Page 13 of The Match Faker

‘I just need to speak to Chester.’ Trudy handed me a glass of wine she’d swiped from a table which also had some nibbles. ‘Will you be okay mingling?’

‘Course!’ I said. It’d give me a chance to hand out more cards.

As Trudy disappeared to speak to her client, I scanned the room.

Just as I was about to take a spoonful of peanuts, I froze.

Oh. My. God.

Can’t be?

My eyes widened and my lips parted.

I drank him in, starting from his short, dark hair, smooth tanned skin, full lips, then his broad shoulders and sculpted chest, moving down to his…

‘Mia?’ A deep, gravelly voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I diverted my gaze from between his legs back up to his face.

‘L-Liam?’

Our eyes locked and my traitorous stomach flipped.

He strode across the room and my heart thudded. As Liam got closer, his rich woody scent hit me and I bit my lip. If there was an aftershave called Eau de Hot Man, it’d smell like him.

‘Well, well, well.’ His eyes raked over me from head to toe, then back again. ‘Mamma Mia is all grown up!’

And just like that, the warm bubbly feelings in my stomach evaporated.

Hearing those two words, Mamma Mia, took me right back to school, when he used to call me that. He knew how much I hated it. I’d told him several times. Any normal person would take that on board and stop. But not Liam Stone. It only made him use it more.

Arsehole.

‘Clearly you haven’t!’ I barked. ‘You’re just as annoying as ever.’

‘Ooof. Harsh!’ He gripped his chest and I warned my eyes not to look at the outline of his pecs in that fitted navy-blue jumper. The whole world had seen that chest anyway. Whenever one of his dumb action films came out, it was splashed over billboards everywhere. I was surprised he was wearing clothes tonight. I’d started to think he was allergic to them.

‘Accurate,’ I spat back, trying to ignore his dazzling smile. His teeth were perfectly straight and white. He’d definitely had them done. They weren’t like that before. I supposed it was to be expected now he was a Hollywood star.

‘OMG! Lee!’ Trudy barged forward and threw her arms around him.

I definitely wasn’t bothered that Trudy got to press herself against his hard body and smell his delicious scent up close.

Yeah, he was good-looking, but only on the outside. His cockiness made everything about him ugly.

‘Hey, Trudes! Long time!’

‘Too long!’ She pulled back. ‘I don’t think I’ve seen you in the flesh since you left school and pissed off to Spain! You look great! All that LA sunshine is agreeing with you.’

‘Gee, thanks,’ he said in a fake American accent. I rolled my eyes. Why was she complimenting him? He already knew he was hot. Now his ego would be bigger than five continents.

‘What are you doing in London and at this show? Do you know Chester?’

‘I don’t start shooting again for a couple of months, so decided to chill in London for a bit. I was at a loose end tonight, and when I saw this advertised, I thought I’d check it out.’

‘I thought nightclubs were more your style,’ I muttered, thinking of the countless times I’d seen photos of him snogging women in them.

‘I like to switch things up now and again—you know, it’s fun. Oops! Sorry, I just used a word you wouldn’t understand.’

‘What?’ I frowned.

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