Page 58 of Something Forever

He presses his palm to his chest. “You flatter me.” He reaches his hand out to shake mine. “Great to meet you. I thought Emily was the most beautiful woman in the room, but you’ve proven me wrong.”

“Thanks,” Emily mutters as I raise my eyebrows.

Wow. This guy is a dick.

“What do you do, Michael?” I ask with a polite smile.

“I’m a project manager at the Department of Education. What do you do, beautiful?”

“It’s Whitney,” I correct him. “I’m a business owner.”

He nods like he doesn’t quite care, his eyes roaming my face and lower.

“What does your job entail?” I ask.

“I oversee a variety of organizations and functions within the Department of Education.”

It sounds like he could really help Liam out.

“Really?” I beam up at him, giving him a wide smile. “That’s great. My husband is actually starting a foundation to expand access to higher education.” Mikey’s only half-listening, so I put my hand on his arm. “You must meet him. He can tell you all about it.”

He smirks, bringing his arm up to touch my shoulder. “I’d rather you tell me about it in someplace more private than this.”

I glance across the room to where I see Liam talking to a tall woman with long curls. She’s talking animatedly, and I can almost make his expression out from here. His whole body is stiff and radiating with what appears to be anger.

“Would you excuse me for a moment?” I interrupt whatever Mikey is saying and step away from him.

“Sure thing, beautiful.”

Just as I turn to find Liam and see what’s wrong, a hand grips around my arm. I blink up at Liam, baffled that he managed to get over here so quickly.

“I need to borrow my wife,” Liam growls at Mikey and pulls me from the group, his hand pressing at my back firmly. He nudges me, his scowl deepening.

What the hell is his problem?

He yanks me further from the ballroom, moving towards the exit, and I have a feeling I’m about to find out.

23

LIAM

Ipress my palm to the base of Whitney’s spine, the tips of my fingers tingling against the bare skin her gown reveals. When I first saw her, I thought I was going to lose it. I wanted to rip that dress off her body and touch her everywhere. The contrast of the red silk against her pale skin, the sight of her bare neck as she turned away from me…

Fuck.

Then I saw her smiling and flirting with fucking Mikey, of all people. I only had to spend five minutes with that guy to know he was a jerk. I met him when Tim introduced me to Rebecca, but he barely glanced in my direction before making some inappropriate comment about the waitress. I would’ve ignored his presence completely if he hadn’t crossed the room to talk to Whitney and Emily.

I leave her alone for ten minutes and she’s looking at him with a smile that she’s never given to me. Wide and bright and completely unguarded.

I hated it.

Now, the smile that was dancing on her face mere minutes ago has faded into a scowl. I press her forward, gripping my hand around her arm and pulling her out of the ballroom.

“Come on,” I nudge her forward, and she throws me a frustrated glare.

This night has been a total disaster. I was already thrown when I saw Whitney. I wanted nothing more than to slide my hands below that silky fabric and find her wet and ready for me. Slip my fingers inside her until she begged for my cock. Just the sight of her was making me feel out of control, but I’d managed to push it down and force myself to network. It only got worse from there; Tim had introduced me to some folks, and I managed to get a few business cards, but I spent most of my time talking to Rebecca. I pitched Luke’s foundation to her, as passionately as I could, and she slashed all of it to fucking bits. Told me that I didn’t have enough support or funding. That a one-man team was not enough to get started with such a large endeavor.

To her credit, I don’t think she meant to tear me down completely. I suppose she’s just being realistic, and if anyone knows about this stuff, it’s her. If she says I can’t do it, she’s probably right. She’d just finished slashing me to pieces when I glanced over at Whitney to see Mikey touching her. I let out a growl at the memory.

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