Maureen Child - The Elliotts - Bedrooms Not Boardrooms!

“What?”

“A hickey.”

Liam fought the urge to cover his heating skin. “Possibly.”

A wicked grin spread over Cade’s face. “If you’d mentioned you had a hot date tonight I wouldn’t have dropped in. So who is she?”

“Nobody you know.”

“The gallery lady with you in the picture in the paper?”

“Good night, Cade. We’ll hang out another time.”

“You’re not talking? She must be special.”

Denial sprang to Liam’s lips, but he bit it back. Aubrey special? She was, but not in the way Cade meant. There wouldn’t be a wedding at the end of this affair. Liam opened the door, an unsubtle hint. “I’ll catch up with you Monday.”

“I knew you were having women troubles,” Cade said on his way past. “You’ve been zoned out all week. But I guess you’ve worked them out.”

Not good to know his distraction was obvious. “No troubles to work out.”

But he lied. Liam shut the door and leaned against it. The trouble had just begun. He’d chosen a path through a mine field. One misstep and life as he knew it could be blown to hell.

What if they’d been caught?

Aubrey’s heart beat a frantic baboom as she pulled on her clothing. With her hands trembling like fall leaves in a stiff breeze, rolling up the expensive stockings was beyond her capabilities. She wadded them up and stepped barefoot into her heels.

The low rumble of male voices carried through the door, but she couldn’t understand the words. No matter. As soon as Liam’s visitor left she had to go. Spending the night and brazenly waltzing outside in the morning sunshine was too risky. Better to slink home under the cover of darkness.

A clandestine affair. So over the top. So Hollywood. So not her. And yet she wasn’t ready to give up Liam. Not yet. Not when she finally felt alive again for the first time in years.

The opening bedroom door startled her. She spun to face Liam. His gaze ran over her and a pleat formed between his eyebrows. “You’re dressed.”

“Yes. I need to go.”

“Why?”

“Because staying isn’t a good idea. I thought—But no. I mean I—” She was blathering. She stopped and pressed her fingers to her lips.

He cupped her shoulders. “Aubrey, it’s okay. No one knows you’re here.”

She looked into his understanding blue eyes and almost caved. Almost. She’d love to spend the night pleasuring Liam and letting him return the favor, because he was exceptionally good at delivering pleasure, and she’d love to wake up in arms, but the stakes were too high. “I want to go home.”

“Spend the weekend with me. We’ll drive to the coast or upstate and find a place where we don’t have to worry about anyone knocking on our door.” His thumbs stroked the hollows beneath her collarbones with thought-blocking sensuality.

“I can’t. My father is entertaining tomorrow night. I’m his hostess. Maybe next weekend.”

He shook his head. “Next weekend I have to fly to Colorado for Cade’s engagement party.”

Aubrey sighed in resignation. Their time together would consist of stolen interludes, until finding time for each other became more hassle than happiness and one or the other of them would end the relationship. Had she expected otherwise? No, because she hadn’t bothered to think that far in advance. In fact, thinking seemed to be an ability she lacked around Liam Elliott.

The relationship was moving too fast. Aubrey needed to step back and assess the situation. Otherwise, she’d end up in one of her mother’s relationship train wrecks.

“I want to go home,” she repeated.

He must have recognized the determination in her eyes, because he didn’t argue this time. He raked a hand over his hair, standing the blond strands up in spikes. “I’ll call a cab.”

“No. It’s only a few blocks.”

“Then I’ll walk you to your door.”

“No.” She bit her lip. She hadn’t intended to shout.

His lips flattened. “Either I walk you to your door or you take a cab. It’s better to risk exposure than have you get mugged or worse.”

Once again, his thoughtfulness surprised her. Liam Elliott was truly a prize. A prize she couldn’t keep.

“You can walk me to the street corner in view of the well-lit entrance to my building, but not to my door.” If she wanted to protect her heart, then she had to keep the boundaries of this affair firmly in sight.

Liam’s week had been a tug-of-war between family duty, his friendship with Cade and his desire for Aubrey. There had been moments where it seemed like he—the rope—would snap.

He’d spent his days at work, dodging Cade’s knowing smirk and probing questions, trying to pacify antsy advertisers and attempting to alleviate the tension between the EPH staff members. Each evening he came home to Aubrey. She made the headaches disappear. He cooked dinner with her and had the hottest sex of his life. And they talked. About anything, about nothing. It didn’t matter. Just being with her was enough.

He couldn’t leave town without saying goodbye. Again. They’d said goodbye last night very satisfactorily. If he was a little worried that he was becoming too dependent on her, then he shrugged it off as a temporary hurdle. All too soon this sensual interval would end.

Hoping Aubrey wouldn’t mind being awakened so early in the morning, he snatched up his cell phone and punched in her number. He’d programmed her as number one on his speed dial list. He tucked the unit beneath his ear and resumed shoving clothing and his toiletry bag into his suitcase.

“Hello,” Aubrey answered in a sleep-roughened voice.

One word, that was all it took to reignite the sparks of hunger deep in his belly. “I called to say goodbye before I take off for the airport.”

“It’s only five-thirty. You’re getting an early start.”

He didn’t want to go. The realization surprised him. He’d always wanted to travel, but he’d stayed close to EPH, fearing that if he left he’d give the impression that he didn’t care about his job. In other circumstances he’d love to see Colorado and spend time with his family away from the stress of work, but the timing of Cade’s engagement party reeked. Liam loved Cade like a brother and he was happy his friend had found Jessie, but watching the lovers cuddle and kiss would rub salt in an open wound. Liam and Aubrey could never have what Cade and Jessie had—an open relationship and a family celebration.

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