Katya was surprised to hear that Liam sounded kind of pissed off. Not fully angry, but there was a tightness to his voice, and his tone was snide. She wondered why he hadn't just bought his partner out. The club was thriving, and he had his property. Surely he didn't need Richard Mason's help anymore.
“That's good … real good … how about you handle your business the way you want to, and I'll handle my business the way I want to … sure, sure … I'm hanging up now … goodbye … goodbye … hanging up … wow, I've never heard you this angry before, it's kind of amazing, I'm actually – hello? Hello? Motherfucker,” Liam growled, and he slammed the phone down with so much force, he startled her.
“Bad news?” she asked. He glared at her for a moment, then took a deep breath.
“Yeah. Yeah, he's a dick. We have this sort of side investment, and we can't agree on anything.”
“Why would you start a new project with him, when you hate him?”
“What makes you think I hate him?”
Katya shrugged.
“You never have anything nice to say about him. Your whole demeanor changes when you talk about him, or when he's around,” she said, remembering the time she'd interrupted their meeting.
“It does?” Liam sounded surprised.
“Yeah. I always assumed you didn't like him,” she explained.
He was suddenly out of his chair and stalking towards her. She sunk down in her seat, swallowing thickly as he bent over her. She sucked in a breath of air when he reached out his hand. Again, that brief moment of hesitation. His eyes flicking to hers, seeking permission. She didn't know what was going on, so she didn't say anything, didn't move. He went ahead and touched the top of her head, pulling the pins out of her bun. She could only stare up at him as her thick hair fell in waves around her shoulders.
“You should wear it down,” he said in a husky voice.
“You think so?”
“Looks sexier.”
When he kissed her, it was a little bit of a shock. They hadn't kissed in a while. Also, just a couple hours ago, she'd been puking her brains out. She'd brushed her teeth – several times – and had swallowed half a bottle of Listerine, but still. Between the hangover and her conflicting emotions, his tongue was making her want to gag. Not the reaction she usually had to him. She grumbled and pushed at his chest till he backed away.
“What is going on?” she panted for air.
“Nothing. I just haven't kissed you in a long time. Wanted to give you a little reminder,” was all he said. She stared at him like he was crazy.
“Okay, well, maybe while I'm hungover, we should not do that,” she said, trying to laugh a little to break the mood. He had one hand in her hair, holding it away from the side of her face, and he stared down into her eyes.
“I think I have something that could make you feel better,” he whispered, leaning close enough that his lips brushed against hers.
Katya was a red blooded heterosexual female – of course she was turned on, a sexy man was trying to kiss her. One whom she knew for a fact could make her hear colors and taste sound. It was very tempting. But as good as all those things were, they wouldn't banish a different man from her mind, and Liam deserved better than that.
“I can't,” she whispered back, pressing her hand to his chest.
He stared at her for a long time and Katya felt like she was falling into a black hole. She'd already been knocked down by Wulf. If Liam turned his back on her, she wasn't sure what she'd do. Two support systems, gone in two days. She felt sick again.
“Maybe when you're feeling better,” he suddenly said, then he kissed her on the nose before walking away. She suddenly became aware that she was holding her breath, and with a gasp of air she sat upright.
“Liam, maybe we should -” she started to confront the situation, but he held up his hand as he sat down.
“I have to call him back,” he interrupted. “Do you mind if it's in private this time? Sorry, I have a full schedule today.”
“Oh. I'm really sorry, I had no idea. Yeah, totally, I'll get out of here,” she said quickly, standing up and gathering her things.
“No, don't be sorry. I'll see you later, okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, sure. Okay.”
“Angel cake.”
She finally looked at him, just as she was about to leave.
“Yeah, Liam?”
“Thanks for the tacos.”
Then he winked at her, and she felt a little better about the situation. She closed the door behind her as he picked up the phone and started dialing.
Katya went home and spent the rest of the day feeling weird. Confused. Her phone was glued to her hand. She could remember calling Wulf during her drunk fest, and her phone's log said the call had been several minutes long, but she couldn't quite remember what she'd said. While Tori moaned and hobbled around the kitchen, Katya bit the bullet and called Wulf.
“You've reached Stone.”
She almost burst out laughing at his voice mail message. How appropriate, “you've reached stone” – because that's literally what a person was doing when they called Wulfric Stone. Reaching a man made out of cold hard rock. Carved out of marble. She didn't leave a message and let her phone fall beneath the couch.
The girls huddled together on the sofa and shared a pizza. Tori finally got the whole story out of Katya – everything that had happened in Carmel. Around two in the morning, someone knocked softly on the front door. It could only be Liam, but neither of them said anything. Just waited in silence till he went away.
“What are you going to do?” Tori whispered, after they'd moved into Katya's room and stretched out on her bed.
“I don't know.”
“You can't just keep … existing like this.”
“That's a little dramatic, it's only been a couple days since we've talked.”
“Show up at his work.”
“I am not doing that.”
“You have to do something, Katya. What happened to the girl from the profile, who walked into a sex club and took it up the back door?”
“Jesus. If I'd known everyone would be so obsessed with my anal sex shenanigans, I wouldn't have done it at all.”
“See! That's the kind of spunk I love seeing – this new, aggressive you! You like this guy. Really like him. So fight for him. Sounds like no one else in his life ever has, which really sucks. Maybe that's all he needs, to know that someone else will step up to bat for him,” Tori offered.
Katya frowned. It was kind of true, Wulf had only ever had himself to depend on, and it was a very sweet sentiment. Which killed the whole idea before it could even get off the ground. Sweet and Wulf didn't mix. Orange juice and toothpaste were a better combination.
“I don't really know how to be this way. I mean, it was always an act,” Katya tried to explain.
“Bullshit. An act doesn't get two gorgeous guys falling all over themselves for you.”
“Ummm, there's a lot of gold diggers out there who would beg the differ.”