Page 4 of All the Gossip from Paris (Royal Fashion #2)
CHAPTER THREE
Sophie was tired, but she’d reached that point where she’d moved beyond fatigue, and was now wide awake. Her phone was fully charged, and she was ready to go out and see the city. To tap into the beat of New York’s nightlife, and have some fun.
The alternative to playing tourist was going back to her aunt and uncle’s estate in Armonk.
She couldn’t think of anything worse than having to sit and make small talk with her older relatives.
A task which would be made all that more difficult due to the fact that she was still keeping her sister’s pregnancy a secret from their parents.
Camille and her baby daddy had said they were going to share their special news as soon as the runway show was over. Sophie intended to hold them to that promise.
Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough. Then the rest of the family would know that not only were Camille and Ryan a couple, but Camille was pregnant.
Speaking of Cami and Ryan, where are they?
Ryan was yet to make an appearance. And Camille had disappeared an hour ago to check on preparations for tomorrow’s show. Sophie knew better than most people that the work involved in the lead up to a runway show was never ending. But she was still itching to get out of the Really Big Space.
When her sister and Ryan finally appeared together a short time later, Sophie’s thoughts turned to ones of concern. She hadn’t noticed it earlier, but her twin looked pale. There was no mistaking the exhaustion which lined Camille’s face.
I can’t ask her to go out and eat at this hour. She needs to be home in bed.
Turning to Liam, who’d been showing her some of his set-up photos on his camera, Sophie offered an expectant smile. “I don’t suppose you would be interested in going out and getting a bite to eat, would you? Or if not, could you suggest somewhere good that I could go.”
She hoped he would take the less than subtle hint, and feel obliged to come with her.
“Um.”
“I can message my driver, and have him meet us downstairs,” she added.
To her surprise, Liam looked decidedly uncomfortable with her request.
“I’d love to, but I’m a bit short on cash this week. I’m still waiting on the money for the Tahiti gig to hit my bank account.”
Liam wasn’t charging Camille for tomorrow’s photo shoot, and Sophie knew why.
He’d been the one who’d told the producers of Bachelors on the Beach , that Ryan was working for Camille. When they’d discovered their former contestant had become the assistant for a fashion designer, who just happened to be an heiress, they’d set about stalking Camille and Ryan.
I’ll just be glad when things between my sister and his brother stop being a secret. Liam looks so sad whenever he mentions them.
Sophie flashed a black credit card at him. “Choose wherever you want to go. I’m more than happy to pay,” she said.
Liam likely knew about her family’s background. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to him, that money didn’t hold much meaning in her world.
“That’s very generous of you, Sophie. And yes, I’d love to go out tonight,” said Liam.
Camille made her way across the floor to where Sophie and Liam stood.
She was rubbing her eyes and trying to hide a yawn.
“Ryan tells me he has one last phone call to make. Then he and I are going to head back to the apartment. We need to finish up a few final pieces for tomorrow. I’d invite the two of you over but there is every chance I’m going to be asleep on the couch within the next hour. I’m so sorry.”
“That’s not a problem. You should go home. Get some rest before the big day tomorrow. Liam and I are going to head out and get a bite to eat,” replied Sophie.
Sophie glanced in Liam’s direction. “Are you finished here for this evening? I’m ready to leave if you want to get out of here.”
When Liam met her gaze, she could have sworn there was a sparkle of something in his eyes. Like she’d just invited him to share more than a simple meal.
Careful, don’t do anything stupid to mess this up for Cami.
Then again, she was a long way from home. Thousands of kilometers away from Patrice, her overbearing ex. This might be the perfect chance to go and make mischief. To finally move on.
I can’t remember the last time someone touched me. When I felt desired.
“Yeah. I’m good to go. I’ve checked the lighting and where I need to be in the morning,” replied Liam. He bent and started packing things back into his bag. As he did, Sophie took the opportunity to slyly check out Liam’s nicely proportioned ass.
She really ought be ashamed of ogling a guy while he worked, but she couldn’t help it. There seemed to be something stirring in the air tonight.
A reckless spirit had caught her. And rather than be her usual cautious self, Sophie decided to let go. To see where the flow took her.
Her British Royal cousins had the perfect expression, to describe the physical form of Mister Liam Collins. He was well-fit.
Turning her head away, Sophie stifled a laugh.
Well-fit indeed.
* * *
She was checking him out. Again. There was no mistaking what Sophie was doing. The appreciative grin on her lips had Liam suddenly wanting to adjust his jeans.
He made a point of slowly righting himself. Shaking a leg out in the process to help relieve the pressure in his pants.
Sophie wanted to go and find something to eat. But from the way she was looking him up and down, he wondered if food was all she planned to sink her teeth into tonight.
She’s a hottie, no doubt about it.
The dark-haired temptress was very tempting. But the thought of who she was, and the chance that a night of rolling in the sheets could well come back to bite him on the ass, had Liam thinking twice about making a move.
But if I make things clear right from the get-go…
Being completely honest was the only way to handle things. He would let Sophie know that the most, they could ever be, was a one-night stand. After that, he’d let her decide if this sizzling attraction between them went any further.
After checking the last of his camera equipment, Liam figured now was the right time to ask. “Are you ready to see where the night takes us?”
Sophie waved her sister a quick friendly farewell. “See you tomorrow, Camille. I hope you get some sleep.”
The sultry look she offered Liam when she turned back, was something far beyond just friendly. His cock stirred in his jeans. If he’d taken a photo of Sophie in that moment, he’d have titled it Pure Lust .
“This is my list of demands. I want good food. Then we are going to go to a sweaty nightclub that plays only 80’s and 90’s dance music.
We will work our bodies for a minimum of two hours.
” She looked him up and down for a moment, then added.
“After that we’ll see how well you’re holding up, Mister Collins. ”
Sheesh. This one was meant to be the quieter of the two Royal sisters. He couldn’t begin to imagine what Ryan had to deal with while working as Camille’s assistant.
But then again is he just her assistant?
Liam had his suspicions about his brother and the billionaire heiress. But Ryan had never come out and said that he and Camille were an item. Who better to ask than her sister? Surely Sophie would know.
“You can tell me to mind my own business, but are your sister and my brother? Um. Are they?”
Sophie moved closer. “Fucking?”
Liam nodded. He appreciated her refreshing bluntness.
“Like sex starved rabbits,” she said, continuing toward the exit.
Ok. That answers that question.
Liam followed Sophie and her seductively swaying hips to the elevator. The way her short skirt flipped back and forth as she walked, had him mesmerized. Images of furry bunnies doing the deed kept dancing around in Liam’s head.
She pressed the button for the lobby. As the doors of the car closed behind them, Sophie leaned back against the wall, and sighed. “Speaking of fucking. Can we agree that whatever happens tonight stays strictly between us. I don’t need any complications in my life right now.”
Liam echoed her sigh. If there was one thing the past two years had taught him, it was to keep his relationships simple. He’d become the master of no-strings-attached hook-ups. One-night stands were his current specialty. Passion, pleasure, and then goodbye.
No woman was going to get close enough to crush his heart like his former fiancée had done.
“I promise, Sophie—whatever happens in New York, stays in New York.”