Love Handles (Oakland Hills #1)(68)

“Hold on, let me teach you some technique.”

“One.” She let it clang down. “Start talking.”

He frowned at her hands on the bar. “Move both hands a couple inches to the left. You're not centered.”

After a moment’s hesitation, she did it. “Next week? Why didn't I see it on the calendar?”

“Because I didn't put it there.” He put his hands over hers and readjusted her grip. “How does that feel?”

“Liam—”

He glanced down at her chest and slid his hands down her arms to her shoulders. “Get yourself grounded properly—I don't want you to blame me if you get hurt.”

Her heart raced. Even upside down he was beautiful. “I won't get hurt,” she said, teeth clenched. I won't let myself.

His hands tightened, then moved to her ribs, lightly brushing under her arms. He sank to his knees and whispered close to her ear, “No pain, no gain,” and then his hands moved together and cupped her breasts.

She sucked in her breath. “You can't—” His fingers found each nipple, and his mouth opened over the curve of her ear, inflaming her remaining nerves. One second of savoring, then she twisted roughly away and jumped to her feet. She glanced out into the hall. “If anybody saw you do that, I would—I would—”

Lazily, he strode over to her. “Fire me?”

“Kill you.” She pointed a finger at his chest where his small, cold heart huddled. “You don't care.”

“Oh, I care. I thought that was obvious.” He adjusted his belt. “Come on, Ms. Lewis. Be realistic.”

Cocky bastard. She hated all that self-confidence. “You were going to tell me about the Target deal.”

“No deal yet.” He hooked a hand around her waist and jerked her up against his hard body. “Working on that.” He bent his head.

“No, no, no!” She pushed away from him and scurried over to the wall phone by the door. “I'm having Rachel join us so you stick to business.”

“Rachel?” He followed her and stood too close. “Oh, good choice. She’s been helping me get the Target groups together.”

“What?” she cried. “You used my assistant—without my permission—” She clamped her mouth shut, upset Rachel had gone behind her back, with Liam, and over something so important, and they’d said nothing—

“You can’t get any samples out of this place without her. Plus, she’s good at keeping secrets.” He trailed a fingertip up the side of her neck and along the curve of her ear, sending electricity down her spine. “Most of the time. You might not want to confide in her about your sexual obsessions, however.”

“You're really going to make me regret last night, aren't you?”

His voice fell to a growl. “Why should you be the only one to suffer?”

“Well, I'm not going to play.” She finished dialing Rachel's extension but got voice mail, and while Liam's fingertip edged lower to the neckline of her dress, she was too flustered to leave a coherent message, so just said, “It's Bev, find me,” and hung up.

He dipped under the fabric and drew a line of fire along her bra strap. “Are you sure you don't want to wait until she gets back from L.A.?”

She swung around and scowled up at his wide-eyed face. Of course he hadn't forgotten Rachel's sourcing trip. Nothing big enough to distract his mind. She brushed his hand aside. “No, you may tell me now. On your way to that meeting you mentioned.” With lots of people around.

“I'm checking out a new fit model for Women's.” He was still standing less than a foot away. “I can't discuss anything with the patternmakers around. They take notes and sell them on eBay.”

She slipped out from under him. “When were you going to tell me about the Target deal, anyway? The day before the meeting?”

“I wasn't ever going to tell you.”

His handsome face, all smug and confident, reminded her of who she was dealing with. “You weren't ever going to tell me?”

“Nope.”

He was still hiding critical business dealings from her. Or he was hiding things, until—

“You're telling me now because I slept with you.” She clutched her forehead. “Jesus. I wish you'd told me what I was turning myself into, what price I could command for services rendered. I might have shown more restraint.”

“Don't be silly—” His cell phone beeped, and he stopped, still smiling at her, to pull it out and read the screen. “They're waiting for me. Look, I could hardly keep on as I was, after, well, getting you naked.”

“Chivalrous and bold, yet skanky.”

His smirk disappeared. Eyes narrowing, he leaned closer. “Please. What would you say if you found out after last night, after I went down on you and had sex with you in my own bed, after I begged you to stay—what would you say if I didn't change how I treated you at work?” He nodded. “That's right. You'd think I was a total dick. And don't look like that—I know you don't think I'm as bad as all that, not really, or you wouldn't have slept with me.”

She closed her eyes, angry because he was right. “All right.” She looked at him. “You are now on my side. I suppose I can live with that.” She looked past him, making sure they were alone. “So long as we both understand that was not why I did it. From now on we’re just business partners with similar goals.”