Page 71 of The Girlfriend Clause
“Liam.” Hugo’s voice behind me sounded miles away. “Aren’t you going to introduce your companion?”
I turned to face him, keeping one hand on Andrea’s back.
“My… ah, yes…”What now?Hugo was already cynical about my plans for Novexia. I was getting entangled in exactly the sort of drama I needed to avoid.
Goddamn, this woman was a kind of trouble I’d never encountered.
He glanced from me to Andrea. The guard was watching us suspiciously, his partner hovering close to the blonde. “Roger that. Holding visual until police arrive.”
Police? Fuck. Did Hugo hear that? I couldn’t let this happen. Not for me, norAndrea.
“Everything all right, Liam?” Ben murmured behind me.
Hugo frowned. “Liam?”
“Yes.” I looked at the woman pressed against my side. She was staring at me, eyes wide, her gaze darting to the blonde, then the guard. Was she shaking?
“This is… Andrea.” I glanced at her again and decided to try a smile.What the hell were wedoing?
She held my eyes a beat too long, like she wasn’t sure whether to thank me or run away. Then she turned and extended her arm, smiling.
“Lovely to meet you.”
Her fingers found Hugo’s, but there was the faintest tremble in her hand.
She was bluffing. Hard. She didn’t trust me.
And how could I forget her behavior in the boardroom?Was she recording this too? Maybe a hidden camera in her cleavage, so she could put whatever this stunt was on herInstagram?
Either way, we were both in deep.
Ben leaned in, sotto voce. “Well. You’re either getting laid or arrested. Possibly both.”
Hugo, in the meantime, was looking from Andrea to me, and back to Andrea again, beaming.
“Andrea. Wonderful. My wife, Miranda.” Andrea offered her hand, and they shook. “I must say, we didn’t expect… this. Youarea dark horse, Liam.” Hugo wagged a finger at me. “And how long have you two been together?”
Andrea glanced sideways at me. Hugo cleared his throat.
What did I say—oh, about twominutes?
She kept her gaze fixed on mine, then raised her right brow ever so slightly and smiled the sweetest smile I’d ever seen.
“Feels like a lifetime, doesn’t it, babe?”
Did she just call mebabe?
Dear God.
I heard Ben choke on his drink behind me.
“I… ah… yes, that’s one way to put it.” I smiled stiffly at the minister. “Well, perhaps we ought to look at some of this stunning art, darling. Before the evening gets away from us.”
But I wasn’t getting away with it that easily.
“Liam?” said Ben. He was standing next to Miranda now, gawking at me like I might have actually gone mad. The security guards still hadn’t left.
“Oh, and of course, you know my brother, Ben,” I said, as if on autopilot.
