“No.”
“Then why would he come to me for help?”
“Because you’ve always helped his family in the past. Hell, you supported all of them. Your cousin has been running with some bad people. One of them might show up at your door. If Will or one of his friends tries to contact you, I want you to call me.”
“What if you’re out of the country?”
“You call me.”
He wasn’t going to let up until she agreed. “Yes, I’ll call you.”
“Give me your cell phone.”
She pulled it from her back pocket and watched as he programmed his number in and added it to speed dial.
“All right, then,” he answered with finality.
Allison waited for him to say something else, but Liam stood in front of her, silent and unmoving. The only sound was the chirping of crickets in the darkness. The longer he stood there, the more uncomfortable she became. Just being alone with him was enough to make her heart beat faster, but the way he was looking at her now almost brought her heart to a stop.
She broke the silence. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”
His answer was brusque. “No.”
“Then we should go in.”
Liam took her hands to pull her to her feet, but when she was standing bare inches away, the willpower he had been relying on all evening evaporated into thin air. From the moment she walked through the door, he’d wanted her. For the past two months, he had looked for every excuse to return to Boston. He had told himself the memory of their time together would fade, but that hadn’t happened. And then, when he saw her again tonight, he knew he was in real trouble.
“Allison . . . ,” he began.
She waited for him to continue, but he only held her hands more tightly. His eyes searched hers as though he was seeking something intangible.
“Are you going to let go of me anytime soon?” she whispered, hoping he couldn’t feel her trembling.
“No, not yet.”
She peeked around him to see if anyone was watching. The light from inside poured through the French doors. Thankfully, the dining room was empty. She wasn’t worried about Alec and Noah noticing. They wouldn’t say anything, but Jordan was another story. She’d have at least a hundred questions, and Allison knew she wouldn’t be able to answer a single one. How could she, when she didn’t know what was happening herself? The only thing she was sure of was that she had been miserable for months, and Liam was the cause. To avoid a future of misery, she had to keep her distance from him.
She freed her hands and said, “You should leave me alone.”
He nodded. “You’re right. I should leave you alone.” He stepped even closer so that she had to tilt her head up to look at him. She could feel the warmth of his chest against hers and wondered if he could hear the breath that caught in her throat.
He lowered his head, and as though she had no control over her reactions, her fingers slid into his soft hair. “This is all wrong. I can’t—”
“Yeah, it’s definitely all wrong,” he said as his mouth brushed over hers.
And then he kissed her exactly how she wanted him to, and oh, how he made her want more. She heard a low groan, then realized she was the one making the sound. He overwhelmed her, and when he finally ended the kiss her arms were clasped around his neck. She was slow to get her wits back. When she finally found her strength, she pushed against him. Unfortunately, he didn’t budge.
“You can’t just waltz back into my life and think you can kiss me.”
There was that heart-stopping smile again, messing with her concentration. “I don’t waltz,” he said. “And I already kissed you. Did you forget? How about I show you what I did?”
He kissed her again. She was ready to push harder this time. She absolutely was, until his mouth settled on top of hers. Then she was all in, her tongue rubbing against his, clinging to him while he robbed her of every thought but one. Lordy, did he know how to kiss! She was so swept away in the moment she didn’t hear the door opening.
Jordan called out to her, “We’ll take two cars. Alec will ride with Noah and me, and you can ride with—” She stopped abruptly when she saw them. “You two seem to be getting along.”
Allison could hear the laughter in her voice. Liam finally let go of her.
“You’re blushing,” he whispered, loud enough, she thought, for the neighbors to hear.
“You like embarrassing me, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I kinda do.”
She stepped away from him. “Jordan, I should drive myself in case I get called in.”
“If you get called in, I’ll drive you back,” Liam said.
Just then her phone rang, and for the first time since she’d started working for Agent Phillips, she hoped he was on the line. She knew she was acting like a wimp by trying to get out of spending the weekend with Liam, yet her reason made perfect sense to her. She was afraid of being alone with him. She was vulnerable with him, and she hated that feeling because she didn’t know how to protect herself.
The call was from Dan. “Are you going to be available Monday evening around seven?”
“Should I be?” she asked.
“You absolutely should be.”
She turned away from Liam and walked to the side of the patio overlooking the garden while she waited for Dan to explain. He’d sounded concerned and almost frazzled, which was totally out of character for him.
“What has you so upset?” she asked when he didn’t immediately tell her what was wrong.
“I’m not upset. I’m angry. Brett is doing a presentation of your program to potential buyers. There’s a group of important company execs coming in, and Brett reserved one of the banquet rooms at the Adams Harbor Hotel. After the way you reacted at Basher’s party, I’m guessing he’s keeping the time and place real hush-hush. He doesn’t want you to find out until it’s too late.”
“How did you find out?”
“He came by the house, walked in like he owned the place, and asked if Mark or I had found his iPad. We told him no, and then he said he wanted to catch up. We knew he was up to something,” he said, adding, “He’s such an ass. Anyway, he kept bringing the conversation back to you. Twice he asked where you were and what you were doing. Neither one of us answered the first time. Then Brett circled around to you again and said he wanted to talk to you and find out if you knew where his iPad was.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I lied and said you were in Seattle visiting your sister and wouldn’t be back for two more weeks. He was out of there lickety-split. Looked relieved, too.”
“How did you find out when this presentation is taking place?”
“Like I said, I knew he was up to something, so I called a friend, and he called a friend who put some feelers out, and I finally got the information I was after. It’s on Monday night at seven. Please tell me you’re going to crash the party.”
She laughed. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
“Be careful. No telling what Brett’s capable of. If he thinks this deal is worth millions, I’ll bet he’ll have a couple of bouncers with your photo standing at the doors. I’d take some heat with you.”
“I don’t need an armed guard to crash the party,” she protested.
“I don’t know about that. Maybe take the armed FBI agent you’ve been seeing.”
“I’ll be fine on my own. Don’t worry about me.”
“Brett doesn’t have any money. Someone has to be bankrolling him. The party is open bar with lots of food, and that hotel is expensive. I’ll bet his money backer expects a big profit from the sale, too. Listen, I’m reevaluating. Maybe you shouldn’t go,” he added worriedly.
“Oh, I’m going.”
“Then how about I go with you?”
“Dan, if he sees you, I won’t be able to sneak in.”
“You’re not going to be able to sneak in anyway,” he argued. “You’re a knockout. Men are going to notice you.”
“I’ll get in,” she said, ignoring the comment about her appearance. “And stop worrying. I can take care of myself.”