Holy shit.
A sharp-edged desire ripped through her, stealing her breath.
She wasn’t stupid.
She’d recognized the instant attraction that had exploded the first time they’d met at a charity event last year. Hell, it was hard to miss your entire body going up in flames from a mere handshake.
But she had already been dating Ted and she wasn’t going to allow her hormones to lure her into a relationship built on passion.
Her mother had.
For all the good it’d done her.
She’d ended up with an unwanted child with a man who could barely remember her name.
No thank you very fucking much.
And her caution had been proven right when Liam had somehow managed to convince Vigo to sell him the company that the older man had promised to Holly.
Bastard.
The attraction hadn’t disappeared.
Hell, they could barely stand next to one another without setting off sparks.
But she’d fiercely ignored her sizzling responses while he’d watched her with a mocking amusement that set her teeth on edge.
Certainly he’d never threatened to smack her ass.
“Have you lost your mind?” she demanded.
“From the moment I caught sight of you.”
“Where are you taking me?”
His pace never slowed. “Someplace we can talk in private.”
Oh lord, had Liam realized she’d been jilted and decided she needed his particular brand of sympathy?
“I don’t want to talk.” She gave his back another whack, nearly breaking her fingers. Damn. She’d known he was all chiseled, lean muscles. Unlike Ted, he spent his lunch breaks at the gym, not at five-star restaurants. But still…he was as hard as a rock. “I want to dance and drink and have a good time.”
“Okay, we don’t have to talk.”
“Fine. Then take me back.”
His fingers gave her ass another squeeze, the heat from his hand searing through the thin fabric of her borrowed dress.
“You said you wanted to have a good time.”
Her breath was wrenched from her lungs. It felt good. So damned good.
Distracted by the excitement jolting through her body, Holly nearly missed Liam halting next to a security guard to whisper something in his ear.
It wasn’t until her head bumped against his back as he began to climb the steps that she realized he was headed to the upper floors.
“Liam, stop,” she muttered. “These stairs go to the private rooms.”
“I know.”