Lorelei sank into the comfy sofa. Liam sat next to her, although not close enough so they were touching. He was wearing a pair of well-worn jeans and an old, faded navy-blue T-shirt, and socks. He was casual, comfortable, and so sexy Lorelei had to dig her fingernails into her palms to stop herself from reaching out to run her fingers through his tousled hair. His friends obviously knew about their relationship, whatever it was, but she wasn’t sure how he would feel about public displays of affection.
Helen continued to stare at her and Lorelei had to fight the urge to run her tongue over her teeth in case she had something stuck in them. The smile the other woman gave her never reached her eyes. She switched her gaze to Liam and was surprised at the intensity on his face. Meeting his obviously tight-knit circle of friends, she was very aware of how little she knew about this man—and how much she was coming to care for him.
“How did you find my home?” Liam sounded nonchalant, yet there was steel hidden beneath his words.
“There was a receipt in one of the pockets. I’m sorry, Liam. I should have called first. But after Barry…”
“I understand. You needed to make sure I wasn’t married.” He smiled and the much-loved dimple reappeared.
“Really, if you need to finish your project, I don’t mind. Helen and I can talk.” Lorelei sent a smile toward the other woman that wasn’t returned.
“If you’re sure? It will only take a couple more minutes. Then we can all have dinner and watch a movie. It’s Helen’s night to choose again so it will undoubtedly be a romance.”
“I’ve gone with a classic this time, Casablanca,” Helen said.
“Oh, that’s one of my favorites,” Lorelei said.
“Sounds as though you have a lot in common. Make yourself at home. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Liam kissed her hand before almost running toward the back room.
“What are they doing back there?” Lorelei turned to Helen, who had also watched Liam’s retreat, a look of longing on her face.
“I don’t know. Probably cracking into some pizza joint’s computer system to send a hundred pepperoni pizzas to a college dorm.” Helen ran a hand over her hair.
Lorelei froze. Did Liam engage in illegal activity on the side? He had deflected her question as to whether he hacked into non-client systems when they were at Stow Lake. It would be so typical of her to go from an adulterous boyfriend to a criminal one. She stared at Helen to see if she was joking, but there was no smile on her face. Still, IWC Security was a prestigious company. Would they hire people who hadn’t passed a rigorous background check? Maybe she should consider requiring that before she agreed to go out with someone.
Helen cleared her throat and Lorelei realized she’d been staring. Self-consciously, Helen ran her hand again over her stringy blond hair, which seemed to want to fly away. With a good haircut it could be rather attractive. She had nice blue eyes, but were hidden under bushy eyebrows and thick-rimmed glasses. In a blind rage when she’d first opened the door, Lorelei hadn’t noticed her figure. However, with the baggy gray sweatshirt and formless brown sweatpants she wore, it was probably a moot point.
“Is that the kind of thing they do often?” Lorelei struggled to keep her tone bright and breezy. Her job was already on shaky ground; another bad boyfriend and she’d be out of work.
“I really wouldn’t know. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get something.” Helen raced across the room and out another door, which shut behind her with a definite thud.
…
“What the hell’s she doing here?” David asked.
“Shush, she’ll hear you. Her last boyfriend hid the fact that he was married. She obviously wanted to make sure I wasn’t.” Liam tried to concentrate on the monitor, but he kept waiting for Lorelei to storm in and demand to know who he was and what he was doing. His stomach felt like he’d swallowed a bag of rocks.
“Ha, a wife would be the least of your worries.”
“Just behave yourself. Play along with the regular guy thing and no one gets hurt, especially you.”
“No one gets hurt?” David picked up the dating site profile photo of Lorelei that Liam had on his desk and put it against his own face.
“Come on, man. I need your support on this. Just play along, please.” Liam grabbed the photo and the background information he’d printed out and shoved it into a folder. “I’m going back out there before Helen tells her something she shouldn’t.”
Liam stormed out of the computer room, leaving his friend to finish the penetration test. Lorelei’s invading his sanctuary was not part of the plan. She’d found a way into enough of his life, and heart, finding out about his father and Marcus. Having her here, where he had no defenses, was too risky.
He returned to the front of the apartment to find Lorelei alone, flipping through a copy of Wired. His heart rate accelerated and his mouth went dry. She was so beautiful; for a moment his legs went weak.
“Where did Helen go?”
“She said she forgot something and left,” Lorelei said. She flashed a quick smile and flipped a few more pages in the magazine without looking at it. “You have a beautiful home.”
“Thank you. I haven’t read that issue yet. Anything interesting?”
She tossed the magazine back on the coffee table and lounged against the sofa cushions. Liam couldn’t deny she belonged right there. If the others would go home they could retry the kiss they’d started at her place.
“It says hemlines and going up next spring.”
“Ah, that must be the Wired, Fashion Edition. Glad to hear about the hemlines, though. I appreciate a great pair of legs.” His gaze roved over her body. He could imagine her legs around his waist, urging him on. The lower half of his body clenched at the image.
“I was reading about programming. I wanted to know what you do. It’s amazing. Can you really read all those languages?”
“Most of them. However, they’re not very good for communicating between people.”
He couldn’t help staring at her mouth; her lips fascinated him. Her cheeks turned pink as he continued to stare.
“I shouldn’t have come unannounced. I’m sorry, my insecurities got the better of me.” She fiddled with her silver necklace, no longer meeting his eyes.
He stepped around the table and took her hands in his, waiting until she gazed up at him.
“You’re welcome here anytime. It’s just that I’m working. I’ve got a big project, otherwise I’d have invited you over. I wasn’t sure how long it would take and didn’t want to end up ignoring you. But I’m so glad you came. You’re safe here, by the way. I got rid of anything with peanuts in it and have banned them from the apartment.”