Page 34 of Begin Again, Part 2

An hour later, after the meeting, she waited until they were alone in the room before she went batshit on him. "Why would you blindside me like that? What the hell do I even know about signing anyone?"

"Did you think working with me would be easy, and you'd have to learn to tie ties and make me coffee the whole day? I didn't hire a skivvy. I need someone strategic enough to be my equal. I want a partner!"

Eden gritted her teeth, refusing to let him off the hook. "Well, you could have warned me."

"I did!" Liam reminded her. "You sat on the research for more than a month. I told you too many times I want Lydia. How many more warnings did you need?

Their argument spilt out into the hallway as they left the boardroom, drawing curious stares from the other assistants and executives in their offices.

"I'm not ready for this!" Eden yelled.

"Well, buckle up, Princess, because it won't get any easier!"

"I am not your Princess," she retorted. She didn't even know why he called her that.

"But you are," he said. "Every part of you is mine."

"I am not!" Eden threw up her hands in frustration and stalked to the elevator bank.

"Where are you going?" Liam asked as he watched her leave.

"To sign up Lydia like you wanted."

"Be back here in an hour. I have an off-site meeting."

Eden shrugged and headed to Rise, where the girls were already nibbling their food and sipping their warm drinks in a corner booth.

Chapter

Thirteen

LET THEM STARE

"Gah! I need something strong today!" Eden mussed her hair as soon as she sat down.

"That bad, huh?" Cassandra asked, patting her back.

"Here." Sienna pushed the chai latte they'd ordered for her across the table. "This is as strong as it gets."

"Thanks," Eden mumbled and stared broodily at her cup. "I must have been insane. Honestly, I think I've lost my mind. Why didn't you guys stop me from taking this job?"

Lydia grinned wickedly. "We tried, but you wanted Liam's dick so bad it was obvious anything we said wasn't going to fly."

Eden looked around the room, making sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. "Watch what you say. He's my boss, and half the people in here report to him."

"He's also your baby daddy! Anyway, why was he crawling my page again today?"

Eden reached for Sienna's untouched chocolate croissant and gobbled it down as she filled them in on the board meeting. If she was so hungry, she figured Liam must be just as famished since he hardly snacked on anything the whole morning. While she pitched the brand ambassador idea to Lydia and attacked Cassandra's half-eaten bran muffin, she texted Clara and asked her to sort out Liam's lunch.

"Are you pregnant?" Lydia demanded. "Why are you eating so much?"

"Yeah, you used to eat like a hippo before you found out you were pregnant with Aiden," Cassandra chimed in as she sipped her tea and paged through a food and wine magazine.

"If you had to work for the Dragon, you'd be hungry too," Eden grumbled in between mouthfuls.

"That's his nickname?" Sienna giggled. "I can see him breathing fire on your house and burning it down after the way he stomped to your front door last night."

The image painted by her friend's words was so vivid Eden shuddered in her seat. Ever since Liam rocked up at her place unannounced and spent the night, she felt like she was living on the edge. It was only a matter of time before her secret about Aiden came to light.