all day – understood?”

As his fingers pressed down and moved in circles, she couldn't even think straight, let alone find her voice. She simply nodded her head and pushed back against him, wanting to feel his hardness against her. He groaned and she felt him biting into her shoulder.

Fuck the firemen, Ayumi was fully prepared to finish everything they'd started. It was Liam who shockingly had the will power to pull away. She was still panting and trying to remember her own name while he pulled her skirt into place. Then he smacked her on the ass, hard enough to make her yelp.

“Should be a fun day at the office today,” he teased, all the naughtiness gone from his voice. His words were like a bucket of cold water. She was a soaking wet mess and she had to go to work with Wulf. She swallowed thickly and stood upright.

“Maybe we should make that another rule – never start something we can't finish,” she suggested.

“Oh, baby,” he breathed, coiling his arms around her from behind and pulling her flush with him. “Sometimes half the fun is the anticipation.”

And then he was gone, closing the door to his office behind him before she'd even turned around.

“I am in way over my league,” Ayumi breathed, collapsing into the chair next to her.

She let her head fall back and she stared at the ceiling for a while, trying to calm down. Trying to do the math. By the time he'd be done talking to the firemen and dealing with inspectors and whatnot, they wouldn't have enough time do anything fun. And she wouldn't see him tonight because she had a late meeting to attend, then a pilates class, followed by Bikram Yoga. Then the following day, she would be working in Malibu with Wulf, who knew when she'd get home. 'To be continued' would have to happen the day after tomorrow, at the earliest.

She rubbed her thighs together and glanced around his office. She could go take care of herself. He had a couch, and she knew there was murphy bed in the standing wardrobe. Maybe he'd walk in on her – that could be hot. Or maybe a fireman would, which wouldn't be hot.

No, she'd just have to wait. She was an adult, she didn't have to give into her baser desires. At least not until she was in the privacy of her own home. So she stood up and she straightened herself out and she collected her belongings.

Before she left, though, she looked around once more. If she wasn't going to see him or speak to him for a whole day, she didn't want him to forget about her. Didn't want him working out their 'to be continued' with someone else. She spied his desk lamp, the one that curved right over the top of his desk, and she smiled to herself.

Perfect.