Grace didn’t think of herself as the kind of person who would have sex for money.
Yet here she was, going up to a stranger’s room after he’d propositioned her earlier in the day. As hot as Liam Houston might be, he’d still offered her money in exchange for sex.
So she wasn’t the type of person to have sex for money (which she’d been telling herself over and over again throughout the evening), but she also apparently wasn’t the type of person to ignore the man who’d issued the invitation.
Grace somehow, despite all her reservations and fears, found herself knocking on the door to his room. It was as though she’d become a robot, programmed to do this one and only activity of knocking on Liam Houston’s door.
But I’m not going to sleep with him. I’m only going to his room so I can tell him what a jerk he is for treating me like a cheap hooker.
Was that true, though? Or was she just telling herself that because it would make it easier to convince herself that there was nothing wrong with going one step further, and one step further still?
As the door to the room swung open, Grace felt like it was happening in slow motion. First she saw just the plush white carpet, and then the expanse of the suite falling away behind Liam, as he came into bright and vivid focus, standing there in front of her.
The door was now open wide and Liam stepped aside to allow her to enter.
Are you crazy?
She knew in that moment, she was crazy, and she didn’t seem to care. Grace stepped over threshold, out of her old life and into something else entirely.
Once she was in the room with him, everything went from super slow motion to moving so fast her head was spinning.
“You should’ve used the key I gave you,” Liam said, his piercing blue eyes sparkling with mischief and assumed power. He exuded the kind of easy grace that only the very rich and extremely handsome seemed able to master.
Liam Houston, as it turned out, was both rich and handsome—a double whammy.
“I don’t want your key,” Grace said, pulling it out of her pocket and extending her hand. “Take it back.”
Instead of taking the key from her, though, Liam suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her into him. Their bodies collided, and now she was pressed right up against his rock-hard belly and chest.
“Maybe I don’t want to take it back,” he uttered, his voice low as he looked into her eyes. “Maybe I meant every word I said.” And then he was kissing her, and she could taste the mint on his breath, and a hint of alcohol. But the alcohol wasn’t overpowering. He tasted sweet and his tongue gave her whole body a thrill as it slid delicately into her mouth.
The kiss wasn’t aggressive—it was passionate and controlled. Liam Houston knew what he was doing, that was for sure.
As he continued kissing her, she fell into it, her entire body wanting him, even as her brain sputtered and fumed at her to snap out of it.
Are you insane? You’re supposed to be telling him off right now—not making out with him.
But she didn’t want the kiss to stop—not now, not ever. It just felt too good. Her skin was tingling, her heart pounding, her nipples were hard and excited from the pressure of his body against hers. She was already wet between her legs, slick with sudden lust as the reality of their encounter hit home.
This wasn’t some joke—this was really happening, and she was finding that she liked it.
When Liam finally stopped kissing her, she took a deep breath and then let it out, blinking. “That…that…that was unexpected.”
“You liked it,” he grinned.
“I never said that.”
“I think you want me to do more than that,” he said. He leaned in and whispered into her ear. “Don’t you, Grace?” he said, giving her chills up and down her spine.
Yes, please.
“Take your key back,” she muttered, as she realized she’d been gripping it tightly this whole time.
Liam took hold of her hand, encircling it in his, but not taking the key back. His hand was warm and strong, and now the chills were back, and her nipples were aching, and she was getting wetter still.
“I want you to tell me the truth,” Liam said, his voice low, teasing.
She looked into his eyes and shuddered with surprisingly intense desire for him. “Truth about what?”
“About why you came up here just now,” he said, still holding her hand, pulling her into him again. His other hand slid around to the small of her back and rested there, creating a warm tingling sensation.
“I wanted to tell you what I think of your offer,” she said.
“And what do you think of it?” One of his eyebrows rose precipitously, arching, and Grace found herself thinking how cute and sexy it was.