Page 28 of Love in Times of Contempt

With a relieved smile settling on his lips, Liam brought Ana close to him, arms around her waist and hands down on her ample ass. It not being enough, he scrunched the towel up to get it out of the way, and filled his hands with soft, naked, generous flesh.

"You smell amazing," he said.

Ana arched an eyebrow. "And I need to get ready to go out with Ely. She'll threaten to break up with me if I'm late. She's looking forward to this."

"Okay, okay. I'll go." He gave her a resigned sigh.

He stole one more kiss before getting out of their bedroom, a smile on his face, confidence grounding his step.

Chapter Ten

THE NEXT FEW DAYS went by in a flash. Three days before Liam and Ana were scheduled to fly to Toronto, they signed a lease for their office space and were busy planning the set up. As they did all of that, Liam couldn't help but be optimistic. Alex seemed to be really considering this option. He'd been giving opinions about what might work for an office space, and peppered them with questions about the company as they drove around the city. Grumbling, but he'd participated.

That night, they had decided to attend a restaurant opening. Jen was a much better fit for Liam than Coulton ever was but, one thing Jen had in common with his old agent, was her insistence that he get seen. Once in a while, Jen and the PR team would pull their strings and set up a thing or two for him to go to. Lately, Liam had made them all very happy by requesting for events himself.

Networking was a lot easier when he did it with a personal purpose.

Holding hands with Ana, he greeted people he knew, and moved through the big open room slowly. He didn't get a chance to study the decor details, but the soft warm light and bassy electronic music made for a sultry atmosphere. People milled around the place, with an impressive mural of LA as the backdrop, a mixed media piece in different textures and the skyline in metal. He introduced both Ana and Ely and casually mentioned Jump Cannon every chance he got; Alex had escaped them, finding their table and hiding on his phone.

After half an hour of socializing, Liam, Ana, and Ely joined him.

"That was great!" Ely's smile shone across the table. "I'm so glad to have you as a trailblazer, Liam. Without your contacts this would be a mountain to climb."

He nodded. "Without my contacts, this would be almost impossible. But I do know people, and Ana is amazing at what she does, so I think we have an actual shot at this."

Ana's eyes sparkled, her smile generous. She leaned into him and kissed his cheek. "What you and I do is only half of the equation."

"What I've gathered to date about the structure of the company is a smart strategy, too, I think," Alex said to Liam's surprise. "You can bring other producers on board or keep it small; either way, it's scalable."

"They are smart people, Sandy." Ely smirked in Alex's direction. Liam had to bite his lips at her nickname for Alex. At some point in the past three days, Ely had started calling himSandy. Liam wasn't sure why or when it had happened, but he knew his brother had to hate it. It was probably the reason she used it. Ely gazed at Ana and Liam instead. "I'm so excited for everything we can do with Jump Cannon."

Alex rolled his eyes but said nothing. "Is the Manager of Operations expected to go network, too?"

"Yes, especially when Liam and I are not available," Ana replied. "Especially in the beginning."

Alex nodded and stared at a water fixture nearby. A server came to take their orders for food and drinks, and bring water for them all.

"So, what's next?" Ely asked once they were gone.

"Ana and I need to prep for the premiere and other events in Toronto." Liam sipped some water. "You will stay at our place, of course, until you're ready to move and your parents get here with your stuff. We signed the lease for the office we chose effective tomorrow; Mo will pick up the keys and bring them to us."

"We'll get the place furnished over the weekend." Ana directed her words at Ely. "But you'll have to be on call to help handle that stuff. You know, handle calls from the movers if they need anything. The way we organized it, they're taking all the stuff into the office on Saturday and, on Sunday, they will be there to move things around according to your directions. They won't do much with the decor, though."

"Sounds good." Ely nodded. "My top priority is to get an assistant. I'll focus on that tomorrow morning and on Monday. I have three finalists for the role, and I'll need someone helping me out next week."

"I'll be able to help you once we're back from Toronto," Ana said.

"I had to pack next week full of meetings, after we return from Canada." Liam reached for Ana's hand on the table, squeezing it to gain resolve. He glanced at Alex. "Mostly virtual, but still a lot of my time is tied up. I can help randomly, here and there, but perhaps it's best if you pretend I won't be there for most of it… though Alex might be."

Silence landed around them. Ely and Ana turned to study Alex as well. Liam's stomach knotted up, just as Ana comforted him by turning her hand, interlocking fingers with his, and squeezing back. They needed Alex's answer, and the question of his participation was implicit in Liam's words.

"Let's imagine I say yes," Alex said and Ely groaned. Liam would have found humor in the exchange at any other time, but not while he waited with baited breath. "I'd have to sign the contract with Carruthers, then meet with Elena a bunch of times, create a few drafts for the way both our departments would interact, and then all of us get together to finalize the structure, right?"

"Right." Liam stared at his brother, a frown weighing his eyebrows down. "C'mon. It's a good opportunity for you. I think you'd be great for it… and I'd like to have you around."

Alex pursed his lips. "I hate all the Hollywood stuff."

They all waited for him to add more, to relent and give them an answer.