6|Used & Oddly Betrayed

It was past midday when Liam finally came out of his postcoital coma. He expected to find Eden beside him; it wouldn't be the first time his hookups overstayed their welcome.

But when he turned onto his side and found her spot empty, he was strangely confused.

He sat up and groaned. His pounding head made worse by the glaring light bursting through the floor to ceiling windows as his butler flicked the switch on the wall to draw the blinds.

"Christ, Dave, do you mind?"

"I'm sorry, Sir, you have been summoned to the house. Your father wants to see you immediately."

"Tell him I can't see him today," Liam groaned as he gladly accepted the hangover cure and two Aspirins. He had a feeling he'd need something stronger than an Aspirin if his father has his way.

"He needs you home in an hour," Dave said and turned to leave.

Liam stopped him, "Handle Eden for me."

"She's gone already, Sir."

"What do you mean gone?" Liam asked, stunned by his butler's announcement.

"Exactly that, Sir."

"Did she cause a scene?" They always did. He wouldn't be surprised if Eden had too.

"No, Sir. She seemed eager to leave. She practically ran out of the house. If it were up to her, she would have left in an Uber–"

"That makes no sense," Liam shook his head. He didn't usually bring women home; his life on the track kept him busy enough. But the ones he did, and especially after they find out what he does, he always had to make them leave. Sometimes security had to step in too.

"Are you sure it was Eden? Brown hair, petite, cute, this short?" He asked, describing Eden and demonstrating her height with his hand.

Dave nodded.

Liam was sure there's some miscommunication between him and the butler. He held out his hand for his robe, baffled by this turn of events. He threw it on and slipped out of bed.

He padded downstairs, checking the living room and dining area. When he didn't find Eden, he stepped onto the patio, convinced she's lazing in the heated pool.

But there was no sign of the mousey librarian anywhere, and it blew his mind. He didn't see it coming, Eden sneaking off while he slept. He should have been happy that she'd saved him the trouble of making awkward small talk after a hookup, but he wasn't. Maybe because she didn't strike him as someone who'd up and leave, not with that temper and the bold way she came on to him.

He'd expected her to start thinking their one time, never to be repeated experience could lead to a more permanent solution. And to let her down gently, he'd already resolved to take her shopping, let her choose the shiniest diamond necklace she can find and drop her off at her duplex somewhere. She had one-bedroom duplex vibes all over her.

Who the hell does she think she is? Liam fumed as he retraced his steps back to the master bedroom. The idea that a woman who was way below his league, in looks and wealth, saw it fit to use him for sex and walk out on him filled him with anger he's never known before.

He sat on the edge of the bed and thought back to last night.

Admittedly it wasn't the best sex he ever had. But he loved the way she'd responded to him. It was crazy to think they'd just met, but her body knew him. She came alive at his touch, and he liked the way she had moaned out his name like no woman ever had. She seemed happy to be in his arms. So, for her to run off without so much as a thank you, or a goodbye was soul-crushing to say the least.

He felt used and oddly betrayed. Two emotions he never thought he'd feel after a hookup.

Dave came back with more stunning revelations as he placed Eden's clothes on the bed. "She left these."

"Woah! Was she in such a hurry to get away from me she left naked?" Liam was almost shouting now.

Who was this woman, but more importantly was his lovemaking so terrible she couldn't even wait to at least throw on some clothes before she left? At that moment, Liam felt vulnerable and a little insecure. No woman had ever snuck off like this after spending a night with him.

"No, Sir, she was in your shirt and her coat," Dave explained. "Mrs Stone washed her clothes after she left."

Liam breathed a sigh of relief at Dave's words. At least he wasn't so terrible; she didn't run off naked. But-

He glared at the older man, "she left in my shirt, you say?"

Dave nodded and excused himself, and Liam shook his head. She was bold, this Eden. He had to find her and make her explain herself.

He glared at her dress and the pink lacy panties. What the hell was he supposed to do with them now?

Still hungover and certainly in no mood to entertain his father, Liam returned to the warmth of his bed and passed out again, oddly comforted by the smell of his lovemaking with Eden lingering on his sheets.

Dave jolted him awake again sometime after 3:00 PM, with a final notice from his father. If he didn't make an appearance within an hour, Clarke Liam Anderson Senior would have no choice but to come over and hash things out with him.

Liam knew he wasn't kidding. He reluctantly dragged himself out of bed and took a shower, spending a ridiculously amount of time under the soothing sprays to delay the dreaded meeting for a little while longer.

To say he and his father have a love-hate relationship was an understatement. When things were good between them, they were the best of friends. But when they were bad, as they have been over the past several weeks, one would swear they were enemies.

The source of their conflict was the company's succession plan. His father had decided to step down as CEO, and Liam would have to fill his enormous shoes as soon as Monday.

Still irritated at being summoned, Liam stepped out of the shower and dried himself, noticing for the first time a hickey on his neck as he toweled off in front of the mirror. He was angered anew by Eden's boldness. As if leaving him wasn't bad enough, she had to brand him too.