HDU #2: Dirt (4 page)

Gathering Amanda
with a strong arm around her waist, Liam laughed.
 
The gleam in his dark eyes indicated that he was about to
say something snarky but it faded into something else once he held Amanda away
from his body to get a good look at her.
 
He raised his eyebrows.

“Hello,” he said
to her dress.

Eyes wide,
Amanda stared at him and then her hands, which were flattened against his
chest.
 
It was harder than she
remembered.
 
Broader, too.
 
In all fairness, he did bear some
resemblance to marble.
 
Swallowing,
Amanda willed her breath to slow down enough so she could speak.
 
“Liam.
 
God, you scared the shit out of me,” she breathed, though
the last few words of her sentence faded into gibberish as her eyes roved about
him, from his chest to his arms to his neck.
 
Well, shit
.
 
For once, the tabloids weren’t
lying.
 
He’d gotten big.
 
Huge, even.
 
She blinked, confused by how unfamiliar his body felt under
her skin.
 
She was too much in awe
to care about the fact that she could actually feel Liam smirking as he watched
her get acquainted with his new form.

“I…”
Eh, whatever
.
 
It wasn’t worth trying to speak when her mind had taken such
a decided break from working.
 
And
when she apparently had a Spartan warrior for a boyfriend.
 
Biting her lip back, Amanda ran her
hands up to his broad shoulders and down to his arms.
 
She delighted in the fact that her fingers failed miserably
to wrap around even half of his new biceps.
 
Happy birthday to me
,
she thought, since apparently, cheesy lines existed for a reason.
 
They couldn’t be helped when someone
looked as damned good as Liam did.
 
Tilting her head, Amanda ignored Liam’s amused gaze to watch her own palms
return to his chest before sliding down to his abs.
 
She could see her own lashes fluttering like a hummingbird
as she ran the tips of her fingers along the new, severely defined ridges of
his six pack.
 
Jesus
.
 
She exhaled
hard and as they did whenever she wanted something, her fingers curled,
scratching Liam through his white button down.

Suddenly, he
held her wrist.

“Stop.”

Startled, Amanda
blinked, feeling her lower lip protrude as she gave Liam a quizzical look.
 
He laughed, gently removing her hands
from his body.

“You’re not
allowed to feel me up right now.
 
Not while we’re in public and you’re wearing that dress.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m
going to have you up against that wall, that’s why.”

Amanda’s jaw
dropped.
 
A grin touched Liam’s
lips as he held her chin and eyed her open mouth.

“Don’t make this
face either.”

“What — ?
Oh!
” Amanda slapped his hand hard away
from her, the sound echoing loudly in the empty hall.
 
Liam quickly caught her hands, holding them both still with
one of his.

“Easy, tiger,”
he laughed.
 
“No hitting.”

Amanda failed to
fight the huge grin tugging at her lips.
 
“Fine.”
 
She flashed him a
look and only then did she really notice his hair.
 
Huh
.
 
Despite initially despairing the idea
while he was in Jordan, she had to admit that the soldier-like buzz cut looked
damned good on Liam, especially since it had slightly grown out at this
point.
 
Watching her study him,
Liam smiled, wrapping an arm around her waist again.

“So people
actually came to your booze-free birthday party.
 
That was nice of them.”

“Mm.
 
Shut up.”

“Ian break a
chair over anyone’s head yet?”

“Hey.”
 
Amanda pulled back and gave him a
playful smack.
 
“Don’t be mean,
okay? He’s really nervous about seeing you tonight.
 
He was afraid you’d punch him in the face or something.
 
I mean that’s crazy, right?”

“I was thinking
stomach but if he was already anticipating a mug shot — ”

Amanda flashed
him a look.
 
“Liam.
 
Be serious for a second.”
 
She took his hands, holding them at her
sides.
 
But her own suggestion
suddenly jogged her memory.
 
Amanda
blinked, remembering the serious situation that had been at hand before Liam’s
arrival to the party.
 
The email.
 
The possible — no,
probable
— hacking.
 
Her mistake that could very probably
turn his career into one massive joke.
 
Her body freezing, she looked up at Liam’s dark eyes, a thick knot
suddenly forming in her throat.

“Hey.”
 
Liam furrowed his brows and laughed,
touching her cheek.
 
“Don’t make
that face.
 
I’m not about to punch
your best friend, alright? If I punch anyone tonight, it’s going to be one of
those assholes from Pop Dinner.
 
I
saw a few outside before.”

“Oh.
 
Wendy said she’d make sure they
couldn’t come,” Amanda murmured distractedly.
 
She wanted desperately to tell him about the strange email
from herself.
 
But that would be
unloading half of the burden onto him and she simply couldn’t.
 
He had only just gotten back and as
happy as he looked, Amanda could tell that Liam was tired.
 
Stressed, even.
 
He rolled his neck every couple of
minutes, massaged his shoulder between sentences.
 
There were knots and bruises and cuts under that crisp,
white shirt of his.
 
She could
already see a few peeking out from beneath his collar.
 
More than even Amanda, he needed to
relax.

I could maybe tell Ian — nope.
 
Amanda nixed the idea before she could
even fully entertain it.
 
Ian was
in a good place but it was still a fragile setting.
 
He wouldn’t be able to handle the news.

“Hey.”

Amanda felt
Liam’s hand on her chin.
 
She
looked up to see a slight frown creasing between his dark brows.

“What’s wrong?”

Amanda stared up
at him, her eyelids growing heavy as his other hand combed gently through her
hair.
 
Her gaze drifted about his
face — that perfect amount of stubble, his perfect jawline, those stupid,
perfect lips that always seemed to be slightly twisted up no matter what.
 
He was so ridiculously gorgeous.
 
And he was finally, actually hers.
 
All Amanda wanted to do was enjoy
him.
 
It was her damned birthday,
after all.

With a small
smile, Amanda nodded.
 
“Nothing’s
wrong.”
 
She closed her eyes as
Liam’s hand slid down to the back of her neck and massaged.
 
Screw
the email.
 
I’ll delete my whole
account once I get home tonight and it’ll all be totally fine.
 
“I just… want my relaxed weekend with
you to start already,” she said, and it wasn’t really a lie.
 
“But otherwise, nothing’s wrong.
 
I’m okay.”

“You should be
better than okay on your birthday.”

“My birthday
isn’t till tomorrow, technically.”

“Amanda.”

She opened her
eyes, meeting his with an attempt at reassurance.
 
“I’m fine.”

“Would this
help?”

Amanda let her
gaze fall to Liam’s hand, which dipped into his pocket.
 
She squinted at what he pulled out
— a thin, steel flask.
 
Thank God
, she thought, though
outwardly, she gave a teasing cluck.
 
“I see.
 
Breaking my one rule
for for tonight.”

“Hey.
 
I just got back from Jordan.
 
I’m beat up.
 
I’m tired.”
 
Liam took her hands and wrapped her fingers around his flask.
 
“I gotta go hang out with Ian in a few
minutes.”
 
He gave a little grimace
as he started forward, hands in his pockets as he backed Amanda against the
wall.
 
“And I have to control
myself all night tonight while you’re wearing this goddamned dress.
 
I’m going to need a distraction.”

Amanda bit her
lip.
 
She hadn’t even taken a drink
yet and she was already hot and lightheaded.
 
“Well, you could’ve called Connor to hang out with you for a
distraction,” she said with sass, trying to distract from her sudden
breathlessness.
 
“I did invite
him.”

“We’ll see him
in a few days.”
 
Liam shrugged, his
shirt looking about ready to burst at the shoulder seams.
 
“Unfortunately.”

Knowing he would
miss her birthday party and first real opportunity to hang out with his best
friend’s girlfriend, Connor had scheduled a dinner for them and his own
girlfriend on Monday at Lilac, right after Amanda’s big interview with Fleur
Magazine.
 
While Liam shuddered at
the idea, Amanda couldn’t help being completely excited.
 
A double date.
 
It was the ultimate couple’s activity
and she loved doing anything that reminded her of the fact that she and Liam
were a real couple.
 
Plus, getting
to know the boyfriend’s friends was like a girlfriend rite of passage —
one that she missed out on with Brandt since he didn’t really have many close
friends.

“Don’t look so
excited,” Amanda giggled as she untwisted the cap of the flask and took a swig
of the bourbon despite her empty stomach.
 
She could feel it simultaneously burn down her throat and dance up into
her head, erasing whatever trace of worry that had been left.
 
It was exactly what she needed.
 
The email was but an afterthought as she
watched Liam watch her, leaning back on his heels with his hands in his pockets
and his head tilted just so.
 
He
lifted an eyebrow as her chug surpassed the five second mark, his hungry eyes
drifting to her mouth when she finally tore the flask from her lips, gingerly
wiping the wet corners with her middle finger and thumb.

“Come on,” he
laughed, shaking his head as he took a step back from her.

“What?” Amanda
panted, catching her breath as she handed the flask over.
 
Liam tore his eyes away from her heaving
chest.

“Let’s just go,
birthday girl.”
 
He nodded toward
the end of the hall, his hands still in his pockets but his eyes decidedly
elsewhere as he waited for her.
 
Amanda paused, studying Liam and the way his broad shoulders expanded as
he rolled his neck, the way his sleeve pulled taut as his arm reached behind
his neck to rub his sore muscles.
 
Dropping it to the ground, she let her gaze sweep all six feet and four
inches of his body, all the way up to his eyes, which remained fixed on
anything but her.
 
Her head light
and her body warm, Amanda burst out laughing.

“I see what
you’re doing.”
 
Wrapping her
fingers around the middle of Liam’s skinny tie, she pulled him back to her,
tilting her head to meet his roving eyes.
 
“You’re trying not to look at me.”

His eyes were on
the ceiling as he drank from the flask.
 
“Take it as a compliment.”

Amanda hooked
her fingers into the collar of his shirt, pulling down to bring herself up to
her tip-toes.
 
“It’s a compliment
that you won’t look at me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Liam ran his
tongue over his lower lip as he laughed, eyes still skyward.
 
“Because your dress looks expensive.”

“It is.”

“I shouldn’t rip
it off then.”

A smile twisted
Amanda’s lips as she tightened her grip of his collar, her nails scratching the
bare skin on his chest.
 
“It was a
gift.”

Jaw flexed, his
eyes flickered back to hers.

In an instant,
Amanda felt her back pressed against the marble wall once again, Liam’s face
buried in the crook of her neck.
 
She gripped his muscled forearm, his hand having already slipped between
the slit of her dress to cup the back of her bare thigh.
 
A short, sharp gasp escaped her throat
when she felt his arms lift her off the ground in one swift motion, his
midsection easily pinning her body against the wall.
 
Right.
 
He’s Superman now
, Amanda realized,
a breathless giggle bubbling from her lips.
 
Holding his chin once again, she brought Liam’s lips to
hers, feeling the low rumble of his groan inside her mouth as she swept his
tongue with hers.
 
Never really imagined our first time would
be in public, but okay.

Then again,
maybe she
had
made the transformation
into that girl.