Pretty in Ink (Voretti Family Book 3)

by Ava Blackstone

“I was never with the right guy before.”

  “You’ve never taken the time to see if you were with the right guy. You were too busy looking for an excuse to bail before things got serious. And this tattoo… Most guys would freak out if you tattooed their name onto your arm a few weeks into the relationship.”

  “You don’t say,” Liv muttered.

  “So I can’t help wondering if you were unconsciously trying to sabotage things with Caleb.”

  “You’re being completely ridiculous.” She reached around him, retrieving her ball. “The tattoo was a whim. Not some crazy plot to break your bestie’s heart.”

  “Wait.” He grabbed her shoulders, taking shameless advantage of the fact that she couldn’t knee him in the balls while he was holding her niece. “All I’m saying is, Caleb doesn’t do things just for fun the way you do. So if this is another one of your phases, you need to cut him loose. Before he falls any deeper.”

  Unbelievable.

  She looked away, but that didn’t help because Alex was watching her from his seat, his we-know-what’s-best-for-you gaze as good as proof that he was in on this too. Matt shrugged, like maybe they have a point. Even little Becca was drooling in a judgmental way.

  “Maybe you don’t know Caleb as well as you think you do,” she said to Rafe.

  “He’s been my best friend since kindergarten.”

  “Did he ever tell you about his parents?”

  “What? That they were assholes? He didn’t have to tell me. I saw it for myself.”

  “No. About—” She caught a glimpse of Caleb out of the corner of her eye and cut herself off. He hadn’t told Rafe that his father had hit him. He hadn’t told anyone but her, and she wouldn’t betray his confidence. She didn’t need to prove anything to her brother. “Nothing. Never mind.”

  Rafe sighed. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt. That’s all.”

  “You don’t have to worry. No one is going to get hurt.”

  “Good.” He patted her on the arm—right over the tattoo. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

  She picked up her ball and lined up her shot. Rafe went back to his seat, and she commanded herself to relax. He’d freaked out over nothing, and she’d set him straight. The end.

  She drew her arm back, but before she could let the ball go, her mom stepped into the frame. The ball slipped out of Liv’s hands and rolled into the gutter.

  “Well.” Mom moved in. “That didn’t work out the way you’d planned.”

  “Whatever,” she said, trying to sound unconcerned. “It’s only a game.”

  “Yes, but not everything in life is a game. You and Caleb—”

  “For God’s sake! I’m not going to dump him and break his heart!”

  Mom’s brow pinched into that familiar you’re-giving-me-a-stress-headache expression, and Liv felt about five years old. “Sorry. About the language.”

  “This tattoo.” Her mom sighed. “Your Nonna is worried it will bring bad luck.”

  “Nonna also thinks it’s bad luck to spill salt. And do you remember how bad she freaked out that one time you put a loaf of bread inside the refrigerator upside down?”

  “Yes. But this time she has a point. You’re so impulsive, Livvy. How long had you and Caleb been dating when you got that tattoo?”

  Her heart thudded in her chest, louder than the guy in the lane next to her hitting the center of a full set of pins. “I…” She swallowed. “We hadn’t been dating long, but I’ve known him my entire life.”

  “There’s a difference between knowing someone as a friend and knowing him as a man. A partner.”

  She grabbed her ball from the ball return. “I know that.”

  “I hope that’s true.”

  She turned her back on Mom and stalked toward the lane. A red haze obscured her vision, making it impossible to line up her shot, and she knew it was off the second the ball left her hand. It skidded down the lane too fast, barely clipping the ten pin.

  Mom nodded wisely as the sweep bar got rid of the rest of the pins, as if Liv’s crappy shot somehow proved her point.

  Liv had to get away. She beat a hasty retreat toward Caleb, but before she could get there, the twins were blocking her path, Alex a man on a mission, Matt glancing back toward his seat longingly.

  “Hey, Livvy—”

  “No.”

  “What?” Alex was all injured innocence. “We haven’t even—”

  “No. Just, no.”

  “But we—”

  A loud ring sounded inside her pocket.

  “I have to take this.” She grabbed her cell and accepted the video call without looking at the caller ID.

  “Livvy!” The picture was blurry but the voice was, unmistakably, her perfect older sister. “I hear you have big news!”

  Really? Really?

  “You too?” She hustled up the stairs, away from the curious ears of the rest of her family. She understood that they were concerned about Caleb, but calling Annabelle in the middle of her honeymoon to take part in the witch-hunt was a step too far. “I’m not going to dump Caleb and hurt his delicate feelings. I care about him. This isn’t some game to me, no matter what all of you seem to think.”

  “I was talking about your store. Mamma and Papa told me they’re loaning you the money to start Designs by Olivia.”

  “Oh.” The bar wasn’t opened yet, so she ducked under the worn velvet rope blocking the entrance, in search of some privacy. “That.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been trying to get ahold of you forever, but you never call me back.”

  “Sorry. I meant to. I’ve been…busy.”

  “I can imagine.” Annabelle, being the bigger person, didn’t even sound judgmental.

  Guilt rained down on Liv like the tropical downpour Annabelle had described in her last postcard. She could’ve found the time to call her sister. But she hadn’t wanted to tell Annabelle about Caleb and have her sister say the same judgmental things the Annabelle voice in her head was already saying. The same things the rest of her family was saying.

  But she needed to talk to someone.

  She took a deep breath. Here went nothing. “This thing with Caleb? I don’t know what it is or how it’s going to work. But it’s not a game. It’s not something I’m doing for fun.”

  “I know.”

  The gently voiced answer was so completely not what Liv was expecting that it took her a minute to process it. “You… What?”

  “I’ve seen the way you are together. You were always so aware of each other. Like, you could be blindfolded in a room full of hundreds of people, but you’d still know exactly where he was and what he was doing. Like you were waiting for a sign that the time was right.”

  Annabelle must’ve been sitting on the balcony connected to her hotel room, because Liv saw part of a lounge chair and, in the distance, palm trees and impossibly blue sky.

  She watched the palm fronds wave in a gentle breeze and tried to clear her mind, but she couldn’t forget the way her mom had looked at her. As much as her parents wanted her with Caleb, they were afraid she was going to do something stupid to ruin it. Like she usually did.

  “If you knew we were so perfect together,” she said to Annabelle, “why didn’t you tell me?”

  “When I said I thought CJ was the wrong guy for you, you slept with him. I didn’t want you to avoid Caleb to spite me.”

  “I wouldn’t have—” Liv cut herself off. Annabelle was right. Liv would’ve sprinted the opposite direction. “You should’ve told me not to hook up with Caleb. I’d have been in his bed before the night was over.”

  “Maybe.” Annabelle sighed. “But if you want the truth, I didn’t trust myself to give anyone else relationship advice. Not when I couldn’t keep a guy interested past the first date.”

  “You kept Ty interested.”

  “Ty was…different.”

  “There you are. Been looking for you, sweetheart.” Her brother-in-law came into the picture, wearing nothi
ng but a towel around his waist, and Annabelle got this dreamy, unfocused look, like she was remembering exactly what was under that white terrycloth.

  “You found me. Now what are you going to do with me?”

  “I’m gonna take you back to bed. And I’m not gonna let you leave until you understand exactly how much I love you.”

  Annabelle bit her lip and smoldered at Ty, completely forgetting that she had an audience.

  Liv cleared her throat, but Annabelle and Ty didn’t hear.

  “Hello. Impressionable younger sibling on the line. If you guys are going to eye fuck each other, I’m hanging up.”

  “Hi, Liv,” Ty said. “Bye, Liv.”

  “Remember to use a condom. Annabelle needs to find a job before you get her pregnant.”

  Ty’s hand approached the screen, and then the call was disconnected.

  Liv sniffed.

  That was what she wanted. Not only chemistry, but comfort and certainty. She wanted to look at Caleb and see forever.

  At least her sister had found The One. After such a long dry spell, Annabelle deserved her happily-ever-after with a hottie like Ty.

  He wasn’t as hot as Caleb, of course. She’d just seen Ty’s bare chest, and she couldn’t remember anything about it. If it had been Caleb’s chest—

  She had a flash of tanned skin and taut muscle, all of it straining toward her, and her knees went weak. She sank onto the closest bar stool.

  As though her memory had conjured him, the door opened, and there he was.

  “Hi.” Caleb looked at her—that was all—but his eyes went dark. Intense. He stalked toward her, holding her in place with nothing more than his gaze. “Why’d you disappear?”

  “I was talking to Annabelle.”

  She heard her sister’s voice. You were always so aware of each other.

  Heat flooded her. She curled her fingers around the edge of the stool, the metal cool against her flushed skin.

  Caleb stopped in front of her, close enough to touch. “How is she?”

  “Uh…” It took Liv a second to remember what they were talking about. “Great. She’s…” Liv cleared her throat. “She told me something about you.”

  “Yeah?”

  “That you used to watch me. The same way I’d watch you.”

  “I didn’t watch you.” His hand came around the back of her neck, fingers hot and rough and everything she’d ever wanted. He scanned the dark, empty bar like he was wondering exactly how much they could get away with before her family came looking for them.

  So much. Everything.

  “I tried my best not to look at you at all.” He wound several strands of her hair around his index finger, and even though she didn’t have any nerve endings there, she felt his touch. Against her lips and between her legs and everywhere she wanted him.

  “But it didn’t matter,” he continued, in a gruff tone that was like his callused palm stroking her bare skin. “If I was in the same room as you, it didn’t matter how far away you were standing or how many people were between us. I knew exactly where you were. Exactly how long it would take me to close that distance.”

  She wouldn’t even have to move off her stool to kiss him. All it would take was one hand to pull his head to hers. The other to bring him between her thighs.

  But something about his expression stopped her. “Why didn’t you? My God, Caleb—you had to know I wanted you.”

  “Because I couldn’t.” He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them back up. “You were right. The man I pretend to be…that’s not who I am inside.”

  “I’m not afraid of the real you.”

  “Honey, you don’t know the real me.”

  “Then show me.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

  “I know you’re angry, Caleb. I know you’re not always perfect and in control. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re kind and caring and responsible and loving. You’re not any one thing. You’re complicated. You’re human. And that’s a hell of a lot more attractive than when I thought you were some kind of superhero robot. I want to know all of you. Will you show me?”

  He nodded. But he was still looking at her like he was trying to take a picture inside his head—something he could take out and look at after she was gone.

  She couldn’t bear it. He had to know what he meant to her. “I need you. I think I’m falling for you.”

  Still—that look.

  “I’m not going anywhere.” She kissed him, because he couldn’t deny that. He couldn’t deny the way their bodies fit together.

  He kissed her like it was their last kiss.

  That wasn’t right. They had plenty of time. They had forever—that’s what she was trying to tell him.

  She tried to say that, but his lips found that place where her neck met her shoulder.

  She shivered. He picked her up, and her legs came around his waist.

  She forced in a breath. “We have to… We shouldn’t…”

  He carried her through an unmarked door, into some kind of storage room. She got a vague impression of stacks of chairs and cases of beer, and then he set her down on a small table.

  He swung the door shut, leaving them in darkness.

  Without sight, her other senses jumped into hyperawareness. She heard the final click of the door shutting. Caleb’s footsteps moving toward her.

  Sparks erupted along every square inch of her skin, priming her for his touch.

  “What are you doing?” she breathed, but she already knew. Predictable, dependable, color-inside-the-lines Captain Integrity would never even consider hooking up inside a storage closet, but she wasn’t dealing with Captain Integrity anymore. This was Caleb. And he was showing her who he was.

  His hands met her shoulders, but he held her away from him instead of drawing her closer. “Maybe we shouldn’t—”

  “Yes. We absolutely should.”

  “You’re right.” He kissed her. “I need you. Now.”

  “Wait.” She shimmied off the table. “There’s something I want to do first.” She dropped to her knees. “Something I’ve been wanting to do for a while.”

  She attacked his belt buckle with urgent, clumsy fingers. His button fly was an IQ puzzle made for someone much smarter, but she solved it through sheer perseverance. Then she shoved his pants over his hips and took him in her mouth.

  He groaned. The sound vibrated through her like they were one body instead of two, making her even more desperate for him. She wanted to wipe his memory of any woman who’d come before her.

  One big hand clasped the base of her neck, not urging her forward, just holding her, like he needed as many points of contact as possible.

  It wasn’t enough. She wanted him to let go completely. To fill her mouth with his salty sweet taste.

  She took him as deep as she could. So deep she could feel the rigid set of his muscles. The fragile hold he had on his self control.

  The sound he made was pure need. And it magnified her desire a hundred fold. He was so close. So—

  “Not without you,” he gasped.

  Three little words, but they undid her.

  He lifted her to her feet. There was no way her legs were going to hold her up. Maybe Caleb knew that because he set her on the table.

  She lay back, open to him in every way possible. “Take me.”

  He kissed her like he wanted to memorize every square millimeter of her lips. Map every ridge and hollow inside her mouth.

  Like he’s trying to get his fill before it’s over, said the Annabelle voice inside Liv’s head.

  She pushed the voice away. She didn’t have time for her sister. Not when Caleb was tracing her body with his lips, like the taste of her skin was as necessary as oxygen.

  She heard something tearing—the condom wrapper.

  She couldn’t wait any longer. She had to have him inside her.

  “Please,” she said.

  He pulled her skirt out o
f the way. Taking off her thong was much too complicated. Luckily, he didn’t bother. He pushed it aside and entered her in one sure thrust.

  Every nerve in her body hummed with satisfaction—which quickly turned to need. Her legs found his waist. Pulled him closer. Deeper.

  “Liv. Fuck, baby.” He bent low over her, his breath harsh against her ear. “I can’t… I need more.”

  He was as deep as he could possibly get, but she understood. It wasn’t enough. Not this one time. Nothing short of a lifetime with Caleb would be enough for her.

  She tried to tell him that, but she could only manage a single word. “Forever.”

  He groaned. Thrust into her.

  Pleasure spiked through her, sharp and sudden and so strong it was almost painful. And, in that single moment, he was a part of her. The way she wanted him to be forever.

  CHAPTER 19

  LIV HAD JUST finished her dessert when her dad raised his glass for the third time. He clinked his spoon against the crystal, and her brothers’ heated debate about the Chargers’ playoff prospects faded to silence.

  It wouldn’t be a Sunday dinner at her parents’ house without the good china, food covering every square inch of the table, and at least three toasts from her dad. They’d already drunk to Rafe’s promotion and mom’s beautiful display of dahlias in the garden, so Liv wasn’t surprised when her dad turned toward her and Caleb.

  “A toast to the love birds. We’re so happy you found each other.”

  Her mom lifted her glass. “I might not have The Sight like Nonna Hazel, but I’ve always had a feeling about Livvy and Caleb. And look at them now. Don’t they make a beautiful couple?”

  Her brothers grumbled about cheesy lines and girly toasts, but they couldn’t hide their grins.

  Only Nonna Hazel looked concerned, rubbing her cornicello before she lifted her glass. But Liv wasn’t going to let Nonna’s superstitions ruin her mood. Not when she could feel Caleb’s smile even before she looked at him—that deep-down grin that crinkled his eyes at the corners, taking him from straight-laced Captain Integrity to a normal man. Her man.

  Their frenzied coupling at the bowling alley four days ago had been a turning point in their relationship. He no longer looked at her with haunted eyes, like he was waiting for the day she’d walk out of his life. Now he smiled when he saw her. If he wasn’t pulling her close and kissing her.