Wired

  It was completely unrealistic, Allison decided. A good attorney was all her aunt and uncle needed to make it go away. When she voiced her reservation, another debate ensued, and it continued until the hostess came to collect them for their table.

  Oliver and Charlotte led the way to the dining room, but Allison hung back and lowered her voice for Liam. “I’ll understand if you want to take off. You could maybe stop by tomorrow, and I’ll make the changes in the contract then.”

  His response to her suggestion was to take her hand and pull her along.

  “I’m not at all hungry,” she said then.

  “The six club sodas fill you up?”

  “I didn’t . . .” She stopped and gave him a quizzical look. “Did I?”

  He nodded.

  “I was distracted.”

  “I know.”

  Ever since they were little girls, Charlotte had possessed a strong sense of right and wrong, and she had been willing to act on it. Allison loved that about her, but this time her sister’s need for justice had consequences, and Allison wondered if she truly understood what she had done.

  “I just wish Charlotte would leave it alone,” she whispered.

  Her sister heard her, of course, and once they were seated offered her take on the situation. “You’re such a peacemaker, Allison, but sometimes you have to take a stand. I won’t feel bad for doing the right thing.”

  “Good for you, Charlotte,” Allison retorted. “When are these legal papers going to be sent?”

  Charlotte looked at Oliver, who answered, “The court will have to investigate, and knowing how these things work, I expect it could take some time. Maybe weeks. Maybe months.”

  Allison leaned back in her chair and folded her arms defiantly, fixing her gaze on Charlotte. “Then I have one question for you.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Where will you be when our aunt and uncle receive the notice?”

  “In Seattle, I assume,” Charlotte answered with a slight shrug at stating the obvious.

  “Exactly. And where will I be?” she asked.

  “Here in Boston,” her sister said.

  Allison paused to give her sister time to comprehend the implications of what she was saying and then asked, “So, who do you think they’ll come after?”

  SIXTEEN

  Dinner was a trial of endurance for Allison, but Liam seemed to be having a good time. He and Oliver talked football, and both men couldn’t have been more enthusiastic about the sport.

  Allison pushed her fish around on her plate, and although it was quite tasty, she could eat only a couple of bites. Her stomach wouldn’t settle, and it didn’t help that Charlotte kept bringing up the relatives from hell.

  “Do you know what Oliver found out about Will?” Charlotte asked. She took a bite of her pasta and waited for Allison to answer.

  “Can we please not talk about any of them?”

  “Okay, but you have to hear this.”

  Allison gave up. “What did you find out, Oliver?”

  “Will’s going to get probation.”

  “Can you believe it?” Charlotte asked. She took another bite of pasta and said, “Oliver, you have to taste this. It’s delicious.”

  There were a few seconds there when Allison thought her sister had moved on, but she was wrong. Charlotte wasn’t ready to change the subject. Turning her attention to Liam, she said, “Our court system is all messed up. Will should have gotten five or ten years, and what happened? He got probation. Unbelievable, right? Oh, wait. You probably don’t know about Will, do you? I know Allison wouldn’t have told you.”

  “How do you know that?” Allison asked, presuming she’d just been insulted.

  “Because you never tell anyone anything. You keep it all bottled up inside, so I’ll explain Will.”

  “Charlotte, stop. Liam doesn’t need or want to hear about our cousin.”

  Her sister ignored her demand and launched into Will’s history. A few minutes later Allison once again wanted to bang her head into the nearest wall. By the time Charlotte wound down, Allison was groaning. Liam handed her his glass of water, which she immediately chugged, and she was handing the glass back to him before she realized what she had done.

  Liam leaned close and whispered, “Remind me never to drink alcohol when I’m with you.”

  Allison laughed. Charlotte immediately took exception. “How can you think this is funny? And why are you so laid-back about Will getting probation?”

  “I don’t think it’s funny,” she said, irritated that Charlotte had so easily put her on the defensive.

  “Okay, then,” her sister said, and then continued with her colorful bio of Will. Once she had said all she wanted to say about their cousin—or the degenerate, as Charlotte called him—Allison was able to get her to talk about something else. Unfortunately, that something was Liam.

  “What exactly do you do, Liam?” Charlotte asked.

  “He’s an FBI agent,” Allison said.

  “Yes, I know, but I was asking what exactly he does for the FBI.”

  Allison couldn’t come up with a quick answer, so she improvised. “He travels all over the world, solving . . . computer problems.”

  Liam was giving her the look, the “are you out of your mind?” look she’d already seen several times tonight.

  “Allison, I was talking to Liam,” Charlotte said, clearly exasperated.

  “He also shoots people who ask too many questions.”

  There was that look again.

  “What is wrong with you?” Charlotte asked. “Let the man talk.”

  Allison gave up and sat back. She decided to stop worrying that Liam might say something about computer hacking . . . and her.

  Oliver was looking from Liam to Allison to Liam again. “How long have you two been dating?”

  “We aren’t dating,” Allison said.

  “A while now,” Liam answered at the same time.

  Turning to Liam, she said, “A while now?”

  He just grinned at her. Then he patiently answered Charlotte’s questions about his background and the places he’d been to. When it came to questions about his work, he was just as evasive as Allison had been and with even more finesse.

  “Have any trips on your schedule?” Oliver asked.

  Liam nodded. “I’m headed to London Monday.”

  “Then back to Boston?” Charlotte asked.

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  “I rarely see him,” Allison said cheerfully. “That’s why this relationship works. Now, can we please be finished with the interrogation segment of this dinner and talk about something else?”

  No one argued with her, and the ordeal was finally over.

  Since Allison wouldn’t be seeing Charlotte or Oliver before they returned to Seattle, she hugged both good-bye and promised to call more often. She took hold of Liam’s hand, making sure her sister noticed, and smiled at him as they walked down the hallway. She had decided that acting as though they were dating was better than telling Charlotte she was working for Liam. She couldn’t even imagine the number of questions her sister would have then. Truth, she decided, wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

  As soon as Charlotte and Oliver turned in the opposite direction, Allison tried to pull her hand away. Liam wasn’t letting go. He had a devilish sparkle in his eyes, too. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he’d actually had a good time.

  As if reading her mind, he said, “That was fun.”

  “No, it wasn’t.”

  He laughed. “You were worried I was going to say something about your special computer skills, weren’t you?”

  “I wasn’t worried. I was . . . concerned,” she replied. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to London Monday?” There was absolutely no reason he shou
ld have told her, but it still bothered her that he hadn’t.

  “It never came up.”

  “So I probably won’t be seeing you again.”

  “Sure, you will.” He sounded as though he meant it.

  “Are you going to miss me?”

  Bad question to ask, she decided, because it made her sound clingy. She really needed to get away from him, and the sooner, the better because he was messing with her ability to think about anything other than him.

  “Of course.”

  She waited a minute and finally said, “How come you haven’t asked me if I’ll miss you?”

  “I already know the answer.”

  God, he was arrogant. “And what might that be?”

  “You’ll miss me.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe,” she said, and before his ego could swell, she added, “Then again, maybe not.”

  SEVENTEEN

  The ride back to her apartment was blissfully stress-free. Until visions of his naked body flashed once again across her mind. Then calm went flying out the window. She could feel herself blushing and hoped to heaven he didn’t notice.

  No such luck. “What’s going on with you?”

  She brushed her hair over her shoulder and tried to act nonchalant. “Nothing’s going on with me. Why would you think something’s going on?”

  “Your face is red.”

  “I’m not blushing.” Her voice cracked and she sounded as though she was freaking out. He must have thought she’d lost her mind, and he might have been right. “Thank you for putting up with Charlotte tonight. When she gets on a rant, there’s no stopping her. It’s best to sit back and wait until she winds down.”

  “I like her and I like Oliver.”

  “What’s not to like? They’re so . . .”

  “So what?” he asked when she hesitated.

  “Normal.”

  It was such an odd thing to say. “And you’re not?”

  “No, I’m not.”

  He decided not to press for an explanation. “I was wondering . . .”

  “Yes?”

  “What are you going to do when your sister finds out you bailed your cousin out?”

  “Hide.”

  His smile suggested he thought she was teasing. She wasn’t so sure. If Charlotte found out, she would definitely go ballistic and lecture Allison for at least a year. She pictured it and shuddered. Nonstop speeches. She couldn’t think of anything worse.

  “She would be upset with me if she found out I helped Will, but it would crush her heart if she knew I was breaking into computer systems illegally, no matter what my reasons were. She wouldn’t understand.”

  She didn’t say what she was really thinking. There were very few people whose opinions mattered to Allison, but Charlotte was at the top of her list. She didn’t want to disappoint her.

  “I’m worrying about something that will never happen,” she said, and hoped to God she was right.

  She was happy to be home. Liam unlocked her door for her and followed her into the apartment. She pointed to her laptop, which was sitting on the desk in front of the windows, and said, “Have at it.”

  Hungry now, she put her coat away and then went into the kitchen to make herself a bowl of Cheerios, calling out her password to him so that he could access the Internet. By the time she returned to him, he had pulled up the contract on the screen. She stood behind him eating her cereal and watching over his shoulder as he made the corrections. He couldn’t have looked any more relaxed. He’d taken off his jacket and tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt. He’d also rolled up his sleeves. She had the insane urge to sit on his lap, put her arms around him, and kiss him over and over again until he never wanted her to stop. She wondered how he would have reacted to her boldness.

  She wasn’t about to find out. While he worked, she cleaned up the kitchen, then went into the bedroom to put her jewelry away. She put her shoes in her closet, washed her face, and brushed her teeth. She was trying to keep busy and stay away from him because she knew if she sat next to him she wouldn’t have been able to stop staring at him, and how creepy would that have been?

  What was going on with him? Did he regret what had happened the night before? Or did he even remember? Maybe this was all part of being a hookup, she thought, still not clear exactly what that entailed. What were the rules? She decided she should ask Google to define it for her, or maybe Jordan could explain the nuances for her. Allison felt completely inept and finally admitted she had been hiding in her computer far too long. Maybe it was time for her to start living life instead of reading about it.

  First, she needed to get through tonight. She didn’t want saying good-bye to be awkward. She sat on the side of the bed, trying to figure out the protocol. After several minutes thinking about it without coming up with any answers, she decided she didn’t care. Now all she had to do was believe it.

  “Allison, I can’t get the printer to work.”

  He was standing in the doorway, watching her. She jumped at the sound of his voice.

  “What are you doing?” he asked her.

  She stood, smoothed her skirt, and walked toward him. “I’ll fix the printer.” She tried to walk past him, but he put his hands on her shoulders and stopped her.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing,” she answered, and tried to veer around him. He didn’t let go.

  “You looked like you were a thousand miles away.”

  “I was just thinking about . . .”

  “About what?”

  “You.”

  They were inches apart. She stared into his eyes. He stared at her mouth. He tilted her chin up, leaned down, and kissed her. It was a nice, undemanding kiss that was over with before she had time to respond.

  It wasn’t enough for Liam. His mouth came down on hers again, but this time the kiss was altogether different. It was consuming.

  He made her want more. When he lifted his head she realized her arms were around his neck. How had that happened? She was also plastered against him. Did he want another hookup? Should she ask him?

  “I was wondering . . .”

  “Yes?”

  “Never mind,” she whispered. “You’d better kiss me again.”

  “Yeah, okay.” He was smiling as she tugged on his hair to get him to do what she wanted.

  She became the aggressor. Her mouth was open and her tongue stroked his. She heard him groan and felt him tighten his arms around her. She knew she was pleasing him, because he told her so in between wild kisses. She desperately wanted him. He was leaving in two days and she didn’t have any idea when she would see him again. Was it wrong to want one more night with him? One glorious night.

  He gave her the shivers, kissing the side of her neck. His breath was so warm and sweet against her skin.

  “Do you know what I want to do?” he whispered, his lips tickling her ear. He lifted his head and waited.

  She didn’t know how to be coy. “Have sex? Because that’s what I want to do.”

  “Take your clothes off, Allison.”

  Liam had to pull her arms from around his neck and tell her again before she reacted. She turned around then and lifted her hair away from the neckline of her dress. He noticed her hands shook.

  “Unzip me, please,” she said.

  Although she was extremely nervous, she wasn’t at all shy with him. In fact, she couldn’t wait to get her clothes off and throw herself into his arms. She loved the heat from his skin against hers, the strength that radiated from his muscles. She had never been drawn to any other man the way she was drawn to him. Most of all, she loved the way he touched her. He was rough yet gentle at the same time. How was it possible to be so tender while driving her to the very edge of all control?

  He kissed the nape of her neck as he slid the dres
s from her shoulders and let it drop to the floor. She stepped out of it and turned to face him in her pink bra and panties while she waited for him to remove his clothes. Her toes curled into the carpet, her hands were fisted at her sides, and she had to tell herself over and over again that she wasn’t embarrassed. She wasn’t sophisticated, either. She could feel her face getting warm. The fire in his eyes made her heart race. She knew he wanted her, and yet he wasn’t reaching for her.

  “Liam, did you change your mind? Would you rather not do this?” She looked around for her robe, mortified now.

  Had he not be so aroused, Liam would have laughed. His hand moved to the back of her neck and he jerked her forward as his mouth came down on hers. The kiss went on and on, his tongue stroking hers in love play. He moved her toward the bed while he stripped off the rest of his clothes and then hers, and as they fell onto the bed, he kept telling himself to make it last. He was ravenous for her, but she wasn’t ready for him yet. He pushed her onto her back, then slowly kissed a path down her body. His tongue brushed across her breasts. She nearly came off the bed. The erotic sounds she made told him how much she liked what he was doing. He moved lower between her thighs and used his fingers and his tongue to drive her out of her mind.

  Allison wasn’t passive by any means. She caressed him, clinging to him as she kissed his neck and his shoulders. She wanted to know all of him, but he wouldn’t let her move, so she retaliated by biting his earlobe. He grunted and tightened his hold on her.

  His voice was little more than a gruff whisper. “Put your legs around me. I can’t wait any longer.”

  He lifted her thighs, thinking to slowly enter her, but that thought was lost when she pushed against him. With one powerful thrust, he was surrounded by her liquid heat. She was so tight, so perfect. He dropped his head on her shoulder, took deep, shuddering breaths, and tried to slow down, wanting it to be perfect for her.

  She didn’t want him to stop. She bit his shoulder and whispered, “Don’t torment me.”

  He let out a low groan of pleasure and began to move, slowly at first, until she became more demanding. He was mindless to everything but her. He had never been this out of control before or this desperate to make her belong to him, even if it was for only one night. Sex had always been entertainment for him and a way to relieve tension, but with Alison it was so much more.