Page 67 of The CEO I Hate

“Leave it,” he said.

“What if it’s important?” I was already reaching across the massive bed for my phone. Liam used the opportunity to explore places that made me squirm as I answered. “Hello?”

“Girl,” Sophie said. “Holy shit! I want to knoweverything. But we’ll table that until later. This is a best-friend courtesy call.”

“For what?”

“I thought you’d want to know that your brother just came by the apartment.”

“Jake?”

“Yes, that would be the only brother you have.”

I rubbed my eyes, waiting for my brain to catch up. It was still floating in the la-la land I entered whenever Liam’s hand was between my thighs. “What did he want?”

“He wanted to talk about how it went with your parents yesterday. I lied and said you were out running errands.”

“Thanks, Soph. You’re the best.”

“I know. You and Liam should probably get your stories straight, because Jake will likely call one or the other of you any minute now.”

I thanked her and said goodbye, turning to face Liam who was staring at me with a sly smile on his face, his fingers inching across my belly.

“Did you tell Sophie that calls while you’re still naked in my bed are now forbidden?”

“No, because she doesn’t know I’m still naked in your bed.” Though she probably suspected it. “But also, she called to tell me Jake stopped by my apartment this morning to chat about dinner last night.”

“Oh.”

“Oh,” I agreed. “How do you want to handle things?”

“I don’t like the idea of sneaking around behind his back,” Liam said, running smooth circles around my hip bone. Hope bloomed in my chest. Did that mean he wanted to tell Jake? Could we be upfront about this?

“But on the other hand,” he continued, and my heart sank at his tone, “he’s in such a low place, dealing with all the changes in his life. It doesn’t really seem fair to dump another change on him. And we’re going to have to be discreet anyway, since we don’t want to start any rumors at work.”

Right, I thought.There’s that too. I knew there wasn’t a specific policy about interoffice relationships, but I understood the optics of this situation if viewed from the wrong lens. I could see the headline—CEO Shacks Up With New Head Writer After Falling Out With Old One. My mood was quickly souring.

“I think we can be careful,” Liam said, caressing my thigh in a way that made the hairs on my arms stand up straight. “Make this work.”

At least I could take comfort in the fact that he wanted to continue this…relationship? Situationship? I wasn’t exactly sure what we were. But he seemed to wantus, even if it had to be behind closed doors.

Still, I didn’t want tohaveto be careful.

Liam rolled on top of me, bracing his forearms on either side of my head. “What are you thinking so hard about?” He kissed my neck, my collar bone, making my heart flutter.

“Nothing,” I said.

“Oh, I can tell there are many thoughts tumbling around that pretty little head of yours.” He ran his stubble over my nipple, and ithardened. His tongue darted out to taste the peak before he sucked it into his mouth, sending sensations shooting through my body. I groaned. “That’s more like it,” Liam said. “I’ll help you forget whatever you’re overthinking.”

Maybe Iwasoverthinking this. Maybe I should just enjoy it…have fun with it. Especially with the way I could feel his cock hardening between us. He inched lower, kissing his way down my belly, his tongue swirling around my belly button. Then?—

My phone rang. Again.

“Jake,” I said as I looked at the screen. I bit back a moan.

“Let it go,” Liam said, pressing a trail of kisses down my left thigh.

“I can’t,” I said, answering it. “Hey!” I said, trying to sound cheerful and not at all out of breath. I sat up a little, moving to pull my legs closed, but Liam’s body was in the way. He shifted beneath the sheet, kissing his way down to my knee and back up, sucking softly against my thigh again.

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