Page 44 of Hired By the Enemy
Liam is so familiar to me now and our bodies are used to fitting together, so we have no hesitation getting up close and personal for the slow songs, our bodies pressed against each other as Liam steers me around the dancefloor.
For the faster songs, we separate. And yes, dancing is not exactly my forte, but I don’t care because Liam is grinning at me.
“You have a very…unique dancing style,” Liam says. “It’s almost like you’re trying to disprove the concept of rhythm.”
I try to concentrate on my moves after that, but I get the feeling that concentration doesn’t actually improve my skills by the way he breaks out laughing.
“Now you look like you’re trapped in a spider web, fighting off imaginary spiders.”
“I was aiming more for a short-circuiting robot, actually,” I say.
Liam raises an eyebrow. “Maybe you should do something like this, then?”
Liam, of course, then starts doing the perfect robot dance, complete with some very realistic short-functioning spasms.
How the hell can someone look good pretending to be a malfunctioning robot? Somehow, Liam manages it.
“Well, I guess if someone is short a few circuits, it would be you,” I mutter, moving toward him because I can’t help wanting to be closer to this gorgeous, laughing man.
“Pretty sure you’ll always be the robot boy of the two of us,” he says, reaching over to muss my hair.
Which causes my breath to catch.
Because somehow it doesn’t feel like Liam and I are insulting each other anymore.
Instead, we’reamusingeach other.
Which knocks my breath away.
Liam’s always had such a clear-cut role in my life. Nemesis. He loathed me and I loathed him. Simple.
But now we’ve started blurring the boundaries, and I don’t know how to define things between us anymore.
The unsettled feeling stays with me after we go back to the villa and have another round of steamy sex.
Liam’s a cuddler after sex, which is something I very much enjoy. We’re lying together, my feet tucked between his calves, a position we often seem to find ourselves in as he lightly drifts his fingertips down my side while I can’t stop touching his incredible body. It’s like my hands are only happy when I have them on his skin.
Running my hands over his perfect abs reminds me of something.
“So your gym idea that you discussed with Henrietta is really interesting,” I say tentatively.
Liam’s smile disappears instantly, and his muscles tense under my hands.
“Yeah, well, it’s an idea anyway. I’ve still got to work out the funding and stuff.” He doesn’t meet my eyes.
My brow furrows. “What’s stopping you? There’s probably lots of funding you can apply for with an idea like that.”
He blows out a breath. “I know I can do the training side of it. It’s the running a business side I’m not so sure about.”
My forehead crunches. “What makes you think you couldn’t run a business?”
His eyes meet mine. “As you pointed out to me constantly when we were kids, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, am I? Wasn’t that the constant theme of your Christmas stars for me? Wishing for a brain?”
His words are like a spike driving into me. Shame floods my body.
Shit. Did me insulting Liam about his intelligence leave him scarred?
I’m fully aware of my own scars from our battles, but I’ve never contemplated whether I left any in return. It doesn’t make me feel good—the knowledge that this man doubts himself due to things I said and did when we were younger.
