HDU (49 page)

Amanda sat on her bed, staring at her laptop in such
a fog that she hardly registered the sound of footsteps echoing up her stairs
until they were in her hallway and near the door.
 
Dazed, she didn’t think twice about swinging her feet over
the side of the mattress to get up and gravitate over to it, opening it without
a single glance through the peephole.
 
It just felt right.

And as it turned out, it was.

“Hi,” Liam said, hands in the pockets of his pea
coat.
 
He broke into a smile as he eyed
Amanda in her pajamas, watching her blink at him for a few bewildered seconds.
 
She reached out to touch his jacket.

“You’re really here then,” she said.

“Observant,” he remarked.

Amanda narrowed her eyes at him but grinned.
 
At least she knew he wasn’t some vision
from her imagination – after all, she never fantasized about his
snark.
 
Though now she realized how
much she’d missed it too.
 
“You’re
not going to just waltz in here without permission?” she asked.

“I didn’t pay for this place,” he responded.

She rolled her eyes and laughed.
 
“Right.
 
Come in.”

He stepped slowly inside, surveying her apartment,
which was essentially the kitchen on his left and her bed on the right.
 
Amanda closed the door behind him,
leaning against it as she watched him look around.
 
When he turned back to her, his face was serious.

“You like it here?” he asked.

She shrugged, her bare shoulders cold against the
door.
 
“It’s okay.”

Liam was quiet as he took his last look around before
shedding his jacket and closing the gap between them, so that her slippered
feet just touched the tips of his shoes.
 
Amanda held her breath, relishing their closeness though Liam kept his
hands tucked in his jean pockets.
 
She
willed him to touch her when she watched his right hand slip out, but instead,
he ran it along the back of his neck, tilting his head as he looked down at her.
 
“The one time I checked the news
since leaving, you were doing better than ever,” he said with a crooked smile.

She looked at him from beneath her lashes.
 
“You must’ve been too busy to see the
recent stories.”

“No.”
 
He
shook his head, his eyes dropping to her gauzy tank top, playing with its hem.
 
“I was going out of my way to avoid them.
 
I didn’t want reminders of you,” he
confessed.
 
His lips smirked and he
briefly looked to the side with disdain.
 
“Or that guy who had no problem flirting with you while we
were supposed to be dating.”

“Dylan,” Amanda supplied with a little laugh.
 
She peered up at Liam.
 
“Like you really cared,” she challenged,
knowing well that she was baiting him.
 
His dark eyes bore into hers, his fingers gripping the hem of her shirt
till the neckline stretched down a bit.

“You know I cared.”

She savored his words for a moment before tilting her
head.
 
“Then why’d you leave?”

Liam frowned.
 
“I wanted to let you have a real life here while I was on location for a
month,” he replied.
 
He paused.
 
“And because I was a fucking idiot,
Amanda.”
 
Amanda tried to purse her
lips, but despite herself, the edges of her mouth curved up at his
response.
 
He smirked.
 
“Oh, that makes you smile, doesn’t it?”
 
His laugh softened when she giggled.
 
“That’s fine.
 
I deserve it.”
 
He let go of her hem to put his hands on her waist, the bottoms of his
palms touching her bare skin.
 
Amanda’s
fingers involuntarily ran along his forearms.
 
He watched as they did.
 
“For letting you go through all this shit alone with the
paparazzi.
 
I wouldn’t have let it
happen if I found out in time.”

“It wasn’t your job to be there for me at that point,”
Amanda said as Liam’s hands slipped behind her back and wrapped around her.
 
She closed her eyes for a moment.
 
They felt better than she
remembered.
 
“It never really was,
ever,” she continued softly, though she could barely finish her sentence before
feeling his lips quiet hers.
 
She
shut up fast, standing on her tiptoes to rest her elbows on Liam’s broad
shoulders, running her hands up the nape of his neck and into his hair.
 
His palms slid down and returned to his
usual spot, that dip in her lower back that he had always used to protect her.
 
But this time, he continued down until
he reached the back of her thighs, pulling her up in the air and crossing the
room to her bed.
 
He laid her down.

“Let’s make it my job.”

Amanda smiled.
 
“Should I draft up a contract?” she asked, pretending to get up.
 
He pushed her back down, climbing on
top of her.

“None of those,” he laughed into her neck.

She lay back down, stretching underneath him with
content.
 
“Good.”
 
It was real now.
 
She suspected it had been for some
time, but now it was official.
 
Just the two of them, no pens or paper involved.

“So no moving then, right?”

Amanda teased him.
 
“No.
 
But it was
another man who convinced me to stay.”
 
As he cocked his head and frowned, she beamed.
 
“Tom Vogel.
 
My new
boss.”

Liam squinted, momentarily confused before his eyes
widened in realization.
 
“Are you
serious?” he asked, though he didn’t wait for an answer before laughing and cupping
her cheeks, planting kisses on her lips.
 
He pulled away to look at her as he shook his head lightly.
 
“You haven’t stopped surprising me
since day one.”

“When I turned out less hideous than you
anticipated?”

“When you turned out gorgeous and I was too much of
an asshole to say it.”

“Well,” Amanda smiled up at the ceiling as Liam
kissed the strap of her top off her shoulder.
 
“I have more surprises coming.
 
Stories, mostly.
 
And one that might make you mad that I didn’t listen to you earlier.”

She felt his body stiffen over hers, his mouth
hovering over her skin.
 
“What’d
she do.”

“Casey? Something
you
might not even believe.”
 
Amanda
gave the side of his face a calming stroke before gently tipping his chin
towards her with both hands.
 
He
kissed her fingertips.
 
“But don’t
worry.
 
I’ve got it covered.”

Liam’s eyes fixed on her.
 
His expression was quizzical but it soon filled with curiosity.
 
“Good,” he murmured, his lips returning
to her neck.
 
“I can’t wait to see
you in action.”

She grinned, closing her eyes as she felt the weight
of his body on top of her.
 
“Neither
can I.”

* * * * *

Titles Coming Soon

HDU Part 2 (
working
title
)

Hidden Gem #5 Diamonds Are Forever

Perfect/Fit

Tasteless

Other Titles by the
Author (Now Available)

Hidden Gem

Hidden Gem #2 Diamond in the Rough

Hidden Gem #3 No Stone Unturned

Hidden Gem #4 Every Pearl Has its Oyster

About the Author

India Lee is an author of mature
young adult and women’s fiction with a topic focus on the ever-broadening world
of entertainment.
 
She is a lover
of fashion, entertainment, shoes, good food, coffee, jetsetting, mild
debauchery, and dogs.
 
Her
Manhattan home bodes well for most of these things but she could use a little
more space for her wardrobe and pets.

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Author

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