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  She blinked her eyes rapidly in surprise.

  “I ... no. It just means I ...”

  She couldn't finish the sentence. If she worked all the time, and she behaved a certain way at work ... he was right, then that was just who she was. She had acted like an ice queen in order to do her job as efficiently as possible. Somewhere along the way, she'd actually turned into an ice queen. She'd become the job.

  “Don't worry about it,” he said, waving his hand as he stood up. “Same thing happened to me.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked. “You're not icy.”

  “No, I went the other route,” he said. His back was to her as he started opening cupboards and pulling out a plate and a bowl, a bag of chips.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “People don't like me when I'm serious,” he said, turning to dig around in his fridge. “They expect this certain kind of guy, so I always acted like that guy. But then I couldn't turn it off. It's always just ... on, now. Kinda like you.”

  “So you feel like you always have to be silly, just to get people to like you?” she asked.

  “Well, not always – you don't seem to like me no matter what I do,” he pointed out. She was glad it was dark because she could feel a blush spreading over her cheeks.

  “It's not that I don't like you, it's just that ...”

  “Just that you don't like me.”

  “I don't particularly like anybody, if it makes you feel better.”

  “No, it doesn't. It makes me feel bad for you,” he said, finally coming back to the table. He sat down a plate full of chips, with a bowl full of melted cheese dip in the center. Normally, those two things were strictly forbidden from Ayumi's diet. But so were bath tub vodka and off-label gin, and she'd had plenty of those, so she figured more carbs wouldn't hurt.

  “Why?” she asked around a mouthful of chips and dip.

  “Because I think you're a very lonely person. I know how that feels. It sucks,” he said in a simple voice.

  Ayumi stared at him for a long moment. He was concentrating on his food – she'd never met anyone who could eat the way Liam Edenoff did. He inhaled the cheese and chips, and she struggled to remember how to breathe. Liam? Lonely? She never would have imagined. In a way, it was kind of nice hearing it. Nice to know someone might understand how she felt.

  “I'm sorry you're lonely,” she said, snagging a chip and trying to scoop up some dip before he ate it all.

  “Eh, it's not so bad. And not always. I've got good company right now,” he replied, waggling his eyebrows at her.

  “How can I be good company?” she asked. “You think I don't like you.”

  “Ah! Are you implying you do like me?”

  “Let's not get carried away.”

  “You liiiike me, you liiiiike me,” he chanted in a sing song voice. “All it took was a clown to thaw the ice queen's heart.”

  “Keep singing and it'll freeze right back up,” she laughed. He shook his head.

  “You liiiiike me,” he continued with his song, lifting his arms and doing the cabbage-patch dance. “You want to be my besssstie. You want to hang oooout with me.”

  “Seriously. You sound like you're strangling cats.”

  “You liiiiiike me.”

  “This is like auditory abuse or something. Stop,” she begged.

  “You're just upset because you realized you like me and that doesn't fit into your ice queen scheme of things,” he teased her.

  “Call me Ice Queen again,” she warned him.

  “Or you'll what? Make me do math?” he laughed.

  Ayumi would never know what possessed her to act so rashly, but before she even knew what she was doing, she'd scooped up a chip full of cheese and she threw it at him. He was as surprised as her and didn't have time to move. The food splattered on his chest, right under his left collar. They both stared at the mess for a moment.

  “I'm ... uh ...” she babbled. He glanced at her.

  “Sorry. I think the word you're looking for is sorry,” he filled in for her. She hiccuped, then shook her head.

  “No, I'm definitely not sorry,” she told him.

  “That's it. This means war.”

  “No, no, no,” she yelled, holding up her hands as he dug his fingers into the dip bowl. “Please, I am sorry! This is a -”

  He completely ignored her and flicked his cheesy fingers at her. She gasped as the nasty, cheap, oily cheese splattered all over the front of her blouse. He chuckled to himself as he leaned back in his chair.

  “You started it,” he said, sucking the dip off his fingers. Ayumi sat completely still, her arms away from her sides, staring down at herself in horror. Then she slowly stood up and walked stiffly to the sink.

  “This is Chanel,” she said in a soft voice.

  “Is that supposed to mean something to me?” he called out from behind her. She stared at his counter tops, searching for a wash rag.

  “It cost over eight hundred dollars,” she replied.

  His chair made screeching noises as he abruptly slid backwards in it. She turned just as he rushed up to her side.

  “Who the fuck buys an eight hundred dollar shirt!?” he yelled, digging through the cabinets under his sink.

  “I fucking do,” she said back. He finally found a clean washcloth and shoved it under the faucet.

  “Jesus. I bet all of my clothing combined doesn't cost that much,” he grumbled, completely soaking the rag before turning to her.

  “Not a shocker,” she started to laugh, but it turned into a gasp when he shoved one hand under her shirt. He held the material away from her body and started dabbing at the front. She assumed he was trying to clean it, but he was only soaking the blouse, further ruining it.

  “I'm an idiot,” he groaned.

  “Liam,” she said, trying to push him away.

  “But really, you brought this on yourself,” he talked over her.

  “Liam.”

  “You took the first shot.”

  “Liam.”

  “You got me drunk.”

  “Liam!” she yelled his name and he finally stopped moving. “I think the cheese is gone.”

  He stared down at her shirt, as if he suddenly realized what he was doing, then he backed away from her. They both stared at her poor blouse. At the ruined, bedraggled bow hanging down the front.

  Liam started the giggle loop. He snorted, tried to hold it in, then choked on a laugh. Ayumi laughed as well, then they were both leaning against the counter, wiping away tears.

  “Fuck, I totally ruined it, didn't I?” he asked, using the rag to wipe at the mess on his own shirt.

  “Yeah, I definitely think that doesn't count as dry clean only,” Ayumi chuckled, holding the wet material away from her body and looking down at it.

  “Go buy another one, send me the bill,” he told her.

  “No, really, it's not that big of a ...”

  Ayumi lost her train of thought when she looked up. Liam had unbuttoned his shirt and was holding the one side open and away from his body, so he could better see the cheese stain to clean at it. He wasn't wearing an under shirt and even though there were no lights on in his apartment, the street lamps outside illuminated enough to show off a very impressive torso.

  As her tongue got stuck to the roof of her mouth, she tried to think back to the last time she'd had sex. Her last booty-call had moved away, leaving her in a rut. It was shockingly hard to find men who were willing to engage in sex-only relationships.

  You are literally staring at a man whom all his relationships are sex-only.

  No, no, no, no. Bad idea. Horrendous idea. She and Liam worked together – Ayumi never slept with coworkers, and she knew Liam had a similar rule, he never slept with his employees. They were also night and day. Complete opposites. She was eight hundred dollar Chanel shirts and aged wine. He was Costco vodka and room temperature cheese dip. He was the class clown, she was the ice queen.

  Technically, you don't
have to work with him. And being opposites is perfect, because it means you'll never have a reason to be in each others' day to day lives.

  “I bet you're regretting not taking Katya up on her offer for a ride home,” he was laughing when she tuned back into the conversation. Ayumi licked her lips and glanced around. How was this going to happen? Was it the gin talking in her head? Or did she really want to bang Liam Edenhoff?

  “Next time we hang out, maybe I can ruin something else. Got anything more expensive than that blouse?” he joked.

  Liam was the master seducer. He slept with women for sport. Probably a different one every night. She knew the stories, knew all his dirty secrets. It's part of what made him a perfect candidate – she couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before. But it also made her feel a little insecure. He was used to much hotter, much racier women. She wasn't sure she could handle rejection from someone like him.

  “You okay? Did I scar you into a vegetative state?” he chuckled, staring down at her.

  “I, um, I was thinking ...” she started, rubbing at her forehead.

  “Oh, thinking. That's dangerous, don't you know? I try to avoid it at all costs,” he said, still laughing as he shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it across the kitchen.

  Oh my god. He's nervous. That's why he's babbling. That's why he's being silly – he said it was an act. I make him nervous.

  “You don't have to pretend with me,” she blurted out.

  “Huh?” he asked, taking a few steps towards her, looking at the laundry littering the floor at their feet.

  “I don't care if you're serious or silly. I don't care at all, either way,” she assured him. He finally looked her in the eye.

  “That's good to know,” he said, all laughter gone from his voice.

  “I'm completely indifferent. Whether or not you can make me laugh won't effect how I feel about you,” she stressed. He nodded his head.

  “I told you, I already know you don't like me,” he said.

  “You are such an idiot.”

  “Huh?”

  Ayumi looked down at herself and started undoing the buttons on her ruined blouse.

  “It's not a matter of liking you or not liking you,” she said, untying the limp bow. “I don't really feel either way. You're just a guy I do some accounting for sometimes.”

  “That's, uh ... good. What are you doing?” he asked, his eyes glued to her chest as she let her shirt drop to the ground.

  “Attempting to seduce you,” she said point blank, putting one hand on her hip. “I'm not very good at it.”

  “You're doing pretty alright,” he replied, still staring at her breasts. “But this is a super bad idea, Ice Queen. You're a little drunk, I'm a little drunk, shit's weird. I don't want -”

  God, he never shuts up.

  Even in her heels, Ayumi was still a fair amount shorter than Liam, by almost eight inches. So when she grabbed him by the back of his neck and yanked him down to her height, it felt like forever before his mouth reached hers. So long that she had enough time to doubt herself, to question her actions, and to get nervous that he'd just shove her away.

  Thankfully, he didn't. She'd yanked on him hard enough to pull him off balance. As their mouths met, he actually fell into her, his arm going around her waist as they stumbled into the counter.

  “You talk too much,” she whispered when she pulled away.

  “I've heard that before,” he whispered back. “Look, Ayumi – I may be a man-whore, but I don't take advantage of people, and especially not friends. Regardless of how you may feel about me, I do consider you a friend. I don't want to use you like that.”

  “Is this a joke? Liam, I'm trying to use you,” she assured him.

  “What?”

  “You're incapable of being a boyfriend,” she said. “And I really don't want a boyfriend – I just want to have sex. I'm trying to make a deal with you. You keep your emotions and drama to yourself, and we can have sex whenever we want.”

  “Um ... is this for real?” he double checked. She rolled her eyes.

  “Clearly, the rumors about you are just that,” she sighed, starting to slide away from him. “I'll find someone else to work out my frustrations with.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he stopped her, using his arms to box her in. “Let's not be hasty. I'm just trying to work my head around this shit – you went from ice queen to sex kitten in zero seconds flat. So if we have sex, you're not gonna expect me to like be nice to you and take you out on dates and bring you flowers and shit?”

  “If you do those things, I'll get a restraining order,” she threatened. He let his eyes fall shut for a moment.

  “I am so glad you're good at math,” he sighed. Now it was her turn to be confused.

  “Huh?”

  “Okay, you have a deal,” he said, ignoring her.

  “Good,” she nodded her head. “Then you understand I -”

  Apparently when Liam was done talking, he was really done. He didn't let her finish, just practically dove inside her mouth. She let out a muffled squeal of surprise, then moaned when she felt his hands flat against her back, crushing her to him.

  It was insane that in all the time she'd spent around him, Ayumi had never really thought of Liam as a sexual entity. She was too good at turning that part of her brain off. Now that she was aware of it, she felt like she was being bombarded by his masculinity. His tone body pressed against her, his strong arms around, his five o'clock shadow scratching against her. She'd heard Tori once describe him as “sex personified” – now she understood what the other woman meant.

  “You have the most incredible body,” he gasped, squeezing his hands around either side of her waist.

  “Thank you, I work hard for it,” she replied, kissing down the side of his jaw.

  “Then I think it's time all that hard work gets a reward,” he chuckled before biting down on her earlobe.

  “You better not be all talk,” she sighed, letting her head drop back so he could access her neck.

  “I guess that depends – what have you heard?”

  “A lot,” she replied, and earned another chuckle.

  “Anything about a big dick and incredible stamina is true,” he assured her.

  “Hmmm, no mention of those things,” she lied, then gasped when he bit down on her shoulder before pulling her bra strap to the side.

  “The ice queen has quite the sassy little mouth on her,” he whispered. “I wonder if we can do anything to cure her of it.”

  “I swear, if you don't -” she started trying to urge him along, but she ended in a squeal when there was a loud noise. A groaning sound, coming from his living room. Ayumi pressed herself against him and froze, scared someone was coming in the front door.

  “Fuck,” he hissed. “Tori.”

  Holy shit, Ayumi had completely forgotten about the other girl. Tori was on the couch, drunk off her face. Not to mention the fact Liam's brother lived with him and could possibly walk in at any moment. Ayumi stood up straight and glanced around the large apartment.

  “No doors,” she breathed, looking at the bathroom he had broken through earlier.

  “Not an exhibitionist?” he said. She glared up at him.

  “Not hardly. Maybe this was a mistake.”

  He snorted and pulled her away from the counter.

  “Fuck that, sex is happening tonight,” he replied, keeping one arm around her and dragging her across the room.

  “I'm not having sex in your bed with her just twenty feet away,” she stated.

  “I have a plan, don't worry,” he assured her.

  On the other side of the bathroom was another door that she hadn't noticed. She would've assumed it was a broom closet, but when he swung open the door, she saw it was a narrow laundry room. There was a washer and dryer side by side, with a long, narrow shelf running along next to them. There was barely enough space to fit between the other wall and the appliances, but Liam shoved her in ahead of him and slammed the
door shut behind them.

  “I'm suddenly feeling very bad about my life choices,” Ayumi sighed as she stood in the dark.

  “Welcome to the club,” Liam whispered, his voice right next to her ear, causing her to jump.

  He started kissing her again, so her eyes were closed when she heard a light switch on. Then he backed her up against the washer before squeezing in front of her. She could feel him from her breasts clear to her knees.

  “I don't think there's enough room for this,” she told him, struggling to catch her breath.

  “Has anyone ever told you that you're a Negative Nancy?” he asked. “Think positive, babe. Where there's a willing vagina, there's a way.”

  “You're so crude, I don't think we-”

  Then he was kissing her again, silencing her negativity. She could barely breathe, they were pressed together so tightly, and he was sucking out all of her oxygen, anyway. Then he was moving her again. Sliding her sideways past the dryer, along the shelf, and then finally he turned her and pushed her up against the far wall.

  “For such a hard person,” he sighed against her mouth while his hands wandered over her breasts. “You are so soft.”

  “You're not soft at all,” she commented, smoothing her hand down his chest. He chuckled and ran his hands over her hips, down the sides of her thighs.

  “You have no idea, sweetheart. Now these silly things are so annoying,” he complained as he plucked at her tights, his fingers moving under her skirt.

  Ayumi went to help him pull them off, then gasped as he tore a hole in her tights, down the inside of her left thigh.

  “Was that really necessary?” she asked, then she hissed as he scratched his nails up her exposed skin.

  “Shhh, we're done being bossy now,” he whispered. She snorted.

  “I'm not bossy, I'm just – ooohhh, wow.”

  Ayumi may have been bossy, but Liam was very direct. He didn't hesitate at all, just slipped his hand down the front of her undies and had a finger inside her before she even knew what was going on. Her head fell back and hit the wall behind her with a thunk.

  “You're kinda sexy when you're quiet,” he said, tapping out a rhythm between her legs, making her go cross eyed.