It's a peasant top that keeps my breasts slightly separated and away from him. I look down and he looks up at me, silently asking permission.
I smile and wait for him to act. It's all the consent that he needs and he slides his hand firmly under my bra.
His body reacts against mine. I feel the hardness of it. It's almost as if it's made out of marble.
Beautiful on the outside and yet hard and imposing when up close.
The muscles in his stomach contract and retract with each breath, forming that elusive six pack and then disappearing all in a mere moment.
I run my fingers up and down the washboard abs, noticing how big he seems in comparison to me.
I'm not very tall and I'm not very thin, yet he towers over me.
Continuing to kiss me, he pulls down on my blouse exposing my breast. He takes my nipple expertly between his lips and kisses it gently. I run my hand over his belt buckle and down his pants.
His body is firm against mine so I don't quite touch it, but I can feel its outline and it’s huge. The biggest I've ever felt with a nice curve to it, veering slightly to the left.
When his hands make their way down past my panties to my core, I open my legs. I want him to feel how much I want him.
“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone,” he whispers into my ear. “I’ve wanted you since the first time I spotted you on the patio.”
“That's because you thought that I was taken,” I joke.
He pulls his lips away from mine, meets my eyes, and shakes his head.
“No, absolutely not. There's something different about you, Emma. It scares me.”
When he swallows hard, I see the outline of his Adam's apple dip up and down.
I know what he means. I feel the same way.
We lose ourselves in each other's eyes for a moment, unwilling to even blink out of fear of allowing reality to rush back.
“I want you,” he says.
I reach over and put my lips on his.
“Although.” He pulls away slightly and presses his index finger to my lips. “I want you for more than just this moment.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, kissing his finger.
“I want you to spend the week with me, here.”
“I can't stay that long,” I say and try to kiss him again. “I don't even think I can stay the night. I have to get back to work by Monday.”
31
Emma
His face clenches and his jaw tightens. There's a tension there that is hard to explain, but I can tell that he wants me still just as much as I want him.
“Invite me inside,” I say. “I want to see your bedroom.”
He hesitates.
My heart sinks.
Is this happening again? Did I just put myself out there just to get crushed once again?
Pulling his hands out of my panties, he withdraws into himself and buckles his jeans.
I adjust my clothing and take a deep breath to try to calm my nerves. I can't believe that he's doing this to me.
Rejecting me like this.
I know that he wants me, so why are we playing these games?
“You want something from me,” Liam says, with his dark hair falling into his eyes. “I want something from you.”
“I have no idea what you're talking about,” I say.
“You want me to agree to that article about D. B. Carter. You want me to expose who I really am and the only way that I'll do it is if you agree to spend a week with me here.”
I shake my head and cross my arms. I try to walk away from him, but he grabs my hand.
“I'm not going to sleep with you for a story,” I snap at him. “I was going to sleep with you now, but I'm not going to do it like that. Not as a deal.”
“I'm sorry. I don't mean to offend you. I know that you’re a journalist and that you have high standards. I just want to spend time with you. I don't want you to leave, not quite yet and not for good. So, if you come here for a week, you can see how I work, we can spend time together, and anything else that happens is entirely up to you.”
Now it's my turn to swallow hard, but I mutter out, “Why do you want this?”
“I want you.”
“So, why did we stop?”
“I want to make you wait,” he says after a very long pause.
His eyes twinkle in the sunlight and his words hit me so hard they practically blow me back.
Did I just hear him say what I think he said?
“Are you teasing me?”
“More than that. I know that you want me,” he says, focusing his eyes arrogantly on mine.
“You want me, too,” I say.
“There's no denying that,” he says, shaking his head. “As I said earlier, I want you more than I ever wanted anyone, but that's what scares me.”
“What?”
“You walked into my life and suddenly I feel upside down. Everything that used to make sense doesn't. What scares me most now is the fact that you will walk out of it just as suddenly as you came into it. That's why I want to make this deal.”
I swallow hard.
“You spend one week here and I will let you write an article about me. You can call it research or you can call it whatever you want.”
I look him up and down as he towers over me like a marble statue of a Greek God. Dark and lean with the slim build of a cowboy or distance runner, his face is only now getting some lines in his forehead and around his eyes. He tilts his head to one side, popping his chin out, confidently waiting for my answer.
I hate the cockiness. I hate that he’s trying to make me make a decision when I don’t have a choice.
Doesn't he know that my life is on the line for this?
Doesn't he know that if I don't bring the story back to my boss then everything that I have worked for is going to be taken from me?
“I don't like games.”
“This isn’t a game.”
“Yes, it is. You’re putting me into a terrible position. You're trying to pressure me. That's not what people who want to spend time with someone do. If you wanted me to spend the night, you could've just asked me. If you wanted me to spend a week with you and for us to get to know each other more, you could've asked.”
“I’m asking now.”
“No, you’re not.”
“You would've said no.”
“Perhaps, but now we will never know.”
Liam crosses his arms with a satisfied grin on his face. For some reason, he seems unfazed and that makes me feel even more out of control and angrier at him.
Why did he have to take this beautiful moment that we just had and turn it into something else?
We could have had some glorious sex on the hood of my car and that could've been it.
Then it occurs to me.
He wants more than that.
He wants more than a one-night stand.
“Is that what's really going on here?” I ask. “You want more than just some meaningless sex?”
“I don't want any meaningless sex,” he says quietly. “Not with you. I want you more than anything, right now, on the roof of that car. I want to rip off your clothes, spread your legs, and push myself deep inside of you. I want to do it over and over again until you scream my name so loud that the crows on those cacti five acres away get scared and fly away. I also want more than that. I want you. All of you. For a week. In return, I will give you what you want, anything you want.”
Thank you so much for reading ALL THE LIES!
I hope you are enjoying Emma and Liam’s story. Can’t wait to find out what happens next? Their story continues in the next book.
Read ALL THE SECRETS now!
The only way he’ll agree to the story about the great and reclusive writer, D. B. Carter is if I agree to spend the week with him.
He thinks that the reason that I left is that I don’t want him. Nothing could be from the truth.
He thinks I was insulted. He’s wrong.
Still, I leave.
He shouldn’t have asked for something like that. All that it did was push me away.
But I have to write this story to save my job.
It won’t be published for a while and I’ll have time to convince him to go on the record.
At least, that’s what I think.
But then the article comes out and he shows up at my house.
He’s angry.
I’m mad.
What happens when that fire between us starts to ignite?
What happens when he pulls me close and doesn’t let go?
Read ALL THE SECRETS now!
Can’t wait and want to dive into another EPIC romance right away?
Read THE PERFECT STRANGER now!
When he burst into my life, he set everything on fire.
He is a multi-millionaire, escaped inmate serving life in prison for a double murder he didn’t commit.
He was once my only friend and my first crush.
He doesn’t ask for help and I don’t offer.
His hair falls into his face and a strand brushes along his chiseled jaw. His vulnerability is disarming.
We both know that he shouldn’t be here, but when I stare into his piercing, intense eyes, I can’t look away.
I want to tell him to leave, but then he leans over and runs his finger over my lower lip.
When our mouths touch, I know that I won’t be able to stop.
What happens when one night isn’t enough?
Read THE PERFECT STRANGER now!
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About Charlotte Byrd
Charlotte Byrd is the bestselling author of romantic suspense novels. She has sold over 600,000 books and has been translated into five languages.
She lives near Palm Springs, California with her husband, son, and a toy Australian Shepherd. Charlotte is addicted to books and Netflix and she loves hot weather and crystal blue water.
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Also by Charlotte Byrd
All books are available at ALL major retailers! If you can’t find it, please email me at [email protected]
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The Perfect Stranger Series
The Perfect Stranger
The Perfect Cover
The Perfect Lie
The Perfect Life
The Perfect Getaway
The Perfect Couple
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All the Lies Series
All the Lies
All the Secrets
All the Doubts
All the Truths
All the Promises
All the Hopes
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Tell me Series
Tell Me to Stop
Tell Me to Go
Tell Me to Stay
Tell Me to Run
Tell Me to Fight
Tell Me to Lie
* * *
Wedlocked Trilogy
Dangerous Engagement
Lethal Wedding
Fatal Wedding
* * *
Tangled Series
Tangled up in Ice
Tangled up in Pain
Tangled up in Lace
Tangled up in Hate
Tangled up in Love
* * *
Black Series
Black Edge
Black Rules
Black Bounds
Black Contract
Black Limit
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Not into you Duet
Not into you
Still not into you
Lavish Trilogy
Lavish Lies
Lavish Betrayal
Lavish Obsession
Standalone Novels
Dressing Mr. Dalton
Debt
Offer
Unknown
All the Lies Page 14
