Page 54 of Liam

“I don’t think I know Laverne or Astrid,” Taamira said as she pulled on underwear.

“They work with Evelyn, and both are nice girls.”

Jealousy wove through her brain like an ugly snake. “Oh.” Her single word was harsh and proud, and she hated that she had reacted like that.

Liam moved closer, a grin on his face as he caught her around her waist. “They are nice girls,” he began, and she crossed her arms and glared, “you are everything, so stop with the jealousy, Princess. I’ve never touched any of the Zenobi girls, nor do I want to. Everyone ceased to exist for me the minute I met a certain pushy princess.”

Taamira relaxed, feeling foolish for her behaviour. “I am sorry, that was a kneejerk reaction. I know you would never hurt me like that.”

“Don’t apologise, treacle, I kind of like you all territorial over me, but I draw the line at you peeing on my leg.”

“Eww, Liam, that is gross.”

His smile reassured her that she hadn’t ruined the moment with her green-eyed monster routine.

“Anyway, the girls are going to be here in ten minutes. Evelyn has a host of things planned for you. I’ll be working with Jack and Blake going over tonight’s plans again.”

“Did Scott tell you anything useful?”

“Not really, he was paid to take the photo and post it online and then was told to meet them here. It turns out he has a gambling addiction we had no clue about and is in debt to some not so nice people.”

“What will happen to him now?”

“He’ll be charged with breaking a few privacy laws and stripped of his license. He’ll be lucky if he gets anything better than shopping centre security jobs from here on out.”

“Is it silly that I feel bad for him?”

His hand played through her hair as he gazed at her. “No, Princess, it is part of who you are. You forgive, your inert kindness is what makes me love you. So not silly, just don’t expect me to do the same.”

He kissed her slowly, the depth of his emotion showed in every second of his kiss and she wondered how she had lived without this man in her life and concluded she hadn’t really. He had given her so much—friends, love, family, and a future full of it all. They just needed to put all of this behind them so they could move to the happy ever after part.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

TAAMIRA DID NOT KNOW HOW EVELYN HAD KNOWN AN AFTERNOON WITH THESE THREE WOMEN HAD been precisely what she needed, but she was glad that she had. On first meeting Lavern and Astrid, she had been uneasy, tense in the presence of such beautiful, confident women. She waited for the nasty jibes and veiled compliments that were really digs at her appearance or her beliefs but none of those things had happened.

Laverne was probably five feet five inches, and slim with long light brown hair, shot through with gold and caramel highlights, and big brown eyes, but it was the smattering of freckles across her nose and over her cheeks that took her from beautiful to damn right stunning. She had a girl next door innocence that was endearing but in a package that was so much more the average.

Astrid, by contrast, was probably five feet ten inches tall, with flawless porcelain skin, and rosy pink cheeks. Her silvery blue eyes slightly turned up at the outer edges giving her sultry appearance, pouty full lips, and a smile that instantly relaxed her, long wavy blonde hair that seemed to have streaks of pure gold when she moved her head.

Both women were far more than nice, and had she known what they looked like before she met them, she feared she would have had a much bigger freak out when Liam mentioned them. She was glad she had buried that and now found she had two more people who could potentially become friends to her.

“I have to say, when I heard Liam was dating a princess, I was a little surprised. It hardly seems like a perfect match,” Astrid began and Taamira bristled a little, regret flooding her that she had let her guard down too quickly, “but having seen you two together, and the way you look at each other, I think you’re absolutely perfect for each other.”

Taamira relaxed, glad she had not fired a response at Astrid too quickly and ruined her fledgling friendships. “I’ve never met a man like him. He makes me feel like I can own the world, that either he will stand by me while I go and get it, or he will bring it to me on a silver platter.” Taamira looked away, embarrassed by her honesty.

“That’s how Alex makes me feel,” Evelyn admitted.

Laverne groaned. “Please stop with the blissed-up love talk. Some of us have to rely on a B.O.B for our fun.”

Taamira had recently learned that a B.O.B was a battery-operated boyfriend, or vibrator, to use its real name.

“It’s not about just the sex, although the sex is phenomenal,” Evelyn winked at Taamira as she said it. “It’s about a partnership where it’s you and him against the world. That no matter what happens on this planet, he’ll have your back and you’ll have his.”

“Well, I don’t think that’s on the cards for me,” Astrid said and grinned as she stood and went to the plate of cut fruit that they had sent up.

As soon as the girls had arrived, they had taken over Jack’s suite, which was next door to the one she was using, and they currently had it set up as mission control.

Jack had grumbled a little but quickly moved his stuff out of the way so they had space. Now there was a rack with four dresses for that evening, make-up and hair paraphernalia, glasses of bubbly, chocolate covered fruit, and face masks.