Politically Incorrect (14 page)

“The eighties hair bands are nothing compared to the nineties grunge bands. The eighties guys were all show. There’s no emotion in their work. They were the Lady Gaga’s of their generation.”

The smell of his cologne permeated my senses. Liam stepped toward me, as always, invading my personal space. He looked into my eyes, a hint of a smile played with his mouth. “Amazing. We really can agree on something.”

“You call this agreeing?” I motioned between us.

“There’s always a first time for everything.”

I slipped the album jacket back onto the shelf where Liam had found it. “I guess you think I’m old fashion for listening to my music on vinyl.” I felt shy in admitting that. Kids never listened to records anymore. It was practically impossible to find vinyl, and while digital had an amazing sound, there was something lost in the perfection.

With his fingertip, Liam traced the length of the bookshelf housing my favorite albums. A contradiction of cool confidence and boyish shyness oozed from him. “Not at all. There’s something about vinyl that makes the music feel real. The pop and crackle of the needle against the album adds an additional layer to the artist's work.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

He’d basically verbalized my thoughts.

Get out of my head!

While I was a little weirded out by his ability to see into my soul, I was also intrigued. It was rare to find someone so young who understood the art behind the music and how digital eliminated the unique sound of human imperfection from a track.

“What’s bothering you?” he queried, drumming his fingers along the bookshelf.

The intense look on his face burrowed itself deep inside me. Unlike anyone I’d ever met, Liam had a way to challenge a person to be truthful, and I don’t know why, but I longed to spill my deepest, darkest secrets to him. That scared me.

I told myself it was because Liam understood my world. He lived in it with me. Not even Russell or Harper understood the details of my life. It was for that reason my marriage fell apart.

I’d never even been fully open with my ex-husband. Russell didn’t mind being a stay-at-home dad. He was proud of having a successful wife, but he wanted me to share the details of my job with him. At the end of the day I was so tired I didn’t want to give him a play-by-play of what I’d done. He respected that for a while, but when the midnight calls from clients who found themselves in the center of some scandal that could break them started to interfere with our family time, he wasn’t so understanding. Our marriage crumbled. It was my fault. I took the blame then and still did. Hence the reason I didn’t date until recently.

Casual trysts were easier, cleaner, in a manner of speaking. No one’s feelings were involved. Both parties were in it for the physical gratification. All the touchy feely shit was left at the door.

“I was thinking how amazing it is to find someone so...” I paused, brandishing the word that nearly slipped from my lips away. “Someone who enjoys music for the art.”

The inquisitive smile dropped. His eyebrows bowed together. “
So young
,” he filled in for me.

My heart sank in my chest. “I didn’t say that.”

Liam rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, his eyes penetrating my soul. “But you thought it.” He let out a little sigh and backed away from me. “Why does my age make you so uncomfortable?”

I looked down, searching the floor for the right answer. Unfortunately, it didn’t have one. What was it about this man? It wasn’t like me to struggle for words. I always had a dozen one-liners waiting at the tip of my tongue. I thought quick and acted quicker, but with Liam only the truth seemed to come to mind. So, instead, I said anything. Everything. Nothing at all.

“I wish I knew.”

“I wish you did, too.”

He sounded so sincere. If only I could tell him that it was more than his age that made me uncomfortable. It was everything about him. The way he stood tall and straight. His charismatic smile. The simple innocence of how he answered an unexpected question in an interview. Or the manner in which he entered a room, bringing it to life in an instant. It was the way his dark hair had grown out, falling flat against his forehead. The sound of his laugh and the brush of his hand against my back when we walked down the hall together. It was how a single text message from him could make my day. Or how I dreamt about him at night. He consumed my thoughts. When I wasn’t with him, I wanted to be and that unnerved me.

“What I do know is…”

What was it that I knew? I knew he was special. Aggravating. Infuriating. And funny as hell. I also knew the intense longing I had to kiss those damn lips of his. To tug them between my teeth every time he pissed me off. I knew his body was hard in all the right places. I knew I could imagine licking the water off his abs instead of him drying off after that shower.

Dammit. Stop thinking about him naked.

My shoulders dropped. “What I do know,” I started again, my voice a little less shrill this time, “is that I believe you can win this election. Together we’ll accomplish great things.”

A somber smile eclipsed his mocking tone, “There’s no doubt about that.” As the words fell from his lips, the ice that formed between us started to melt. Liam took a step toward me, closing the distance between us. “Actually, I have a small confession to make.”

The trickster had returned.

If it had been anyone else but Liam, I would’ve gone on high alert by those words. Those words screamed scandal, but with Liam I had an inkling he was toying with me.

I straightened my back, ready to play along. “Anything I should be concerned about?”

Liam shuffled his feet, a wry gleam appearing in his eyes. “You’ll have to be the judge of that.”

My hand extended to the two chairs that sat in front of my desk. He accepted my offer and we both sat down. I dampened my lips with the tip of my tongue. “Okay,” I smacked, “lay it on me.”

He leaned back into the chair, crossing his leg over his knee. His fingers wrapped around his ankle, causing the cuff of his sleeve to rise, revealing the black metal watch he wore. “I’ve known for some time now you’re not an eighties girl.”

“Is that so?”

He nodded, his mouth drawn into a frown. “And this isn’t the first time I’ve eavesdropped at your door to listen to the music.”

That caught me by surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he hummed. “It’s always after hours. And always after Brandy’s left for the night.” He scratched his jaw. Dark stubble from the day had started to appear on his tanned skin. It was rather sexy. “But once they’re all gone, I sit on the floor outside your office and listen with you. It’s nice to know someone who has good taste in music and knows how to listen to it properly.”

A small laugh gushed from me. I couldn’t help it. His mannerisms were shy and sincere. This was the opposite of the Liam I was accustomed to. It was quite endearing.

“I’m flattered. But you know you don’t have to sit on the floor, right? You’re always welcome to come in and listen with me.”

Danger! Danger! What the hell was I saying? I just gave Liam a pass into my office. At night. Alone. With me! Bad idea. This was a really bad idea.

My near panic must have manifested itself on my face. Liam leaned forward, his foot dropping to the ground. Our knees almost touched and his long fingers brushed along my kneecap.

Had he done that on purpose?

I tried not to think about it, but the fire in my belly wasn’t about to let me forget how that single, tiny touch consumed me.

“Really? That’s not going to break any of your rules?”

I pushed my fingers against his chest, a weak chuckle emerging from me. “We work together, Liam. I think we’re safe.”

No we’re not! That was a lie! A big, fat, ugly lie that excited me in a way it shouldn’t.

Catching my wrist, he held my arm suspended between us. “Is that why you avoid being alone with me?”

“I...I…” I couldn’t think. The heat of his hand was setting fire to my skin. My body wanted to lurch forward into his lap and claim those plump lips that were mocking me.

“You’re imagining things.”

“I’m no fool, Elizabeth. I see everything.”

Everything? Did he notice how my pulse jumped when he grabbed me or how my body was perspiring being this close to him?

Dammit!

“Don’t be silly,” I admonished.

He released my hand. It fell into a limp puddle in my lap. “Not that any of it really matters. For the next few weeks, we’re locked on a bus together. There’s no avoiding me there.”

Another challenge. And boy was he wrong. I’d avoid being alone with him. I had to.

I balled my fist, trying to regain control. “Along with the rest of your staff,” I insisted.

“A limited staff.” He grinned.

“That doesn’t make us alone, though, but for argument's sake, at least you can learn some things about me that don’t require you to stalk me from a hallway.”

Liam reached out and twisted a strand of my hair between two fingers. In a slow, meticulous way, he twirled the strand around his knuckle. Not once did he tug. He applied just enough pressure so I could feel him, and with that I relaxed. Never had he touched me in such an intimate manner. I tried not to read too much into it, but it wasn’t easy. “Again, it looks like we can agree on something,” he teased, releasing my hair.

I shifted in my seat. “We can’t make a habit of that. It’ll ruin my reputation as a hard ass.”

“I think your ass is plenty hard. Your reputation is safe,” he snarked.

I smacked my hand over my face, groaning. “Oh that was terrible.”

He cocked his head to the side, grinning. “Okay. How about this? Maybe you can bring some music along. We can spend our nights arguing over the best bands of the nineties. That way no one will think you’ve lost your edge and I can still get what I want.”

Oh, damn. My nether regions clenched and my stomach fluttered.

“And that is?”

“To know more about you.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “You might have to find another way of learning about me.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because,” I popped off, “there’s no way us being alone together, late at night, listening to Radiohead on a tour bus, could be anything but scandalous.”

“Especially when one of us has seen the other naked,” he smarted back.

Damn him for bringing that up.

I rolled my shoulders and leaned forward, matching his posture. This man thought he’d maneuvered me right where he wanted me to be. Game, set, but not match, because I wasn’t about to let him win.

“That right there just skyrocketed this master plan of yours to a ten-point-oh on my scandal-radar. So, what do you suggest to rectify the situation?”

Liam shifted so his calves were wrapped around mine. The dark chocolate of his eyes swirled as his mind seemed to whirl. He drew in a breath, his mouth inching closer to mine. “Nothing,” he purred, his voice dripping with seduction.

“Nothing?”

He looked me square in the eye, his gaze burning hot. “I think strange and interesting things can happen on a tour bus just like they do in old, drafty houses. Why would anyone want to stop those things from happening?”

My mouth gaped open. Was he suggesting what I thought he was suggesting? No. Not possible. Liam would never suggest something so casual.

Stop imagining things, Elizabeth! Too young, remember!

A knock at the door gave him pause. My natural instinct kicked in and I moved back. The chair made a loud, skin crawling sound as it scooted against the floor. Liam released a drawn out sigh, running his fingers through his hair. It was kind of cute seeing him flustered, and even cuter still to see his hair mussed after a good run through with his fingers. I turned my head to find Aaron standing at the door.

His arms were crossed over his brawny chest. A wild smirk lighted his face. “Brandy’s missing from her post, so I thought I’d make my presence known. Hope I wasn’t interrupting anything important.”

“Nope. Nothing,” I chimed.

He shifted his weight and thumbed behind him. “Good, because dinner’s here.”

“Fantastic!” I exclaimed, rising from my chair. “I’m starving.”

I glanced down at Liam. His eyes were closed and he was shaking his head. I placed my hand on his shoulder, surprised by my own actions. “You all right, champ?”

Liam lifted his face, meeting my stare. He nodded and shifted in his seat. “Yeah,” he groaned. “I’m good.”

“You sure, bro? You look a little
uncomfortable
.”

“Shut up,” Liam hissed at his brother. He lifted from his seat and pulled it aside so we could step out together. “You heard the lady,” he instructed Aaron, resting his hand at the small of my back. “She’s hungry. Let’s not keep her waiting.”

Aaron eyed Liam from top to bottom. He lingered on us for a moment longer before he stepped aside for us to exit.

Back in the conference room, all the campaign posters and flyers had been stacked into the center of the oval table and delicious takeout was buffeted over the surface. It’d been my idea to order Thai food. I had a hankering for some Phat si-io with jalapenos. That stuff was to die for.