Page 39 of Accidental Baby With My Brother's Best Friend

The gentleman turns his head, frowning. I give him an innocent smile, leaning in closer to Lily until our noses almost touch.“Who’s your friend?”

She smiles sweetly at the stranger.“This is Thèo, a renowned art collector here in Parisand he’svery much interested in your art.”

“Oh, isn’t that nice? I see he has good taste.”I say, turning myattentionback tothe strangerwhileadding a little bite to my tone at the last words.“Nice to meet you, Thèo.”

I extend a hand toward him, which he shakes briefly. His eyes are a deep hazel and a look of disgust flashes across them as soon as we make eye contact. It makes me smirk inwardly, knowing exactly what he’s thinking.

“Thanks. The pleasure is all mine.”He says, his voice low and clipped.“I must say, your art is really beautiful. And your l'amie is even more beautiful.”

“Huh?”

“I mean your girlfriend, Lily. She’s your girlfriend, isn’t she?”

“Of course she is.”From the corner of my eye, I can see a look of surprise flash across Lily’s face and I laugh softly.“Thanks for the compliment. I’m so lucky to have her.”Again, I add emphasis on the last word and I don’t miss the look of disgustthat appears on Thèo’s handsome face before he covers it with a smile. I turn my gaze down to Lily, cupping her jaw with one hand. Her cheeks flush crimson, her eyes shining.“So which of my masterpieces would you be getting sir?” I ask brazenly.

“I have made my choices already. Lily was of great helpI must say. You’re lucky to have her by your side.”

“Indeed. You can say that again.” I say staring at him intensely.

There’s this look on Lily’s features that screams, ‘What the fuck are you doing?’But I ignore it, fixing my gaze back on Thèo. “It was nice talking with you sir, but nowif you’ll excuse us, I want to have a dance with myl'amie.”

Thèo’s eyebrows shoot up. I watch as his eyes dart between my face and Lily’s then he fakes a smile and nods curtly.“My best wishes, ma belle. Enjoy.”With that, he turns and walks away. I watch him leave for a minute longer, giving myself time to bask in my little triumph.

“What was that about?”Lily asksimmediately as he disappears from viewand I break out of my reverie. I smile reassuringly at her and squeeze her hand gently.

“Nothing, sweetheart.”

“Sweetheart?” She cocks a brow. “How many drinks have you had?”

“Not much. Not enough to get me drunk, just in case that's what you’re thinking.”

“And why did you tell Thèo I am your girlfriend? Who knows, he might be my Prince Charming and you just ruined my chances with him.”

There it is again. That feeling of jealousy coursing through me like wildfire. I snort, signaling a waiter nearby to get me a drink.

“You’re not gonna say anything?” She asks with an impatient stare.

I shrug, taking the glass from the waiter’s tray and downing its content in a split second. “What do you want me to say?”

“What are you up to Liam? Just last night, you said you needed time to be sure about how you feel. Now you’re making lovely gestures. I didn’t miss you helping me out of the car earlier. Or how many times you’ve slipped an arm around my waist already?You’re being unnecessarily up-close and sweet.”

“Hey! Relax. We’lltalk about this later. I just couldn’t–”I break off, the rest of the words getting stuck in the back of my throat.

“You couldn’t what?”

I stay mute. I’d rather choke on my pride than admit that I was jealous, but knowing Lily and how persistent she can be, I’ll be forced to admit it soon enough.

“Were you jealous?”Lily asks, crossing her arms on her chest. I can’t find a response so I stay mute, staring at her like a deer in headlights. I could lie but what’s the point? I could say the truth but then I would be admitting to feelings that I’m not sure are there. My silence stretches on and Lily scoffs.

“Can we not do this right now?”

“No. You either admit the truth now or I’m out of here. Let’s see you ramp up those sales on your own.” She says emphatically.

“You forget that I’m pretty popular in the art scene. My art sells itself.”

She shoots me a look that would have me in the morgue in seconds, if looks could kill.

“Fine. I was…” I trail off, the last word stuck at the back of my throat, but I spit it out anyway. “I was jealous. Can we just forget the last ten minutes ever happened?”

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