Chapter - 40 Business Trip...

"I will come day after tomorrow to pick you up." was what he had said and true to his words he had come.

But before that he had said,"You don't have to come for work tomorrow." But then why the heck had he sent files at her home the very next day, she had wondered and was annoyed by the same. He had sent her files which had the information related to the London property he was going to buy. The person who had delivered them had delivered her a message too from the great Liam Richardson that she was supposed to study them properly. Later in the day he had also sent her a mail asking her to prepare an itinerary because the guy had too much money to spend so he thought of buying some more properties, Eva guessed.

"Did that kiss really happened?" was what she had asked herself for the nth time since that moment.

The moment she touched her lips her belly would tingle and a flush crawl up her pale skin turning it pink. She groaned inwardly as she lied again on the bed of a palatial suite in one of the most expensive hotels in London. She had never seen such luxury or opulence in her life but then again under her very protective parents she had hardly seen much of the world. Even getting them to agree on sending her to New York had taken days and dozens of promises like she'd be back in apartment before 9 pm and would give them a call every night before going to sleep so that they would know that their daughter was still fit and fine. And the most important thing that they had made her promise was never to invite a guy in her apartment. It was a big big NO. She smiled and made a mental note to give them a call later.

Since the day she gave her first kiss...NO. Since night her first kiss was stolen, she corrected herself, she had worried and exhausted her brain about thinking how she would face him again. She had worried about how she would and should react around him. Cool? Nervous? Or maybe pretend like it never actually happened? She had no idea.

But the great Liam Richardson had squashed her worries quite early the next day of kissing when instead of calling and telling her about the work he had mailed her. He never mailed her before! He used to call and bark his orders. Though she was glad for the work he had sent her as it has proved to be a good distraction from Liam Richardson and that kiss whose memories still managed to find a way to crawl up her brain.

Even when he had come to pick her up and together they had left to board his private plane to leave for London he hadn't talked much...to be precise he didn't utter even a single word. If earlier she was worried about herself regarding how she would react or act around him or in his presence then now she was annoyed at his behaviour which made her feel like that the kiss never happened.

"Miss Rose." he had called her when she was staring out of the window of the plane lost in her own thoughts. The stern look at his face and the impatience in his voice were an indication that he must have called her a couple of times.

"Oh. I am sorry I was just thinking about something."she had hurriedly apologized.

'Was I the subject of your interesting thoughts?' was what she had imagined he would say with a sexy smirk on his face but NO. He did nothing like that.

With that stern expression still plastered on his face he handed her a file to work upon and then asked her about dozens of questions regarding the file he had sent the previous day for her to study.

To say she was annoyed at his behaviour was an understatement. She groaned burying her head in a pillow of the large bed that she was lying upon.

She couldn't believe that she was missing the flirty Liam Richardson.

"Damn it. It was my first kiss not his! Why is he being so cool and unaffected while I am feeling like a kitty in a minefield whose one wrong step can result in an explosion. I'll never forgive you Liam Richardson. You arrogant jerk, you stole my peace of mind and my first kiss and now you are acting all unaffected. Did that kiss not fazed you even a little? I want to beat you up for making me feel like this." She groaned punching in a pillow.

Liam was staying in the royal suite while the smaller adjoining one was for her. Feeling restless, she got up and her eyes fell on her wrist watch. He had told her to be ready in 2 hours because they had to go to meet the owner of the land he wanted to buy. She sighed.

She needed to wash and change. She took a quick shower and changed into a lime coloured dress that reached to her knees hoping for at least the colour of the dress to brighten her mood. She applied lip gloss and tied her hair into a simple and easy style. She still had one hour 10 minutes to kill, she sighed looking at the clock. She looked out of the window but nothing succeeded in catching her attention then she wandered in her room stopping near a wall.

"It's his room at the other side of this wall. What is he doing at the moment?" she wondered and an image of him coming out of the shower in nothing but a towel around his hips sprang up in her mind. She gasped at the direction of her thoughts.

"What am I to do with you, Mr Richardson? The way you invade my thoughts it's a punishable crime." she said shaking her head. She decided to wait for him in the hotel lobby hoping for her mind and thoughts to behave at least in the public.

She was sitting on a sofa searching her phone to find something to kill the time when a voice caught her attention.

"Would you mind if I sit here?"

She looked up and found a man looking at her waiting for her reply.

"Oh yes, please sit." saying she shifted a little and now the sofa had more than enough space for two more people to sit comfortably.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye. He was wearing a grey blazer and white shirt. He looked like in his mid 20s and he was good looking, she decided.

'Not more than Mr Richardson.' an inner voice protested.

'Why am I thinking about him again?' she was getting annoyed by her own behaviour.

"Are you a Londoner?"asked the stranger.

"Ah, no I am from New York." Eva smiled politely.

"May I know the name of this beautiful lady from New York?"

"Er- Eva. Evangeline Rose."

"Hello, I'm Jack." he introduced himself stretching his hand towards her for a handshake.

She looked at him and then at his hand not sure what to do. Well, a little bit of socializing won't hurt, deciding this she took his stretched hand into a handshake and smiled politely.

"What are you doing here sitting in the lobby all alone?"

" I was just waiting for someone."

"Your boyfriend?"

"Ah, No. My boss."

"Oh, so you are here for business?" he smiled.

Eva just looked at him still trying to keep that polite smile on her face not wanting to answer the question. She had always been an introvert but then had made a resolution to work on her socializing skills. Surprisingly socializing wasn't that difficult of a task, she had realised but she still hated it when strangers ask her too many questions.

"Would you mind holding this file for a bit so that I can tie my shoelace?"he asked Eva.

"No problem." she said taking the file.

He quickly tied his shoe lace and then getting up he thanked her. Taking his file and flashing an all teeth smile at her he left.

Eva exhaled the breath she didn't know she was holding. "Thank God! he finally left."

"Who was that man?"

She almost jumped at the deep voice that came from her right. She quickly got up and found Liam standing in front of her.

He was dressed in a royal blue suit, white shirt and a black tie. The colour of the suit complimented his eyes. Just one look at him and she was feeling nervous. Her brain devoid of all thoughts.

'How can someone be so good looking? He should be declared illegal.'

"I - I was just waiting for you, Mr Richardson." she finally managed to say.

Nodding, he looked in the direction the stranger had left before finally saying,"Let's go. We need to be on time."

They were sitting in the back of the car and Liam asked the driver to put up the privacy partition to which the driver obliged.

Eva was still annoyed at the change in his behaviour after the kiss. So she finally decided it was she need to ask what was wrong with him. Was he having a fun time playing with her or was the kiss a part of his pretend lovers act?

Mustering all her courage she turned to look at him. She had just opened her mouth when he growled out,"Enough."

And before she knew anything else he hauled her into his chest and his mouth was over hers. He wrapped his one arm like a steel across her back and with the other hand he was clasping her head. She heard him groan deep in his throat as he deepened the kiss. He was kissing her like there was no tomorrow. He angled her face to allow him to deepen the kiss with moist sweep of his tongue across the parted lips. Her breasts pressed against the the hardness of his chest. She could feel the heat emanating from his body. Her hands traveled upwards of their own accord into his thick and silky hair. He groaned deep in his throat and that made something in her belly quiver.

With a muffled groan of something that sounded filled with anguish and pain he was moving back. She saw him clenching his jaw as it took out the phone from his pocket and almost shouted.

"It's better be important, Alex!"

Special thanks to "DesireDelta" who named the previous chapter. 🥰