14. Liam

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

liam

"Who's that gorgeous girl runni… Woah! For fuck's sake, man! Put that thing away."

Noah, the king of the worst timings ever, shuts my door while I finish tucking myself in. I wonder if this day could get any worse. Scratch that, let's not tempt fate.

"What are you doing here, Noah?" I yell as if my brother was to blame.

"We're having lunch today and I was in the area when you hung up on me."

"Forget lunch. Something came up."

"Besides your dick?" He smiles wide, beaming with satisfaction at his supposedly clever quip. "Okay. Now, seriously." Noah has not been serious a day in his life. "Who was that, and why did you have your dick out in your office?"

He doesn't let me answer before he throws accusations. "No way." He gasps like a schoolgirl. "Was that an employee? Mr. I'm-going-to-hire-Mia-so-you-don't-get-sued?" he exclaims with both hands on his waist, tilting his head side to side with every word.

Do we really share fifty percent of our DNA? I find it offensive. I might get us tested.

"I did hire her, but no, she's not an employee from the club. She's the escort I was telling you about."

Noah makes more jokes that I'm sure aren't funny and asks questions I don't hear because my brain hasn't regained full function since April left.

I'm somewhat shocked at myself for not immediately calling security to hunt her down and usher that fine ass out of the building. I blame Noah for distracting me.

She must be gone by now, anyway. Sure, I can admit that took some guts, and she downright outplayed me, but she'll be sorely mistaken if she thinks she'll get away with it, though.

And with that thought, the image of her ass begging for a good spanking plays in my mind.

Screw my one-time-only rule, this woman's gotten under my skin and this is far from over. One more time can't hurt, can it? Not me, anyway.

A little exception. Just this once. I'll hire someone else next time.

As I'm about to call the escort service to get her contact details, Mia knocks and pops her head into my office to tell me it's time to head to the meeting.

There goes Max, fucking with my plans once more.

Noah says hello to Mia, his voice sickening. Thank God I don't have diabetes or I'd be in a sugar coma from the sound of it. I've asked him a million times why he hasn't asked her out yet and none of his excuses check out. I don't get it.

Once she leaves, he tells me—in his normal voice—his day is pretty open and he'll wait until I'm free for lunch. Unlike me, he's always been fine being just a millionaire. Before I shut my door, I see him making himself comfortable on my six-seater leather sofa, putting some guided meditation crap on.

I take my sweet time walking to the meeting and as I reach the conference room, Mia appears and talks me through everyone who's already there waiting for me. The American doctors, Max's agents, stakeholders, and whatnot. She tells me about some changes in my schedule for later in the day and I get my phone out to check on them.

When we step inside the room, my mood is still sour, so I don't bother raising my head to acknowledge everyone's presence as I spit out an annoyed, "Good morning to you all," before heading to the head of the table, where two vacant seats await Mia and I.

I pull Mia's seat for her before I take my own, and finally put my phone down to try and concentrate on this. As I raise my head, I see motherfucking April in a motherfucking doctor's coat, next to another doctor and Max motherfucking Sinclair.

Is this a joke? What the fuck is going on here? I look at every single fucker in that room, trying to figure out who is in this sick prank.

April looks straight into my eyes and starts the meeting with an edge of sarcasm in her tone.

"Now that we have full attendance, let's get started. My name is Dr. April Hadden and I'll begin today's meeting by explaining what happened to Mr. Sinclair's knee when he collided with his opponent in the field, what we did on the operating table and what we're doing to get him back to his finest as fast and as safely as we can."

If looks could kill, we'd both be gone already. Mine is shooting daggers and hers shattering souls. Good thing I don't have one.

I whisper to Mia through gritted teeth. "Who the fuck is that?"

She shoots an annoyed look at me as if I'm nagging her with stupid questions. "That's Dr. Hadden, from the American hospital."

"No, she's not." We go back and forth.

"Yes, she is," she exhales in a frustrated whisper. "She just said it. What's going on with you today?" Her eyes dart around the room, probably making sure we're not being noticed. Like I care.

I grab my phone to text Brooke from the escort agency—I may or may not have the number on speed dial—only to find a bunch of messages from her, saying that April had caught some bug and was unable to attend our date last night. Her last message is a futile attempt to offer me a repeat.

Then I Google ‘Dr. April Hadden' and am flooded with pictures of her. Her in scrubs, her at awards ceremonies and, of course, pictures of her and Max fucking Sinclair. I keep scrolling and skim through her impressive curriculum of universities, published papers, accolades, and multiple awards. Fuck!

Fucking, fuckety, fuck.

She really is a doctor. And she's only twenty-four. Impressive for her and quite awkward for me at forty-two. So all she said last night was true? My mind tries to recap every single thing we talked about, but I'm too freaked out to remember a word. My head is about to explode when another doctor carries on with the presentation and April sits down.

She's on the other side of the table, but instead of facing me, she keeps her eyes on her colleague. Mine are glued on her, drilling a hole in the back of her head.

How the hell did this happen? How the hell is this even possible?

After what feels like hours, April looks at me. I mouth the words ‘ what the actual fuck?' , my eyes the size of saucers to convey the confusion I'm drowning in right now.

And what does she do? She smiles, stifling a laugh before she turns back to the other doctor, still going on and on about God knows what.

I might need another contract to prevent her from suing me for defamation. Or harassment. Maybe slander too. This is a clusterfuck of epic proportions. I rest my elbows on the table and my forehead in my hands, looking down and figuring out how to deal with this.

Last night is turning out to be the most expensive fuck of my life.

Since it was the best too, the headache is kind of worth it.

By the time the meeting is over, I'm nursing a migraine and Mia is staring at me like I'm a ticking bomb about to explode. I won't correct her since she's not far from wrong. Everybody stands and starts fruitless small talk, keeping me from getting to April on the other side of the room.

Max has an arm around her shoulder and I think I just popped a vessel on my forehead. Mia is too perceptive for my own good and dodges people from my way with her own brand of stupid small talk. I still have to stop and say hello to a few people as I make my way to April.

It's pissing me off that she seems so unaffected while I'm ready to crawl out of my own skin. By the time I part the fucking red sea to get to her, people start making their way out and the room is almost empty.

"Hello, Maxwell. You've outdone yourself and surprised us all." I extend my arm and an open palm to offer my most insincere congratulations for doing the least he should do and is paid millions for.

That forces him to let go of April and shake my hand. I want to crush his hand but don't, because he makes me a shit ton of money and some could argue he needs his hand to play football. Debatable, at best. Max jerks free of my excessively tight grip and thanks me with a confused frown.

My eyes now land on April, and without any logical explanation, I can breathe better. "Impressive work, doctors. Much appreciated too." I nod at both of them and Max does the honors.

"Gunn, sir. Strong handshake, ha? So, this is Dominique Bresson, my physio, and this is one you already met, right?" Before I shit in my Armani pants, April jumps in.

"Yes, we met earlier when he thought I was a different April. Very funny story."

I was wrong. Now I can breathe better.

She really does have the upper hand here, and I don't like it. I don't like it at all. I'm at no one's mercy.

I cough my relief at her reply and ask for a minute of her time, though she dares try to dodge.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Gunn. But my schedule is packed, and I was already on my way ou—" Before she can finish that sentence, I take her by the elbow and excuse us to everyone left behind.

"This will only take a minute. I'll bring her right back."

"What is it with everyone manhandling me today?" she grumbles as she tries in vain to free herself from my grip.

I open the first door I see and, jackpot, it's an empty office. This is my first win in this fuckfest of a day. I trap us inside, grabbing her little body and crushing it against the door with mine. I pin her hands above her head with one of mine and find the lock with the other. Fuck if I'm not hardening already.

When I know we're safely locked in here, I lower my forehead to hers to and whisper, "What the actual fuck is going on, April? You're a doctor?"

She tries to play it cool, but her heaving chest betrays her. "Yes, Liam, but apparently, you thought I was a sex worker. At your service. Then at Max's."

"Escort, yes." I pause. "I'm terribly sorry for that." Those foreign words come out as a grunt. I don't tend to apologize very often and don't especially like to.

"Why sorry?" She wiggles her wrists to set herself free and fails spectacularly. "I took it as a compliment. I'm talented enough in bed that I could pass as a professional." She smiles with no teeth, just disdain. "But I'm doing just fine as a doctor, so I think I'll stick to this career." She fights me one last time and growls at me in defeat.

What a feisty little thing she is. April's proving to be quite a good source of entertainment and I can't prevent a half smile from bursting free from the edge of my mouth.

"I've already apologized. Move. On," I say with pause and emphasis. "We'll have a redo tonight. I'll take you out on a proper date." Wait, what did I just say? I don't date. My dick must have stolen all the blood from my brain.

She pushes me away, and this time I let her. "We'll have no such thing, Mr. Gunn. Reality is, I'm not an escort, but you are my boss. It's unethical and I've already said I'm not interested."

Every word I say next is dipped in sarcasm: "You already knew who I was when I was eating your pussy at my office desk earlier. Was it ethical then?"

She opens then closes her mouth, lost for words. A full-on, smug smile spreads across my face as I unlock the door and gesture that she's free to go. She turns to leave but halts at my words.

"I'll pick you up at seven."

April doesn't turn back to face me. "The hell you will, Liam. We're done." I can hear the sass in her voice as she throws my words back at me. "Move on".

Then she slams the door shut on me.

For the second time today.

She's lucky she fucks so good she can get away with this.