“You're impossible,” she snapped. “This was a mistake. Goodbye, Liam.”
She turned to step through the doorway, but he grabbed her arm and spun her around. She opened her mouth to yell at him, but then his lips were muffling the sound. He yanked her up tight against him, forcing her onto her toes. She pressed her hands against his chest, struggling to keep her balance, all while his tongue memorized the interior of her mouth.
He may be the most annoying man on the planet, but goddamn, can he kiss.
“So,” he panted when he finally pulled away. She gasped for air and stared up at him. “When should we do this again?”
“Uh ...” she responded articulately. He chuckled and smoothed his thumb along her bottom lip.
“You should be kissed more often,” he said in a soft voice. “You look good all flushed and happy.”
“I'll keep that in mind,” she breathed. Then she cleared her throat. “Liam, I'm sorry I ... I'm sorry I'm such a bitch.”
He wasn't looking at her. He was staring at her lips, and he smiled as his thumb moved to trace along the side of her jaw.
“You're not a bitch,” he told her. “You just need to slow down once in a while. Take some time to thaw out. I think if you ever did, you might actually learn to like yourself.”
Jesus, it was like he was psychic. It was eerie, how easily he seemed to see right through her. She had a lot of practice at hiding herself from everyone – how was this one ridiculous, silly, annoying man able to see her so well?
“How do you know me?” she whispered. He finally lifted his eyes to hers.
“We're more alike than you realize,” he whispered back.
Time was in slow motion. She couldn't look away from his eyes. Casual sex was not supposed to involve lingering-goodbye kisses in doorways, or melting sensations in her heart, but she couldn't stop herself. She was raising back onto her toes, and she could feel his arm getting tighter around her waist, and she didn't care about anything else. She wanted him to keep talking to her, wanted him to keep discovering her.
Maybe he can teach me to like myself ...
Before anything else could happen, though, her phone vibrated in her hand, startling them both. She had it pressed against his chest and she pulled away enough to look down at the screen.
“My ride is here,” she said, stepping back, breaking the moment.
“Better run away before I corrupt you some more,” he laughed, letting her go.
“It's been ...” she searched for the right word. “Weird. It's been super weird, Liam.”
“It has,” he agreed. “But it's also been pretty fucking hot.”
Ayumi finally laughed with him.
“It really was hot,” she said, moving into the hallway.
“See you later, Ice Queen.”
“Good-bye, Mr. Edenhoff.”
Then she was stepping into the elevator and he was shutting his front door. She fell back against the wall and pressed a hand over her heart. Could feel it racing.
What have I gotten myself into?
4
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 s
he 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 la
undry 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?”
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