Eight

Claudia

 

 

 

I despise talking about myself. I hated it before when everyone I was around already knew anything and everything about me. And I hated it more now that there was a truckload full of trash Liam could find out about me with a whip of his fingers on a keyboard.

I curled my hands around the white metal railing and squeezed my eyes closed. I needed to tell him.

It was the last thing I wanted to talk about.

Infidelity had a PR team that could disperse information regarding their more famous couples slowly and cautiously, or they could rip it off like a Band-Aid. When it came time, Liam and I needed to come out to the world on our terms, not the paparazzi.

Between his public relations people and Infidelity’s, there had to be a way to get out who he was connected to without causing a further shitstorm for us.

Because for some damn reason, I actually liked the mega superstar. When he wasn’t acting like a jerk, insinuating he could take my body whenever he wanted, and when he wasn’t ignoring me, he sounded like he had his shit together.

Lucky man.

I’d been lost long before I was alone.

Pushing and pulling against the railing, I moved in a semi-push up motion and tipped my head back. The sun soaked into my skin, heating me instantly while the breeze provided enough cool air I wasn’t a sweaty, humid mess.

In the distance, birds chirped and the waves swooshed as they curled into the beach. Even with my eyes closed, I could picture the scene in front of me. Large, exotic plants and palm trees. Teal waters and white-capped waves rolling and brushing against white sandy beaches.

If there was a word to describe how beautiful Liam’s house was, I didn’t know it. And I was a Lit major. Words were my thing.

The gentle swoosh of the glass door echoed behind me and footsteps followed. Of course he’d follow me.

“Where in Georgia are you from?”

I laughed softly and forced my eyes open. Yep, the view was as beautiful. Exotic, romantic…so relaxing I wanted to settle into the wicker chaise lounge and never leave.

“Savannah,” I all but whispered. “Why?”

His shadow fell over my arms and then he was next to me at the railing. Arms crossed over his chest, I was inches from his arm. From him. From his ink that made me want to slide my tongue all over it.

Hot damn. The man was too magnetic for safety.

“Is it wrong to want to get to know the woman I’m spending the next year with?”

A muscle jumped in his jaw and his eyes were narrowed, focused on the sea.

He had a point. “No.”

His arms loosened, and he placed them on the railing, matching my stance. Our hands brushed against each other and he didn’t move to separate them. A current swam beneath my flesh where we touched. From my pinkie finger up my forearm to where the heat of his skin barely grazing mine disappeared under his T-shirt.

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

“For starters,” he turned to me and grinned. That mouth-watering grin I’d seen plastered on magazine covers all over the world for the last several years. “I think I should know your name.”

“It’s Claudia.” Two black brows arched, lines rippled on his forehead and I cringed.

“Is it that hard?”

Yeah, it was that hard.  “Townsend,” I bit out, grinding my teeth together.

“Is there something I need to know?” he asked, turning to face me. One of his hands flew to his hips and the other gripped the railing. LOUD popped on his whitening fingers from his grip.

“No.” The lie was bitter on my tongue and burned my throat, but I did it anyway. My heart tripped as I stared at those letters on his hand, wanting nothing more than to trace them with my fingertip. He had an entire family he loved, it was obvious in the way he spoke of them, and I was a girl who had nothing.

I’d ruin him, and I’d go to hell for it. But I could pretend for a while to be someone else, anyone else. I’d tell him at some point.

His hand on the railing loosened and then he was holding it out to me, like an offering. I turned, took his hand in mine and forced my eyes up.

I was met with seeing beautiful and calculating ice blue eyes that sent shocks of heat straight to me. “Well then, Claudia Townsend.” One side of his lips lifted into a devastatingly beautiful grin. “Liam Allistor. Nice to meet you.”

I couldn’t pull my eyes off his lips. His mouth. The way one of his teeth was slightly crooked, bent over a front tooth in the tiniest but cutest imperfection. And God. His jaw, his nose, his deep-set icy eyes that refused to look away from me.

I was a goner, at least for his body and his beauty.

“Nice to meet you, Liam.” I tripped over the words, my cheeks flushing with heat that had nothing to do with the Caribbean sun shining down on us.

No, it was pure lust and attraction kicking my butt.

He dropped my hand before I was prepared and I swayed toward him before I caught myself.

He noticed though and his gaze fell to my own mouth. It took everything I had not to swipe my tongue along my bottom lip, not to try to pull him toward me.

Good Lord, what was happening to me?

I shivered and pulled away, looked to the ocean but the bright blue on the ocean waters were nothing compared to the chilling blue in Liam’s eyes.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured. He was too close, too far away. Would I ever get off this roller coaster he’d buckled me into without warning and so quickly? I wasn’t prepared. I already knew I wouldn’t want to exit the ride.

And I’d already told my first lie.

It wouldn’t be my last.

“Perfect, polished, stunningly gorgeous.” He listed my attributes like I’d required them. I hadn’t, but I still took them. Tucked them away to a safe place. I’d replay them later with his raspy voice in my mind I could feel moving closer to me.

I shook off the haze of lust. “Liam.”

“But you’re sad. Or lost or hiding. And trust me, sweetheart, I’m going to find out what it is and why, and I won’t rest until I do.”

I jumped at the threat. Turned to him and my hands curled into fists. It didn’t matter how he saw so much, I had to do a better job of hiding it. “What?”

His hand was on my cheek, fingertips brushing a chunk of my hair back and tucking it behind my ear. Adoringly. He watched his own movements and looked at me. Raked my skin with his eyes again and I felt it like he had me in his arms.

“I’m not an idiot, Claudia. You don’t want to tell me something, don’t tell me. But don’t lie to me. I fucking hate it.”

He waited a beat. Or two. My heart slammed into my ribs with a force that had to be audible. I could do nothing but stare at him.

Then he dropped his hand from mine and stepped back, rubbing the back of his neck, like he did so often. Nervous tick, maybe? I didn’t care.

I so cared.

He turned and pulled open the door to the bedroom with more force than necessary. “I’ll give you time to get settled. There’s a closet and dresser full of clothes for you. Help yourself and I’ll get food ready.”

Then he was gone, leaving me alone.

“Crap,” I whispered into the humid air and turned back to the ocean. “You made a mess of that, Claudia.”

The view had no answer for me. No vocal advice to give me as I stared at the waters, them seeming less beautiful when all I could see was the disappointment in Liam’s eyes.

What did it matter? He was paying me. I was playing a part. There weren’t emotions involved in this.

I couldn’t let there be.

“Stay focused,” I murmured. “And then be free to do whatever the heck you want.”

I nodded once. As far as pep talks went, it sucked, but it was all I had. I left the view of the ocean and returned to my room. I’d dressed in linen shorts for the trip and they were now wrinkly from the airplane ride. I wanted a quick shower, a change of clothes, and a few moments to pull myself together.

Then I’d head down to the kitchen and tell the truth. Coming from me would be better than hearing it from someone else.