"I give it five years, max," Liam said, toasting the happy couple.
"You're just jealous that it's never going to be you," Asa replied, sipping from her bubbly champagne.
"Me, jealous of them?" Liam looked incredulous. "Just look at them, it's disgusting."
Her eyes tracked the newly weds across the wooden dance floor, as Mathison drew his bride, Katherine (or 'you can call me, Kate'), closer into the beginning of a choreographed dance.
Liam turned toward Asa. "As if I'd ever want to be the unlucky man roped into learning an embarrassing dance for his wedding."
Asa nodded, conceding his point. The way they were dancing left something to be desired.
"Maybe it wouldn't be so embarrassing if more men learnt to dance properly." She winced as Mathison did a particularly ungraceful spin.
"You know, I really don't understand men's aversion to dancing," she continued, as a knowing smile tilted the corner of her lips. "There's something so attractive about a man who knows how to move his body."
"What type of dancing are you talking about? This is so stilted and ... upright." Liam sounded disappointed, as he placed his empty champagne flute onto a tray that one of the waiters was walking by with.
Asa laughed, the decadent cadence of her voice sending a rush of warmth through Liam's body. "Oh Liam, I know you're only interested in the horizontal tango, but that would hardly be appropriate in the middle of a wedding, would it?"
Her eyes twinkled with mirth, and Liam couldn't stop his gaze from running down the gentle slope of her neck, to the plunging neckline of her dress, which revealed the rounded globes of her breasts, jiggling before him like some divine offering.
How had Liam known Asa for so long, and never admired the body she had? Liam didn't know how he'd lost sight of it (although he could hazard a guess that it was somewhere between having to play in the bath together with Mathison and only being attracted to buxom blondes, the opposite of Asa, now that he thought about it), standing with her now, Liam couldn't deny that she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. And she wasn't even naked.
Not yet, the thought winnowed through Liam's mind, but she'll be naked and ready for you soon enough.
Liam blinked, clearing his head. "As a matter of fact, I know more than the horizontal tango." He paused then added in a low whisper into her ear. "And I would be happy to give you a demonstration of all my skills."
Asa coughed into her champagne flute. Her elegance disappearing in that one act as some of the champagne she'd been in the middle of swallowing was regurgitated into the fine glass.
Liam chuckled, and he watched as a fierce blush rose to her cheeks.
"Okay, yes," she said hotly, "I would like a demonstration of your skills."
"Which one?" Liam asked, quirking an eyebrow at her. "Because really, Asa, I would have thought you knew better than to do the horizontal tango in the middle of a wedding."
If there was one thing Liam knew how to do well, it was riling Asa up. He enjoyed mincing her words back to her, it always engendered her ire, and an angry Asa made for an entertaining night.
"Your dancing," Asa said through gritted teeth, looking for a waiter with a new champagne flute.
Liam grabbed her out-stretched hand, drawing the glass closer to his lips, so he could take a gulp of the champagne.
"Wha-?" Her mouth opened into a little 'o' of surprise.
Liam grinned devilishly in answer. "Hmm, tastes like Asa," he murmured, enjoying the way her nose wrinkled in disgust as she yanked her hand out of his grip like she'd been scalded.
"You're revolting," Asa said, as she turned to put her, now empty, glass onto a serving tray. "I can't believe women actually find you attractive."
She reached for a fresh glass, but Liam whisked her away, with an arm around her waist. "No more, champagne, Asa. You wanted a demonstration, and you're getting one."
What was that saying? You get what you ask for? Asa was regretting asking for a demonstration as Liam pulled her toward the dance floor. Mathison was now swaying with his new wife, having completed the choreographed dance while they had been talking. When he saw the pace with which Liam stalked toward the dance floor with Asa in tow, he raised his eyebrows in question at Asa.
Asa had always loved the way she and Mathison seemed to communicate without words. But right now, it was a nuisance.
Are you alright? He asked. Should I whack him over the head for you?
Asa shook her head mutely in answer. No, don't worry.
Mathison's expression changed to shock. He's not going to dance with you - is he?
Asa smiled meekly. I asked for it.
Mathison's eyebrows rose higher. Asa could no longer see them because they were obscured under his hair.
Asa snorted. Stop stretching your face like that - your wife may no longer find you attractive if she sees you now.
Or at least, that's what she thought she said, until Mathison's expression shuttered and he gazed at Kate with renewed interest, steering his bride clear of their path.
Maybe he saw it - Liam and Asa in close proximity - for what it really was. Mutually Assured Destruction. And he didn't want his wife in the bomb radius.
She moved to step toward him, hoping he hadn't gotten the wrong idea, and needing to set him straight if he had, before Liam stepped in front of her, obscuring her view of Mathison. Asa sighed, she'd have to find and talk with Mathison later.
Asa was tall, tall enough that her eyes were level with Liam's luscious lips. She found herself wondering how many women he had kissed with those lips. How many women he had whispered sweet nothings to. Her blood boiled beneath her skin and she reached for his hands in a punishing grip.
"No," Liam said, "like this." He moved one of her hands to his waist and then clasped the other in his hand. The heat of his palm rocked through her, and she could imagine those hands skating over her body, alleviating the tightness of her peaked nipples, then his long fingers burying deep inside her.
What was going on with her? Why was she having such sordid thoughts about Liam? Liam who she'd know her whole life. Liam who'd she'd wingwomaned for on occasion. Not that he needed the help now, women practically leapt into his bed, falling over themselves to be another notch on his bedpost.
Asa was not one of them. In fact, now she had taken on the role of his overprotective mother, trying to shoo the women away with assurances of his aversion to commitment, and high likelihood of venereal disease, but still they kept coming.
Asa's lips twisted at the irony of that thought. Liam had kept them coming. Literally. Sometimes Asa wondered what it was like to be that assured of your prowess in bed. Or what it would be like to have someone take care of your satisfaction immeasurably, who never left you wanting. Asa never wanted to admit that she had a grudging respect for Liam's... horizontal tango... a woman had yet to complain. He always made sure it was a pleasurable experience for both.
However, Asa had never been interested in being with Liam. If anything, she'd found it easier to romanticise being with Mathison. Liam was too much like her: too twisted, too sinful and devious and impertinent. And handsome.
Asa had never been called beautiful by her stepmother, only handsome. Because she hadn't any of the classically beautiful, petite features. Her nose was proportioned to the rest of her face, yes, but no one would ever call it a button nose. Asa was only too aware of her imperfections. Growing up with someone who talked about everything they hated about you, every time you left the room (but were still within earshot) made it unavoidable.
"Hey," Liam said, jolting her out of her thoughts. "You ready for this?"
He smiled warmly at her, and the prickling words of her past faded away with his enigmatic presence. She couldn't resist smiling back. "Let's see what you can do."
"What we can do," Liam reminded her meaningfully, drawing her closer to his body, until they were practically welded together. She could feel all the hard planes of Liam through his suit, and by God, if she didn't want to taste each ridge and sinew of his body with her tongue. She couldn't help melting close to him.
Liam looked down into her brown eyes. "You're just as much a part of this as I," he whispered to her, the low rumble of his voice sending a shudder of pleasure through her. "And I wouldn't want anyone else in my arms tonight."
Asa couldn't tell if it was just her interpretation. But something about those words sounded so wrong. Not only did they allude to... other things. He sounded completely genuine. His words pushed Asa off balance, disrupting the careful banter they'd enjoyed over the years, delving into a scandalously sexual nature. Before her mind could over analyse, he swept her along with the music, guiding her to his whims.
He danced salsa, a wicked sway to his hips as they moved around the dance floor together. He led masterfully, all the while responsive to her abilities. Twisting and turning her until she longed to be back at his side. This dance had no place at a wedding.
The way their bodies moved together... Asa found it too easy to imagine their bodies moving together in other ways. Ones involving far less clothing, and without the weight of onlookers observing their every movement.
When the song ended, and Liam pulled away, Asa was trembling beside him. She was filled with so much want and a poignant knowledge that Liam would never return her feelings.
She needed to get away from him, she wouldn't let these primal urges destroy a twenty-five-year friendship.
"Satisfied?" Liam asked. She could imagine those words on his lips, after they had tangled in the sheets.
Never, Asa wanted to answer, I'll never have enough of you.
Asa seemed unable to answer his question, and he would have doubted his prowess if her eyes weren't raking up and down his body, lingering on his crotch, as if she wanted to take a ride.
"Do you find me irresistible now that we've danced?" Liam teased, trying to contain the smile creeping up his lips.
With a huff, Asa finally managed to maintain her composure, pushing away from him, and putting a respectable distance between them. He immediately missed her warmth, and the feeling of her soft curves pressing into him.
"What I'd like to know," Asa began, her eyes narrowed in suspicion as they walked off the dance floor, "Is where you learnt to dance like that, and why you never joined me for my salsa dancing nights. I could have used a partner that knew what he was doing." She almost sounded hurt.
"I learnt when my mum got sick," Liam answered quickly, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "She wanted to spend time with me, and acquire a skill that she'd always wanted to learn. So, she made me join her salsa classes."
Asa knew how this story ended, and as if she could sense his pain, she stretched her hand out to grasp his again. But this time the touch was platonic, comforting. He swallowed the lump in his throat, drawing on her strength and solidarity, to continue.
"I didn't have it in me to dance again, after... It was a too painful reminder that she wasn't there."
"I understand," Asa said softly, turning to face him. Her gorgeous face tilting up toward his with a solemn expression. She bit her lip, and his attention was drawn to her mouth. Those soft, blush coloured lips looked ripe for the taking. Immediately Liam's blood started to pound in his body, and he was rushed with another overwhelming desire, he wanted to devour her mouth with his own.
"I mean, I don't understand what it's like to lose a parent, but I understand why you wouldn't want to dance again after your mum passed away. I won't push you to dance again, if you don't want to."
"On the contrary, I think mum would have enjoyed seeing me dance with you, putting my skills to good use." Liam was struck by a thought. "She really liked you. She would have wanted us to have fun together - so if you ever want to dance together again, I'm yours."
Asa's eyes widened at his proclamation, and Liam felt the need to explain. "Dancing like that, with you, it made me feel alive."
Liam glanced away from Asa's face, feeling his eyes misting slightly. How embarrassing. Even a year after her death, whenever he thought of his mum, tears came to his eyes.
Asa moved closer to press a soft kiss on his cheek. "If you ever want to talk about her, I'm here for you. Anytime. Day or night, just let me know."
Liam managed to wheeze out a half-hearted laugh.
"I'm serious," Asa said, gripping his hand tighter. "Guys have feelings too... Liam, you don't have to be stoic and impenetrable all the time."
"Are you impenetrable Asa?" Liam asked instead, waiting for her to fall into his trap.
"No," Asa answered, blasé and unperturbed. When she saw the suggestive look that he was giving her she laughed. "Oh you pig! Just when I think I've gotten you off the sex train, you jump right back on board."
Liam drew her closer, tilting her face up with his free hand. "It would be more than sex with you Asa."
Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment, her long lashes brushing downwards. When she opened them and looked into his eyes again, her voice was brimming with emotion, like she was spiralling out of control. "Liam," she whispered, before finding her voice again. "What are we doing?"
Liam dropped his hold on her hand to trail his fingers up her arm, delighting in the shiver that ran through her body at his touch, over the golden slope of her shoulder, until he was cupping her face gently in both hands. Cherishing this beautiful woman, who knew his flaws, but was there for him anyway.
"What we should have done years ago," Liam murmured in response, seeing her eyes dilate as he bent his head to claim her lips with his own.
"Oh you too are just gorgeous!" A voice pitched to her left, and Asa was thrown by the sound, she'd been so absorbed by Liam she had forgotten they were in a crowded room. Beyond her shock, Asa was surprised by the sudden surge of anger that she felt toward the intrusion. They hadn't managed to kiss after all that prelude.
Asa tried to move a respectable distance from Liam, but he wrapped an arm around her waist that had her falling into his wide chest.
"Mrs Calloway, lovely to see you again," Liam said. "What do you think of your son's wedding?"
Erin Calloway waved her hand. "It's been lovely and predictable, but you two are a dream come true! Your mother and I always guessed that you and Asa would end up together. I'm only sad that she didn't get to see it."
"As am I," Liam answered smoothly. "Asa is the one for me."
"So how long has this been going on?" Erin looked gleeful at learning the secrets of their non-existent romantic relationship. "When did you know?"
Liam smiled at Asa, and for the first time Asa felt like she was privy to his thoughts. Just go with it, his expression of mischief urged.
Asa looked at Liam in terror. There was no way she would be able to regale Erin with any details regarding them. She was a terrible liar. But she also felt wary of telling everyone that they were involved, when tomorrow, after he had had a bit of fun, Liam would be done with her. What would they say then? What would they think?
"For a while," Liam said ambiguously. "But we wanted to keep it secret until after Mathison and Kate were married." He said confidentially, "We didn't want to steal their thunder."
"Oh that's just beautiful. Asa, you're so lucky to have such a wonderful man to call your own."
"So lucky," Asa intoned, her voice dry, as she looked into Liam's eyes, shaking her head disapprovingly. There was no way that Mathison would not hear about this, and know they were full of shit.
That's it, Asa decided, she was ending this ruse. "Erin, it's not what you think, Liam and I aren't really -"
"Aren't really sure how Mathison will take it," Liam interjected.
What?
"You know how he had that crush on Asa for a few years."
"Yes," Erin sighed. "He was completely besotted. But luckily he's happily married now."
Mathison had been in love with her? Asa was stunned that this was her first time hearing about it.
"It really wouldn't be in good taste to rub it in his face, but when Asa asked me to -"
There was only one way that Asa could think of to call Liam out on his game.
"To marry me," Asa interjected.
Liam was a commitment phobic - there was no way he would even pretend to entertain the illusion. He was a sceptic to the whole conversation of marriage. Asa would know, they had spent the whole ride on the way here arguing about whether Mathison and Kate would last.
There was a pause in the conversation, then Liam's grip tightened on her waist, cinching her to his side. Liam smiled at her, his teeth gleaming. "I said yes. How could I not? She is amazing, and I want to be with her for the rest of my life."
Erin pressed her hands to her heart. She looked like she was going to faint from the news.
"Asa was just carried away by the emotion of Mathison's wedding, and wanted us to have an everlasting love. Right, gorgeous?"
"Right," Asa uttered, feeling rudderless, trying to find her feet beneath her to walk away, before this got even more out of hand.
"Would you give us a moment?" Liam asked Erin. Without waiting for an answer, he led Asa away.
Liam could see that he was losing Asa, her face seemed frozen in a cordial smile. He knew that what they were playing at was a ruse, but he was gripped by a sudden urge that he desperately wanted it to be true. He wanted Asa and him to be together, for real.
If only she would feel the same. He led her into the entryway, out of sight of the gathered wedding guests. They were partially obscured by the fronds of a large indoor plant.
"I can't do this," Asa said, once they'd stopped. Her eyes furtively glancing back toward the gathered guests.
"We can," Liam said reassuringly, dipping his head to look directly into her burnished brown eyes.
Her mouth downturned, and Liam felt a pang in his chest at her reaction to a relationship with him. Was it really such an unsavoury prospect?
"I want to stop this ruse, now. We can't lie to Erin like that, she's Mathison's mother. She's bound to tell him and then everyone will know that you don't really want me."
"Hey," Liam challenged. "Who said I didn't want you?" He slid a hand behind the back of her neck, cradling her closer.
Asa shook her head, a little crease line forming between her eyebrows.
He whispered precariously above her lips. "Don't you remember? You proposed to me, and I accepted."
There she was, Liam thought, as her frown lines disappeared and a small smile broke across her lips.
"Liam," Asa said, her voice an agonising mixture of admonishment and anticipation. A sigh escaped her lips, and it made Liam's head spin at the thought of more of those tender sounds escaping her, when she was sated and languid in his arms. In his bed.
"Asa," Liam parried in response, an edge of teasing in his voice, before letting his voice drop lower, more sensual. "That's it, gorgeous, just like that."
He knew the gravelly edge of his voice would tip her over the dangerous edge she was clinging to, refusing to give into the desire pulsing between them.
Asa licked her lips, her tongue flashing out. "Like what?" she asked.
"I want you to say my name like that tonight."
Asa melted in his arms, her soft curves pressing into him, as he gathered her in his arms.
"Scratch that," Liam shook his head ruefully. "You'll say my name and make those sounds every day of the rest of our lives."
A gasp escaped Asa, as her eyes twinkled. "You're ambitious."
Liam grinned. "I aim to please." His gaze dropped lower, at the bosom pressed against his chest. "And to pleasure."
"Stop teasing me Liam," Asa said after a moment of hesitation. "I don't want to be your plaything."
Liam slackened his arms around her a bit; he didn't want her to feel trapped. "You'll never be a plaything to me Asa... you'd be my wife."
Asa didn't pull away. While she remained dubious of his words, at least she didn't seem to distrust the way he held her, the pull of their bodies together.
Liam didn't want to let this opportunity slip away. He was worried that if he released Asa without convincing her, she'd never let him in again, never make those surprised gasps, lick her lips in anticipation or say his name in a way that made him instantly aroused.
Now that he had seen how things could be between him and Asa, how much more their friendship could become, he didn't want to step back and become 'just friends' again.
But he would do it, if that's what she wanted.
"Give me a chance to convince you?" Liam asked, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
Asa nodded, as a wicked smile curved the corners of her lips. "I've always wondered..."
If that wasn't a flashing sign of her desire for him, her next words obliterated any doubts.
"What your lips would feel like against mine." Her eyes fixated on his lips. "If you are as masterful as everyone has said."
Liam frowned, as the words stabbed a doubt inside him. Was this just an experiment for her?
How would he know if she wanted him for more than this kiss? How could he convince her that he was more than that? Would he even make a good boyfriend to her? A good husband? What had he been suggesting to fulfilling for her? He didn't know how to be anything better than an almost lover.
She wasn't like the others, Liam determined, steeling himself. Whatever it took, he wouldn't let her trust in him shatter. He would be the best he could be, for her, and selfishly for himself as well - so she wouldn't ever look elsewhere.
"I don't need any more convincing than you right here," Liam told her. "But if I kiss you now you have to promise me that we will have a honeymoon."
Asa's expression crinkled in confusion. "Don't you need to be married before you have a honeymoon?"
"Details, details, besides you already proposed, remember?"
Asa's eyes shuttered in doubt, as if she was thinking back to that moment, and trying to determine if that did merit as a proposal. "I don't think that counted."
"In that case," Liam dropped to one knee before her, "Marry me, Asa?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Asa tugged on his outstretched hand to pull him up. He stayed resolutely stuck to the floor.
"I will walk away," Asa said, a steely edge to her voice that had Liam relenting and standing again.
"That's just it, Asa. I don't want you to walk away." Liam searched her eyes earnestly. "If you can't agree to marrying me, can you at least agree to the honeymoon? I'll arrange the tickets and everything, please just take a week off work to spend with me, as if we were having a real honeymoon."
"I don't know." Asa looked uncertainly around the entryway, avoiding his gaze. "Can't you just trust me? That if I want this, I'll tell you?"
Liam shook his head. "All I've heard is that you want an experiment, not me."
"Of course I want to experiment with you," Asa laughed, moving closer to him, her hands spreading up his chest to gather at the nape of his neck, until her fingers tangled in his hair. "But that's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried that you'll treat me as one of your one night stands - leave me desperate to be with you.
"I don't want to ruin our friendship for that. I don't want you making overly superfluous declarations to marry me - when you don't even believe in marriage. I don't trust what you're saying tonight Liam, it's-" she looked frustrated, searching for the correct word to use "- not like you. I want you."
She gathered her breath, before launching into her argument. "I want the Liam who hates the thought of marriage, who argues the merits of drinking straight from the carton instead of a glass, who advocates his bloody solar panels when his mates come over to watch a footy game, who challenges me when I'm complaining about a situation I have power over, who holds me when I'm crying over someone I can't change."
She pressed her lips to his, a soft touch, there one moment, gone the next. "I want you, Liam. Everything you are now, and everything you will be."
"Say yes, then," Liam groaned.
"To marrying you?" Asa sounded affronted. "Didn't we just -"
"To our honeymoon. After I spend a week sexing you, you won't have this ridiculous notion that I only want you as a one-night stand."
"Liam!" Asa said again, her voice that mixture of admonishment and anticipation that left him instantly ready to stake his claim on her.
"Is that a yes?" Liam asked, feathering a soft kiss on her collarbone, then trailing kisses up her neck.
"Oh," Asa murmured in reply, and when he reached her lips to caress them with his own, he couldn't help smiling at the openness in her expression, her eyes shut and her lips pliant and soft.
His lips brushed hers, softly in question, before he began to kiss her with increasing pressure. When he moved away, she pulled him back in with her hands still threaded in his hair, her tongue flashing out to caress the tip of his lip. With a groan, he pressed his advantage, until his tongue danced with hers, and he felt a rush of pleasure flood his body.
His hands skimmed along the length of her body, dipping dangerously into the curves of her hips, to her back, skimming the outline of her underwear beneath the silky fabric of her dress. She gave a little mew of delight.
That sound fuelled his desire, and he wrestled with his control.
He wanted to back her into the wall, hoist her up until she wrapped her legs around his waist and allowed him entrance to the heaven between her thighs.
His hands reluctantly retreated to safer waters, one threading into her hair, musing her carefully stylised hairdo, the other brushing the underside of her breast.
She mumbled something incoherent against his lips.
"What was that?" Liam asked, pulling away, even though everything in him was aching for another taste. At least he could gaze at her this way. Liam took satisfaction in the reddened quality of her lips, her lazily lidded eyes as if she was still subsumed with pleasure, her hair in an artful disarray that announced loudly to anyone that would see her later tonight that she was his. As he was hers.
He smiled at that thought.
"Yes," Asa said.
That one word made him grin. She'd agreed.
"You're insufferable," she said, when she saw his expression.
"And you want me anyway," he teased, delighting in the blush that suffused her cheeks before he put her out of her misery, and kissed her again.
She didn't know what she was getting herself into. But then again, neither did he. He only knew that they would be in it together.