Not If I Date You First

Chapter 16

"Where to?" The driver calls from the front seat. I wait for Elodie to give him her address, but she's too caught up talking to Wesley to pay any attention. I rattle off directions to my brownstone and recline back against the headrest, pressing a hand to my still-pounding heart.

"Not as easy on this side of the camera as you thought, huh?" The smirk on Liam's face is smug, kindling sparks of annoyance in my gut, which are only fueled by all the conflicted emotions roiling through me.

"Listen, Brad Pitt," I jab a finger at him, "that was bananas out there, but it's way harder to be the person who has to take the pictures."

No matter how intense having all those cameras trained on me was, I now know firsthand that having to stand in the middle of a throng like that while attempting to get sellable shots is almost impossible.

Liam scoffs. "Yeah, right."

I lean forward, elbows resting against my knees. "You couldn't hack it as a paparazzo for five minutes."

Liam mimics my posture, bending in, so we're sitting much too close together on the back seat. "Is that a challenge?"

"Oh, it's absolutely a challenge. Have you ever done a day of actual work in your life?"

"I've been working fifty-plus hour weeks since I was fifteen years old."

"I mean real work, not reading lines and pretending to be someone else. Being a photog means chasing celebrities around the city in ninety-degree weather and doing whatever it takes to get a photo. You couldn't hang."

"Name a time and place, picture girl."

"Liam—" Briggs warns from the front seat.

"You busy tomorrow?" I ask.

"Actually, no. They're filming Faye and Wesley's scenes all day."

"Great. Meet me at the 1st Avenue L station near East Village at eight o'clock."

"Station? As in subway station?" Liam's eyes go wide.

"Let me guess, you've never ridden the subway before have you?"

"I have. It's just...been a minute."

"I'm sure." I scoff. "So are you in, Superstar, or are you too scared?"

"Oh, I'm in." Liam turns the full force of that smile on me, and I feel the lightest brush of a butterfly's wing inside my chest.

"The subway? Liam, you can't be serious," Briggs groans from the front seat.

"Briggs, get on board," Liam calls to him. "This is happening." He returns his attention to me. "So what do I get if I win?"

"If you win?"

"This is a bet, isn't it? What do I get if I can hang with you all day as a photog?"

I narrow my eyes at him. "What do you want?"

"I want you to kiss me."

My heart comes to a screeching halt. "Excuse me?"

"Not for real obviously." Liam shrugs. "Just something to make sure the paps believe this thing between us is legit."

I hesitate, and Liam stares at me, waiting for an answer. His eyes skitter over my face, making my stomach cartwheel. A muscle works in his jaw, and I have the strangest urge to run my fingers over it.

The car swerves and the driver lays on his horn, muttering something about idiot cabbies. I puff out my cheeks, heaving a sigh. I could end up regretting this, but there's no way Liam's going to be able to handle working as a pap for an entire day.

"And what do I get when I win?"

"I'll take both of you," Liam gestures between Elodie and me, "to a party at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Plaza this weekend."

"I know where the Rainbow Room is," I snap. It's one of the glitziest celebrity watering holes in the city. I could get some spectacular pictures there.

"Deal," I agree, holding my hand out for him to shake.

"Oh, hell yes!" Elodie high-fives Wesley, of course choosing that moment to start listening to our conversation. Wesley puts an arm around her, and she gazes up at him with absolute stars in her eyes. A lead weight settles in my gut. I orchestrated this whole charade, and it's tricky enough for me to keep the line between what's real and what's pretend from blurring. Elodie jumps into everything wholeheartedly. If she lets her imagination run wild with ideas of her and Wesley, she could seriously get hurt.

Liam notices me watching the two of them and frowns. He tilts his head, so his mouth is right next to my hair. "I'm not throwing shade on my boy, but she does know he's kind of a player, right?" He seems genuinely concerned for her, which does unexpected things to my heart rate and makes me even more worried about Els.

"I really hope so."

Liam clears his throat. "I should probably get your number."

I blink at him. "You want my number? Why?"

Liam laughs. "Relax. It'll be a lot easier to meet up tomorrow if I can call you. I'll text you, so you've got mine too."

"That makes sense...I guess." My eyebrows pinch together because it sort of doesn't. Liam could message me on social media anytime. Celebrities don't give out their numbers lightly. It's strange that he'd want me, a paparazzo, to have it. But I give him my number, and he types it into his phone. When we pull up in front of my building, I thank Briggs and the driver and unbuckle my seatbelt. Liam reaches over and unclips his too, reaching for the door handle like he's going to get out of the car.

"What are you doing?" I blurt.

"Um..." He glances up at my building.

"There aren't any out cameras here." I motion at the empty street. Other than the glow coming from the windows of the brownstones and the old-fashioned lampposts, everything is dark and still. "I don't need you to walk me to the door."

"Right. Of course, you don't." Liam sits back. "I'll see you tomorrow then." He rubs a hand over the back of his neck, almost like he's embarrassed. If he were anyone else, it would be sort of adorable.

"Yeah, you will." The words come out sounding more flirtatious than I intended, and heat creeps up my chest. "I'm gonna go now." I turn to climb out.

"Hey, Ace?" Liam calls. I look back at him. The blue of his eyes is almost luminescent in the light of the streetlamp. "Yeah?"

"Have a good night." He shoots me one of those trademark crooked grins of his.

"Uh, you too." I shut the door before the flurry of emotion that grin ignites can register on my face. It's not until Elodie and I are halfway to the door that I realize I forgot to try and get any details about his past out of him.