HDU (33 page)

“Alright.”
 
He smoothed her hair back down and looked at her, his lips slowly
curling upward.
 
“I’m glad I met
you,” he said a bit softly.
 
She
had to lean in to hear him.
 
“You’re
fun.
 
And I can tell you’re an
incredibly loyal friend, not just from how good you’ve been to Ian but how good
you’ve been to me.”

Amanda raised her eyebrows slowly.
 
“That’s… actually pretty sweet of you,”
she said, though once the words escaped her lips, his eyes grew mischievous
again.
 
“But you’re about to ruin
it.”

“No.
 
I
was just going to say that you’re a good person and I can see your heart.”

“Aw,” she cooed, clasping a hand to her chest.

“And by ‘heart,’ I mean your birthmark.”

Amanda’s jaw dropped, the hand on her chest promptly flying
out to smack his repeatedly.
 
Her
heart-shaped birthmark.
 
He had
seen it, and thus everything else.
 
He
had
seen her entire naked
body.
 
“You said you didn’t
see
anything!” she protested,
high-pitched.
 
He was too busy
laughing to try to defend himself from her blows.
 

“I’m sorry, I lied.
 
I was trying to make you feel better.”

“You –
ugh
!”
Amanda burned hot from being both drunk and mortified.
 
She crossed her arms low over her
stomach, which she was sure had further expanded after her entrée of Chilean
sea bass and risotto.
 
It felt more
bloated than ever.
 

“Stop, people are staring,” Liam laughed, gently
uncrossing her arms for her.
 
Amanda
huffed.
 
“Come on, don’t be like that.”
 
He tucked a lock of hair behind her
ear.
 
“If it makes you feel better,
I’ll let you see me naked too,” he offered.
 
Amanda finally relented and laughed.
 
“There we go,” he grinned, touching her
dimples.
 
“See? No big deal.
 
It’s not like I’ve never seen a naked
woman before.”

She managed a smile.
 
But you’ve never seen
a real naked woman before
, she wanted to say.
 
But she didn’t.
 
Instead, she just sighed and leaned into his hand, which held her
cheek.
 
Despite closing her eyes,
she could still feel the wait staff staring at her.
 
They must think I’m a
freak
, she thought, though before she could delve too long on the idea, she
felt something else – Liam’s lips.
 

They kissed hers softly.
 
Her mouth parted to gasp in surprise, but then she felt the
flicker of his tongue.
 
The
sensation calmed her in a strange way and she kissed him back, letting him lean
into her body and pull her legs onto his lap.
 
She felt hidden by his broad frame, free to let both hands
trail from his chest down to his abs.
 
He had a six-pack under his sweater – she hadn’t known till she
felt it.
 
As her hands planted
themselves in that nice little spot, his found the groove in her back that he
always used to usher her from paparazzi.
 
She had to admit to herself that she’d always liked the feeling, the
warmth of his protective hand on her back.
 
Though of course, it had never felt better than it did
tonight.

LIAM &
AMANDA: HOTTER THAN EVER FOR EACH OTHER!

Celeb-o-Matic

February 7

Despite recent rumors of jealousy and public spats,
Liam Brody and Amanda Nathan proved that they’re still going strong – stronger
than you’ve ever seen them in fact! America’s favorite couple was spotted
dining at their preferred hotspot, Lilac, celebrating Liam’s successful
audition for the coveted role of John Parker Camden in the upcoming Terrence
Rambis film,
A Soldier
.
 

Witnesses say that the two seemed totally unaffected
by the recent drama of their celebrity friends Casey Mulreed and Ian Marsh,
showing all the signs of being madly in love! Flirty whispering? Check.
 
The inability to keep their hands off
of each other? Check.
 
A make-out
session so hot and heavy that they had to leave before dessert? Check! And
apparently this time, Liam had eyes
only
for Amanda – sorry, sexy hostesses, these two are here to stay!

I thought my
ceiling was flat
.

Amanda blinked up at the fancy, coffered ceiling
above her.
 
There was even amber-hued
light beaming out from the edges of the recessed panel.
 
She admired the pretty glow.
 
It gave off such a sexy and sophisticated
vibe to the bedroom
that was not hers.

“Oh my God!” Amanda shot up in the bed – the
sprawling, California King-sized bed with its incredible Swedish mattress and
massive down comforter.
 
It was
unfamiliar to her.
 
She looked
around the room – the cherry wood floor, the cowhide tile rug, the framed
artwork on the wall.
 
Everything in
the room was completely unfamiliar to her – everything but the person in
bed with her.

“Liam!” Amanda squeaked.
 
He lay on his back beside her, his face turned to her and
his lips slightly parted as he slept.
 
One hand rested on his stomach while the other stretched out above his
head.
 
His raised arm made the
muscles in his ribs protrude, and Amanda’s eyes involuntarily locked on them
for a moment despite her anxiety.
 
She couldn’t help it.
 
She’d
never seen him naked in real life, and it was a hell of a lot more breathtaking
up close and person.
 
His upper
body was bare, his lower half hidden beneath the comforter.
 
“Omigod, omigod…” Amanda whispered to
herself, eyeing the edge of the sheets.
 
She prayed that he was clothed under there.
 
Sweatpants were preferable but even boxers would do.
 
Oh
shit, what about me?
Only then did she think to wiggle out of the sheets
and look down at her own body.

“No!” she hissed with disbelief at her bare legs.
 
All she wore were her striped cotton
boy shorts and a large, white T-shirt that smelled like a fresh bar of
soap.
 
It no doubt belonged to
Liam.
 
“This didn’t happen.
 
This did not happen,” she murmured to
herself.
 
She didn’t do one-night
stands.
 
They weren’t her
thing.
 
She was very deliberate and
calculated when it came to sex – not just anybody was allowed to venture
down there, not even Liam.
 
Least
of all Liam.
 
He would judge her, and suddenly, his
judgment mattered a lot to her.

She tried desperately to work past her splitting
headache and recall the prior night.
 
We went to dinner, we
got really drunk at Lilac and then… what happened after Lilac?

“Amanda.”
 
Liam’s hoarse voice interrupted her thoughts.
 
Amanda froze.
 
Slowly,
she turned to face him as he stirred in bed and groggily propped himself onto
his elbows.
 
The comforter slid
down his body and Amanda exhaled slightly when she saw that he was wearing black
basketball shorts.
 
Still, it was
nerve-racking and surreal to be waking up in bed next to a shirtless Liam
Brody.
 
Her eyes remained wide and fearful
as she waited for him to say something, anything that might shed some light on
the situation.
 
Unfortunately, he was
in no rush.
 
He rubbed his eyes and
blinked a few times before finally stretching and releasing a sigh of
contentment.
 
“You were amazing
last night.”

“Oh my God.”
 
It happened
.
 
Amanda slapped her hand to her forehead
as her heart began to pound.
 
“Oh
no, Liam…”

“I mean, I was amazing too.
 
Naturally.”
 

Amanda stared at him, horrified.
 
He stared back for a second and then burst
out laughing.
 

“Yeah, I’m kidding, Amanda, we didn’t have sex.”

She gaped at him a second longer before grabbing the
pillow from under his head and swinging it hard into his face.
 
“Jesus Christ!” She yanked it back only
to see him still laughing jovially, his hair now sticking out in different
directions.
 
“Please explain!” she
snapped.

 
   
“We didn’t sleep together.
 
There was no…” he yawned.
 
“… oh man.
 
No sexual contact whatsoever.”
 
He rubbed his face.
 
Amanda continued to stare, trying to decide which of her hundred questions
would be the first to sputter out.

“Why are you in bed with me?” she finally asked.
 
He blinked.

“Well,
I’m
in this bed because this is my bed and this is generally where I sleep,” he
said.
 
“And you’re in it too
because I felt bad putting you on the couch, which is where I was until a few
hours ago.
 
But I came back here
because I couldn’t fall asleep.”

“But... why am I even here? Why am I
naked
? Did anything sex-related occur
between us at all last night?” she interrogated him.
 
He laughed, sitting up in bed and bringing his knees
up.
 
His shorts fell around his
toned upper thighs and Amanda blinked hard, trying not to stare at the
incredible and equally horrifying image of their bare legs next to each other.

“First of all, you’re not naked,” Liam said, leaning
against the giant headboard.
 
“Second…
you don’t remember
any
thing from
Lilac?” She shook her head.
 
He frowned
a bit.
 
“That sucks.
 
We had fun.”

Amanda blinked and stared down at her knees.
 
She squinted.
 
Suddenly, the memory of their kiss drifted back into her
brain.
 
Liam had seen her naked
yesterday.
 
Not just her knees
– everything.
 
She had felt
weird and upset and insecure about it, and then he kissed her.
 
It had been so perfect and comforting
that the memory felt like a moment from a dream.
 
The edges of her lips drifted slightly upward.
 

“You remember,” Liam smiled.
 

“Yes.”

He reached over and ruffled her hair.
 
“Yeah, we had fun,” he repeated.
 
“And then we had a little too much
towards the end of the night.”

Amanda blinked at him.
 
So they were done acknowledging the fact that they’d made
out and it hadn’t been for cameras or revenge on an arch nemesis because there
hadn’t been any near their private table.
 
Apparently, that was just what they did – do things and
then not make a fuss of it.
 
She
could live with that – it was easier, less awkward.
 
“What do you mean we had too much fun?”
Amanda asked, moving onto the next subject with him.
 
Now she just understood their relationship – make out
and move on.
 
Like friends with benefits
, she thought, delighted that the term
she heard in every romantic comedy was finally being applied to her own life
– and with someone like Liam Brody.

“We had too many drinks.
 
That hostess kept buying us rounds and you kept stealing
mine because I said you couldn’t take bourbon.”

Amanda raised her eyebrows.
 
“Was I able to take it?”

“Yeah.
 
You did really good while you were there,” Liam laughed.
 
“But you ended up pretty drunk by the
end of the night and I didn’t want to carry you through a hotel full of people
with cameras, so I brought you here.”

Amanda listened with her mouth slowing forming an
“O.”
 
It was coming back to
her.
 
All of it.
 
The last sexy moment between herself
and Liam had been at Lilac – everything after was a mess that explained
the T-shirt she was wearing.

“I puked on my clothes, didn’t I,” she said.

“Yeah.
 
And a little on my shoes.”
 

Amanda blushed furiously.
 
She covered her face with her hand.
 
“I… I don’t even have words.”
 
Liam rubbed her shoulder.

“It’s okay, it was worth the good time.”
 
He gave the back of her neck a little
squeeze.
 
It felt nice.
 
“And it’s not like I didn’t do embarrassing
things either.”

Amanda closed her eyes.
 
His hands were magical, she was convinced of it.
 
“What’d you do?” she mumbled.