Page 51 of The Focal Point

“Good morning.” I nuzzled his cheek, then wiped the moisture from the tip of my nose.

“Sorry,” Liam chuckled, rubbing the towel over his skin. “And I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up. You looked so beautiful sleeping this morning. I have a lot of energy, and I was afraid my fidgeting would wake you up.”

I laughed because, of course, Liam had too much energy to stay still for long.

His arm wrapped around my waist and started us back toward the house.

“You look incredibly sexy in my T-shirt, by the way,” he murmured, his words brushing my ear and sending a shiver down my spine.

“Better than the dress?” I asked.

I saw his glance sweep over me out of the corner of my eye, and it felt like tingles over my skin.

“Yes.”

Giggling, I stepped away and into him in the same movement, his skin still damp beneath my hands.

“I loved your suit, but this is even better.”

His laugh was low, his kiss tender and thorough. I felt the tingling starting in my core again. But before I could do anything about it, Liam spun me around and swatted my ass.

“As much as I would love to continue this, we have to get your painting by nine-thirty. Go get dressed and grab the paperwork from my office. I’ll take a shower and meet you in the kitchen.”

Hoping the evening would end as it had, I’d packed an overnight bag. I dressed quickly to the sound of the shower running and padded down the hallway to Liam’s office.

I stood at the threshold of the office for a moment, wondering where he would keep the paperwork before I decided to check on his desk,

Two manilla folders sat on the surface, one slightly askew on the other, and I flipped one open, thinking that was it. Instead, it was paperwork for the purchase of a house.

Had Liam bought a new house?

Except that I recognized the address—it was the house I was in the middle of re-designing. And the purchase date was only about a week before I had begun the project.

For a moment, all I could do was stare at the papers in front of me, my mind unable to comprehend what I was seeing. It was a refinance, wasn’t it? Something so that he could pay for my design fees?

Except Liam was a billionaire. According to the paperwork, he didn’t need refinancing—he had paid for the house in cash.

My hand moved to open the second folder but paused—did I want to do this? I didn’t, of course, but I had to know. With a shaking hand and my pulse racing, I lifted the top, only to have my stomach and heart drop like rocks.

The paperwork inside was for the home I had decorated after Liam’s family home, this one also purchased in cash, the date two weeks before I began the design work.

There had to be an explanation. A reasonable, normal explanation.

Liam wasn’t in the shower when I retraced my steps back to the master bedroom, folders in hand, nor was he in the bathroom. Echoes of a conversation led me downstairs and through the house to the kitchen.

“She said you bought more houses?”

Liam was on the phone, and they were talking about the houses, the deeds to which I held in my hand.

“Yeah.”

It was Liam’s voice, his tone rising and falling as his footsteps traveled from one end of the kitchen floor to the other.

“And why, exactly, did you buy more houses? Are you selling our house?” The voice sounded mystified, but I didn’t miss the way the man on the other end emphasized our.

“Well—” Liam’s voice hedged, as though he didn’t want to share his next words. “—I bought them for someone.”

“You bought them for someone?” The voice sounded even more confused.