AVERY (The Corbin Brothers Book 2) (52 page)

“Ooh, I like lamb,” I said, rubbing my hands together. “I’m excited to try it stuffed.”

“I’ve heard very good things about it,” Liam said. He paused a moment before looking at me, propping his chin up on his fist. “Listen, thanks for coming out with me.”

“Thanks for inviting me,” I said. “You didn’t have to.”

“I did,” he said. “The things I said to you weren’t fair after everything you’d done for me.”

“It was nothing,” I said. “I got to take a drunk rich guy’s Porsche on a joyride across New York City. It was my pleasure.”

We both laughed.

“Can I tell you something?” Liam asked. “You have to promise not to be pissed off at me.”

“I can promise to try not to be pissed off at you,” I said, cocking my head at him. “What is it?”

“You’re really pretty,” he said, smiling. “Especially without all that makeup.”

I laughed and covered my face. “That was all very new to me,” I said, “but thank you. I try not to wear five pounds of makeup on a regular basis.”

We chatted some more, the time passing quickly before the waiter came back with covered trays, revealing them with a flourish. My mouth watered at the succulent piece of meat before me, rosemary-encrusted and stuffed with minced fruit and other goodies. On the side was a mashed vegetable tailored for the main dish, which was the restaurant’s namesake.

“I think you made the right decision with this,” I said, taking up my knife and fork.

The first bite exploded with flavor, the meat having been roasted with the fruit inside. The lamb had been infused with the fragrant stuffing.

“So good,” Liam groaned. I blushed, unwillingly being transported to the night before, when I’d had him groaning for different reasons.

“Want to come back tomorrow night?” I joked, taking a sip of water.

“Only if you’re by my side,” he said, making me melt a little inside. Liam was a charmer.

“Just give me a time and place to be,” I teased. “I will so take you up on this.”

A few minutes passed in amicable silence, both of us noshing on our dinners.

“Do you think you’ll always be a stripper?” Liam asked with feigned casualness.

I stiffened, but he held his hands up. “I’m just asking,” he said. “From what I can remember, you’re pretty good at it.”

“It’s not a permanent thing,” I said. “Just until I find something else.”

“Well, what would you rather be doing?”

I thought for a minute. “Something with helping people,” I said. “My roommate’s going to school to be a nurse, but I get squeamish. Maybe something with kids. I’m not sure. I’m kind of getting back up on my feet.”

I didn’t want to talk about my past, but there it was: an opening for him to ask. If Liam was weird about me being a stripper, I could only imagine his reaction to the knowledge that I used to be a prostitute.

He seemed to sense my reluctance to talk about it and smiled. “Well, if you really wanted to help people as a career, I could use some help.”

“Ha ha,” I mugged. “I think I already helped you once.”

“No, I’m serious,” Liam said. “I could use a personal assistant. I’ve been vetting people because there’s some privacy issues involved, but you’ve already seen me at my absolute worst.”

I shook my head, not sure what I was hearing. “Are you offering me a job?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Why not?” he asked. “I feel like I can trust you. You tolerate my stupidities. And you say you want to help people.”

“I don’t want to strip for the rest of my life,” I said. “It was just a temporary fix for cash.”

“You wouldn’t have to worry about cash,” he said. “You can even stay in my spare bedroom. In fact, I’d prefer that. It’d be rent free, of course, because you’d never be off duty.”

Stay in that gorgeous penthouse free of rent? Get a job that didn’t involve selling my body?

“I’ll sign my contract now,” I said, grinning.

Liam laughed and lifted his water glass. “To Miss Collette Bell, my new personal assistant and roommate.”

“Please, just Cocoa,” I said, clinking my glass with his. “Nobody calls me Collette.”

“Cocoa it is,” Liam said. “Now, how about some dessert to celebrate?”

We shared tiramisu before leaving the restaurant for the night.

“Do you mind if we stop by my place?” he said. “I just wanted to show you some of the things you’ll be doing. We don’t have to if you think it’s too late.”

“No, it’s fine,” I said, feeling full and happy. “I’ll just text Casey and let her know not to expect me before she goes to work.”

“Oh,” Liam said. “Do you need to go to work, too?”

“Not anymore,” I said, smiling.

I whipped out my little phone and shot off a quick message to Casey. “Going to Liam’s and don’t want you to worry,” it said.

The response lit up my phone. “Sex on the first date? Naughty girl!”

I had to smother my smile. “Not what you think — it’s a business proposal.”

“Better not be a business proposal about that body,” Casey typed back.

I shook my head and put my phone away.

We arrived in no time, the traffic light. The doorman smiled as he recognized me from last night, giving me a discreet thumbs up. I tried to shake my head at him, but stopped when Liam turned to look at me.

“Your penthouse is beautiful, by the way,” I said when we reached it. The city was sparkling as it had been the night before. I could get used to a view like this.

“Thanks,” Liam said, vanishing down the hallway.

He returned with a sheaf of papers held together by a binder clip.

“Giving me work already?” I joked, pretending to be worried by the fat stack.

“It’s the nondisclosure agreement,” he said, flipping the pages, “along with my typical schedules, what duties you can expect, everything.”

“Wow, so this is it,” I said, taking the packet and weighing it in my hands. “My ticket out of being a stripper.” I was happy to be past the point where I had to feel sensitive about my temporary line of work.

“I can go over it with you, if you want,” Liam said, leaning closer to flip to different pages. He was talking to me, telling me about the job I had said I was going to do, but I couldn’t help smelling the cloying fragrance of his cologne, thrilling at his closeness, and jumping at the way his fingers brushed against mine as we both held the packet.

I couldn’t stop myself. I tipped my head up and kissed his jaw. Liam stopped talking.

“I’m sorry!” I cried. “I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me — you smell really good, and I’m excited, and I had a great time tonight. Please don’t be mad.”

“This isn’t behavior befitting of a personal assistant,” Liam said, taking the sheaf of papers from my hand and letting them drop to the floor.

I thought I had screwed up until he tangled his hands in my hair and kissed me. My eyes fluttered shut as our tongues clashed. I could still taste the tiramisu in his mouth.

Liam broke the kiss, panting. “I’ve wanted to do that since I followed you across town this morning,” he said.

“That wouldn’t be behavior befitting Mr. Millionaire, not in the light of day,” I said, parroting his words.

He grabbed my ass, and I leapt up, wrapping my legs around his waist.

“It was this ass that did it,” he growled, fondling it roughly. “Watching it sway all the way to your apartment.

“I did that on purpose,” I said, smiling against his mouth before kissing him again.

I didn’t realize we had moved to the bedroom until he deposited me on the bed with a bounce.

“Do you want this?” he asked, his voice hoarse with desire.

I hadn’t thought I’d ever want sex as badly as I wanted it at that moment. It was something of a relief to know that working at Mama’s nightclub hadn’t ruined me for life. I had worried about it several times.

Nodding, I spread my legs for him, knowing what it looked like for my dress to ride up to my waist, for a tiny triangle of fabric to separate him from what he wanted.

“I want you now,” I said, my heart beating hard. “Right now.”

All he could manage to do was unzip his pants and push my underwear aside before plunging in. I was so wet. I arched my back and cried out, throwing my arms around his neck as his prodigious cock stretched me to my limits.

“You’re so big,” I whimpered.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, stilling. “I never want to hurt you.”

“You’re not hurting,” I said, smiling and stroking his hair. “I want this. Fuck me, Mr. Millionaire. Give it to me.”

He started thrusting again, my body already adapted to his girth. So many of the men at Mama’s nightclub who paid for the privilege of my body weren’t hung worth a damn. Liam was a welcome, incredible change. He stretched me, challenged me, and gave me unimaginable pleasure. Each of his thrusts struck a chord deep inside my body, finding my elusive G-spot with no effort whatsoever.

We panted together, two bodies desperate for pleasure, and thrilling at finding it again.

He grabbed me, holding me close, his thrusts even more frenzied. It was a sensory overload to feel so protected and so pleasured at the same time. I couldn’t hang on a second longer, shrieking as I climaxed. Liam smothered his own moans in the crook of my neck, both of us riding out our releases together. It was so strange — I felt vulnerable, scared, excited, and much more. Emotions wheeled through my mind, and I couldn’t settle on just one.

Liam pulled out of me, and I thought it was over. It was a good ride while it lasted I decided, determined not to feel bad or guilty about it.

He surprised me by stripping off his clothes and helping me out of my dress and underwear.

“Now that we have that out of the way, let me make love with you,” Liam said. Desire bloomed inside of me as he knelt between my legs, licking and sucking at my pussy even as his own cum seeped out of me. I was breathless again as he worked me over, tonguing my clitoris again and again. No man had ever done this for me, not in this manner. I knew he was something special, willing to brave something most men ran away from just to give me pleasure.

“Please,” I breathed. “It’s torture. I need you inside of me.”

“All I needed to hear,” Liam said, smiling before entering me. His cock was steely hard again, and filled me up. I moaned as much at the pleasure as I did at the strange feeling of being whole. His cock had been outside of me for all of fifteen minutes. Had I really missed it that much?

Liam struck up a more leisurely pace, taking the time to massage my breasts and kiss my dark nipples. His tongue made little bolts of electricity shoot straight through to my brain, making the whole experience even more sensual. We kissed; our tongues explored each other’s mouths as if we were just getting to know each other. In a way, we were. His kisses were powerful but tender, giving me insight into the man I had taken inside of myself. He may have put on a big front with me, but his core was caring and wonderful. His kisses only made me want to get to know him better. It also helped that they turned me on so thoroughly.

The next orgasm was just as fulfilling as the first, but less desperate. This one already understood what it needed to be. I was no less quiet as I moaned out my release, tightening my inner muscles around Liam’s still-pumping cock.