Page 21 of An Inevitable Marriage

Unbothered by my quite obvious discomfort, Liam assaulted me with a full-on grin.

“There might have been rolling, but no one said it was in bed.”

My neck, my cheeks—hell, just about every inch of skin—heated almost immediately. I hated myself for it.

Behind me, Rafe softly clicked his tongue, and I could have sworn I had heard him mumble, “Stupido.”

It was enough to get Liam to lift his hands in surrender.

“Fine,” he snapped. “I’ll be right back.”

And just like that, the man was gone. Would have been great if he’d taken the kaleidoscope of butterflies raging inside my belly with him, too.

Shaking my head, I pressed my palm against my middle. What in the actual heck was wrong with me? I’d never been thisdistractedby a man before.

Maybe it was hormones? Or maybe I was coming down with something? The sushi I had for dinner last night did have a weird taste to it. Yeah, that must be it because there was no way a man I’d just met could have my insides all twisted up like that.

Right?

“What did you mean he cost you your job?”

I almost jumped out of my skin at the suddenness of Rafe’s voice. My own damn fault for being lost in freaking la-la land.

Clutching my chest, I slowly spun around to face him.

“I’m sorry. What did you say?”

An amused expression danced over his features as he raised a brow. “A little distracted?”

More than a little. “Just taking everything in.”

“M-hmm.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What’s thatm-hmmfor?”

Mirth shined bright in his dark irises, and his mouth curved into a wide smile that showed off his dimples. “Don’t mind me. I’m more curious about what you meant earlier. When you so very adamantly told me you couldn’t marrythe man who cost you your job.”

Crap, I’d almost forgotten I’d told him that when I’d first seen Liam in the foyer.

“Oh yeah…”

Rafe leaned forward, resting his elbows on the countertop. “I need details.”

“Uhh…” Taking a deep breath, I shoved my hair behind my ears. “The CEO of Nouvelle Femme was the one who insisted my co-worker take over an event I’d been planning for six months. I didn’t take too kindly to being kicked off something I worked my butt off for and ended up spitting out a few choice words that my boss disapproved of.”

“You got fired over a heated argument?”

The tips of my ears burned. “There might have been a stapler involved, too,” I muttered the words under my breath, but he heard me all the same.

A deep, throaty laugh spilled from his lips. “You threw a stapler at someone?” When I just stared at him, he laughed even louder. “Donna pericolosa. Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

“With all this laughing you’re doing, you might end up there sooner than you think.”

Rafe wiped his eyes, and I could have sworn I heard him say, “You’re perfect for him.” But before I could ask about it, he spoke again. “So, what was this event you’d been working on?”

“The Nouvelle Femme Year-End Function.”

His brows furrowed. “And you said Liam requested you be removed?”