Page 30 of Flirtatious

“God no!” I say, knowing I’m betraying how bad she was with that kind of thing.

“Sorry.”

Suddenly, I feel like he’s pitying me, and I hate that. “It’s okay. This is my life. It’s always been this way. The only difference is back then I wasn’t famous.”

When he doesn’t answer, I quickly shift the attention back to his family. “The way you feel about your mother sounds so great. I’m jealous, if you want to know the truth.”

He doesn’t say anything but stands to leave, disappointing me. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking my family’s perfect. Trust me. I should take you to meet them all. Fifteen minutes with them and you’ll be thankful you’re an only child.”

“All of them? I thought you only had one brother and sister. Who would I be meeting in addition to them?”

“My family isn’t just my mother and father with my sister and brother. My father’s brothers and their wives and my cousins are always around too. It’s like one big family, the Jackson and March clan. Then there’s my grandmother who keeps us in line too.”

As I listen to him describe this big extended family of his that he calls a clan, I can’t help but be jealous. They sound incredible. And nothing like I’ve ever experienced in my life.

“That sounds great. You should be thankful you have all those people who care about you just because you’re family, Liam.”

The sadness in my voice comes through loud and clear, and for a second or two, I think about making a joke to hide it. It’s no use, though. He senses it, and I see in his expression that look like he’s pitying me again that I hate.

“I guess, but sometimes when you’re in the middle of a family that big, it can be a lot. Sometimes you just want to be alone.”

Shaking my head, I say the only thing I know to be true in my life. “You don’t want to be alone. Trust me. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

Liam nods, but he doesn’t understand. No one with a family the size of his could know how it feels to be truly alone.

CHAPTERTWELVE

Mia

After a day filledwith people who acted like they were all walking on eggshells around me, I want to hear more about Liam and his big family that drives him crazy. I want to hear stories and imagine what it’s like to be surrounded by people who love you no matter what, not because they have to or because of what you can do for them.

Halfway to his room, I remember it’s nearly eleven o’clock. Liam gets up at five every morning to workout. He’s probably asleep already.

I should just go back to my room, but it’s like I crave hearing more about what I’ve never experienced in my life. So I take a deep breath and knock on his door, hoping he doesn’t answer it looking like he just fell asleep and I woke him up.

My heart races as I wait there in the hallway of my own house. It’s silly, but I’m anxiously eager to listen to him tell me about that family of his.

When the door opens, I see him standing in front of me in just a pair of shorts with a towel in his hand drying his wet hair. My eyes fill with the sight of muscles and tattoos. Who knew my chief of security had such a great body and was all tatted up? He always wears jeans and dress shirts or T-shirts that cover them.

“I’m sorry. Am I interrupting?” I ask, my gaze roaming over his washboard abs, muscular chest, and incredible biceps that have never looked this good with shirts over them.

He’s got great legs too. I had no idea he was so built. He just always seemed big until this moment.

“Give me a minute and I’ll get dressed. Come on in,” he says with a hint of embarrassment in his voice before backing up to let me walk into his bedroom.

Staring at a skull tattoo at the top of his chest, I say, “Please don’t feel like you have to because of me. You’re in your part of the house. You should be comfortable.”

Seriously. Don’t cover up all of this gorgeousness because of me. I’d much rather you stay this way, although I’m not sure I’m going to be able to focus much on anything else if you do.

“It will only take a minute. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back,” he says before grabbing jeans and a blue T-shirt and disappearing into the bathroom.

I glance around his room and notice it’s neat. Like pristine neat. Where are his shoes? Does he really keep all his clothes in the dresser and closet? Is he always this tidy? Is it because he’s not in his own home, or is this how he is? It looks like nobody stays in this room. Even the bed is perfect, as if the maid just came in and made it.

When he returns a minute later, he’s fully dressed but I notice his T-shirt shows a little of the tattoo at the top of his right arm I saw that day when I was staring at him from my bedroom window. God, he’s good-looking standing there with his hair damp and me remembering what he looked like before he put on clothes.

How is this guy single?

Instead of sitting on the bed with me like he did in my room, he walks over to the chair near the window on the other side of the room and sits down. “So what did you want to talk about?”

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