by Lauren Dane
Liv turned to Cassie, ready to be upset but just let out her breath in a sigh. “Fine. I don’t think we’ll have any more dates.”
“What? I mean aside from the fact that you’re in love with Marc and all?”
“You’re on a roll tonight aren’t ya, California girl? Sheesh.”
“It’s July again. I freaking hate July in Petal. It’s so hot. Makes me pissy.”
Liv laughed. “Not as hot as August.”
“I hate August even more than July. But there are plusses to August. Nice parties. Thank goodness we have good air conditioning. Back to Rancher Bill?” Cassie’s face was amused as she munched on her fries.
“He’s a nice guy but he’s not right for me. He doesn’t do anything for me physically. It’s not like he’s bad or anything, he’s just got no moves.”
“You had sex with him?” Maggie’s mouth dropped open.
Liv’s eyes went wide, offended. “No. I’m having sex with Marc. I’m not a skank. Jeez. But I wasn’t even tempted. I mean, he can’t be Mister Right if I’m not even tempted can he? I don’t think so.”
“Is that the new standard then? If you feel like tossing Marc out of bed for him, that’s the dude? Sounds pretty crass, Liv. Oh, I know! How about you just stop this and admit Marc is Mister Right?”
“A few years in town and you’re suddenly all uppity,” Liv grumbled into her beer.
“I was uppity before I came to Petal.” Cassie laughed.
“It’s why I like you so much. Anyway, Bill and I had a talk at the restaurant.”
Maggie’s eyes widened. “Really now? What about? He didn’t ask you to marry him?”
Liv laughed. “No.”
As a matter of fact, she and Bill had been sitting there at dinner, drinking some wine and listening to the piano music when he’d looked her straight in the eye and said, “This can’t work, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Liv, I like you an awful lot and you’re nice to me. Sweet. I like your laugh. Sexy even. But you’re in love with Marc Chase. Any fool could see it.”
She’d nearly choked on her wine then. “What? He and I are friends. We date. I’m not in love with him.”
Bill laughed then. “Olivia, one of the most attractive things about you is how straightforward you are. Blunt. You’re take charge, you don’t play games like other women do. But if you can’t see you’re in love with the man, you’re not as straightforward as I thought. Or maybe you’re defending your heart so hard you can’t see your nose to spite your face. Is that it?”
Liv wished then that she’d been attracted to him. He was compassionate and smart. But not Marc. Damn. He was right.
He’d waited, watching her as she scrambled to process what he’d said, trying to deny it.
He smiled a bit sadly. “I do wish you and I had something because you’re going to make Marc a fine wife. He’s a lucky man. You’re beautiful but scared aren’t you?”
“I’m a big girl. I am, however, sorry if I led you on. I truly wanted it to work. You’re attractive, smart, good. You’re a very good man. But I don’t know if I can overcome my really questionable taste in men. I seem to have a terrible addiction to men who are never going to make a commitment to me.”
Raising a glass to her he shook his head. “As much as I’d like to run Marc down, I’ve seen the way he looks at you. The man is in love with you, Olivia. You’re not like the other women he’s squired around. But if he hurts you? I’ll be here. After I kick his ass.”
He’d taken her home and she’d cried herself to sleep.
But she didn’t tell Cassie and Maggie any of it because she was afraid to say it out loud. Afraid to believe it could be real.
“He knew we weren’t right for each other. He was very nice about it. But as I keep telling you both, this thing with Marc and me is just a nice fling. He’s a wonderful friend and I like him a lot. The sex is amazing but we all know he’s not the forever type.”
“No matter how many times you say that, Liv, it’s only you who thinks so. I watch Marc with you every Sunday, every Friday and I think he looks an awful lot like a man who’s invested in forever. I’ve never pegged you for a woman who would go out of her way to avoid happiness. It’s sort of annoying because you’re damned smart.” Cassie looked over and her face lit up as Shane waved. “That’s my cue. I’m going to go kick their asses at pool. Maggie, honey, you’re looking pale. Go home and rest.” Cassie kissed Maggie’s cheek.
“My due date isn’t for two weeks now. I don’t want to pull Kyle away from his game.”
Liv rolled her eyes at Cassie who shook her head. “You’re full term now they said. I didn’t go to all those birthing classes and watch those films of women squatting while giving birth to have you ignore your health.”
“The shower is tomorrow anyway. A full day with Polly, you’ll need the sleep.” Cassie winked.
“You’re right. Okay.”
“I’ll send Kyle over and I’ll see you tomorrow,” Cassie called over her shoulder as she headed back.
Marc watched his sister-in-law approach. “Damn, Shane, your wife is something else.”
Shane smacked him on the head with his cue. “Knock it off.”
Cassie stood on tiptoes to kiss Shane and looked around him to Kyle. “Take your wife home. She’s exhausted and the shower is tomorrow.”
“Is she okay?”
The panic in Kyle’s voice tore at Marc. Loving someone that much, so much that you worried for their health and now the health of the life she carried used to scare him. But despite the fear, Marc saw the glow about his brother too.
Cassie touched Kyle’s arm gently. “She’s fine. But she’s thirty-eight weeks pregnant, hon. It takes a lot of energy to gestate and it’s hot. Take her home, have her put her feet up and make sure she keeps drinking water. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Kyle put his cue away and said his goodbyes. Marc watched him scoop his wife up with gentle arms and a smile on his face.
An ache built inside him and suddenly this whole thing with him playing along with the looking for Mister Forever seemed utterly stupid. He wanted to be with Liv full time.
Rocking back on his heels a moment, he zeroed in on the object of his thoughts. “Well lookit my girl over there. She’ll be all by her lonesome soon. I best get on over and give her some company.” Marc looked at Liv and when her gaze met his, he felt the connection to his toes.
“So she believe you yet?” Matt asked.
“I’m working on it. I hear she had a date with Bill on Wednesday. Worked out with me, even let me kiss her goodbye and went on a date with that dullard.” That hurt.
“Marc, she didn’t even let him touch her. She said there’d be no more dates with him. She broke it off. This whole thing is stupid. I’ve never seen her like this but she’s afraid. So afraid.”
Cassie reached out and touched his cheek. “I’m amazed you’re doing this, I truly am. And I admire that you’re giving her this space. But when Maggie asked if she’d had sex with Bill, Liv got pissed. Said she was having sex with you and what did Maggie think she was?” Cassie kissed his cheek. “Hang in there. She’ll see. It’s right in front of her face and for what it’s worth, you’ve got no competition. This thing with Bill was just a way to keep from admitting it to herself. But he’s out of the picture now as an excuse.”
“Oh hell, I know that. I just don’t like her lying to herself. I want to be with her. This is all a waste of time.”
Cassie shrugged. “If she’s worth it, you’ll wait. Only you can decide if she is or not. Everyone has their limits.”
He looked back over at Liv as she blew a kiss at Maggie, smiling. She was worth it. God he loved her. Okay, a little while longer.
“Night all,” he called over his shoulder as he walked through the restaurant toward her. She turned to see him coming toward her and stood, waiting.
“Hi there, handsome.”
Without a word, he pulled her to
him and kissed her. Hard and possessive. Satisfaction settled into him as she melted into his embrace, opening her mouth to him.
He took his time, knowing that people watched them. Wanting them to all understand how it was. Liv Davis was his woman.
When he was finished he dropped a small kiss on the tip of her nose and each eyelid. “Hi yourself, gorgeous. You ready to let me rock your world?”
Great googly moogly. He’d been rocking her world since he dropped that kiss on her in April. Hell, she’d been an independent woman in charge and she could only manage to hold onto him as he’d turned her knees to rubber as he did every time he touched her.
“Let’s hit it, shall we?”
He snared her with his gaze and she let herself be swept up, nodding. Grabbing her hand, he drew her outside. Down the block he paused and pulled her into an alley. Pushing her back against the wall, he ducked his head, his mouth finding hers again.
The wall, still warm from the sun, scratchy against her skin, dug into her back as he plundered her mouth. Deep in the shadows, his hands roved her body as her mind spiraled. She should not be doing this! But it felt so good. It was dark, no one could see and all he was doing was kissing her. His tongue, clever and carnal, slid along hers, his teeth nipped her bottom lip.
The humid evening air cooled the sweat on her skin as he pushed the bodice of her dress open and his hands found her breasts.
“No bra. God, what you do to me,” he murmured, lips against the skin just below her ear.
Her hands slid down the wall of his chest to the waist of his jeans, unsnapping and unzipping them. She took him in her hands, sliding her grip up and down and he groaned.
His fingertips found the loose material of her dress and slowly pulled it up, exposing her thighs, and then he reached up the last inch and slid his fingertips into her panties.
She froze a moment until he brushed her clit and all thought left her. A rhythm of rolling hips, of thrusts and moans caught them, slowing time, taking them to another place where it was just the two of them.
“You’re so damned sexy, sugar. I need you to come for me.”
She whimpered softly as her thighs began to tremble. His cock in her hand was slick from the heat and the pre-come at the slit.
“Fuck. I’m so close. One touch and I’m halfway there with you. What do you do to me, Liv? So much, so much to me. You’re so hot, so wet. I’m going to fuck you standing up when we get back to your house. I want to look in your eyes,” he murmured into her ear, the heat of his body on her neck.
Liv had to bite back a scream when he pressed two fingers inside her and caught her where shoulder met neck, between his teeth. Orgasm came then, quicksilver, and she felt his warmth on her hand as he came as well.
With a soft kiss he rearranged her panties and let her skirt fall as his other hand pulled her bodice back together.
“Wait.” She dug in her purse with trembling hands and pulled out a handkerchief, passing it his way.
He put it into his pocket when he finished. “I’ll uh, get this back to you later in the week.”
Smiling, she tucked his cock back into his jeans but let him button and zip to avoid any injury.
She should feel bad. He’d just made her come in an alley. But she didn’t feel cheap, she didn’t feel bad. The way he touched her was always respectful, he made her feel beautiful. The frenzy made her feel desirable.
“You make me lose control, Liv.”
They continued to walk down to her house.
“Seems to me you have plenty of control, Marc.” She laughed. “You’re the most in control man I’ve ever been with. Usually I’m the one in charge. You shoot that all to hell with your dirty talk and your swagger. You make me melt.”
Holy crap, did she just say that out loud?
He turned to her, putting his arms around her shoulders. “Sometimes I feel like I’m a fool to keep chasing you. And then you give me a glimpse inside and I know you’re worth it.”
“Why do you say stuff like that?”
“Because I want you to know that I care about you. This isn’t a casual thing for me, Liv. I don’t know how many other ways I can say it to you.”
He scared her. What she felt for him scared her. But she wasn’t willing to let go just yet.
“Come on inside. I think you made a promise to me back in that alley that I need fulfilled.”
The next morning she awoke to find him up already. Sleepily, she shuffled into the kitchen to find him there, drinking juice and looking out the window.
“Morning, sugar.” He turned and moved to kiss her.
“You off somewhere?”
“I have a client this morning. I’ll see you this afternoon at the end of the shower when I’m told men are allowed. Not that I’m in any great hurry to guess baby food flavors and hear labor stories.”
Liv laughed. “You think I’m in a hurry to hear labor stories? Dee’s gonna be there and she and Maggie talk of little else. But I can’t wait for Maggie to see the quilt I made for her. Took me six months.”
Marc’s eyes widened in surprise. “You quilt?”
“Why do you look so surprised? I can quilt, knit and cook quite well. When my mother was alive, she taught me all the things she thought a Southern woman should know. I can make a cobbler, mighty fine pie crust, scratch biscuits, embroider, quilt and a most excellent gravy.”
“You’re full of surprises, Liv. Wonderful surprises,” he added quickly. “I’m impressed. I didn’t know you were making it.”
“It’s something I do in the late evenings when I can’t sleep and sometimes on my lunch hour I do the piece work. I just finished it a few days ago. You can see it this afternoon. I had Cassie wrap it because she’s a pro at that stuff. My presents never look all crisp and pretty like hers do.”
“I’m sure Maggie will love it.”
“I hope so. Maggie is special to me. She’s been my best friend since kindergarten. Not many people have relationships that last that long. She’s always been there when I needed her.”
He reached out and ran his fingertips through her hair. “From what I’ve seen, you’ve done the same for her. And Cassie too.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t bake for the elderly and teach kids to love history. I’m an administrative assistant.”
Marc’s chest tightened for a moment. He knew what it was like to love people who were all overachievers. His father the town lawyer, his brother the sheriff, the other brothers men the community looked to and admired. He was the baby. The always smiling man about town with an eye for the ladies.
“You’re so much more than your job. And from what I see, you’re the mayor’s right hand. You seem to be better briefed than he is on things at town hall and city council meetings. And don’t think I haven’t seen you volunteering at the soup kitchen and food pantry. You’re a good person and a wonderful friend and I’m more fascinated by you every day.”
Leaning in, he brushed his lips over hers.
She blushed and he grinned. “Thank you. Is this a new client? You’re doing really well these days. Can I make you breakfast? I’ll even scramble egg whites for you.”
Why that made him want to propose to her he wasn’t sure.
“I am doing well. I’m at the point where I have to stop taking one on one clients just now. I’m working six days a week and the studio is full all day and into the evenings. And sure, I’d love some eggs.”
She turned and began to assemble the eggs. He watched as she moved efficiently through the kitchen. He liked her house a lot. It was comfortable and lived in. He didn’t feel wary about sitting down or using a plate or cup.
Her kitchen was bright and sunny from a large garden window over the sink. The scent of fresh herbs laced the air and he realized that it was a cook’s kitchen. He’d cooked very simple fare for her a few times and she’d done sandwiches and salads but neither of them had made a dinner for the other yet.
“Will you make me dinner tonight?
”
She tipped the eggs into the skillet and turned to him, smiling. “Sure. I’d love that. I can’t believe we haven’t yet. But it can’t be tonight. Kyle and Maggie are having a barbecue at their place, remember?”
“Oh yeah. Okay. Well can’t be tomorrow or my mother would hunt us down.”
They agreed on Wednesday of the following week and he left after eating the eggs and some fresh fruit she’d sliced up for the both of them. Her kiss tasted like peaches and sunshine and he hated to have to go.
On the other hand, he was even more sure he loved her and that they belonged to each other. It strengthened his resolve to keep on with his plan.
Liv showed up at Cassie and Shane’s a few hours early to decorate for the shower. Smiling. Man oh man did waking up to Marc make her happy.
“Wow. That must have been some night last night.” Cassie came back into the living room after she’d shooed Shane out of the house. “Spill. Polly will be here in a few minutes.”
Liv laughed as she reached up and pinned the end of the twisted streamer. “You think they’ll all figure out it’s a boy when they see all the blue?”
Cassie took up her end and pulled it taut before pinning it across the room. “Maggie said that’s what she wanted and I have no problem throwing her ass in front of me if Polly flips out.”
“Man, you two have one of the best mothers-in-law ever. But you wouldn’t want to cross her.”
“She’s wonderful and we are lucky. She’s a good woman and she cracks me up. Nosy as hell and protective of her family. Can’t complain about that one though.”
They moved furniture and put out the cute little decorations they’d picked up the week before.
“Let’s put the food over here and hello, you did not tell me about why you’re smiling. You’re sneaky all the sudden. With Brody you would not shut up about the details but with Marc it’s like pulling teeth. I figure that means he’s the real deal.”
“Boy you’re on that tune again. Okay here’s the deal, Marc is special. I feel way out of my element and in over my head. I think…”
