Page 68 of The Match Faker

Liam paused. His eyes met mine, then darted away again.

‘We could share my bed…’

I swallowed what felt like a block of concrete lodged in my throat.

Share a bed.

With Liam.

Sleep with his body just inches away from mine.

‘That’s not a good idea.’ I shook my head.

‘Why? Worried you won’t be able to keep your hands off me?’ He smirked.

‘No! I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last man on earth!’

‘So then there’s nothing to worry about.’

‘But… how do I know that you’ll…’

‘That I’ll what? Behave myself? For starters, I’m fucking exhausted. It’s after midnight and I have to be up by four thirty. So even if I found you irresistible, I wouldn’t have the energy. Trust me.’

I glared at Liam, trying to assess whether I could. Then I reminded myself for the second time tonight that he had zero interest in me. My cheeks heated with embarrassment.

Of course I’d be safe. He dated models and actresses. Liam wouldn’t even touch me if I was covered in honey. I could sleep naked with ‘seduce me’ written in bold letters across my boobs and he wouldn’t bat an eyelid. I needed to get over myself.

‘Okay,’ I murmured. ‘Out of curiosity, why do you sleep with a towel around you? Are you worried about wetting the bed?’ I grinned.

‘Very funny!’ He rolled his eyes. ‘I sleep naked and when I heard you scream, I thought the paps had broken in to get a picture and I didn’t want to run in here and end up getting my dick photographed again, so I grabbed the nearest thing I could find, which was this towel.’

‘So you’ll be in your bed… naked?’ I bit my lip and squeezed my thighs together, trying not to think about Liam lying next to me in the buff.

‘No… I’ll put on boxers. Just for you.’

Liam’s eyes flicked to mine and he held my gaze. Him wearing underwear was the most appropriate thing to do. But although I tried to suppress it, thoughts of his body pressed against mine flooded into my head.

‘That would be’—a shame, disappointing—‘a good idea,’ I said, trying to keep my voice level. ‘Speaking of clothes, do you have anything I could wear? I’m… I don’t have anything on under this duvet.’

Liam’s Adam’s apple bobbed and his eyes darkened.

‘You’re naked?’

I nodded.

We stared at each other in silence, the air between us crackling with electricity.

Liam was stood a few feet away from me, his solid chest glistening, with just a towel around his waist. And here I was with only this duvet. If either of us moved too quickly, both items could easily fall to the floor. Then we’d be face to face in our birthday suits.

And as much as I hated to admit it, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to see what was underneath that towel.

‘I-I…’ Liam broke the silence, his eyes dropping to the floor. ‘I’ll find something for you. Give me two minutes.’ He quickly left the room.

Was he…?

I shook my head. For a second, I wondered whether hearing that I was naked underneath this duvet turned him on, but that was ridiculous.

The poor guy had to get up in four hours, so he probably wanted to cut the chit-chat so he could get to bed.

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