Only One (Ward Sisters Book 2) (17 page)

Chapter 11

Lynnfield, Massachusetts, two years, three months ago...

It was late June and Liam was in Boston for his birthday tomorrow. This was one of his twice-yearly visits with his crazy, drama-filled family. Dana knew this, since she was friends with his mother. He'd always felt weird about that, but he didn't have much choice in the matter.

This afternoon, he'd arrived at the Lynnfield house where he'd spent the second half of his childhood. When he'd stepped in the door, he knew Dana was there before he saw her because he could hear her boisterous personality from the other side of the house. Dana's voice often boomed. Liam was never sure if it was her family, cheerleading or bartending that had embedded loudness into the very fiber of her being, but she'd been high-octane audible as long as he'd known her.

Liam walked into the kitchen and Dana jumped from her chair to hug him before his own mother could. She must be single at the moment. It was at those times when she was eager to touch him and get him into her bed.

“Hi, Liam.” It was sickly sweet.

“Hi, Dana,” he said, hugging her quickly and stepping away.

He walked over to his mother. “Hey, Ma,” he said, wrapped his arms around her and squeezed.

“There's my boy,” his mother said. “You here for a while?”

“No, Ma. Just a couple days. I'll meet Rob in Minneapolis before the next shoot.” His Boston accent slipped around his Ma.

“Oh? Robbie visitin' his family?”

“Yeah. We leave for Toronto after the Fourth holiday.”

Dana cleared her throat behind him.
Oh
. He'd almost forgotten she was there. “So, Liam, I have to work tonight. You should come by the bar and I'll take care of you.”

By 'take care', she always meant 'get you drunk so you'll sleep with me.' Liam wasn't particularly interested in hopping into his ex's bed, but Dana had strategically asked in front of his mother.

That night, he sat at the bar in the pub where Dana worked as a bartender and nursed a beer so they could leave together when she ended her shift. He'd been sitting here for two hours and he was bored. It wasn't just the scene, the bar.

No, it was mostly that he felt very apathetic about Dana at the moment. Not that he'd ever taken her very seriously – even when they were in high school and she was his first lover, Liam hadn't seen Dana as much more than a temporary thing.

Bored out of his skull, he was itching for entertainment. Some high school cronies arrived a few minutes later and corralled him into a game of pool. According to tradition, it involved copious amounts of alcohol and he was toasted by the time Dana closed the bar.

He leaned against the bar and Dana set her purse on the chair next to him, then rubbed her body against his like a cat in heat.

“Ready to go home?” she asked. In his drunken state, when she kissed him, he saw no reason why he shouldn't kiss her back. As Dana pulled away, he glimpsed her bleached blond hair – it was naturally brown and blond was her current trend of choice – and a flash of Jenna went through his mind.

He tried to shake it.

“Yeah, let's go to bed,” he said, trying to muster enthusiasm. But just like when he was with Ally, he went through the motions. The entire time Dana rode him like a bull, he closed his eyes and thought about Jenna. Every time he tried to be in the moment with Dana, his dick attempted to jump out of the game.

He'd sobered – enough to know where he was and what he was doing, that he didn't really want to be doing it anymore – but not enough to drive. There was no way he was staying with Dana or at his mother's house, where she'd find him. To beg off more sex, he pretended to pass out. Once he knew she was asleep, he dressed, locked the door behind him, and walked down the street to the Citgo station. He bought a cup of coffee and called Mary Cate to come get him.

The BMW pulled into a spot in the store parking lot. Liam walked around to the passenger's side and slunk in the car.

Mary Cate asked, “Where were you? Why didn't you just walk home? It's around the corner, for Christ's sake.”

“With Dana.”

“Did you tell her you were leaving?”

“Nope.”

“She's gonna be pissed.”

“Which is why I'm going to your place and not back to Ma's house. Tony's gone, right?”

“Of course. When isn't he?”

Mary Cate's husband was a banker and came from old money. He was gone more than he was home, leaving Liam's twin sister alone at their Brookline brownstone with their five-year-old daughter, Lila Beth, all the time. Lila was on Martha's Vineyard with Tony's parents this weekend.

“Good. I'm staying with you this weekend. Ma can come to your place. I'm not going near Dana again.”

Mary Cate asked, amusement in her voice, “Why is that?”

She and Dana were supposedly friends, but they'd always had a love/hate relationship.

“Because she'll want me to jump back into bed.”

“Since when don't you hump anything that moves?” Mary Cate said, laughing hysterically.

“Hey, I've never been
that
bad!” Liam grumbled.

“Oh, yeah? I recall a time about a year after you joined the Agency when you had a different girl every time I talked to you and half of them were nameless because you couldn't remember what they'd told you.”

Liam blushed. “Okay, for a little while I was
that
bad. I haven't done that in years! Not since before I started working at Deacon.”

“No, you just fuck a handful of girls. Including the one you slept with tonight. You did sleep with her, right?”

Only his sister, and maybe the Deacon brothers, could be so blunt with him and not royally piss him off. “Yes, I slept with her, but I didn't enjoy it.”

She laughed again. “You're a man. You enjoyed it.”

“Fuck you, Mary Cate. Just because I got off doesn't mean I was happy about it.”

“Jesus, Liam, what's up your ass? Didn't drink enough? I know you usually get plowed when you screw Dana, but I didn't think you had to be out-of-your-fucking-mind drunk to do it.”

“I don't usually need to drink that much when I'm with her. Tonight, no amount would've made it worth my time.”

Mary Cate sobered. She put her hand on his knee. “Hey, what's wrong, little brother? I was just giving you shit.”

“I know. It's not you.”

“Then what is it?” Liam didn't know what to say, so he was silent. “Oh, shit. You met someone.”

Damn it
. Sometimes their psychic twin thing was annoying.

“Your silence tells me I'm right. Who is she?”

Liam sighed. “Rob's assistant.”

“The girl that runs all of Robbie's social network stuff?”

“More like she does all the stuff that Amy, Rick and Raoul don't. Computer shit. I don't know all the details and from what I gather, I don't want to know.”

“Okay. What's her name?”

“Jenna.”

“Jenna. Wait, you talked about her a few times over the last year or so. You didn't say you were sleeping with her.”

“I'm doing more than sleeping with her, Mary Cate. We dated exclusively for a while.”

“Holy shit, Liam!”

“Jesus, why is that so fucking hard to believe? Christ, is there a person alive who thinks I can actually have a real relationship?”

“Don't get your damn panties in a bunch. I'm just surprised, is all. When was the last time you had a girlfriend? College?” she asked. He was silent, so she said, “I take that as a yes.”

But it wasn't true. There had been Mia, his fellow CIA agent.

From the point he'd been fooled by Mia – Cassandra Wilkes – until he met Jenna, Liam didn't get to know women. He took from them what they were willing to give and never gave back more than his body.

Of course, Dana was a little different, because she'd known him since they were kids. Ally had never wanted more than sex anyway. Reggie was a great girl and a really nice person. He liked her. A lot. But while they'd had numerous conversations, he'd never told her anything about himself that was truly personal.

Even Jenna didn't know everything, but he'd trusted her more than he'd ever trusted anyone, and it had terrified him. Maybe that was why he didn't end things with the other girls. Although, he'd effectively ended things with Dana, and it was hard to imagine going back to Ally after how he'd felt last time.

“Earth to Liam. Where did you go?” They pulled into a spot near Mary Cate's brownstone.

“Sorry. Still drunk, I guess.”

“Don't pull that shit with me. It might work with other people, but I know better. You're hung up on this girl.”

“I'm not hung up on her. That implies she's not interested.”

“And is she?”

“Hell, Mary Cate, I don't know. I think so. But we don't talk about it. We don't really even talk unless I'm in L.A.”

“How is she your girlfriend, then?”

“I didn't say she was.”

Mary Cate shook her head as she stepped out of the car. “Men are idiots. You in particular. Let me get this straight, you slept with your ex, who you screw somewhat regularly when you come home, but you didn't enjoy it this time. So much that you called me to come get you at,” she looked at her watch, “three in the fucking morning all the way in Lynnfield, when you could have just walked down the damn street to Ma's house. But you're not hung up on this girl, Jenna?”

“No.”

“Liar. And she's not your girlfriend?”

“Not officially, no.”

“But you'd like her to be? Is that the issue?”

Liam scrubbed his face with his hands, suddenly exhausted, the time and the alcohol catching up to him. “I don't know.”

“You can stay with me because tomorrow is our birthday and you're taking me out to dinner anyway. But since you made me get up in the middle of the fucking night, you're taking me to my favorite restaurant, like it or not.”

Liam sighed. He knew where she wanted to go, to the pizza place she loved from her college days. For whatever reason, she was attached to that place and Tony refused to go there. He'd wanted to take her somewhere classy for their birthday, but he supposed he owed her whatever dinner she wanted.

“Fine. I'm not sharing that disgusting pizza with you.”

“Wuss. Hamburger and onion is the best.”

“It sucks ass,” he said as she unlocked the door, disarmed her house, and let them inside.

“You suck ass. Go sleep in the guest room. I'll wake you in the morning and we'll get your shit from Ma's house. Unless you want me to have her bring it here.”

“Doesn't matter. If she wants to come have breakfast with us, I'll take you two over to that place in Little Italy you both love.”

“I'll call and tell her in a few hours, then. Get some sleep.”

Liam nodded and trudged up to her guest room. He stripped to nothing and hopped in the shower, hoping the hot water would make him sleepy and that he'd get the smell of Dana off his skin. He didn't ever want to sleep with her again.

Jesus, what had Jenna done to him? He was sabotaging every other relationship he'd had for the past five years or more!

Ally would probably sleep with him again if he asked, but he didn't
want
to sleep with her. He'd hated feeling cheap and used.

That night, it took him forever to fall asleep, even though he was drop-dead exhausted by the time his head hit the pillow. To top it off, he had a nightmare about being shot for the first time in months.

So far, it was a pretty shitty start to his thirties.

Chapter 12

Los Angeles, California, two years ago...

Her phone played Justin Timberlake's
Sexy Back,
the ringtone for Rob. Sometimes, it made her laugh. His ringtone for her was Tommy Tutone's
867-5309/Jenny
, which made her smile.

“What's up, boss man?” she asked. This was their daily call.

“Hey, gorgeous. We're headed back to L.A. next week. We've got the L.A. premiere of
War Zone
.”

“I remember. So you're warning me that the press junkets are about to explode, right? And that there will be a barrage of stuff out there about you and Cara?”

“Exactly. We have a meeting on Tuesday to discuss our press schedule. One of these days, I'll have a business meeting with a costar and not make the tabloids.”

Jenna laughed. “Oh? And when will that be, sexy man?”

“Haha, very funny. As if you think I'm sexy anymore.”

“You're as sexy as ever, big guy. JT still sings to me daily.”

Rob chuckled. “Speaking of men you actually think are sexy, Liam is coming with me, even before the premiere.”

“Is he?” she asked, trying to pretend she wasn't interested. She hadn't seen him in several months, not since Rob was in L.A. for awards season. He still never called, emailed her, or sent texts. Rob was her only source of updates on Liam.

“Don't act like you don't care.”

“I didn't say I don't care. So, has he been sleeping around?” God, she hoped not. It was painful when he told her that he'd slept with Ally between her Homecoming trip a year ago and when they got together a few months later.

Rob laughed. “I love you. You don't mince words. As far as I know, not when he was with me, but he went to Boston for his birthday in June, and he might have seen Dana then. He didn't say, but I didn't ask, either.”

Jenna sighed. “I bet if I check, she was single then.”

“Maybe. I don't think they have anything serious.”

“Doesn't mean he didn't sleep with her.”

“Do you want me to talk to him, Jenna?”

“No! Absolutely not. We make things work the way they are. I'm not rocking the boat. Don't rock it for me. Please.”

“Okay. I won't. I promise. He seemed pretty happy that we were headed to L.A.”

“Did he? Look, let me know if you need anything specific. I assume Amy has some press releases coming and that we need to update the website and Facebook.”

“Yeah, she'll contact you. See you soon. Don't give up.”

“You know I couldn't even if I wanted to. Bye.”

Jenna sank into the sofa and closed her eyes. She had to live with it. He'd come around eventually. One of these days, he would let himself love her without having a panic attack about it. That didn't make it easier to take when he slept with someone else.

She wasn't worried about Ally anymore. Liam insisted she wasn't important, so Jenna chose to believe it, given that he'd only slept with her once in the last year as far as she knew. Dana and Reggie were different stories.

Jenna hacked into Facebook and found Dana's profile. It said
In a Relationship
right now, but she looked at the history and at the time Liam would have been home – around his birthday, in late June – it had said single. Which meant there was a good chance that Liam had slept with her then. Dana might have been looking for a rebound hookup, and it would have been a few months since Jenna last saw Liam. Unless he'd slept with Ally in that time, he might have been looking for a booty call. Even if he had been with Ally, he might have wanted to sleep with Dana, anyway. That made her heart sink.

Time to check out the other competition.

She found Reggie's profile. The makeup artist's page wasn't completely private because she used it for professional reasons. But there were parts of her page that were set to private and Jenna checked into those. Reggie, it turned out, was currently single. And that made Jenna wonder. Liam had said that things with him and Reggie were casual and he'd indicated once that, since Reggie had a boyfriend, they weren't getting together. If Jenna blew him off this time, if she made an excuse why she couldn't see him, would he seek out Reggie? He'd see her because Rob had a premiere, which meant their boss needed Reggie's services.

A few hours later, Liam called, as she suspected he would. The Script's
Breakeven
played and she let it ring twice before she answered this time. Usually, she picked up straight away. She wondered what Liam would say if he knew what song played when he called.

“Hey you,” he said, sounding happy.

“Hey,” Jenna replied flatly.

“Did Rob tell you we'll be back in L.A. next week?”

“Yeah.”

“What's wrong, baby?” His concern touched her heart.

She sighed and tried to be matter-of-fact. “Nothing. Just busy with work.” It wasn't completely untrue. She
was
sort of busy.

“Busy already? The premiere hasn't even happened yet. You getting bombarded with stuff before he has lunch with Cara?”

“Just have a lot going on is all.” Again, not false, but not the entire issue. This Liam-sees-other-women thing was wearing on her, and he hadn't, supposedly, been with anyone else. Much.

“Am I going to be able to see you while we're in town?” He sounded hopeful. She hated to dash those hopes, in part because she wanted desperately to see him. But she needed him to know that she wasn't his booty call like the other girls. No matter what she'd said before, it had never been what she wanted.

“You know, I'm not sure if I can. I have a lot to do for work and on top of that, I'm having my period.”

“Oh. Okay. I wish we could see each other. I miss you.”

That melted her a tiny bit. “I miss you, too. It's just going to be tough, since you're only here for a few days. Hopefully you'll be back again soon, right?”

“Yeah. I hope so. I'll talk to you soon, okay?”

Not likely, unless
she
called
him
. Even the video she'd left him hadn't encouraged him to call, unless he hadn't found it. She'd put it on his iPhone well over a year ago, so it seemed unlikely.

“Better get back to it. Have fun at the premiere.”

And screwing Reggie
.

“Won't be as much fun if I don't see you. Bye, baby.”

If only I could believe that
.

“Bye.”

As soon as she hung up the phone, Jenna burst into tears. Was this tough love for herself? Should she go a step further, maybe get tickets to the premiere from Rob and bring a date?

No. She didn't want to be petty yet. She just wanted to know if he was still interested in Reggie, and there was only one way to find out.

**********

He followed Rob toward the makeup area and caught a flash of bright pink hair. When he arrived at her chair, Reggie turned around.

“Well, well. If it isn't my favorite hottie bodyguard,” she said.

Liam kissed her cheek. “Hi, Reggie.”

“And here's my favorite client. Oh! And look. For once, he has been keeping up with his skincare regimen.”

Rob blushed. “I only skip if I run out of product.”

“Then we'll have to get the minions to make sure you have plenty of supply before you leave L.A. Now sit your ass down and let's get this show on the road.”

Liam stood to the side and watched Reggie work her magic. The girl had talent in spades. He was obviously still attracted to her, because every time she bent low to get a better angle, he experienced a familiar jolt of sexual energy looking at her ass.

It didn't hurt that she was wearing the seamed stockings she loved, the ones he knew were attached to a sexy, matching garter belt, likely accompanied by a set of lacy, coordinated lingerie. Last time, it was purple silk and black lace, with a black garter belt and stockings. Her plain black dress and flats belied the hot little package underneath. It was one of the things he liked best about Reggie, that she was always a surprise to be opened.

When he recalled how a tiny, conservative-looking, yet funky contradiction of a girl had boldly propositioned him during the after party for one of Rob's premieres, he smirked. Reggie was adventurous in the bedroom. She had piercings and tattoos in hidden places, which had been surprisingly sexy.

He was convinced that she always wore seamed stockings to these things to remind him of that first night.

Thinking about sleeping with Reggie brought good memories. He'd always liked being with her, more than he ever had with Dana. Unlike Ally, Reggie let him know it was about mutual attraction and esteem, not just gratification. He thought being with her again would neutralize the situations with Dana and Ally – both of which were over in his head – proving he could still date more than one girl. Then Reggie made a flippant comment to Rob, one that reminded him of something Jenna would say, and getting naked with Reggie went out the window.

His boss was done in the chair, and Liam started to follow Rob, but Reggie grabbed his arm.

“Hey. You're here a couple days, right?”

Liam nodded and sighed. “Yeah.”

“Want to get naked and sweaty at my place tomorrow? Try the new massage oil I just bought?” She wiggled her brows.

He took a deep breath. “Sure,” he said on the exhale. What else was he going to do? Jenna had made excuses not to see him, for what reason, he had no idea. For all he knew, she was seeing someone else.

The thought depressed him, which was unwelcome.

Reggie furrowed her brow, looking offended. “Hey, if you don't want to do this anymore, just say so.”

Liam felt bad for hurting Reggie's feelings. He considered her a good friend, even aside from the time they spent in bed together.

“No, I want to come over. I'll drive up after I'm off at noon.”

“Don't force yourself,” she said, irritation in her voice.

He kissed her sweetly. “I want to come over, Reg. I'll see you then. I have to go.” She smiled and pinched his ass. He returned her smile and left. Now, if he could get excited about going.

“What was that about?” Rob asked as they sat in the limo.

“Nothing.”

“It looked like you two were fighting. I didn't think things with Reggie were that deep.”

“It's nothing, Rob. Leave it alone.”

Rob put his hands up. “Okay.” After a couple minutes, his face changed – Liam could tell he was thinking about the premiere and anxiety was creeping into his mind. This was why Liam was here, to ward off the panic. For some unknown reason, he could do it better than anyone else.

“Rob.” He didn't answer. “Rob, look at me.” Rob turned and looked at Liam.
Oh no.
The panic was on his face. This one was bad. “Hey, don't sweat this. Reviews say your performance was kick-ass, and they're right. I went to that screening with you.”

“Yeah.”

“
Rob
. Stop being a fucking pussy and snap out of it!” Being nice with him didn't always work. Liam hated when he had to be a dick to his best friend, but when Rob drifted this far into his head, it was the only thing that broke through sometimes.

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry.”

“Don't be sorry, asshole, just pull yourself together and get ready to go out there. You know they don't give you the big jobs because you're a shitty actor. You can do this. How many fucking times have you done this, for Christ's sake?”

“Too many to count.”

“Right. So snap the fuck out of it and go smile for the damn cameras. Pretty boy.”

Rob's face relaxed as the panic passed, and he grinned.

“Thanks.”

“Jesus, you're a real piece of work, you know that?” Liam punched him lightly in the arm. He didn't mean it. He was always glad to do this for Rob. His best friend did so much for him.

“You going to Reggie's tonight?”

“Tomorrow. I'm on until noon.”

“You don't sound excited.”

Liam shrugged. “Whatever. Hey, you have to get out there. Let's go.” Rob nodded and they exited the limo to flashbulbs. Liam wondered if Jenna would see him in the photos later, if she'd think about him the way he was thinking of her right now.

He could hope.

**********

The next day, Liam arrived at Reggie's, unsure of what to do. He'd debated all night whether or not he should cancel, though he never had before and she might refuse to speak to him again if he did. Was he ready to take that step with Reggie, too?

About a hundred times the night before and all morning, he wanted to call Jenna, see what she was doing, if she had a little time to see him after all. But he didn't do it. He had no idea why, but he was afraid she'd say no again, that she'd tell him she had a date or a new boyfriend.

So, here he was, standing on Reggie's step. He knocked and within seconds, she flung the door open. A huge grin spread across her face when she saw him. He couldn't help but return it. She wore this regal purple housedress, he supposed you'd call it, satiny with buttons up the front and a slit up her thigh. The seams of the bust hugged her breasts and it tapered to her waist. It was as loud as her pink hair, a blunt straight bob. But the highlight was the garter belt and stockings he saw peeking out the slit, and the stripper boots, leather, over her knee, with six-inch stilettos.