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  “That's not fucking funny,” he snarled. “I'm tired of being your babysitter. Between the club, and the bullshit with Katya, and the more bullshit with Brie, I can't take anymore.”

  “You know what you need?” Lan said through a yawn.

  “Enlighten me.”

  “A fucking vacation. You used to be fun. Now you're an uptight working stiff. Get the fuck out of here. Go somewhere. Get laid by girls in different area codes.”

  “Running away may work for you,” Liam snapped. “But it doesn't for everyone else.”

  “Don't knock it until you've tried it, bro.”

  And with that, Landon rolled over onto his side, turning his back on his brother. The conversation was done. There would be no getting through to him that night.

  Liam stomped back to his own bed, grumbling as he crawled under the sheet. Normally, he loved his wide open apartment. He'd designed it that way one purpose – he liked open space. He liked airiness. He liked feeling like he was in the great wide open somewhere. Now, though, he would give anything for a wall between him and his brother. Just some distance. Just a little.

  Just some distance ... like maybe a couple miles. A real fucking vacation. When was the last time? With Katya and Wulf? The vacation from hell?

  His mind started spinning. Work was annoying him, life was shitty, and now he had a hard-on for a chick who thought of him as little more than a battery-less vibrator. Normally he'd be into that, but as he laid down and let his mind wander miles and miles away, he debated which he needed more in his life right then.

  Sex, or personal space?

  6

  Ayumi was hurrying around her apartment when her door buzzer went off. She groaned and decided to ignore it – she had an overeager neighbor who liked to personally hand her anything from her doorstep. Newspapers, packages, fliers for cheap pizza, whatever. She was pretty sure he had a crush on her, and she didn't like to encourage it.

  Bzzzzzz.

  She glared at her stairs as she hopped into a pair of Dior heels. Sometimes he could be persistent to the point of creepy. When the buzzer went off for the fourth time in a row, she dashed to the intercom in her kitchen and pressed the talk button.

  “Sorry, Dean, I'm in a hurry today, just leave it on the doorstep.”

  “Who's Dean and does he often leave stuff on your doorstep?”

  Ayumi blinked rapidly and stepped back, as if the owner of the voice was going to magically climb out of the intercom. Then she shook herself back to her senses.

  “Liam,” she said, then she cleared her throat. “How did you know where I live?”

  “I'm not as stupid as you think I am, I can do my own detective work. Let me up,” he urged her. She glared and let her mind race for a second.

  “Katya told you,” she guessed.

  “Still counts as detective work. Let me up. I have espresssoooo,” he dragged out the last word. Ayumi almost groaned. As late as she was running, she'd already given up any hopes for getting coffee. Now here it was, at her doorstep.

  “Fine. You get two minutes,” she caved for the coffee, and she hit the button that unlocked her outer door.

  She took another couple deep breaths while she stood at the top of her stairs. Her front door had a window in it and she could just see the bottom inches of it. Liam was outside it, standing in her vestibule. The last time she'd seen him, she'd had her hand down his pants. Or his was down hers. Something, it was all fuzzy. She'd meant to call him – she had every intention of continuing where they'd left off – but work had been crazy the day before, she hadn't gotten home till almost two in the morning. She'd planned on texting him that day, but now here he was.

  Is he looking for a quickie? Too bad it had to be today of all days.

  “I'm running late,” she said as soon as she'd opened the door.

  She made her way back up into the apartment and he followed close behind her. When they got to her kitchen, she finally turned to face him. He wasn't looking at her, though; he was checking out her home.

  “This place is great,” he commented.

  “Thank you.”

  “How long have you lived here?”

  “A couple years.”

  “Own?”

  “Yes.”

  “It's nice. And who's Dean?” his eyes finally landed on hers and she saw that he was smiling big.

  “You have one minute left,” she replied, taking one of the coffee cups from his hands.

  “C'mon,” he laughed. “What's gonna happen if you're late? What, is Wulfy gonna fire you?”

  Ayumi didn't know – she'd never been late to work.

  “It's not about Wulf, it's a matter of pride and respect. I take pride in doing a good job and I respect my boss, so I show up on time,” she informed him while she sipped at the warm brew.

  “Ooohhh, that feels like a dig. Are you flirting with me?” he teased her. She swallowed thickly, absolutely refusing to blush.

  “No. Why are you at my house?” she asked.

  “Something happened last night,” he told her, but didn't elaborate. She was shocked to feel a shot of panic race through her system.

  He slept with someone else. You waited too long. You didn't even get to tell him about the “no other people” rule.

  She stared at him for a second, then grabbed her blazer and started wiggling into it.

  “Did it happen during your evening at the sex club, or after?” she asked, then instantly regretted it.

  “No way, you don't get to be jealous of what I do at work, when you have some dude name Dean coming to your door often enough to be annoying,” he laughed. She rolled her eyes and grabbed her attache case off her counter.

  “Not jealous. So what happened? Talk and walk,” she instructed before heading into her living room.

  “I know we just made this like sex deal thingy,” he said. “And it was great, really. You're totally hot and I was pretty much dying the whole time I had to deal with that sprinkler situation.”

  Jesus, I'm getting dumped and we're not even dating.

  “I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” she managed to say as she grabbed some files off her coffee table and shoved them into her case.

  “Ice Queen, you make me uncomfortable in the sexiest way possible,” he chuckled.

  “You're welcome?”

  “But I'm afraid I have to turn down your offer.”

  Ayumi stumbled and almost fell against the doorway into her living room.

  “What?” she said, looking over her shoulder at him. “Why? What happened?”

  “Nothing happened,” he said, shrugging as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “You were fantastic. Honestly. Best sex I've had in a long time. But I sort of had this ... heart to heart, you could say, with my brother. And it got me thinking about a lot of stuff. I don't think I'm in a good place to do this kind of thing with you.”

  “You're not in a good place to have sex?” Ayumi asked, turning to face him.

  “Well, I mean, not literally,” he laughed. “I'm leaving town. A while ago a friend asked me to drive his car down to San Diego. I decided fuck it, time to take a vacation, why not move the car? So I'm sorry, but I can't be your fuck buddy right now.”

  “You just decided last night to take a vacation? That's why you can't sleep with me?” Ayumi was confused. Where had this come from? He wasn't in a good place? He need a vacation? He'd seemed fine the other day in his office.

  Though when she really thought about it, she remembered their conversations from their night together. Him admitting to putting on an act, him saying how tiring it could be. She understood how that felt, so she couldn't really begrudge him a vacation.

  Though the fact that he'd rather move some car across the state than have sex with her kind of stung.

  “I'm sorry,” he said again. “Really. It's not you, I swear.”

  “That's what everyone says,” she managed to laugh.

  “It's really not. You could come with me, if you
want. I promise I'd fuck you the whole time, it would totally be a not-friendly vacation,” he swore, and she laughed for real.

  “We hardly know each other, I'm not going on some road trip with you.”

  “I've practically been face to face with your vagina – I'd say we know each other pretty well,” he pointed out. She snorted.

  “Sex doesn't equal friendship. And you may not care about your job, but I care about mine. Who's going to run your den of iniquity?” she asked, shoving her thick hair behind her shoulders.

  “Tori jumps at the chance to prove herself, she'll love having me out of the way so she can boss everyone around,” he replied. She turned to leave.

  “You take her for granted. And thanks for the invite, but I can't go on vacation with you,” she informed him as she started down her stairs.

  “I get it, and I'm sorry about making it awkward. Maybe we can try again when I come back.”

  “It's not awkward,” she said, opening the door and leading the way through the vestibule.

  “Totally not awkward at all. It's super normal to not make eye contact for most of a conversation. You're breezy as fuck,” he teased.

  There he goes again, seeing right through me.

  “I'm not awkward,” she insisted. “I'm just late. Have a fun trip, Liam.”

  She made it down two steps when she felt him grabbing the back of her jacket, yanking her to a stop.

  “What are you, crazy? It's freezing out there! Com'ere, silly.”

  Ayumi was still stunned by him grabbing her, so she didn't do anything when he reeled her back up the stairs. She stood still and stared at him while he grabbed a scarf from off her coat rack. He smiled to himself as he wrapped the thick wool around her neck.

  “There,” he said when he'd tucked the ends into her blazer and buttoned the jacket closed. “You need to take better care of yourself, Ice Queen.”

  She didn't like this feeling. She did not like it at all. Ayumi knew all about Liam Edenhoff's tricks. It seemed all the women in his life had at one point been, in some fashion, obsessed with him, so she'd heard about him from everyone. Katya, Tori, and Brighton. They spoke in front of her like she wasn't there, or bitched to her like they thought she cared. She heard everything.

  So she knew how good he was at saying what women wanted to hear. How he had a talent for making them feel special and loved. She wouldn't be another one of those silly little girls, falling for his warm brown eyes and his incredible smile.

  Or his thoughtfulness or caring ways.

  “I take excellent care of myself,” she said, jerking back from him. “Take care of yourself, Liam.”

  “I will. I'm really sorry, Ayumi. I had ... it was fun. Really fun, surprisingly,” he chuckled. She managed a small smile for him.

  “See? I do know how to have fun once in a while,” she said.

  “You do,” he agreed. “Now learn to have fun all the time, and you'll be set.”

  “Then I'd just be you.”

  “Which is the most fun ever.”

  They smiled at each other for a second, then she surprised herself by stepping up next to him and kissing him quickly.

  “You're not so bad, Mr. Edenhoff,” she breathed, staring up at him for a second. Then she hurried down the steps and ran for her car, not giving him a chance to say anything in return.

  7

  It turned out, Ayumi didn't have to worry about being late and having to face Wulf – he was locked in his office when she came in. She didn't see him all morning, which was unusual. On a typical day, they spent his first hour together, going over his schedule. Now, it was after noon, and his clipped voice over the intercom calling her into his office was the first she'd heard from him.

  Maybe being two minutes late is a bigger deal than I thought ...

  She smoothed out her jacket before walking into his office. He didn't look up as she moved across the floor and took her seat. It was another minute before he finished writing on a legal pad. Then he casually put everything away, even straightening out the pencil next to his blotter.

  “So,” he finally spoke. Then there was an awkward silence.

  Why is it awkward? What is going on?

  “Yes?” she finally asked. His intense blue eyes locked onto hers.

  “I like to think we're close, in our own way,” he started.

  “Yes, I would say so,” she agreed slowly. “You're listed as my emergency contact on all my documents.”

  “Really? I didn't know,” he sounded genuinely surprised.

  “Yes. I always figured you'd be the first to notice me missing, anyway,” she told him, which earned her a laugh.

  “Good point. You're in my will,” he replied, and it was her turn to be surprised.

  “I ... I didn't know. Thank you,” she stammered.

  “Don't thank me yet, you haven't seen how small your share is,” he joked. She wasn't sure how to respond, she wasn't used to silly-Wulf, he usually reserved that side for Katya. “Anyway, my point is, we're close. I spend more time with you than virtually anyone else in my life. When I really stopped to think about it, I realized you're almost like another sister to me.”

  Actually, you treat me better than you treat your sisters.

  “Thank you, Wulf. That's very sweet,” she said.

  “Thanks. So I hope when I ask my next question, you won't sue me for sexual harassment or anything,” he said. She went still.

  “Um ... excuse me?”

  “Brighton told me you're dating Liam Edenhoff.”

  The silence in the office was like a roar in her ears. In all the years she'd known Wulf, they'd never discussed their sexual habits. She knew all about his dalliances, of course, as she'd had to arrange a lot of his dates, and subsequently his rides home in the mornings. But they'd never talked about her. She never offered up any details. It wasn't professional. It wasn't seemly.

  “I don't think that's any of your business,” she blurted out. Wulf leaned back in his chair and nodded.

  “It's not. Not at all,” he agreed. She glanced around.

  “Am I being fired?”

  “What? No, jesus, of course not,” he snapped. “I'm not a monster. I'm just ... concerned.”

  “Oh. Well. You don't need to be,” she told him.

  “So you're not sleeping with him?” he asked.

  “Why does it matter whether I am or not?” she returned his question with a question.

  “It doesn't. But I know Eden very well. Too well. He's bad news, Ayumi. I just don't want to see you get hurt,” he told her.

  Oh. Well. That was almost sweet. In a very annoying, oppressive, condescending way. She took a deep breath and shook her head.

  “I still don't see how it's any of your business, and in the future, I would prefer not to discuss my personal life at work,” she told him.

  “Duly noted.”

  “But if it makes you feel better, no, Liam and I are not dating.”

  Technically the truth.

  The relief on Wulf's face was almost comical.

  “Thank god. I'd just gotten away from him, I didn't want him ruining some other part of my life,” he chuckled. “But why would Brie say that? She called Vieve last night, who called Katya, who blabbered on and on about it to me, and what is it with women and having to immediately talk about everything?”

  “When I was there to work on his books, Brighton was causing a disturbance at the club. It was more of a joke than anything, we were trying to make her uncomfortable,” she explained.

  “She was at his club again? I knew she had a crush on Eden, but this is getting ridiculous,” Wulf grumbled, though he seemed to be talking to himself more than anything else. Ayumi was glad – she didn't want to tell him that Liam and Brie had slept together, but she wouldn't outright lie.

  “Well, hopefully we put an end to it. I'm sorry they got you involved,” she said.

  “I'm sorry if I embarrassed you,” he apologized in return. She waved her hand.

>   “I'm not embarrassed,” she assured him as she went to stand up.

  “Don't worry, we've still got time,” he joked. “I've been thinking about Brie a lot lately, and I wanted to run something by you.”

  “Oookay,” Ayumi said, settling back into her seat.

  “I don't know what to do about her. The deal was she could stay in that top floor apartment at the Twin Estates if she got a job and registered for school next year, but I don't think she's done either. Vieve said the place is disgusting now, Brie isn't taking care of it at all. She's got a fake I.D., she's out all the time doing god knows what. I know she's only nineteen, but something's got to change,” he sighed. Ayumi cleared her throat.

  “Twenty,” she said in a delicate voice.

  “What?”

  “Brighton is twenty,” she said again. “Her birthday was a couple weeks ago.”

  Wulf blinked his eyes rapidly in surprise.

  “I thought her birthday was in March?”

  “That's Genevieve's.”

  “Shit, then who is in May?”

  “Your mother,” Ayumi said. He groaned and rubbed his eyelids.

  “See why I don't want children? I can't handle this,” he sighed. “Okay then, twenty – she's out of control even for a twenty year old. I think it's time for something drastic.”

  “Would you like me to look into options?” Ayumi asked, opening his planner that she always carried with her when she was at work.

  “No. I thought of something the other night that I thought would be perfect. She needs a strong guiding figure. Someone who doesn't take any shit, but who can also be soft. Not abrasive. Can kind of show her how to be an adult without being an asshole about it,” he described.

  “So ... you would like me to hire a nanny for your twenty year old sister?” Ayumi guessed, glancing up at him. He smiled.

  “I think I already did hire one, years ago,” he replied.

  Ayumi's blood ran cold.

  “Surely, you can't think that I would be a good candidate to -” she started speaking fast.

  “I'll make it worth your while,” he interrupted, and her jaw dropped.