Liar Liar Billionaires

9. A distracting kiss

NEXT DAY…

“How do you manage to make any dress look good?” Gabriel complimented from the doorway.

“Oh, Gabriel,” Chloe replied shyly as she played with the ends of her curled hair. “I think the dress just happens to fit me. But, isn't this a bit too much?"

She looked into the standing mirror that the glam team who helped her get ready had left behind. Her dress, long and black and with some silver sprinkled around its silted ends, really took Chloe by surprise. She didn’t even expect a glam team, she was ready to rock a shirt and jeans to the birthday party.

“I think you look amazing.” Gabriel stood right behind her, his fine eyes still admiring her. “ I love how daring your eyes are. They reflect your personality.”

“But what do you know about my personality?”

“I can tell that you have a crazy side you’ve been hiding from us.” Gently, he adjusted her gown strap. Afterwards, with a small smile that widened his cuteness, he said, “Make sure you have fun at the party. If by any chance Nathaniel stupidly chooses to do business instead of standing by your side, there’ll be a chocolate fountain there.”

“Really?” Chocolate was one of her greatest weaknesses.

“Yes. I got that info from a reliable source.”

“That sounds nice.” As she hid her excitement, she prayed she wouldn’t get diabetes before leaving the party.

“Your smile…”

“Uh?” She met his eyes in the mirror and noted that he wasn’t breaking contact.

“Your smile is very pretty. I like it.” The nature of his gaze was quite meaningful too, but she could not find the right word to define the meaning. “It’s a pity you always look serious while working.”

Chloe chuckled, it almost sounded like a giggle. “A smile won’t help dust your bookshelves, Gabriel.”

"True." He took a step back and extended his arm to her. “Shall we?”

“Definitely.”

Chloe felt grand, like she was attending prom, which she never got to do. As they walked out of her room and floated their feet down the stairs, she found herself imagining that she would make head turns at the birthday party.

“Amir.” Gabriel’s voice crashed her imagination. “Doesn’t she look amazing?”

They were now at the foot of the stairs. She shook her wild thoughts and landed her eyes on Amir while scolding herself for not preparing to handle any suspicious activity that might arise at the event.

Amir, who was dressed in very oversized t-shirts and shorts, only grunted, his tired eyes raking Chloe’s outfit, his eyes particularly dancing around the areas where her curves showed the most.

“Amir?" Gabriel repeated.

“Please. I have seen better."

'Garbage is better than your opinion,' Chloe wanted to say, but he was no longer in the room.

“Damn.” Gabriel combed through his long hair. “He’s something else, isn’t he?”

Chloe hid her hatred. “He keeps acting like I was the one who came onto him.”

“He kind of has a terrible s**t with rejection. Since he-”

“There you are,” Nathaniel broke through the words that seemed to be filled with juicy information. With strong strides that strained his fitted white shirt, he walked to them, his eyes fixed on Chloe’s and Gabriel’s hooked arms. “Are you forgetting that you are my date?” he asked her. “Your arm should be in mine.”

“Don’t be silly, Nate.” Gabriel let go of her arm. “I was being a gentleman.”

Nathaniel reached for Chloe’s hand instead of linking her arm. The moment that contact happened, her breath ceased, she had to force herself to breathe.

“Don’t bore her with business jargon, okay?” Gabriel warned.

“I am not boring,” Nathaniel returned. Then, he repeated to Chloe, “I am not.” As if his hand wasn’t doing enough, his voice, low and hot, added to the chaos, threatening to make her feel weird.

"Hmm,” she managed to reply. Then, she began to wonder if his voice would be that sexy in bed. Or maybe he was the growling type who would order a woman to get on top of him or below him and...

Chloe paused. She immediately shook those nasty thoughts away. She didn’t like the man. Why would she be thinking of him in such a way? And why was she being weird around him?

“You look beautiful,” Nathaniel commented as they stepped out past the front doors. His voice seemed monotonous yet sonorous at the same time.

It warmed her too.

“Thank you.” She forced herself to look ahead. “And thank you for this beautiful dress.” She feared that her weirdness would worsen if she stole a glance at him.

“I told you. I don’t mind taking good care of the women in my life.”

She smiled to hide her emotions. At the same time, she braced herself for any approaching drama.

One thing was sure, though… She was going to keep an eye out for that chocolate fountain.

~~

The ride to the party was short.

But then it was also long.

Well… it seemed long because all they exchanged were breaths. Even the radio Nathaniel turned on to ease the atmosphere further fueled the awkwardness because songs about s*x kept playing each time he changed stations.

But thankfully, all that was over.

And after seconds of sitting still, the passenger door swung open, and she was pulled out of her daze.

“That ride was the worst, wasn’t it?”

She managed a smile as he helped her out. “It wasn’t that bad. The music was catchy.”

“Yeah.” He tossed his keys to one of the suited valets. “Shall we?”

She tucked her arm into his, and he led the way.

When they reached the destination, contrary to her thoughts, the venue was not the indoors of a duplex, but an open space decorated with mostly white fabrics.

As they both walked past the entrance, someone approached them just as sweet music greeted them.

The man, shorter than Nathaniel and lively, said, “Mr Stone, Miss Sanquire asked me to hand this to you.”

He handed a brown envelope to Nathaniel, who peeked into it and asked, “Is this all?”

“She says it was nice doing business with you.”

“Tell her,” Nathaniel’s voice became cold-ish, “the next time she delivers stuff to me at a party, she will suffer great loss.”

“Your message is duly noted.” Just as he came, the man swiftly left.

And Chloe, who was becoming increasingly curious about the content, reasoned that it could be important. Certainly, she needed to check it out as soon as possible.

“I guess that’s not something your maid should offer to hold,” she commented while stylishly x-raying the envelope.

The envelope folded right into his inner pocket. “You are right.”

Chloe looked away, but her mind was calculating ways to steal the envelope. At the same time, she searched for the chocolate fountain, her gaze sweeping past the chattering and vibing crowd.

“Chloe?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you searching for something interesting?”

“A fountain.”

"What is… Shit.” His grunt of irritation did not escape Chloe.

She turned to him. “What's wrong?”

“Anderson.”

Chloe frowned as she traced the direction of his glare.

Was Anderson a partner or an enemy? She wondered while watching the blonde man Nathaniel was wary of. That man was greeting people with so much joy.

“It’s for the best if he doesn’t see me.”

“Do you need to hide?”

“Of course not.” Anderson was now super close. Nathaniel seemed less and less eager to entertain the man.

As she watched his temple twitch with frowns of discomfort, she asked, “What is your plan?”

“To chase him away.”

“How?”

Gently, his other hand snaked around her waist. He pushed her closer, and his lips gave her a response.

He did not stop there.

With ease, he deepened the kiss, his head tilted to pull her lips to his as ferociously as possible.

Chloe, who had stilled for many seconds, felt her hesitation crumble. With a craving that surprised her, she returned the energy of the liplock, as though she had been desiring this kiss for ages,

But she really did desire those lips. Especially when he took microsecond breaks to tease her with his breath, or whenever she felt the flex of his chest, she found herself leaning in a lot.

So, when their lips met again, she gave in to the deepening kiss. She enjoyed his extreme yet gentle exploration, and as her fingers dug into his flesh, she could tell that he had been wanting to kiss her too.

But just when it was getting increasingly heated, he pulled away.

Without lifting his starry gaze away from her, he cleared his throat and said, “Anderson left. I think.”

“I…” Her chest could not stop heaving. “Oh…” She could still feel his lips.

“I need to take care of something. I’ll be back.”

‘Wait,” she found herself stopping him, but he was gone, leaving her with her unstable thoughts.

With a deep gulp, Chloe took a step back, her fingers grazing her throbbing lips.

As she struggled to comprehend that sudden intimacy, she located the chocolate fountain. The view invited her, so she forced herself not to think about the kiss. For all she knew, that kiss could easily be called a mistake.