Page 57 of Lovestruck at Sundown
“Stop!” He laughed. “Can’t allow that. What do you need?”
“I need you to come over right now for Polaroids,” I said in the bossiest tone I could muster. Becca did a thumbs-up. “Or Elegant Surf Boy #2 gets the job.”
Becca chuckled.
“Goodness, Red,” he scoffed. “I can be there in twenty-five minutes.”
“Are you looking … elegant?” I asked playfully.
“Always, darling.”
I rolled my eyes. “You better.”
“You’ll still owe me,” he said, his tone businesslike. “And I’m hungry.”
“Oh my God!” He irritated me in an entertaining and endearing way. It was hard to explain. “Okay, I’ll feed you if you do well on the Polaroids.”
He laughed. “Deal.”
“Fine. I’ll see you in a bit.”
Liam won everyone over the moment he stepped into the office. They shot a few Polaroids and showed them to Joaquín, who was quick to admit Liam was the perfect fit for the project.
“Buen trabajo,Billie,” Joaquín said, pressing his palms on his desk to push himself up from his seat.Good job.“Is Liam still here?”
“Meeting room number two,” I replied. “Making everyone swoon.”
Joaquín shook his head with a tight smile as I followed him out of his office. “I don’t blame them,” Joaquín said.
We stepped into the meeting room, and Liam was sitting at the edge of the table, one foot crossed over the other. Becca and two co-workers surrounded Liam while he dazzled them with his easy smile.
“Our elegant surf boy!” Joaquín clapped his hands once, and everyone turned to see him. I introduced them, and they shook hands. “Liam, thank you for coming on such short notice. But with Thanksgiving upon us, I couldn’t allow further delays on this matter.”
“Of course,” Liam said. “Thank you for considering me.”
“Well, I had a chance to take a look at your Polaroids, and you’re exactly what we’re looking for. Becca will contact youragent to handle the details and schedules and such.”
“Wonderful.” Liam smiled, and Joaquín excused himself.
It was time to leave. Liam walked me to my desk so I could grab my stuff, and I spotted a tabloid magazine sitting among my things with my face and William’s inside a heart shape on the cover. A big, bold text read:NEW COUPLE ALERT!“What the hell?”
I looked around the office to see if anyone would claim to have left it on my desk, but everyone seemed busy and uninterested in me or my tabloid dilemma. Great. Soon, everyone at the office would know too. And for some reason, the idea of being just another college student working at the office felt easier than being William Sjöberg’s girlfriend.
Flipping through the pages, I finally got to the mini article stating that a “source close to the couple” confirmed our romance. It also mentioned that I was a student at Parsons and an employee at Haute.
“Where did they even get this photo of me?” I complained, my voice bending into a higher-pitched tone. It was scary to imagine these people, whom I didn’t even know, looking up information about me. And finding it.
“Probably Google,” Liam quipped, reminding me he was standing there beside me. He plucked the tabloid off my hands, tore it in half, and tossed it in the trash bin. “You shouldn’t be reading that garbage. Ever. Trust me.”
“Fine. Let’s go.” I blew an annoyed breath through my mouth and pulled Liam’s arm so we could start heading out. I did promise him dinner, after all. “How did they even find out? You better not be the ‘source close to the couple.’”
He laughed and placed a hand on his chest with indignation. “I would never!”
I glared at him from the corner of my eye with a playfullysuspicious smile. He loved gossip, but I knew him well enough by now to know he wouldn’t go to a tabloid to talk about my relationship with William. That would be creepy.
“I told them my hottest Swedish friend, whose name starts with W, was dating a redhead I knew called Billie Murphy, but that’s it!”
I punched his shoulder, and he laughed. “Your dinner invitation hangs by a thread.”
