She enjoyed the lure of the bright lights and handsome men. Reading bedtime stories to her daughter was nothing but a bore as far as she was concerned.
Holly lowered her lashes, hiding her inner emotions.
“She never wanted a child, but she was smart enough to know that Vigo would pay if she kept me. I was a convenient meal ticket,” she said, struggling to keep the bitterness from her voice. Her childhood hadn’t been perfect, but it sure as hell was better than many kids had to endure.
He swore beneath his breath, pressing his lips to her forehead.
“Neither of them deserved to have you as a daughter.”
She gave a sudden shake of her head. Dammit, she was done with self-pity.
Time to put on her big girl panties and move on.
“I’m done,” she sharply announced.
Liam lifted his head to observe her with a brooding gaze. “What does that mean?”
“I officially retire my obsessive need to earn my father’s approval.”
He studied her for a long time before he pressed another kiss to her knuckles.
“Who knows what the future holds?” he said. “Perhaps someday Vigo will realize what he’s missing.”
She rolled her eyes.
Yeah, and she’d probably win the lottery.
Both had about the same odds of coming true.
She gave a lift of her shoulder. “Maybe, but I truly don’t care.”
“Hmm.” He didn’t look entirely convinced, but clearly accepting she was finished with the subject, he stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her waist. “What would you like to do today?”
Her mouth went dry as desire rushed through her like a wildfire.
She knew exactly what she wanted.
A soft bed and this man naked.
It didn’t matter that they’d spent the entire night sating their need. Or that there was a voice in the back of her mind warning that her entire relationship with this man had fundamentally altered during the past twenty-four hours.
She wanted him.
End of story.
Heat flushed her cheeks as she cleared her throat.
“What do you mean?”
His brows arched, a teasing grin curving his lips.
“If you could choose to do anything, what would it be?”
He knew. The aggravating beast. He knew exactly what she was thinking, but he was going to make her say the words.
Instead, she deliberately glanced at the clock on the wall.
“Don’t you have to work?”
***
Liam allowed his hands to lower, cupping her ass so he could tug Holly against his hardening cock.
He’d sensed the second that Holly’s thoughts had turned to sex.
It’d been visible in the darkening of her cognac eyes and the faint flush on her cheeks.
And he was more than happy to indulge her simmering desire.
Hell, happy didn’t begin to express his eagerness.
But while he was all for a day spent indulging in their mutual need, he knew that he wanted more.
He had her body. Now he wanted her heart.
“I think the boss will give me the day off,” he teased.
Almost as if sensing the sudden intensity of his emotions, Holly began an instinctive retreat.
“Actually I should—”
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
His gaze skimmed down to the curve of her breasts, lingering on the nipples that hardened beneath the feral heat of his inspection.
“I don’t want to know what you should do. I want to hear what you want to do,” he said, his voice thick.
She licked her lips. “You could tell me about your plans for expansion.”
He groaned, his gaze locked on her mouth.
He’d felt those soft lips stroking over his chest…pleasuring his nipples.
How would they feel locked around his cock?
Paradise.
He was forced to clear his throat. “Our plans,” he corrected. “And we can discuss them when we’re at work. Today is for enjoyment.” He pressed her hard against his thick erection. “Tell me what you want.”
She bit her bottom lip, blatantly torn between desire and the fear of what he was truly demanding.
“I don’t know.”
He smiled. “Admit that you want to ravish me.”
She trembled, her eyes darkening to gold. “Did you really just say ravish?”
“Okay.” Without warning, he grasped the hem of her shirt and tugged it over her head. No bra. Perfect. “Admit that you want to make mad, passionate love to me.”
She quivered as his hands cupped the soft weight of her breasts in his hands, his thumbs teasing her nipples to hard nubs.
“Sex,” she breathed.
“No.” He held her wary gaze, refusing to let her diminish what was between them. “When we’re together, we make love,” he insisted, his voice fierce. “Love.”
Predictably, she paled at his blunt confession.
He smiled wryly. He’d made no effort to hide his obsession with her. Or his desire for a relationship.
Still, she’d been determined to disregard his interest as a shallow sexual attraction.
“Liam,” she finally managed to choke out. “You can’t be serious.”
“Of course I can.” He shrugged, deciding to go all in. He was a gambler, after all. “The men in my family are notorious for recognizing the women they intend to marry at first sight.”
Her breath rasped loudly through the air, her eyes wide.
“Oh…shit,” she rasped.
“I’m not trying to pressure you,” he assured her. “I just want you to know where I want this to go.”
“And if I’m not ready?” she husked, shuddering as his hands glided down her bare back.
He brazenly tugged down the shorts, a growl wrenching from his throat at the tiny thong that had a Playhouse emblem directly over her clit.
Sweet.
“Then I’ll wait until you are,” he said, his voice distracted as he gave a tug on her thong and watched it float to the floor. A smile curved his lips as she gasped in need. “I have no doubt you’ll eventually realize we’re destined to be together.”
She shivered, heat blazing through her eyes as she watched him unbutton his shirt and shrug it off.
“Arrogant,” she accused.
“Confident,” he countered. “I know when a woman wants me.”
He kicked off his shoes, swiftly ridding himself of the rest of his clothing.
Over the past twelve months he’d tortured himself with fantasies of making love to this woman in every room of his home.