Escaping Reality

And maybe I should worry that he is so interested in something
    connected to my past, but again, I’m just not. Right or wrong, I trust Liam
    and I am hungry for every moment I have with him. I want to find a way to
    make it last.
    I smile. “So you can seduce me in a pyramid?”
    He laughs. “That sounds worth the trip, don’t you think?”
    My cell phone rings and I stiffen, my playful mood evaporating
    instantly.
    Liam picks my phone up from the table between us where I’ve set it
    and slides it into my hand. “I’m right here, you know,” he says, reminding
    me that he remembers all too well how I’d freaked out over a phone call
    the night before.
    And it‘s comforting. He’s right here. I am not alone. I glance at the
    number and feel my shoulders visibly relax. “Meg,” I say. “You met her at
    the restaurant.” Liam visibly relaxes as well, settling back in his chair and I
    answer the call. “Hi, Meg.”
    “Hi, Amy. Did you get the executed lease Luke dropped by?”
    My unease is instant. “Yes. I got it. Tell him thank you.”
    “And you’re doing fine? He said Mr. Williams wanted to be sure.”
    “Yes. I am, but I have some questions. Would you have a number for
    Mr. Williams?”
    There is a moment of silence. “No. No number.” She lowers her
    voice. “Luke is weird with Dermit Williams. Apparently the guy is loaded
    and Luke doesn’t trust me enough with his info.”
    “Can you ask Luke to call me?”
    “Sure. He’s out of town again, though. I swear I am going to go nuts
    in this office alone.
    How about happy hour?”
    I glance at Liam, and find his head buried in his drafting pad, his
    brows dipped in deep thought, and I want nothing more than to hang up
    the phone and get lost in watching him create his masterpiece. “Not
    tonight.” But I know she holds a key to my new boss. “Soon. Maybe
    tomorrow. I’ll call you then, if that works?”
    “Sure. Call me.”
    “And you’ll have Luke call me?”
    “When he gets back into town.”
    “Which will be when?”
    “Next week.”
    Next week? “If he calls in can you ask him for Mr. Williams’ number?”
    “I’ll see what mood he’s in.”
    I sigh. “Okay. Thanks.”
    I hang up the call and set my phone down and Liam glances up at me.
    “Who are Luke and Mr. Williams?”
    “And here I thought you were lost in your work.”
    “I can multitask. I think you know that.”
    I blush at his reference to the many naughty things he did to me the
    night before and this morning. “Luke is the realtor and Mr. Williams is my
    boss.”
    “Who you can’t reach?”
    “He’s out of the country.”
    He narrows his gaze on me. “Everything okay, Amy?”
    And I know it’s a prod for me to share more with him, but I care too
    much for Liam to be any more selfish than I already have. “Yes,” I say, and if
    my life wasn’t a big circus and I didn’t have this gnawing sensation that I’m
    about to turn his life into one too, it would be.
    He takes my hand and pulls me to him. “Make a doctor’s
    appointment. I want to be as naked inside you as you make me feel. As I
    want you to trust me enough to be with me.”
    It is the most erotic, seductive thing anyone has ever said to me. “I
    do trust you.”
    And I see in his face that he believes this is a lie when it is the truth.
    It’s not about trust.
    It’s about danger.

    ***
    The real world crashes down on me when I wake up Wednesday
    morning and the “a-hole” investor returns and Liam has to go to work.
    Having showered and dressed before Liam, at his urging and insistence—he
    would not make his meeting if I was still in bed where he wanted to be with
    me—I sit at the dining table of the hotel suite, coffee in hand, wishing the
    clawing sensation in my gut would go away. Having Liam to myself these
    past few days has been an escape, and other than checking my empty email
    yesterday, I didn’t let myself think of anything but him. He didn’t give me
    time. We’d gone to the movies and I’d had another acupuncture
    appointment and we’d even worked out together.
    “I guess it’s time to get this over with,” Liam says, walking into the
    room, and he is dark good looks personified, absolutely stunning in a light
    gray suit, his shirt starched and white, perfect, like he is to me. My eyes
    gravitate to the matching gray silk tie and I feel my body heat.
    He closes the distance between us and pulls me to my feet. “You
    want me to tie you up