“I'm just a little chilled."
“I know I'm a stranger." He brushes a fallen strand of my hair behind my ear. "But I promise I don't bite.”
The love mark you left me with three years ago says otherwise.
"Why are you blushing, Red? Do you want me to bite?" He snickers, and steps in closer to me.
Fuck, he smells good, like crisp apples and musky man sweat.
I slap my hands over my heated cheeks. "You shouldn't be talking that way to me."
His tongue darts from his mouth. "Why not?"
"I don't even know your name," I say quickly as an excuse, and he smirks smugly.
"Let me fix that then. It's Liam."
"Liam," I repeat in a haze. I knew it though. Mr. Lonely, down in the dumps, Thor is now standing in front of me, though he seems to have no clue who I am.
He laughs. "Yep. And what about you, Red. You have a name?"
Why does he keep calling me Red?
"Girl, there you are!" Terry steps outside and slings her arm around my shoulder. "I was worried you were going to blow me off." She looks over at Liam who is blinking at both of us. "Who are you?"
"Nobody." He grins and takes a step back further into the darkness.
Terry's lips twist and she glances down at me. My heart is still racing and I'm sure my palms are sweating.
"Well, nobody, do you want to join us inside?"
He glances at me, and I see an inner battle behind his eyes. He only looks at me for a second, before he shakes his head, wiping the look away, but I felt his struggle deep inside me. “Not tonight ladies. But you have fun.”
Shit. I can’t just let this man run off again. “Are you sure? I can buy you a drink. You look like you need it,” I say, maybe hoping a drink could do us both good. Ease whatever is bothering him and calm my nerves.
Though I feel like a moron when I see all the light in his eyes shut off and his body stiffen.
“Have a nice night, Red.”
As he walks off, I curse myself. I didn't get his last name again.
“What was his problem?”
“I—I don’t know. Was he really there?” I glance back behind me, seeing that his tall, muscular figure is now gone into the night.
“Yesss.” Terry laughs and grabs my arm. “Are you alright? Did you start drinking before you got here?”
“It’s not that. Never mind. Let’s get inside.”
Terry and I settle onto our barstools, and she slides a mojito over to me. I take a long sip as I replay everything that just happened in my head. I can’t believe I let the father of my child just run off, but what was I supposed to do? I groan and my head falls to the counter.
“Okay, what is wrong with you?” Terry shakes my shoulder.
I peek through my arm and look at her, feeling defeated. "Where do I begin?"
CHAPTER THREE
LIAM
I settle behind my desk after a stressful weekend. I ended up locking myself in my house, burying myself in computer code and paperwork so I could try to forget all the temptations lurking outside my door. It did nothing to help. I kept thinking about the woman in red and how I should have followed her into the bar. Though I’m not sure which I wanted more, her or the drink. My mother and father wouldn’t stop calling me and eventually, I had to block their numbers. As for my brother, he hasn’t tried. Now it’s Monday morning, and I’m in need of fucking coffee, black, and for no one to piss me off this week.
"Mr. Morgan, I have Mr. Jaxson Holden on the line for you." Mary, my personal assistant, beeps in.
Why is he calling me through my work line? I pick up my cell and try to swipe open the screen, but it's dead. I’ve been feeling so out of control all weekend I didn’t even think to charge it.
“Thanks, Mary. Can you also bring me a coffee?”
“Sure thing, boss.”
I pick up the receiver, connecting the call. “Jax, what’s up?”
"Hey, I've been trying to call you for hours, you alright?" he asks, and I can hear him typing away on his computer in the background.
Jaxson Holden is not only my best friend, he is also my best Security Analyst. He works for me from his home back in Tampa.
"I’m fine. I just didn't charge my phone last night."
"Now that's unlike you. What's going on?"
"Nothing. Just crashed early."
“Riiiiight.” The way he draws out the word let me know he doesn’t believe me. I sigh, and push my hand through my hair, waiting for him to question me, but it doesn’t come. “Well, I have some good news for you man.”
“What?”
“River and I found you a new interior designer. One who is willing to start today and happens to already be in your conference room working on designs as we speak.”
“You fucking hired someone behind my back? What are you my father now?” I seethe.
“For fuck’s sake, Liam, you were in a bind, and I’m helping out my boy.”
“I haven’t even told you what happened with the other one yet.”
“Well, we both happen to have two very chatty ladies in our lives. Sam told River what happened, and I got filled in.”
Sam Franklin is my head of IT. She used to work for Jaxson’s wife, River, at the now fallen Dolson Investments. Sam and I had met previously at a Comic Con years ago. She’s a great friend, but she can be pretty chatty and mom-like when she wants to be.
“Jesus Christ, I knew I shouldn’t have told her.”
“But you did. So, River called Holly and sure enough, she was looking for a job.”
“Who the hell is Holly?”
“Holly Jenkins. She designed our house and River’s office. You’ll love her.”
“I don’t need to love her. I need her to fix the bullshit the last designer left me with.”
“You shouldn’t have dumped the girl in the middle of the design process.”
“We weren't dating,” I grit through my teeth.
He laughs. “Okay, whatever. You don’t fuck the person who is designing your corporate buildings. Not with your track record.”
“I don’t get why I stay friends with you.”
I know why. Because the asshole saved my life years ago. When everyone else had given up on me he had my back and saw me out of the trenches of my addiction. I had stumbled into his tattoo shop, high and drunk, wanting a tattoo across my chest. He talked me out of it. It was my wake up call. He ended up being the person there for me when I hit rock bottom. The only person that fucking saw hope in me when I was ready to give up. He got me help, nursed me back to living during my withdrawal. Something my parents and brother wouldn’t help me with. In fact, I consider him more of a brother than my own twin.
“Holly is the best. You’ve seen how she transformed the house we live in now. Also, River doesn't think there's a chance in hell she'll sleep with you which makes her perfect.”
“Why is that?”
“She doesn't like man whores. She's keeping them out of her diet." I hear River yell in the background.