Page 66 of Boss Abroad

“Of course, sir.” George’s voice snaps me back to the present.

“Many thanks, mate.” I swear I can hear the smirk in Liam’s voice. What a prick. I regroup my self-respect—a quick task since there’s very little of it—before looking back at Katherine, whose eyes are now jumping from me to Liam and back to dear little me with a spark of I-see-what’s-going-on-here that mortifies me.

“Whereabouts do you live, Katherine?” is the first thing that comes to mind to deflect any comment or question she might have after the juvenile spectacle she just witnessed. This is so embarrassing that I start calculating my survival chances if I jump out of this moving car.

She smiles and gently taps my hand. Tap away, Katherine. I’ll take it. Patronize me all you want, just pretend you never saw this exchange.

And that’s what she does, answering that she, Liam and Noah live on the same street and have done for their whole lives. Aw, isn’t that cute? Wouldn’t have pegged him for a momma’s boy.

She tells me the name of the neighborhood, like I would know the city well enough to place it. But I do recognize the street we’re in. We’re about to arrive at my place, cleared of any paps since this morning, and I point to the entrance.

Liam’s monstrous car is too large to pass through the narrow, original 1800s arch marking the entrance to the apartment block I live in, so we park just outside it. The whole family exits the car to say their goodbyes to me.

I thank everyone for the ride and kiss Katherine goodbye. She shares her details with me and insists we meet again soon. That would be way too awkward, but I just agree and smile politely, because what else could I say to this lovely lady?

I kiss Liam on the cheek and Noah blatantly eyes his brother as he kisses my hand. Three times.

Katherine steps back into the car, Noah follows and when it’s Liam’s turn, he knocks on the car hood. “Noah, take mum home. I’ll make sure the doctor gets to her door safe, then I’m meeting a friend in the area for drinks.”

And then he closes the door.

“That’s not necessary…” I say in vain because he’s already pushing me with one hand spread on my lower back and another on my elbow. As soon as we walk toward the archway, I pull my arm free, pushing him away. “Liam, we can’t be seen together. What are you doing?”

“There’s a security team surrounding this building and another scanning a two-mile radius around it for paparazzi. We’re in the clear.” He nods at someone I hadn’t seen and I spot Terry nodding back at him. What the fuck?

“Drinks with a friend?”

“Don’t you have a bottle of something in your flat? After all we’ve done, the least we can call each other is friends.”

“Do you have an answer for everything?”

“Yes. You should’ve noticed that by now.”

“IT’S BEEN FOUR DAYS,” I whisper-shout.

Liam awards my outburst with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on his face yet. “And what a busy four days those have been.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

liam

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I don’t bother looking at whatever crude messages Noah is sure to be sending about what I, too, hope I’ll be doing tonight.

April’s flat is quite nice, but sterile. I was in too much of a rush when I did some breaking and entering before and didn’t pay too much attention to it.

She offers me a drink and I tell her I’ll have whatever she’s having. Her smile is pure mischief, and I regret my answer as soon as she pulls two liquor glasses from the cupboard. My tequila girl.

I sit on one of her bar stools in the open-plan kitchen. She fills both glasses and joins me, placing them on the counter in front of us.

“I’ll do shots with you, Doc. But I’ve got to do one thing first.” I turn her around in her seat until her back is facing me and stand to pull her zipper down. “This has been disturbing me all night long.”

“My zipper?” Her tone is amused, teasing.

“Fucking little thing. Pestering me from afar. Running across your body, following your every curve, slicing your dress in two in the most vexing, provocative way.”

“Wow. Who would’ve thought a zipper could be this triggering?”

Oh, she thinks this is funny? I pull the sides of the dress apart, forcing the zip down. She gasps at the change of pace. It goes far enough ‌to reveal she’s not wearing a bra. Pushing the dress from the collar down her arms, I let it pool by her elbows, restraining her upper limbs.