Page 5 of False Confidence

“Anytime. Actually, no—don’t click any more links. But other than that.”

They both turned as a knock sounded and Liam peeked his head around the door. “Hey,” he said, stepping into the room with a blinding smile that was a carbon copy of his dad’s, dimples and all. Liam mostly took after his mom, with wavy dark hair, olive-toned skin and thick black lashes, but he had his dad’s bright green eyes and charm. Though he hadn’t inherited Cal’s Irish accent, Liam Michaelson was just as devastating. And then, of course, there was the mustache. That fucking mustache she hadn’t been able to get out of her head since the very first time she’d seen it. It was worse now that she knew how soft it was.

Jazz forced herself not to think about that night. She’d become very good at pretending it never happened.

“Everything okay? Sierra said something happened to your computer,” Liam asked his dad and Cal muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like fucking computers.

“He opened a link in an email from the bank,” Jazz explained, raising her eyebrows. Liam laughed, the rich sound washing over her like an autumn breeze.

“Of course he did.”

“Moving on,” Cal said with a pointed look. “What brings you here?”

“I was hoping to speak to Jazz, actually. If you have time,” Liam replied.

Surprise fluttered in Jazz’s belly. What could he want with her that involved him coming by in person? “Sure.”

“I have to head down to a meeting,” Cal said, and they said their goodbyes, Jazz, and Liam following him into the lobby and watching as he stepped into the elevator and the doors slid closed.

“How are you doing?” Liam leaned in the doorway, almost too casually. Tension lined his shoulders and jaw.

“I’m good. Are you okay?” Jazz sank onto the plush couch in Cal’s lobby.

“I’m fine,” he said quickly and Jazz stared him down until he took a seat beside her. “I’m going to be working for Maggie starting next week. Did she tell you?”

“She mentioned she was going to ask you. You’re perfect for the job, and her spreadsheets don’t scare you.”

“They scare me a little, but I can handle it,” Liam snorted. “Speaking of Maggie?—”

“What a natural segue. What’s up? Is something wrong with Maggie?”

“Shit, no.” Liam winced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. Maggie said something when I saw her on Saturday that made me think you hadn’t told her. About us. At the wedding.”

His cheeks blazed more and more red as he spoke, and knots twisted in Jazz’s stomach at the reminder of their night. “I meant to—you know I tell her everything—but I…” Jazz trailed off. She didn’t have a good reason not to have told her best friend. Every other hook up had been a topic of conversation and, while Maggie probably wouldn’t have thanked her for details of a night with her husband’s son, Jazz didn’t think she’d judge her too harshly.

She could make excuses for not saying anything: Maggie and Cal had left for their honeymoon the next day and she’d forgotten. But that would have been a lie. She hadn’t forgotten; there was just something about that night that made her want to keep it to herself. She was used to exaggerating when it came to talking about sex. If Maggie asked how it was, Jazz wouldn’t be lying if she said she’d enjoyed herself, but she still hadn’t fucking come. And she wasn’t sure she could hide that disappointment from Maggie.

“I just never got around to it,” she finished lamely. “Why?”

Liam toyed with the edge of his mustache. Why was that so hot? “She suggested something that I don’t think she would have suggested if she’d known.”

“Go on.”

Liam cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck. “You know my ex girlfriend and best friend are getting married?” She nodded. “They invited me to the wedding.”

Jazz sucked in a breath. “You’re kidding me. Cunts. Sorry,” she offered at the last second, not that she expected her language would faze Liam.

“No need to be sorry. You’re not wrong. Anyway, I got the invitation on Saturday and Maggie thinks I should go but?—”

“You have to. They had the fucking audacity to break your heart and then rub it in your face. The least you can do is make them uncomfortable on their wedding day and show them what they’re missing.”

“That’s what Maggie said. But she also suggested I take a fake date to, I quote, show off.” He hesitated. “She suggested I ask you.”

Jazz sat back in her chair, surprised and impressed with Maggie’s scheming. She loved her best friend, but she was more of a strongly worded letter person than an in-person revenge scheme kind of girl. In fact, Maggie had refused to let Jazz do anything to her ex-boyfriend. That hadn’t stopped her from putting his number on a marketplace ad offering a free computer. Twice. But what Maggie didn’t know, she couldn’t be mad about.

“And you think she wouldn’t have suggested that if she knew we’d slept together at the last wedding we attended,” she surmised, and Liam nodded. “I’m not sure she’d care, but I’ll tell her if that makes you more comfortable.”

“I don’t exactly love the idea of my dad’s wife hearing about the ins and outs of my sex life, but I feel guilty asking you to do this when she doesn’t know what happened last time. Not that it would happen this time, obviously,” he added quickly.

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