Page 82 of Pleasure Island
I reached the bend in the path and turned to face him. “Why do you want to talk to me?” I asked bluntly.
“For starters…” He blew out a breath, his gaze straying from my face. But only for a second. He looked back at me before he spoke again. “I need to apologize for how I acted that last day.”
I swallowed but said nothing.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I was an asshole. I was just…hell. I was humiliated, okay? It’s not something I handle very well, and I didn’t handle it well that day at all.” He took a hesitant step toward me. “I’m sorry. I just…after what happened and knowing I’d lose my job, I didn’t deal with it well.”
The sincerity in his voice got me quicker than anything else could have. I rolled my eyes and made a point of not looking at him although I was starved for the sight of him.
A strained silence stretched out between us. Normally, silences didn’t unnerve me, but this one did. Desperate to break it, I asked, “Did you lose your job?”
“Yeah.”
That pissed me off. There was only one way hecouldhave lost his job, and that was if my father had complained to the company. I certainly hadn’t said anything that would have cost him his job.
“I’ll call them,” I said stiffly. “I’m sure it had something to do with my father. I’ll get them to give you your job back.”
“No.”
The calm, steady tone of his voice had me looking back at him.
Liam shook his head. A dull flush settled across his cheeks, but he met my eyes levelly. “I did something I knew was wrong,” he told me. “Sleeping with a client isn’t just unprofessional, it can be dangerous. I know nothing ever happened, but if there was a threat to you and I was distracted because I was with you…” He stopped and shook his head, his mouth in a flat line. “I fucked up. I deserved to lose my job.”
We stared at each other, and I realized I had a decision to make.
I could either accept Liam’s apology, and we could see what happened next.
Or…I could just walk away.
Slowly, I took a step toward him. “I’m not a client now.”
