Page 42 of The Arrangement (Executive Suite Secrets #3)

“God yes,” I moaned as I grabbed his face and pulled him in for a hard kiss that washed away all my stupid doubts and worries. Liam was here in a dinosaur suit because he fucking loved me. What the hell did I need? Not a damn thing.

Cheering and laughter broke up our kiss. We turned our heads to find that the elevator doors had opened, and all the rest of my coworkers were standing on the other side with their phones raised as they took pictures and video.

“I take it you had some assistance,” I drawled, bumping the tip of my nose against Liam’s.

“Just a little. It’s not like they were going to let a dinosaur stroll through their library looking for a friend.”

“All right, everyone. We’ve disturbed our patrons enough,” Janice announced in a quiet but firm voice. In an instant, all the other librarians scattered. “Rome, take your dinosaur home.”

That sounded like an excellent idea.

An hour later, I was cuddled on Liam’s sofa with him—without the dinosaur suit—and boxes of half-eaten Chinese takeout on the coffee table.

We had defrosted from the cold and filled our bellies.

Not that long ago, I’d wanted to show Liam all the city’s holiday goodness, but now that I had him in my arms, I didn’t want to move from this spot ever.

“This is probably the part where we should have our talk,” Liam announced suddenly.

I whined and tightened my arms around him. “Can we not?”

He chuckled into my shoulder. “It’ll be short.”

“Promise?”

“Yes,” he said, even as he pushed on my chest to put some space between us.

He was still smiling at me, so I tried to take that as a good sign.

“I want you to know that I didn’t freak out about being attracted to a man or the gay sex.

I’m sure there might be times in the future where you have to talk me down from some crazy panic or have to hold my hand when I have to deal with haters, but in the grand scheme of things, I’m okay with my sexuality. ”

I grabbed his hand and pressed kisses to the knuckles. “I’m glad, and don’t worry. I’ll hold your hand through anything and tell you how amazing you are every fucking day.”

“What kind of freaked me out was your money,” he admitted, which struck me as strange and yet wasn’t entirely unexpected. “As kids, it wasn’t a big deal. I knew your family had money, but you didn’t brag about being rich or flash a bunch of new shit. We felt equal most of the time.”

My stomach twisted. “Do I make you feel less?—”

“No! No. No. No,” he countered quickly, waving his hands at me.

“No! Never! I think what surprised me was that people could suddenly use me to get to your money. They could take advantage of me and hurt you . I never want to do something that could hurt you. It got me thinking about other things. I was scared because you don’t have bodyguards or a lot of people close to you to protect you from the assholes of the world.

I panicked because I don’t know how best to keep you safe.

It might have also crossed my mind that I’m not good enough for you. ”

“Bullshit,” I snarled. Grabbing Liam’s arm, I pulled him back against my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around him.

“I appreciate you worrying about me, but you are the only person I want at my side. You’re perfect for me.

You get my stupid sense of humor, and you aren’t easily insulted by the ridiculous things that pop out of my mouth. ”

“I want to get better at protecting you from the assholes and con artists.”

“You will. Thankfully, it doesn’t come up that much, but when it does, all you have to do is give them Shonna’s business card.”

“Really?”

I huffed a laugh and pressed a kiss to his nose.

“Yep. I don’t keep a regular staff at home because it’s just me, but I have a service that comes three times a week to clean and do laundry.

And Shonna has an entire team of people who vet charities and work to make sure that every dime I give is going to the people who need the help.

Not to mention, I also have several advisors monitoring my finances.

The only thing I don’t have that you mentioned is a bodyguard.

But if I were to suddenly find myself with a boyfriend, I would definitely look into hiring one or two bodyguards because I would want to make sure my boyfriend was always safe. ”

Liam gasped and pushed at my chest, but I didn’t budge. “Now you’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m dead serious. You are the most important thing to me, and I don’t want anyone to hurt you, ever.”

Liam raised his hand to my face, his fingertips lightly tracing along my features as if he were trying to memorize them. “I love you.” His words were a whisper, but there was strength and conviction behind them, putting a knot in my throat.

“As a friend?”

A tiny smile lifted the corners of his mouth, and his eyes rose to meet mine.

“Always as a friend. But then, as a lover and now as so much more. I love you as a boyfriend.” With each sentence, his grin grew wider and more mischievous.

“We are going to date and have so much sex. We’re going to have amazing dates, and you’re not allowed to always pay! ”

“Does this mean I can spoil you? Surprise gifts? Trips?”

Liam narrowed his eyes at me and tried to look serious, but his lips twitched as if he were fighting a laugh. “Maybe. Little gifts.”

I leaned in, bumping my forehead on his. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited to go hog-fucking-wild buying you stuff?”

“No.”

“I swear the first thing I’m buying you is that black BMX with all the chrome and the wheel pegs—” I couldn’t even finish because Liam was laughing so hard in my arms.

“Wha-what are you talking about? A bike?”

“It’s the bike you had your heart set on when you were twelve.

You wanted it for your birthday, but the damn thing was so expensive.

Your parents couldn’t get it for you, and I kept trying to convince my parents to buy it for you, but they said it wasn’t right.

I even argued that we could keep it at our house and you could ride it each time we had sleepovers. ”

Tears glistened in Liam’s eyes. “Fuck. You’re so adorable. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Please, don’t buy me a bike.”

“A car?”

“No.”

“A house?”

“No.”

“A dinosaur?”

“How about a dinosaur costume to match mine?” Liam suggested. “We can have antics and shenanigans around town.”

“Yes!”

Liam was perfect for me. And there would never be anyone else whom I could love more.