Page 92 of Seeking Stars
"Hi guys," Ana exclaimed to the room. "This is Liam. My— My boyfriend."
Liam squeezed her hand, as if approving of his title. The gathering fell into silence in stages.
"Hi, nice to meet you all," Liam said to her side. Ana glanced at him; his smile was wide and spectacular as he greeted everyone, and he looked amazing in a forest green shirt and dark wash jeans. He looked exactly like the star he was.
Ana watched the room at large, noting the amount of people staring at them, immobile.
"Who's Christina?" Liam asked the room.
Christina, her eyes wide, stood and waved.
"Hi, I'm Christina." She approached Ana and Liam. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too. Thanks for having us." Liam shook her hand and offered her a bottle of Scotch. "Here, we brought this. I was just in Edinburgh and loved this one."
"Thank you," she replied, taking the bottle from him and leading them to the kitchen. "Here, let's go pour you some."
As soon as they'd turned the corner into the kitchen, the room behind them exploded in excited chatting. Liam and Ana snickered at each other.
"That went well," he said, winking at Ana, grabbing her hand again.
***
An hour and a half later, Ana sat next to Liam on the couch after chatting with almost everyone in the room. Maggie and her girlfriend had let Liam know he was one of the patron actors for women who love women and had asked him for several pictures; after that, he'd taken pictures with almost each party guest. Ana got included on most photos but, when she didn't, people invariably took her to the side to express either shock or awe that she was dating Liam, and asked her a thousand questions about how she ended up with him. When not taking pictures, people got curious about the film industry, but Liam had seemed comfortable enough talking to them about it. Ana had been the one to get tired of it first, it seemed.
Now, sitting but still surrounded by people, she needed a break. It took a while longer for a lull to occur but, as soon as one happened, she leaned closer to him and spoke to his ear.
"I'm going to run to the washroom. Are you okay staying, or do you want to come with me?"
He glanced at her with a blank look.
"I'll go with you," he said.
She got up and led him to Christina's room, appreciating that she knew her and her house well enough that she could take that kind of liberty. Now that she had escaped the noise and attention, she leaned against the dresser and sighed, tugging Liam at the waist to bring him close. She rested her head on his chest.
"I don't know how you do this," she told him.
"Do what?"
She lifted her head to gaze at him. "Deal with the attention."
"Oh. I thought there was something completely different in your mind."
"What do you mean?"
He didn't respond, but gave her a sly smile. She would have asked for clarification but he held her head with both hands, lifting it to him, and kissed her hard.
She was slow to catch up with him, shocked. He insisted, his thumbs moving on her face in an arc. Her hands came to rest on his big arms.
"Yes?" she said, as if he'd just said her name.
His chuckle vibrated low. "Was the need to use the washroom an excuse?"
The twinkle in his eye told her enough. "You thought I wanted to escape for a quickie?"
"I thought it was a ruse to seduce me and get me to have sex with you again."
"I did not think of that. And I would not use Christina's bed for that— ever."
