Page 151 of The Girlfriend Clause
I pulled her tight, feeling her body soften against me.
“Warhammer guy, huh?” she said.
“Ah, yes, I’m afraid so.”
She laughed, the sound soft in the cool air. “That tracks.”
The light was almost gone, but she didn’t look up. Didn’t pull away.
And I wouldn’t be goinganywhere.
For the first time that night, it didn’t feel like we were pretending.
*
By the time we made it back to the hotel, we were both drenched, her dress completely soaked through. It clung to her in ways it wasn’t designed to do. I tried not to look, but—fuck.
How did she still look so sexy with her hair slick like that against her scalp, makeup smudged under hereyes?
The lift rose slowly. My arm was around her shoulder, and she pressed her cheek into my chest. She was laughing at something she’d said.
“You know it’s not polite to laugh at your own jokes?” I said, laughing.
“I’m sorry, Liam. I just can’t get over the idea that you ran a multinational company, but your real passion is tiny plastic soldiers with more backstory than most people I’ve dated.”
“Yeah?” I tried fake grumpiness. “At least my hobbies don’t involve listening through people’s walls and pretending I’m not.”
She threw her hands over her mouth. “Oh my God! That’s completely untrue. What are youtalkingabout?”
“Right, that’s why you’re blushing.” I smirked. Fuck, she was hilarious when she was like this. It made me feel like I was, too.
“You know, you’re way less intimidating now that I know about this,” she said.
That was a win. Had to be.
“I like this version of you. More paint on your fingers, less terrifying corporate power moves.” She laughed again, but when she teased me, it wasn’t like Toby. It was just… fun.
Not something I had to manage.
“Well, glad to hear that,” I said.
“So Liam,” she said, “if we dated properly, would I have to learn the Warhammer rules… or could I just sit there and look supportive?”
My brain stopped.
If we dated…properly?
She stopped giggling and stood straight quickly, smoothing her dress down against her legs with both hands.
“Sorry, Liam,” she said. “I didn’t mean—”
Didn’tshe?
I laughed because I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want this to end, for the strange, stilted gap between us to grow back again.
Say something, Liam.Anything…
“Well, in the fantasy realm in which we dated properly,” I said, “I imagine the rules would become… flexible.” I didn’t look at her. “They usually do when you like someone.”
