Liam held out his hand to help Colby out of the car. She placed her fingertips in his. It was immediate. The current that ran through her arm was like an electrical current. Colby was sure that everyone around them could feel it.
Maybe Lila was on to something about just getting the sex out of their systems. The simple touch of his hands left her breathless. Colby had to get it together. She couldn’t let Liam know that he had this kind of an effect on her.
“You clean up well, Mr. Lockwood.” Colby managed to say it without any trace of betrayal in her voice.
Colby stepped out of the car, wearing a fitted black wrap dress with a plunging neckline. It displayed her shapely legs and smooth brown skin to perfection. Liam studied every inch of her as he took his time caressing her body with the heat of his gaze. “I’m damn lucky that you let a mere mortal like me stand in your presence.”
She smiled brilliantly. He meant every damn word.
It was the end of the workweek, so the hotel and restaurant were packed. Liam placed his hand at the base of her back and guided her inside. Colby might have been oblivious to all the male attention that she was receiving, but Liam wasn’t. Technically, this wasn’t even supposed to be a date. He’d only known her for a couple of days, but Liam felt possessive. He didn’t want anyone looking at her. “We better hurry up and get to our table before I have to hurt somebody.”
“What?” she asked.
“Let’s just say you are making one hell of an entrance,” Liam responded. As soon as he walked up to the restaurant, they were immediately shown to a semi-private area set up just for them.
“Did you have them do all of this?” Colby asked as she took her seat.
“Do what?” Liam feigned ignorance as he slid in next to her.
Colby caught a whiff of his cologne and momentarily lost her train of thought. “I-I’ve lived in this town my entire life. This restaurant does not typically have a setup like this.”
Liam shrugged. “I asked for privacy. The hotel was gracious enough to provide it.”
Colby lifted a brow. “If we’re just having dinner, why do we need privacy?”
He smiled coyly. Fortunately, Liam didn’t have to answer because a server appeared out of nowhere. He quickly took their drink order and left.
Liam couldn’t resist. His eyes bore into hers. “You’re beautiful.”
Colby blushed. “Thank you, but,” she hoped the server would hurry back with her wine, “I’m not so sure comments like that are very helpful.”
“Are we still pretending that we’re here to put a stop to our attraction?” Liam asked.
“We have to do something.”
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the taste of your lips since this afternoon.” Liam managed to inch a little closer. His tone was husky. “I bet the rest of you tastes even better.”
It was a godsend when the server arrived with their drinks. Her mouth was dry, but certain parts of her, not so much. Instead of picking up her glass and downing it, Colby held Liam’s gaze. “Are you always so bold?”
“Only when I see something I want.” He took a sip of his drink.
Calmly, Colby did the same, then slowly lowered her glass. “If we’re being honest, why is that exactly? You barely know me.”
“I know more than you think.”
“That’s right.” Knowing he’d had her investigated chilled the heat between them, but only slightly. “You do understand that I’m more than what you were able to gather in your report.”
Liam nodded slowly. “Then tell me what I don’t know.”
“Uh-un.” Colby shook her head. “I’m already at a disadvantage. You first. Who is Liam Lockwood?”
“So, we’re really going to talk?”
“That’s the purpose of our dinner, right?”
They were once again interrupted by another server, who came to take their dinner order. After she’d gone, they continued.
“Okay. Where were we?”
Colby rubbed her hands together, all sinister like. “You were about to tell me your deepest darkest secrets.”
He laughed easily. That was all it took for them to settle into an easy conversation. “I don’t have any real secrets. I’m an open book. The CEO of Lockwood Enterprises and I sit on thirty different Board of Directors for fortune 500 companies.”
Colby interrupted him. “C’mon, Liam. I can find that out from a simple Google search. I want to know about the man, not the CEO.”
He stared at her long and hard. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
The way she said it made him believe that Colby was interested in him, not the billionaire, but the man. Her seemingly sincere curiosity allowed Liam to let down his guard, which he rarely did. “Seriously, there isn’t a lot to know. I work too much. I don’t have a lot of time for anything else.”
“So, no girlfriend?”
“No. Definitely, not.”
“Don’t make it sound so horrible.”
“I suck at relationships.”
“Well, we have that in common. At least, you have an excuse.”
“I find it hard to believe that you suck at anything,” Liam said.
“You’d be surprised. But this isn’t about me. It’s about you. Tell me more. Like, what are your parents like? When you are not working, what do you like to do? I get the impression it’s not racing.”
“Rapid-fire with the questions. Well, I love poker. Love it.” His face softened. “Both of my parents are gone. Killed in a plane crash.”
Colby placed her hand on top of his. “My god. I’m so sorry.”
“It was a several years ago.”
“So, it’s just you and Brian?” Her voice was soft.
“Yeah. We’re a small family.” Liam felt comforted by the gentle touch of her hand.
“I lost my mom to cancer a few years ago too, so I understand.”
“I’m sorry. It had to be tough for you.”
“Very. My mom was my everything. I mean, we were as different as night
