Her face lit with a wide smile when she saw him. “Hey, handsome stranger.”
He smiled back at her, collapsing on the unoccupied end of the couch and bracing himself for Tapioca’s imminent arrival on his lap, which happened exactly as anticipated. He rubbed her tummy. “Hey yourself. For people living together, we sure don’t live in each other’s pockets.”
“Or each other’s time zones. I thought those days were behind us, but I guess I was wrong.”
He raked a hand through his hair, the one that wasn’t focused on the dog. “It’s crazy.”
“You want to get takeout tonight, or I could make us something?”
She looked so hopeful, and there was nothing Liam would have liked more than some of her home cooking. He shook his head. “I have a date.”
“You have a date?” She repeated it as if it were a foreign concept.
“Yes, I’m not as hideous to others as I am to you.”
She kicked him with her foot. “They don’t know you like I do. Seriously, I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”
He was going to correct her, but then it occurred to him that maybe she was a tiny bit jealous and that might work to his advantage. “It’s new. I met her through work and this gala is tonight.”
“Well, you do look good in a tux. By which I mean less hideous, obviously.”
“Obviously.” He smiled. “No date for you?”
“Zach’s away.”
“And Neil?”
“Neil is not getting a second date. He was the worst.” She filled him in on the date.
“Sorry, you probably only went out with him because of me.”
She nodded. “Yeah, and I don’t think I can handle three guys at a time anyway.”
“Three?” I knew my eyes got wide.
“Zach, Alvaro, and this chef I met on a shoot last week.”
“I imagine Alvaro loved that.” The guy was ridiculous, even more so than Liam who would be off to check this chef out online the first chance he got.
“Not so much. Anyway, I left tonight free hoping we could hang out.”
He felt like a heel because that was all he wanted to do too, but he had to pretend his date with Victoria was what he wanted.
“Raincheck?”
“Sure,” she said, trying to look like it was no big deal when it was clear that it was to her. “You better go change or you’ll be late for the ball and . . .”
“Victoria,” he informed her. “Victoria Astor.”
“Ah, she has a name.”
* * *
The good news was she heard Liam come in around one. He hadn’t stayed over with Victoria, so that was something. Maybe it wasn’t that serious. She was dating, so it shouldn’t have bothered her so much that Liam was and yet it did.
She may have done a surreptitious online search on Victoria Astor, and she was exactly Liam’s type. She was a dead ringer for Cara. Polished, reed thin, and well connected. The opposite of Georgie. Sure, Georgie had changed from her days in the trailer park, but she was still a sweet Southern girl with curves and she couldn’t change that.
Victoria clearly was old New York money. The trust fund kind Liam liked so much. She understood that women like that made him feel like he’d made it, but she knew him and loved him when he had nothing. She was fairly certain without the slick suits and Madison Avenue business there would be no Victoria. She knew Liam saw this differently than she did. He saw these women as a sign of success, but something about him dating them made her sad. Of course, she was jealous, but it was more than that. It felt to her like a weird kind of settling. Settling for a woman who was more an accessory than a real partner.
She needed to sleep but she couldn’t, so she grabbed her robe and headed down to the kitchen to make a tea. Liam was still in his dinner suit looking devastatingly handsome as he stood there having a glass of water, a look of melancholy on his face.
“You’re home,” she said, padding across the room to put the kettle on the stove top. “Good night?”
“Sure.” She wasn’t convinced. “Lots of money raised for a good cause.”
“Nice to be able to be a donor,” she said. They both took the whole concept of giving back very much to heart.
“Yes. Absolutely.” He looked at her, his eyes raking from the top of her head down over her robe to her fluffy slippers. With her hair in a messy ponytail on top of her head, Georgie had a feeling she didn’t quite compare to the stunning Victoria. “You’re up late.”
“Couldn’t sleep, would you like tea? I’m having some.”
He looked dead on his feet, but he accepted. “I’ll just go change. Back in a second.”
She busied herself making them each a cup, and she added a small pile of biscotti she’d made earlier to a plate on the island. He came down in low-hanging navy blue sweatpants and a simple gray T-shirt looking tired, sexy, and adorable, not an easy look to pull off, she thought, but somehow Liam managed.
“Thank you,” he said, taking a seat on the barstool across the island from her. “And baked goods. No wonder the men of New York are beating down the door.”
“Hardly.”
“Well, they would be if they knew about the baked goods.” He gave her a wink. She wondered if Victoria baked. Not likely. “And you have more than a few interested. Did you have a good night?”
She gave him a one-shoulder shrug. “I ended up working, seeing as the night was free. I feel so behind.”
“You need to take some Georgie-time,” he said over his cup.
She knew he was right, but he wasn’t exactly following those rules himself. “I have that studio session booked in Nashville coming up. I need to be ready, and I need all the stuff for the shows done so I can focus.”
She knew Liam believed she should sing more and make less of the show. “True, but you don’t want to burn out and put strain on your voice.”
“Thanks for that. When did you become my manager?” she snapped at him.
He shook his head. “If you recall, I was your first manager and I’m still Team Georgie every day. Don’t forget that. No one wants you to be happy more than I do, Georgie.”
She knew that was true, she just wished there was a way to convince him that he was what would make her happy, if he only would believe that was possible.
“Well, not feeling behind will make me happy.”
He shook his head. “I wish you knew that you don’t have anything to prove to anyone.”
She laughed at him. “From you that’s so rich.”
“What?” He looked genuinely baffled.
“Excuse me but I wish you knew that you didn’t have anything to prove to anyone too.”
“You think that’s what I’m doing?”
“I know that’s what you’re doing. You’ve been doing it since you were a kid, and you haven’t stopped.”
His eyes narrowed, and his gaze darkened. “I was just making something of myself. Getting secure.”
“And what have I been doing?”
“You’ve already made something of yourself. You have more than enough money to be secure, and you’ve been a household name. I think we can safely say mission accomplished.”
“I am not my character, and the world needs to know that.”
“They won’t know until you do,” he said, taking his cup and loading it into the dishwasher.
“What does that even mean?”
“That character, if I recall, flipped around, didn’t know what she wanted, and didn’t seem to be able to stick to any one thing, always putting what everyone else wanted for her over her own needs.”
“And you think that’s me?” She was standing now, hands on hips, her anger evident.
“Isn’t it?”
“Oh my word, this from the man who spends his life dating skinny, frosty women from wealthy families so that he will look like he’s made it out of the trailer park to the top of the tree. The guy who won’t have a real committed relationship because of his past.
”
He leaned forward, his hands flat on the marble countertop. He took a deep breath and steadied himself. They never fought, not really, and it was clear he didn’t want to do that now. She knew that about him. He didn’t do confrontation, he just walked out.
“We’re both tired, Georgie, so let’s call it a night.”
“You think this conversation is over?” she asked.
“I hope so.”
“It’s not.” He shook his head again, clearly frustrated. “We can shelve it, but we need to talk about this. If that’s how you see me . . .”
He looked at her, his intense stare raking from the tips of her toes up to the top of her head making her shiver. “I see you as perfect, Georgie. I just wish you saw yourself the same way.”
And then he walked over, kissed her temple, and jogged up the stairs to his room, leaving her standing there dumbstruck.
Perfect. He said she was perfect, but it sure hadn’t sounded like that.
Chapter 11
As she stepped into her strappy sling-back heels and smoothed her little black dress over her curves, she couldn’t help but wonder what she’d been thinking coming up with this double date idea. All day her nerves had been in a jangle. She’d seen Liam with plenty of women over the years, but somehow this felt different. Having him in such close quarters was making denying her feelings way too hard to ignore.
Her phone rang, and she saw it was her mother. She put her on speaker phone so she could finish up her makeup while the talked.
“Hey, honey.”
“Hi, Mama, how are things?”
“All good here, and you? What are you up to?”
“I’m getting ready for a date, or double date I should say.”
“Oh yeah, do tell?” She explained it was her and Liam and their partners to her mother who was surprised to say the least. “You’re each taking other people, not each other?”
“Yes. I’m taking Zach, and Liam has a new woman he’s seeing. I guess they met through his job.” Georgie tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
“You two!” Her mother let out what sounded like an exasperated sigh.
“What?”
“Nothing.” It wasn’t nothing, but she let it go. “Well, you have fun and have Liam call me tomorrow, then. Something is up with his mama, and by that I mean something new or more of something old, who knows.”
That didn’t sound good, and Georgie decided she’d wait until after dinner to pass that message along. She fixed her lipstick and gave herself a little reminder that she was a big girl and she could do this. She ran her own business and had overcome stage fright enough to perform in fifty-thousand-seat stadiums. A double date with Liam should be a walk in the park. And it had been her own silly idea.
He was downstairs in the kitchen pouring a glass of wine for a willowy blonde who had to be Victoria. She was clutching her chest and laughing as if Liam had just said something ridiculously funny. To be fair, he may have, but she was playing it up.
“Hi,” Georgie said quietly, almost as if she were an intruder in her own kitchen. The blonde turned and gave her a small smile, and Georgie extended her hand in greeting. “You must be Victoria.”
“I am, and you must be Georgie. You look different than on television.” Georgie wasn’t sure she liked the way she emphasized the word different, but she chose to ignore it.
“Most people do,” she said as Liam rounded the counter and handed them each a drink before directing them into the living room. “Zach will be here in a few. His flight was delayed by a bit I guess.” And unlike when she’d been late last week, Georgie was not going to make a thing of it.
“No problem,” Liam said, taking a seat on the sofa where Victoria chose to sit next to him, quite close. “We have plenty of time before our reservation.”
Victoria meanwhile was appraising the room, and the look on her face said she found it lacking. Georgie wondered what she’d think of their homes back in North Carolina. She didn’t need to wonder, she knew, and she knew Liam would never take her to see them anyway. Cara was the only girlfriend he’d ever taken and that hadn’t exactly worked out for the best.
“Great,” Georgie said cheerfully. “So what is it you do, Victoria? Liam didn’t say.”
Victoria worked for her father, and while she was very well educated, it was clear that working for daddy meant a nice title, a fat paycheck, and the ability to do whatever she liked when she wanted. “Liam is working on one of our campaigns.”
“How thrilling,” she said, although she couldn’t see how the advertising campaign for a merchant bank could be anything but entirely tedious. She was aware that Liam was remaining silent, letting Georgie do all the heavy lifting, and it irked her. “Liam doesn’t really talk about his work at home all that much.”
“Why not?” Victoria turned her steely gaze on him, and Georgie took the opportunity to really take look her over. Victoria and Liam did look ridiculously good together, she’d give them that. He had the smoldering dark looks, and she had the ice-queen thing working for her. They were opposites, and yet it worked.
“I guess I just find Georgie’s job makes for more interesting conversation,” he said nonchalantly, and Georgie felt herself warm from the inside.
Victoria wrinkled her nose. “A little cooking show?”
“Actually, she runs her own production company employing a good number of people, she travels extensively, and she’s working on an album. Lots to talk about.” Well, that was nice that he was leaping to her defense. The front doorbell rang, thank goodness.
“Speaking of travelers . . .” Georgie made for the door where Zach stood, looking sharp in dark pants and a white shirt with black and white striped accents inside the collar and cuffs. His sandy hair was still damp from the shower, and his eyes sparkled with delight when she greeted him. Maybe she’d underestimated his affection for her.
“Hey, stranger.” He pulled her in for a hug. “You smell and look fantastic.”
He released her a little before placing a soft kiss on her lips. It was nice, but she didn’t get the tingles. “You also look and smell nice.”
“Thanks and I’m really sorry for the delay. Another day, another storm.” She kept hold of his hand as she led him to the living room to make the introductions. “You know Liam, of course, and this is Victoria.”
Hands were shaken as she went to grab him a beer. When she came back, he’d taken her chair, so she decided to sit next to him on the chair’s arm and he wrapped his hand around her back in a cuddle. It was nice, and she felt less alone having him there. He was talking about the storm that had delayed him, and it all seemed comfortable. Wasn’t that what she wanted? A nice guy who she felt comfortable with, if she couldn’t have Liam that is. She couldn’t help but notice that Liam didn’t have his arm around Victoria, but then maybe she wasn’t the type. Either way, Georgie was not so secretly pleased about that.
Victoria was watching her and Zach with a strange curiosity.
“How did you two meet?”
“We’re neighbors,” Zach said.
“Or we were, anyway. Not so much now.”
Zach explained the story of the flooding.
“So you two living together is just temporary, then?” she said, looking between Georgie and Liam.
“We’ll see about that,” Liam said in a voice that seemed to broker no argument as he got to his feet. “Shall we head out so we don’t miss our reservation?”
It didn’t sound like a question even though it technically was one, so everyone followed suit and they headed out to hail a cab to Mercurio.
Liam tried not to let any emotion show on his face in the cab ride to the restaurant or as they were greeted by the host and seated at a secluded table. The restaurant was opulent with dark wood and red velvet curtains. It was reminiscent of a club in the thirties or forties. Georgie, of course, knew the chef and had chosen the restaurant because of that and because of her belief that everyone loved It
alian food.
He wasn’t sure Victoria did. The woman did not look like she feasted on pizza, pasta, or risotto, but on the other hand, the restaurant had a secret entrance down an alleyway and a wait-list months long, so the fact that they were even here would win a few points with his date. Not that he cared to win any points with her because all his focus was really on the woman on the other side of the table smiling sweetly at her own date.
He’d been okay when Zach had arrived, until he decided to get all handsy with Georgie on the wing chair and even then he’d been fine. Then the idea that this living arrangement with Georgie was only temporary had been raised, and it had completely soured his mood. He didn’t know why but he’d just assumed that even when her apartment was done she’d keep living with him. Probably because he’d assumed by then she’d be his once and for all. They hadn’t actually discussed it one way or the other, but now it occurred to him that his time to woo her was actually limited and he didn’t like that one bit. The thought of not waking up to her sweet smile in the kitchen in the morning or coming home to talk to her at night was unacceptable. Ever since they’d lived together, he stayed late working on the nights she traveled because he missed her presence.
“Liam.” Victoria tapped her finger on the back of his hand, her voice laced with irritation. He was ignoring her so that was actually reasonable.
“Sorry, I was just taking in the room. You now have my total attention.”
“However did you get us in here on short notice?” He would have liked to take credit, he usually liked the women he dated to think he had connections, especially women like this, but he didn’t.
“That was Georgie. She seems to know every chef in New York and can get in anywhere on a moment’s notice.”
“Really? I guess more people watch her show than I would have thought,” she said, burying her nose in the menu. It was evident that Victoria was smart enough to know Georgie was a threat to his affection for her.
Across from him, Zach was doing the same. Georgie looked up and caught his eye. She looked nervous, which was odd. This was her idea after all. He gave her a wink, and she smiled at him. Instantly, he felt his mood lift.
No Time for Temptation: No Brides Club, Book 4 Page 10
