Cheeky Christmas: A British Billionaire Holiday Romance Read online

  A fake smile cracked my lips before I rushed to shove a few things in my bag and pull out my sweater, suddenly feeling exposed for the first time all night. This was my normal work attire, but damn if something in Liam’s eyes didn’t make me feel naked.

  “Charlie?” His hands curled around my shoulders, and he turned me to him. “Earlier—”

  “No, it’s all right. I don’t know what got into me. Honestly, I’ve never done anything like that in my life.” Lie, the little voice in my head chimed in, you know you loved his touch, Charlie, and it will be hard to ignore his pull. “It won’t happen again. I swear we can be professional. I just had a momentary slip.”

  I pushed a hand through the wisps of hair framing my face and turned away. I didn’t want him to think that he could just take me home and we would fuck on the floor like animals. God knew I wanted to, but I didn’t want him to see me as some girl he could use and discard.

  “I definitely don’t want to hear any of that.”

  Liam’s grip tightened on my forearms, and he pulled me closer to him. I could feel his erection pressed between us. What was he thinking? What was I thinking? And why did I like it so much? If I closed my eyes, just for a fraction of a minute, I could allow myself to fall into the safety of his arms. I could be taken away by his beautiful lips and that thick voice, and maybe I’d find love at the end of it, but I’d be damned if I would risk that again. The pain was too much. I was a fool to be won over by fast romance, and I had learned over time that if things seemed too good to be true, they definitely were.

  “Hey, right here, look at me. You’re special, Charlie, and I don’t know what you’re thinking about what happened earlier, but I’m thinking I’d like it to happen again, and often. I promise I’m not a man who usually does this, but seeing you walk in that door tonight, the way you gave me sass, the way you came alive under my fingers,” he whispered the last part against my ear. “I’m drunk on you.”

  “Irish…” I groaned, thinking it would take a little more explaining to push him away.

  “Liam,” he chastised with an arch of one dark eyebrow.

  “Liam.” I smiled curtly before pushing myself out of his arms. God, I missed his arms already. “That was a mistake. We work together, and if my dad found out I was dating his newest hire—”

  “Wait a minute, your dad’s the boss? Vince Sr.?”

  I nodded when I realized Liam was finally making the connection. I guessed I wouldn’t have to scare him off with details of my past after all. My brother hadn’t even filled Liam in that I was the boss man’s only daughter. His pride, his joy, and the one thing he’d choke a man to death for looking at.

  “That’s why what happened earlier can’t happen again.” I nodded, a little sad myself. His broad, tall stature, and delicious accent were like an instant sugar rush. It was probably a good thing he was off-limits because surely I could wrap myself around a man like Liam and get hurt in all the most beautiful and painful ways.

  “Shit.” Liam seemed to finally give up then, pushing a hand through his hair before swiping at his stubbled chin. God, his five o’clock shadow—or two a.m. shadow, as it were—made him even more edible.

  “So I don’t need a walk home because I live right above the bar, and my dad lives right next door, so believe me, there’s no sneaking around, even if we wanted to…” I realized after it was too late how wishful that last line sounded.

  Liam’s eyebrows rose for a minute before he reached across the space separating us and locked my hand in his. “Whatever you say, love.”

  Love? Did he really just call me love?

  He bent and placed a delicate kiss across my knuckles. “I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night, or tonight then.”

  “Wait, Vince isn’t working with me?”

  “That’s why I was hired. He wants more time off to—”

  “I don’t need to know.” I shook my head. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you tonight then.”

  Why did this feel like the end of a date?

  “I’ll get the door.” He smiled and stepped ahead of me, opening the old back door and waiting for me.

  “Right, well, thank you.” What was I thanking him for? The orgasm? For being understanding? For being a gentleman… sort of?

  “Sleep well, love.”

  His words rooted me to the spot.

  I frowned before shaking my head quickly. “Okay, stop. Please stop with the European charm thing you’re doing. You can’t say stuff like that to a girl like me.”

  “It’s just a term of endearment, Charlie.” He twisted a lock of my ponytail around his fingers. “And I don’t know what a girl like you is exactly, but I’d like to find out.” His head dipped then, his nose trailing up the curve of my neck and sending goose bumps scattering across my skin.

  “You’re making it hard to ignore you,” I whispered without thinking.

  “Good.” He placed a kiss on the hollow of my neck. “Don’t ignore me anymore.”

  “Liam…” My fingertips burned to wrap around his neck and pull him closer so I could hitch my leg around his narrow waist. I wanted a repeat. I wanted to bring him up to my place and see the look on his face when pleasure pulsed through every muscle of his body.

  “I love when you say my name,” Liam uttered before his hand wrapped around the nape of my neck and his lips pressed against mine in a fiery kiss.

  My lips parted on contact, and his tongue delved into my mouth, twisting and turning. My hands spanned over his shoulders while he pressed a palm at my lower back, sucking me into his space, getting me drunk on his touch.

  “Liam,” I panted and pushed him away, licking my lips as I tried to compose my racing thoughts. “I-I have to go.”

  I darted down the steps and around the back of the old building to race up to the top-floor apartment.

  My heart hammering, I sped through my front door and dumped my purse on the kitchen table, listening to it clatter unevenly as I ran for the bathroom.

  I flicked on the light and looked in the mirror, touched my fingertips to the place his lips had caressed just seconds ago. My heart clunked erratically as I prayed he hadn’t followed me up here, but I simultaneously hoped maybe he would. He had me so twisted, my heart begging me to drink his intoxicating Kool-Aid and my head warning me that men like that—sexy, smooth-talkers with a talent with their fingers—were only destined for heartbreak.

  Liam with the devilish smile and even more devilish digits made me feel beautiful, and despite every warning firing off in my brain, I loved the strange way my stomach twisted when his eyes landed on mine.

  But what kind of girl lets a man bring her to an orgasm within hours of meeting?

  A bad girl, that’s what kind.

  THREE

  Liam

  I tapped my fingers on the shiny counter, waiting for the lady of the hour to appear. Sixteen hours since I’d last seen her. Eighteen since I’d given her that swift and sexy orgasm. Exactly seventeen since I’d decided I wanted to give her another one, then another, every day for the rest of our lives. She consumed me; everything about her possessed me. I wanted to devour her, show her she was priceless and perfect and mine. God, she was mine. I’d known it from the moment I first looked at her. I wanted nothing in life more than her, not just sexually but in every way. I wanted to sit on a sofa and hold her hand, listen to the sweet melody of her voice. I wanted to make her laugh so hard that she snorted then became red with embarrassment, then I wanted to kiss the red on her cheeks and make it burn even brighter. I wanted to wake up and see her smiling face and go to sleep wrapped around her, so tightly that she could never get away.

  “Shit!”

  I heard that angelic, sassy voice from somewhere in the backroom and spun instantly, racing to find her to see if she needed my help. I was frantic with the idea that she could have hurt herself. When I reached her, she was half-dropping a heavy box as she maneuvered through the door.

  “Let me, love.” I pul
led the box from her arms, allowing her to get through the door without the unwieldy load.

  “Thanks. It’s flyers for the live band we have playing next week. Dad always ships bar stuff to my house.” She explained as she walked to the small cubby where she apparently stuffed her things. “I’ll take that.” She returned, arms outstretched.

  “I’ve got it. Where do you want it?”

  She rolled her eyes before responding. “Over there.” She pointed at a stack of similar boxes in the corner. “You’ve got to stop being so nice to me.”

  I set the box on the top of the stack and turned with a cocky grin. “Does it make you hot?”

  “What? No, Liam—”

  I laughed as I watched crimson slowly spread on her beautiful creamy skin.

  “I’m kidding, but I won’t stop being nice to you. ‘Fraid it’s just not in me to be an arsehole, especially not to you. Unless anyone hurts you, then who knows what kind of animal could be unleashed.”

  “There’s a shocker,” she commented under her breath before crossing her arms and turning away.

  “Hey, I don’t know what happened to put that chip on your shoulder, but I promise you, I’m not that guy. Give me a fair shot, Charlie. You might be surprised.” I dusted a palm along her lower back.

  “I don’t like surprises.” She arched a petulant eyebrow, and it made me laugh in a way I hadn't laughed in so long.

  This was why I’d come here, to meet people just like her. Smart, sassy, and so down to earth. It was remarkably refreshing, considering the world I came from.

  “Everyone likes surprises.” My palm was still at her back. I couldn’t stop touching her. “For instance, last night… that was a nice surprise. Bet you went home and thought about it, right?”

  “No.” She shifted just out of my touch.

  “Bullshit, love.”

  “Stop calling me love.”

  “Stop being lovely.”

  “Liam.”

  “Charlie?” came a bellow from the other side of the bar, and it jolted us out of our bubble.

  “Yeah, Dad?” Charlie called, sending me one final angry eyebrow arch before speeding out of the room.

  Christ, she was beautiful. This situation was bad news. Vince Sr. liked to work the day shift at the bar, and for that reason, I hadn’t seen much of him since he’d hired me last week. Still, I got the rough, gruff, no-filter vibe from him.

  “New guy! Get in here!”

  New guy? I rolled my eyes then let loose the smile pulling at the corners of my lips. Charlie was a challenge, a beautiful challenge, and her dad was a hard-ass of the first order. Something told me to win her over, I’d have to win Daddy over too. I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked out to the front of the bar with a smile. I thought I was just the man to take up that challenge. Charlie had said it herself—I had European charm oozing out of my ears.

  I’d make Charlie mine, or I’d sure as hell die trying. She was going to see that I was here for the long haul. Nothing and no one could drag me away from her. The idea of not being with Charlie was already unsettling and foreign to me. My entire life had gone by without a woman affecting me this much. But then again, I’d never met someone quite like Charlie.

  “I don’t know about the work ethics where you come from, but come starting time, you’re here with a rag in hand, ready to sling brews, got it?” a loud baritone called from behind me.

  I turned around to see Charlie’s father barreling toward me.

  “I was here, sir.”

  Vince Sr. narrowed his eyes at me then slapped a rag in my hand. “Don’t be late again. Ain’t got time to train someone else.”

  I sucked in a breath and went to work drying glasses and putting them away as Vince Sr. walked to the opposite end of the bar, all but dismissing me. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he took Charlie by both shoulders and placed a kiss on her forehead before mumbling a few words to her.

  Her eyes darted toward me over his shoulder before a frown ticked across her face and she nodded. Eyes downcast, she twisted a rag in her hand before he popped another kiss on her cheek and patted her shoulder before walking away.

  What in the hell had that conversation been about? And why did it feel as though it maybe had to do with me?

  When she walked back toward me, I asked, “Everything okay?”

  “Fine.”

  “Pardon my saying so, but it didn’t look very fine from this angle.”

  “Daddy’s a hard-ass, that’s all. Worried about protecting me and all that. He must not realize that a twenty-four-year-old can make her own decisions.” She rolled her eyes.

  I loved her stubborn streak.

  “He’s just looking out for the most precious thing in his life. Wouldn’t be a good dad if he wasn’t.”

  “He told me to stay away from the Irish playboy.”

  “Okay, now he’s just an arsehole.” When a giggle escaped her mouth, my stomach flipped. “That’s the most beautiful sound on earth. You should do it more.”

  Charlie’s giggle died, and her eyes landed on mine again. “You can’t keep doing that, Liam. I told you, you and I will never happen.”

  “I appreciate your honesty, I really do, but I like a challenge. And I’m a very persuasive man.”

  She worked her bottom lip between her teeth before narrowing her eyes at me. “Persistent too, huh?”

  “Very.”

  “You’re wasting your time, I can promise you that.”

  “Until you tell me to bugger off, I’ll be the judge of that.” I nabbed her chin between my thumb and finger and planted a quick kiss on the tip of her nose.

  “Are all Irish people so stubborn? I’m pretty sure I tell you to bugger off rather frequently.” Her eyes flickered with amusement.

  “Are all Italians so mouthy?”

  “Yes,” her eyes twinkled as she answered.

  “Then I guess we have the answer to both of our questions.” I chuckled as she turned away, and I pulled the towel through my hands and softly snapped her bottom.

  “Liam!” She rubbed at the swell of her arse cheek, and my cock jumped in my pants.

  Fuck, she was gorgeous, curvy, and sweet with just enough lip to make me want to pull her hair and press my lips against hers in a possessive kiss. I didn’t want a single motherfucker in this city to lay eyes on her. Charlie was mine; I just had to open her eyes to the inevitable.

  I turned the corner of the bar a while later and was surprised to find a new customer had sat down. I watched his eyes rake up and down Charlie's body before my blood hit a full boil. As if fireworks were singeing my skin, my nerves screamed and my muscles flexed. I'd never had a problem dealing with my temper, never showed violent tendencies before now, but damn if this low-life eye-fuckin’ my girl didn't make me want to commit murder.

  Charlie passed me then, her eyes gesturing to the prick as she approached indicating she’d caught his leering gazes.

  “You okay?” I placed a hand at her lower back, hoping he'd see and leave her the fuck alone.

  “I'm fine. Just another lonely guy looking for a smile.”

  I pressed a finger to her lips. “Don't you even think of giving him my smile.”

  “I smile for tips. It's my job.” She laughed before heading back out to the front of the room, broom in hand.

  I watched him watch her.

  “Motherfucker.” The word left my lips before I could stop it.

  Thankfully, neither of them heard me.

  Unfortunately, his gaze traveled south the closer she got to him.

  She avoided his gaze, moving around the almost-empty room as she swept. She finally reached the small corner he'd perched himself in, and she passed him a friendly nod, her eyes turning back down to her work.

  His gaze landed on the generous view of her cleavage, and I grit my teeth so hard, my jaw ached. I was restraining myself from taking that broom and sending her upstairs to change. Into a goddamn parka preferably. I didn't give a sh
it if it sounded jealous and possessive; I was. And since I'd already had the pleasure of making her come once, I figured I was allowed.

  Charlie turned and bent to pick something up off the floor, and in that split second, the perverted fucker was standing behind her, his hands on her hips.

  “Hey!” I called across the room, my steps carrying me at lightning speed. “Get your fucking hands off her!” When I reached him, I breathed fire down his neck. With both hands on his shoulders, I pushed him against the wall, a barstool crashing to the floor. “Get the fuck out of here. If you come back, I'll carve those fucking fingers off your hands. Got it?”

  I barely contained the desire to pummel my fist through his skull before I felt Charlie's hand at my bicep. I dropped my hands from his scrawny form instantly.

  “Liam, I'm fine.” Her small voice reminded me how fragile she really was.

  “Why aren't you gone yet?” I barked at the customer.

  He stumbled around us and tripped his way out of the front door. I turned, willing my breathing to return to normal when my eyes locked with hers.

  “I don't know if I should be mad at you or kiss you.” Her eyes roamed up and down my body, making the blood in my veins throb with thick arousal.

  “I think I know which one I prefer.”

  “I bet you do.” Charlie's grin deepened, her eyes fixed on mine. “That was pretty hot, Irish.”

  Her nickname for me sent my excitement into overdrive. I wanted her in my arms and under my body. I wanted to discover every last dark secret she had and lick her wounds clean until she couldn’t tell where she stopped and I began.

  “You're a bold little thing.” I caged her against the wall and placed a soft kiss on her lips. My tongue probed past her lips while her hands trailed up my torso. “Looks like the place is empty now.” I dragged my teeth across her bottom lip. “Now that we've got a little alone time…”

  “We can clean the kitchen?” She smiled and tugged playfully at my hair, breaking the intoxicating hold she had over me.