Played by the Billionaire Read online

  “So what human cargo containers do we take to get to Alcatraz?” They sat at a park bench eating hot dogs. Thank God she wasn’t a vegetarian; he hadn’t paid any attention to what she’d ordered last night at the restaurant. He turned and noticed the color leave her face. Now what had he done?

  …

  “I don’t want to go to Alcatraz. I have no desire to see the inside of a jail.” She stared across the park, not meeting his gaze. There had been a chill between them since she’d mentioned his mother. Now the talk of a prison visit put her on edge.

  “Okay, it was only a suggestion. I thought it was a compulsory stop for a sightseeing day,” he said. “Where do you want to go?”

  “I want to ride a cable car.”

  “That we can do.” He stood and put a hand out to help her up.

  Quickly she wiped her fingers on a napkin and then took his hand. He didn’t let go as she stood.

  He stared at her face until heat infused her body again. “You have a spot of mustard on the corner of your mouth. I’m trying very hard not to kiss it off,” he whispered.

  “Oh, uh, thanks.” She wiped the napkin across her mouth before she realized his suggestion for mustard removal was the better option to go with.

  “So, cable car. What level of public transit hell do I have to go through to get to that?” Liam lightened his question with another one of his devastating smiles.

  “If you liked the bus you’re going to love the metro. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and they walked toward the Muni station.

  Twenty minutes later, Liam turned to her. “Have you got a mirror in that big bag of yours?”

  “Yeah, why?” Lorelei opened her handbag and rummaged around.

  “I think I must have something on my face you haven’t told me about. People keep staring at me and then whispering.”

  She had noticed the odd behavior, too. But considering how handsome Liam was she’d figured regular transit users weren’t used to seeing such a gorgeous man on their system. No wonder he hadn’t taken the Muni before.

  “There’s nothing on your face. Maybe they can sense a transit virgin coming of age.”

  Liam had just taken a swallow of water from his bottle and nearly sprayed the couple across from him at her statement.

  “If you told me earlier there was to be a loss of virginity on this date I would have worn newer underwear,” he whispered in her ear after he caught his breath.

  The thought of Liam in his underwear caused a fresh surge of heat to flood through her body. Any minute now the lady across the aisle would ask if she was running a fever.

  “This is our stop.” She stood, nearly falling as the train lurched to a halt in the station. Liam’s strong arms came around her and the wobbly sensation in her legs had nothing to do with a near accident.

  “Careful,” he said. “I don’t want to have to take you to hospital and explain how you got injured while I lost my virginity.”

  “It’s almost worth getting hurt to hear you tell the nurse.”

  “Come on, let’s get on this damn cable car. After that, we can wander around Chinatown for a while, then find a nice restaurant to eat at. I’ve had enough of being ogled by transit riders for one day.”

  “Of course, Liam. I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

  “Lady, I haven’t been comfortable since you said the word ‘bus’ first thing this morning,” he grumbled.

  They waited for the cable car with a horde of tourists. Three elderly ladies had on T-shirts that proclaimed their heart was lost somewhere in San Francisco. When the tram arrived they all piled in and sat on the long wooden benches. Liam had his arm around Lorelei and she leaned back into his chest. Over the course of the day they had progressed from holding hands to full-on body contact.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the older ladies nudge the one sitting next to Liam. The nudged woman shook her head, yet her companions seemed insistent on something, urging her to “go ahead.”

  Eventually she touched Liam on his arm. “Excuse me, has anyone ever told you that you look remarkably like Michael Donnelly?”

  “No, can’t say anyone has. Who’s he?” Liam smiled at the lady.

  “He was an actor on The Holbys, a soap opera that was on in the early 80s.”

  Liam stiffened next to her the second the TV show was mentioned. He sat upright and the arm around her shoulders dropped.

  “Sorry, I don’t know him. If you’ll excuse us, this is our stop.” Liam stood, he grabbed her hand, and they jumped from the cable car as it came to a halt at an intersection.

  “Liam, what’s wrong?” Lorelei searched his face. It was tight; his eyes scrunched up as he pulled out his cell phone and typed away. He stared blankly at the phone for a moment until Lorelei pulled his hand down to see what he was glaring at.

  On the screen was a picture of a man who looked just like Liam. At the top of the photo was the caption, “Michael Donnelly, actor.”

  “Shit,” he said. “So that’s the bastard’s name.”

  Chapter Six

  “Wow, he does look a lot like you. Are you related somehow?” Lorelei’s soft voice brought him back from the edge of the abyss.

  “I think he’s my father.”

  “You don’t know who your father is?” She turned her beautiful face up to his, her eyes gentle with concern.

  “No.” One word, a mountain of pain. “But my mother was a makeup artist on The Holbys before I was born, so it adds up.”

  She reached up and put her small hand on his cheek. “I don’t know my father, either. I mean, I know who he is, and I have vague memories of him being around when I was little. He left when I was five years old.”

  Her touch was causing all kinds of things to melt within him—especially the ice wall behind which he hid everything from his past. “Did your parents divorce?”

  She dropped her hand and turned away. He should let it go, yet he couldn’t. Reaching for her hand, he stopped her before she stepped away. When she looked up, he put his other hand on her face as she had done to him. Her skin was so soft. A shimmer of tears and possibly shame glistened in her expressive eyes.

  “Tell me,” he said. Even as the words came out of his mouth he regretted them. He wasn’t supposed to be delving into her secrets. They were only supposed to have a superficial romance to help him write the book.

  “The stupid thing is, my mom is still married to him. She still loves him.”

  “Where is he, then?”

  Liam was aware they were standing on the street corner, people walking past, giving them sidelong glances of curiosity. Two days ago this would have been one of his worst nightmares. Today, for some reason, it didn’t matter. What mattered was helping Lorelei deal with the emotional baggage she carried around in her heart.

  Lorelei took a deep breath and the words tumbled out. “He’s in prison. He robbed a bank and shot and killed a guard. He’s serving twenty-five years. My mom went back to using her maiden name, Torres. She changed mine as well so the kids at school wouldn’t put two and two together that I was the daughter of a criminal.”

  And there was the reason she hadn’t wanted to go to Alcatraz. “I’m sorry, Lorelei. Sorry you had to grow up without a father to protect you. Sorry you’ve had to live with the worry that others would judge you by what he’d done.”

  “Thank you.” She pasted on a watery smile. “I can’t believe I told you all that, and we’ve only known each other less than twenty-four hours. I went out with Barry for a year and never told him.”

  Liam dropped his hand from her face before the urge to kiss her became too great. He couldn’t believe it had been less than a day since they’d met. He was already so comfortable with her.

  “Who’s Barry?” Even saying the other man’s name made an odd sensation occur in his chest region. Why should he care? Maybe it was someone she could go back to after they broke up.

  Lorelei started to walk down the street and Liam follo
wed, still holding her hand. When he thought she wasn’t going to answer his question, she said softly, “He was my boyfriend. I thought we were going to get married.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “’Cause he was already married.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Yeah. I was stupid.”

  Liam stopped walking and waited until she gazed up at him.

  “You weren’t stupid. You were trusting. He’s the jerk. He knew he was married, it was his mistake.”

  “Thanks. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the prevailing opinion when it all came out into the light. I was called a home-wrecker by more than one person and nearly lost my job.”

  Liam clamped his jaw together so he didn’t say something he regretted. He wanted to pound someone for treating Lorelei so badly. “Do you know any men who aren’t jerks?”

  “I know you.”

  Liam’s heart stalled. How long before he joined the jerk list? She’d already had one man lie to her.

  He should tell her. Tell her now. Except looking into her gorgeous green eyes, the words wouldn’t form. He couldn’t say good-bye. Not yet. “You know, we’ve been sightseeing all day and you haven’t bought one souvenir yet. We’re letting down the local economy, and the state will be on my back again. Let’s see what we can find in Chinatown.”

  Lorelei accepted the change in conversation willingly. It had probably been getting too heavy for her as well. “Sightseeing and shopping. This day just keeps getting better.”

  They wandered through the stores, taking turns picking out the tackiest tourist offerings.

  “Come on, every house needs a Golden Gate Bridge snow globe,” Liam said, shaking the cheap plastic ornament to see the “snow” fly all over the picture of the orange bridge.

  “Do you have one?” Lorelei cocked her head to one side.

  “Of course, on the table next to my bed. It’s the first and last thing I see every day.”

  “Liar.” Lorelei laughed—a full-bodied, loud laugh that he felt deep within himself.

  She wandered over to a rack of silk oriental-style dresses. Pulling a red one with a dragon embroidered on the fabric, she held it up against her. “What do you think?”

  “I think you’d look beautiful in it. Then again I think you’d look beautiful in that green and pink shapeless bag thing you showed me earlier as well. What did you call it, a muumuu?”

  “You’re no help, then. Do you mind waiting while I try it on?”

  “Can I help?”

  “No.”

  “Oh, all right. Although I think it’s the least you could do considering this amazing sightseeing tour I’ve given you.”

  “Go back to shaking your snow globes, mister. I’ll be less than ten minutes.”

  Liam watched her retreat to the back of the store, admiring the rear view as much as the front. He glanced at his watch and was shocked to find it was already six thirty. Where had the day gone? When he’d embarked on this charade he’d thought the dates would be worse than a never-ending meeting. Instead, he’s spent an enjoyable day with a delightful woman, and it had cost him less than a bottle of good wine. Amazing.

  He glanced up to see Lorelei striding toward him, the dress slung over her arm.

  “How’d it fit?”

  “Good. I’m going to get it. I have no idea where I’ll wear a red dress with a dragon emblazoned on the front. At least it will remind me of the best day I’ve spent in San Francisco.”

  “You’ll be surprised at some of the dress codes in this city.” He reached for the dress but Lorelei wouldn’t release it.

  “No way, I’m buying it. You’ve paid for everything else today. If I don’t pay I’m not getting it.” She looked like she might stomp her foot if he didn’t give in.

  “All right,” he said. “I’m buying you a snow globe, though.” He picked the biggest, ugliest one on the shelf and headed toward the cashier.

  After paying for their purchases, they stood on the narrow, bustling sidewalk.

  “So,” they both began at once.

  “Go ahead,” Lorelei encouraged.

  “So…um, where do you want to go for dinner?”

  “Oh, I thought you’d want to part here. You’ve given me your entire day. We don’t really have to go for dinner. Besides, I’ve been in these clothes all day. I’d like to change first.”

  “Is that a yes to dinner if you can change?”

  “I guess so.”

  “Great. One condition, though.”

  “Oh?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “No more public transit. I’ll pick you up at your place and we drive to and from the restaurant.”

  She laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. “Okay. You can drive your car.”

  …

  Lorelei started flinging off her clothes before her apartment door had fully finished closing. Her house phone rang as she stepped out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around her, she dashed for the bedroom extension. It was probably Liam with some excuse as to why they couldn’t meet.

  “Yes, hello?” She tried to put the right amount of breezy nonchalance into her voice so when he canceled their dinner she could pass it off as nothing important.

  “Where have you been? I’ve been calling your cell and house phone all day!”

  “Hola, Mama. I’ve been out on a date. Well, a sightseeing tour. It was with a man, though, so I think it counts as a date.”

  “With the same man you were with last night?”

  “Yes.”

  “See, I knew that online dating thing would work.”

  Lorelei considered telling her mother the online date had been a bust and she’d met Liam on her own. That would lead to even more questions. Questions she wasn’t ready to answer just yet.

  “Yes, Mama. You’re right. In fact, I have to go now. We’re meeting for dinner.”

  “Dinner again? Sounds serious.”

  “It’s too early to be serious,” Lorelei said as much for her own benefit as her mother’s.

  “When can I come out and meet him?”

  “Madre, don’t you dare!”

  “All right, all right. But call me tomorrow or I’ll be on the next plane out.”

  “Good-bye, Mama. Te quiero.”

  Glancing at the clock, she discovered she had only twenty minutes left before Liam arrived. She flung her towel on the floor and rummaged through the clothes on the bed, finally settling on a pair of black pants and a sparkly black top. It was casual enough if they went to a pub and fancy enough for a decent restaurant.

  As she thought back on the wonderful day she’d spent with him, a sense of doubt invaded her happiness. How come he wasn’t already with someone? He was perfect boyfriend material. She put her doubts aside as she touched up her makeup, grabbed a light jacket and her handbag, and raced down the stairs. Sure enough, Liam pulled up in an old gray car. The badge on the front proudly declared it a Ford.

  “You know, all day long I’ve been wondering about what kind of car you were so attached to. This wasn’t it,” she said as she buckled her seat belt.

  “That’s what you’ve been thinking about all day?” He turned those amazing brown eyes on her and heat invaded her cheeks. Okay, so imagining kissing him and running her fingers through his hair was what she’d really been wondering about, but the car thing was an easier topic to discuss.

  “Yup. You seem to love your car so much. Having seen it, though, I think you must be delusional.” Which would account for why he seems to like me.

  “Well, this isn’t my car. My car, which I do love, is in the, uh, garage. I borrowed this from a friend.”

  “A friend lent you this?” The car didn’t look like it would make it to the end of the block.

  “He’s not a good friend,” Liam added with a chuckle.

  “So, where are we going? I didn’t know what to wear. I hope this is okay.”

  He took his eyes off the road long enough to give her a thorough inspection. “You’re beautif
ul, as always. A friend recommended a new restaurant called Khara.”

  “I hope it wasn’t the same friend who lent you the car.”

  “No. It was a friend with taste. He said the sunset and the view of the bridge are spectacular. He’s a friend of the owner and has reserved us a prime spot on the balcony.”

  …

  Liam drove around for ten minutes before he found a spot to park, a block away from the restaurant. Really he should leave the car in the middle of the road and let the city tow it away. He had no idea where David had found the hunk of junk, but he’d obviously bought it to annoy Liam. God, he missed the Aston. He’d have to visit it tomorrow, run his hands over the sleek black lines, hear the engine growl…

  “There it is, across the road,” Liam said as he spotted the elegantly scripted restaurant sign. The place seemed okay. Jason had recommended it as it was run by a fellow graduate of his culinary class, and he’d helped out in the kitchen when they were short-staffed.

  Liam grabbed Lorelei’s hand and, after checking to make sure there were no cars coming, was about to step into the road.

  “Wait, we can’t jaywalk,” Lorelei said. She planted her feet on the sidewalk and wouldn’t move. “There’s a pedestrian crossing just up the street. We can cross there.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Liam was astounded that she objected to jaywalking. There was no traffic coming; it was safe to go. He would never put her life in jeopardy.

  “Liam, laws are laws. You can’t simply decide which ones are convenient, and follow those. First it’s jaywalking, what’s next? Armed robbery?”

  He opened his mouth to argue that there was no correlation between the two, but seeing the adamant flash in her eyes and her set jaw, he relented. Two minutes to walk up the road and back again for her peace of mind was worth it. She obviously had an issue with criminal activity on any scale based on her father’s actions. He sure hoped she never found out about some of his extracurricular activities, past and present.