Ella

My heartbeat thuds with each step that Liam takes towards me. I feel like I'm in my own personal hell, waiting to see what fresh torment will come next.

I can't believe he blindly took that box and put it in his carry-on!

As soon as I cracked the lid and saw deep red satin, I slammed it shut, assuming its contents were for anything but an innocent business trip. Tim and Sophia's twisted grins assured me I was right.

Lingerie... Liam now has lingerie in his bag... No! Liam has MY lingerie in his bag!

"You good over there?" Liam asks, his green eyes swimming with concern.

Be cool...

"Yeah, peachy," I squeak out, inwardly cursing my voice.

So cool...

Not wanting to prolong our conversation, I hasten my steps to Sophia's car, fumbling with the spare set of keys. I push the clicker and pop the trunk several times as we come into range, sighing in relief when I finally hear the latch release.

Liam chuckles somewhere behind me, but I push him away and focus on the task at hand; the last thing I want to do is forget something. Being my first overnight business trip, I may have over packed but with not knowing how long we'd be, nor what to expect, I came prepared.

"Let me grab that for you," Liam says, reaching past me for my large suitcase. The bulky thing took both me and Sophia to wrangle it into the car, yet he lifts it out with one arm!

"Thanks," I murmur, transfixed by his show of strength and chivalry wrapped up in a perfect suit.

Sweet jeezus, does that man look good in a suit!

"You're most welcome. Is there anything else you need before we head out?" Liam asks, raising a brow. I simply shake my head no, not trusting my voice. "In that case, there's a car waiting for us out front."

Silently, I follow him through the maze of workstations and offices to the front Trenton Tech's entrance. The entire time, my thoughts race around in my head while my eyes keep drifting to his bag with my box inside...

Do I ask for it? Will he ask what's in it? Should I wait till we get there and just snag it? What if he opens it and sees the lingerie?! Will he think I'm coming on to him?!

Oh god, what did I do to deserve this?!

"You okay over there?" Liam asks once more, noticing I'm half a breath away from hyperventilating. All I can do is nod and hope he drops it. "Are you afraid of flying?"

My eyes widen. I haven't even given that any thought! "I've never flown before," I mumble, knowing he isn't going to let the silent treatment go on forever.

Instantly, his green gaze softens, and he gives me a sympathetic smile. "For what it's worth, I've flown a lot, and it's really no big deal. Besides, I'll be with you the whole way."

Rubbing the back of my neck, I drop my gaze to hide my heating cheeks. "Thanks, I'll try not to freak out," I joke.

Unlike the idea of him finding my lingerie, his words are strangely reassuring. Somehow, I know he'd never let anything bad happen to me, not that he can control a plane, but I do feel safe around him.

"Ah, Mr. Anthony," the town car driver calls, rushing over to take the bags. Liam passes my bag first and the driver stumbles, being caught off guard by its weight, but quickly recovers.

Liam's hand effortlessly lands on my lower back, guiding me forwards to slip in the open door. Timothy's words about touch implying interest filters through my mind the entire time his hand is on my back. The truth is, I'm torn between wanting to believe Tim that Liam is interested in me and being afraid he's right. I slip into the town car and scoot to the far side, making room for Liam to get in next to me. He sits so close that the subtle scent of his cologne surrounds us, enticing me closer.

My mind runs full speed the entire way to the airport, switching between what I'm going to do about my box in his carry on and replaying every interaction between us for any sign, any clue of... anything. His close proximity, even the reflection of his handsome features in my window, does not help.

Nothing is concrete to me. Liam has always been very polite and proper, never rude or indecent, but he's never made a move, so to speak. He easily could have kissed me on the balcony at dinner, but he didn't, and his demeanor has been very dry at work since then. Our lunch together was so platonic, I could've eaten with Emilio and gotten more attention.

By the time the town car pulls up in front of the airport, I have decided that Tim and Sophia are seeing things and Liam and I have nothing more than a professional relationship.

We'll go for the weekend or whatever, dig around Renford's books, come back and I'll go back to working from home like nothing ever happened. Such a logical train of thought does nothing to quell my nerves, however. If anything, with the facts laid out so cut and dry, I find myself disappointed.

I follow Liam through the busy airport, completely oblivious to the thick crowds and thankful that he knows where to go. The way to the terminal is winding and I would have gotten lost ten times over.

"Here we are," Liam says, double checking our tickets. He leads us past the long line, directly to the gate, and hands them over. The attendant smiles at us and ushers us through. Once again, Liam's hand is on my lower back, guiding me forward to our seats, which are apparently in first class.

I've never flown, let alone first class. All week I was picturing cramped seats sitting next to someone taking up all of their seat and spilling over into mine. Never once did I picture the spacious lazy boy style seats in pairs. Liam insisted that I take the window seat for the view, and I'm only too happy to.

He stows his carry-on, having curbside-checked the rest of our luggage, giving me time to get seated. Slowly, my nerves start to creep up once more, watching him shift his carry-on bag into the overhead compartment. I can't help but picture the box falling open and spilling its contents. He'd see it for sure that way. Meanwhile, I start to feel antsy about flying, never having left the ground before.

The flight attendant comes on the intercom and runs through the safety options and other airline policies, but I check out mid-way. I never thought I had a fear of flying, but the tightening in my chest is sending me a completely different message. Knowing that take off is moments away isn't helping matters one bit.

"You okay, El?" Liam asks for the umpteenth time today. His voice is soothing, even laced with concern.

"I don't know," I admit, feeling my heartbeat pick up. "Maybe flying isn't for me?" My voice quivers, trailing off into barely a whisper by the end.

"El, just focus on me," Liam says, locking his green eyes on mine. "Deep breath in, hold, then let it out."

I watch him, following his lead as he takes a slow deep breath in, holds it for a moment before letting it out slowly and repeating the process over again. His hand grazes across my thigh as he goes for my seatbelt, which does nothing to settle my breathing. Never once breaking his gaze, he reaches over me and buckles me in. Once I'm secure, he takes a seat and buckles himself in.

My heart lodges in my throat as the plane jerks into motion. I close my eyes tightly, pressing back into the seat. My breathing is reduced to shallow pants as I hear the engines rev up and the cabin shakes. The vibrations from the accelerating plane down the runway only feed my nerves.

I can faintly hear Liam talking to me, but his words don't register over the thudding of my heartbeat. Not even the pain from digging my nails into the arm rest can break me from my frozen terror. Suddenly something pushes through my breakdown and warm fingers lace between mine, giving a gentle squeeze for support.

"That's it, El, breathe deep," Liam murmurs as he rubs soothing circles on the back of my hand. With a lurch and increased pressure that draws me back into my seat, the plane lifts off and I feel my stomach drop. My ears feel like they're going to burst. I tighten my grip on Liam's hand, drawing comfort from his stoic, almost relaxed nature.

"Just a little more, then it'll even out and you won't feel a thing."

I follow his lead, breathing-wise and just like he promised, the vibrations and noise fade away until suddenly the plane feels like it isn't moving and we level off. A relieved sigh slips past my lips as the tension in my shoulders relaxes slightly, and I loosen my grip. I risk a sideways glance at Liam, afraid to see irritation, but instead, his features are soft and concerned.

"Sorry," I mumble, releasing his hand, but he hangs on. The warm contact does nothing but add to my embarrassment and confusion.

"Nothing to be sorry about," he assures me, flashing me a small smile. "There's a movie to watch if you'd like the distraction?" I nod, eager for any distraction, but stare at the console like it's a foreign language. Liam pushes a few buttons and 50 First Dates starts to play as I slip the headphones on.

Watching Adam Sandler make an ass of himself and strike out time after time makes me quickly forget my earlier tension. I never heard Liam order anything, but a flight attendant drops off a couple of drinks. One looks like straight scotch or whiskey on the rocks, the other that he passes to me is a Long Island Iced Tea with a raspberry twist. I say thanks and take a quick gulp.

I may not be a big drinker, but after that takeoff, I feel like doing shots!

Before long, my eyelids start to get heavy, and I fall asleep to the sound of Adam Sandler singing on their date.

"El?" Liam murmurs. Soft warmth caress over my cheek, drawing me to the waking world. "Time to go."

My eyes flutter open, seeing just how close his face is to mine. My face burns, most likely scarlet as my senses come back to me and I realize I fell asleep on his shoulder. As mortified as I feel, he looks completely at ease, if not relieved that I slept through the landing. It's only when I feel him slip his hand from mine that I realize he held my hand the entire flight, never letting go.

"Thanks," I mumble, hastily undoing my seatbelt and standing up. Liam grabs his bag and stands aside, waiting for me to go first.

We walk through the landing gate, straight to where a driver holding a sign with Liam's name on it waits. After collecting the rest of our luggage, we slip into the car, letting the driver take our bags. I sigh, finding renewed comfort in ground travel after my air experience.

Liam flicks through his phone on the quick trip to the hotel. My eyes go wide as the town car comes to a stop in front of a massive hotel. The white stone, glass, and brass exterior scream elegance. I don't have much time to consider what I'm looking at as a gentleman in a red uniform opens the car door while a second one drags a cart to the trunk, where the driver carefully unloads our luggage.

Gentle pressure on my lower back guides me away from the car and close to Liam as he walks us through the grand front entrance and straight up to the front desk. The interior is every bit as exquisite as the exterior, with rich wood, marble, and fine accents everywhere.

"Mr. Anthony, nice to see you again," the concierge greets with a million-dollar smile. She's stunning, to say the least, tall, blonde with blue eyes and looking like a runway model with a classy navy blue dress.

"Excellent memory, Ms. Banks," he replies with an easy smile.

"Clara," she chides, as if I'm not standing right there. "Your key cards, and as always, if you need anything, please don't hesitate to let us know."

Clara slides the key cards over to Liam, never sparing me so much as a glance, even though I'm almost touching him. "Oh, there was a message for you, too."

"Thanks," he replies politely, taking the message but sparing her no more attention. He makes a point of passing me a key in front of her and once again slips a hand on my lower back, but this time guides me very closely... So close I can feel the heat rolling off of his body.

My stomach flutters the entire way to the elevator, where Liam swipes the key card over the reader. PH flashes on the screen as the elevator launches us upwards.

"PH?" I finally ask, breaking the silence.

"Penthouse," Liam clarifies. A moment later, the door chimes and opens, revealing a quaint foyer with marble floors and subtle lighting leading to large double doors. Liam once again uses his key and opens the door, guiding me in first. My mouth drops, seeing the elegance in front of me.

This is nicer than my entire house!

There's a full service kitchen, a living room, even a pool table. I run my fingers over the cool granite countertops as we walk in, my eyes raking over every inch of the interior before landing on two doors on the far side. Liam stays back and opens the door, letting the bellhop in with our bags. He palms him a tip before turning back to me.

"Not bad, eh?" he says with a crooked grin.

"Not bad?!" I gape. "Liam, this is nicer and bigger than my entire house!"

"What can I say? I wanted to show you a good time." He winks, grabbing my bag and heads off to the rooms. Fortunately, he doesn't ask me anything, walks into the room on the right and sets my bag down on the stand to unpack. He slips out of the room while I'm busy looking around, presumably to deal with his own stuff.

Oh my god! His luggage!

My eyes go impossibly wide as reality hits. I practically run to his room, freezing as he stands in front of me, holding his suitcase open, looking at its contents.

Oh crap, he's seen it!!!

His weighty gaze shifts to me, further freezing me in place as I forget how to breathe. Liam's expression is unreadable as he shifts his attention from me to the suitcase, then back again. My heart does frantic somersaults while I wait for him to say or do anything.

"I believe this is yours?" he says, picking up the black box. Letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding, I take it, offering a silent prayer to anyone who's listening when I see it's still closed. Before anything else can happen, I inch back towards the door, clutching it to my chest.

"Must be pretty special," he muses with a small chuckle. "So that message that was waiting for me?"

"Yeah?" I ask, happy he changed the topic.

Liam's smile drops, and a frown takes hold. "That was from Wesley, the guy we're supposed to be meeting to go over Renford's records... Yeah, apparently something pressing came up and he had to take an emergency trip," Liam huffs, ticking his jaw. "Looks like we have a free weekend. Give it some thought if there's anything you want to see while we're here."

I just gape at him while his words sink in...

Did our business trip just turn into a weekend getaway?!