Wicked Heart (Starcrossed #3)(11)

He holds his hand out to me. “I’m Liam, by the way. Liam Quinn.”

I take his hand and try to keep my expression passive as the feel of his skin lights me up more than all the giant billboards around us. “I’m Elissa. Holt.”

“Very nice to meet you, Elissa.” He unashamedly stares as he continues to hold my hand.

Oh, he’s good. No doubt he uses this technique all the time to turn girls into piles of goo. I’m a little irritated it works on me. I thought I was immune to this type of smug self-awareness.

Liam. Even his name is sexy.

Josh clears his throat. “Okay, so you guys have been shaking hands for a creepy amount of time, and now I’m super-uncomfortable. I’m Josh, by the way. In case you care.”

Liam laughs and shakes his hand. “Nice to meet you too, Josh.”

Josh gives him a skeptical nod. “Sure it is. Elissa, should we invite our new friend to have dinner with us?”

That snaps me out of my tunnel vision. It’s one thing for me to lust after a handsome stranger. It’s another to do anything about it.

“Uh . . . I’m sure Liam has better things to do.”

Liam shrugs. “Not really. I’m seeing King Lear at eight, but considering I’ve been stood up, I’m at a loose end ’til then.”

Josh’s scoffs. “You’ve been stood up?”

“Well, ‘dumped’ would be a more accurate description. By the girl I’ve been with for a year.”

“What the hell?” Josh seems more upset about it than Liam does. “But you look like one of those male-model dudes in the fancy magazines. Fussy woman, was she, your ex?”

Liam shrugs. “She liked me, but hated my bank balance. She’s now dating some rich douche from Wall Street.”

“Fast rebound.”

Liam gives a bitter smile. “Yeah. Not so much a rebound as an overlap, but whatever.”

There’s a moment of uncomfortable silence before Josh says, “You know, Elissa was dumped as well. What a coincidence, right? Two single, attractive dumpees like yourselves having this random meeting. It’s like fate.”

Liam gives Josh a smile, then looks at me. “I totally believe in fate.”

I look down at my hands. Fate or not, I don’t know that I’m ready for the emotions this man is bringing out in me.

Over the past four years, I’ve had three boyfriends, and all three have thrown me over for other women. To say my confidence with men has taken a hit would be an understatement.

When my last relationship ended in a blaze of abject humiliation, I decided I was done with men, at least for the foreseeable future. I have a very specific five-year plan, and getting destroyed again isn’t part of it. Josh keeps hassling me to jump back into the dating pool with both feet, but I’m content to wade in the shallow end. It may be frustrating to never take the plunge, but there’s zero chance of drowning.

“So, does the invitation for dinner still stand?” Liam asks as he hits me with those stunning eyes again. “Because I’m starved.”

Me, too. I just didn’t realize how much before I saw him.

Never one to let an opportunity pass, Josh answers for me. “Absolutely, Liam. Elissa would love for you to come.” He smiles over his double entendre.

I grab his sleeve. “Uh, Joshua? May I speak to you for a moment please? Excuse us, Liam.”

I pull him down to the bottom of the stairs. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you a date.”

“I don’t want a date.”

“Yes you do. You just won’t admit it. I love you, but I’ve been the only man you’ve seen naked in months, and that’s only because I accidentally sent you dick pics intended for someone else.”

How do I tell him that all my alarm bells are going off about Liam? That some part of me thinks he’s more than just hot, and therefore, dangerous? I can’t even figure out how I’m feeling, let alone find a way to articulate it.

Josh is looking at me with concern. “Hey, I was just following your lead. When your jaw hits the floor over a guy, I play wingman. Is that not what’s happening here?”

I run my fingers through my hair. “You’re the best, Josh, really. Dick pics aside. I’m just not sure I’m up to this tonight.”

Josh glances over at Liam. “Well, let’s at least have dinner. Then he’ll go to his show and you’ll go home, and if you want to jump him in the future, you can give him your number. All good?”

I nod. I guess there’s no harm in that.

As we head back over to the stairs, Liam and Josh start up an easy conversation about sports. They look like they’ve known each other for years.

In some ways, I think that’s what’s throwing me about Liam. We’ve just met, but some part of me feels like I’ve always known him. And that part is freaking the hell out.


Ten minutes later, we’re sitting in Gino’s on 42nd street, debating which pizza to get.

Liam frowns at the menu. “Uh . . . you guys choose. I’m not fussy. I’ll eat anything.”

“That’s good,” says Josh. “Because Elissa is so damn fussy, she’ll only be truly happy if they let her in the kitchen to make her own.”

I keep my focus down on the menu. “Just because I like things a certain way doesn’t mean I’m fussy, Joshua Kane.”