Page 60 of Wants and Needs
“This wasn’t the plan.” His voice sounds slightly panicked then. “Michelle wasn’t supposed to see us holding hands. She wasn’t supposed to think we’re dating.” He continues speakingfast, and I know we’ll have to deal with that little detail eventually, but now really isn’t the time. Right now we have to convince this woman to give Liam millions of dollars so he can get his app out there.
So I reach up to cup Liam’s cheeks and hold his head tightly enough that he’s looking straight at me.
“We can worry about that tomorrow, mate,” I tell him urgently. “Right now you need to impress her like you impressed me on that hill, remember? You know exactly what you need to say to her. Youhavethis,” I emphasize, trying to make him believe in himself as much as I believe in him.
After a few seconds his head bobs in my hands, and I let go, take his left hand in mine again, and pull him lightly toward the women. Tristan is talking to Michelle’s son, but his eyes shift to us like he already knew we were walking over, and he gets Michelle’s attention.
I can’t hear what he tells her but she smiles at us right as we stop next to her, and after Lyla fusses over Liam for a minute, she nods her head to the side of the ballroom.
“Why don’t we go to one of the rooms outside so we can talk without all the noise?”
“That’s a great idea,” Tristan agrees enthusiastically, and the five of us—her son included—walk out with only a few people stopping Michelle to greet her.
“You want me to wait outside?” I ask quietly as Michelle walks into the room with Tristan holding the door open for her.
“No, please come in with us,” he says quickly. I squeeze his hand hard once, and then take a deep breath.
Here we go.
“So, tell me about this app,” Michelle prompts Liam, sitting like a queen at the head of the table.
“Well, it works thanks to the research I did for my doctorate. When it’s functional, it will help people put together a custom playlist for the emotional state they’re in at that moment.”
I watch him silently, and I love how passionate he is while he explains everything to Michelle. He’s confident and passionate about this and it shows with every word.
He’s totally got this.
“I could seeshe was as impressed as me, Liam. She’s totally going to give you the money,” I say, maybe a bit loudly, but fuck it, I’m pumped.
Liam smiles his rare real smile as he puts on his seatbelt, and I remember to do the same. Then Eric is driving into the slow traffic.
“We’ll see,” is all he says to my enthusiasm.
I’ve never been in a conversation that had dozens of millions on the table, so maybe the adrenaline is kicking in, but I kept my cool in there. Liam didn’t let go of my hand the whole time, and even when Michelle thanked him and told Tristan she’d be in touch, he didn’t let go.
Liam wanted to leave right away, but first we were stopped by his parents, then by all my friends, who one by one gave Liam some encouragement and assured him he’d get what he came here for.
I could see his frown getting deeper and deeper and so I made some excuse and we fled.
“I’m sorry the guys delayed our exit,” I tell him, trying to calm myself down.
“You don’t have to apologize,” he says, sounding like he thinks I’m crazy. “It was nice of them, and even if it wasn’t, it’s not like you called them over and made them say all those nice things to me.”
“I know, but we had planned to leave right after.”
“It was barely half an hour, Carter. I’m fine.” His voice is softer this time, and when he squeezes my hand, I realize he took it—or did I?—after putting on our seatbelts. I stare down at them on the seat between us and can’t figure out what to do. I mean, we did hold hands from the elevator in his building to the car, and then in the car... yes, I think we did.
But the night is over now.
Though our fake boyfriend mission isn’t anymore.
I truly believe Michelle will give Liam the money he needs and become an investor. She has to, right?
And that means we will probably have to have a fake break up at some point too.
The car stops before I can decide what to do, and I guess that’s what happens when you live on the same street as some pretty iconic hotels.
Even in tortoise-slow traffic it didn’t even take ten minutes.
