Risking Her Heart: A Contemporary Romance Novel

by Rochelle Katzman

  “Ah, that’s why you’re so uptight.”

  “I’m not uptight.” Although she was still gripping the kitchen table.

  “In my experience, most people keep spare keys in a kitchen drawer, so this morning before I left, I found one.” Drake smiled in that charming way.

  How could she be mad at him when he smiled at her like that?

  “You never told me how you got in last night when I was at the club. Or for that matter, how did you even know where I lived?”

  “When I heard Zach at your house the first night, I made it my business to know where you live. As far as how I got in? I picked your lock. A trick I learned from my roommate in college. It’s an excellent skill to have. If you behave yourself, maybe I’ll teach you.” He winked and then turned back to the food.

  Livvie inhaled. “No, thanks, I’m good.” She sat down and opened her journal again. She read and reread the last paragraph she had written. Haley and Blake were arguing.

  Drake opened her kitchen drawers and took out forks, knives, and plates. He seemed to know her kitchen very well.

  “What are you doing?” She put down her journal and gave him her full attention.

  “I figured you had barely eaten today, except maybe a scone. And whenever I’m forced to come down to LA, I always get Thai food from my favorite restaurant.”

  Drake was right; all she had eaten all day was one scone, and a glance at her watch told her it was already five o’clock. The day had flown by. “Thank you. Do you need any help?”

  “Nope. I hope you like Thai food.”

  Livvie smiled. “I love Thai food.” She got up and started clearing her kitchen table. Then she grabbed the plates out of Drake’s hand. “I’ll take them.”

  He turned, and when she looked back at him, his expression had changed.

  “What it is? What’s wrong?”

  “Where’s the journal I bought you?”

  Livvie’s heart sank.

  “When I got home from your vineyard and started to write, it made me sad, knowing you’d given me the journal, and I’d never see you again. And I needed to get over you. I needed to heal.”

  Drake stared at her. “What made you think we’d never see each other again?”

  Unable to look him in the eye, Livvie put the plates on the table and grabbed some napkins. “Because you made it clear that we were through once the week was over.”

  “But I didn’t say we couldn’t remain friends.”

  “Right. Friends.” Livvie looked at the table. She couldn’t talk about this now. “So what happened with Seth today? Was his PR firm able to help?”

  Drake placed two wineglasses on the table and uncorked a bottle of his red wine. Livvie laughed.

  “What?” Drake asked.

  “You brought your own wine?”

  Drake winked at her. “I never leave home without it.”

  She continued to laugh as he poured them both wine. She picked up her glass. Should she pretend she was a wine connoisseur and swirl the wine in her glass and then sniff? She decided not to put on any airs, and instead, she took a sip. It was delicious.

  “Good?”

  Livvie nodded, smiling. Drake, on the other hand, did the whole swirling, sniffing, and tasting thing. And he looked ever so hot doing it. No one had ever looked as sexy tasting wine, but then again, Drake looked sexy doing everything. When he sat down, he smirked at her, and she blushed.

  “I gave you a little bit of everything. Eat while it’s hot.”

  Livvie was famished, so she dived right in, and Drake joined her.

  “Back to your question. The meeting with Seth went great, but you and I were all over the Internet.”

  Livvie paused, fork raised to her mouth. “What about your reputation?” Drake was a successful businessman. This could ruin him and all because of her temper.

  “What about it?” Drake asked, mid-chew.

  “I don’t want you to have a bad reputation over me kissing that guy.”

  The fun look in Drake’s eyes vanished instantly, and the cold, distant look replaced it. Fuck, she never should have mentioned what had happened at the club last night, but she’d had no choice.

  “Olivia, if you hadn’t noticed, I already have a bad reputation. The media has convinced the entire world that I’m some billionaire playboy who dates famous women and breaks their hearts.”

  “And that’s not true?” She was pushing his buttons, but she didn’t care.

  Drake dropped his fork loudly onto his plate and clenched his jaw. “It’s not true at all. Most of the women I’ve dated are through with me around the same time I’m through with them, usually when they realize I have no interest in taking them to expensive restaurants and going to the latest party. I like to stay home, in my castle, have my chef make me dinner, and afterward, fuck hard. But the actresses and models want to be seen, and I want the opposite. So, no, I don’t care about my reputation.”

  “But I thought you leave them before it turns into more.”

  “I do. You know that. But these women are also extremely high maintenance. We have fun, and then when they expect more, I give them less. At that point, a few of them throw temper tantrums, and that’s what you read about. What you don’t read about is that those same women are no longer interested in me, either. They would rather be the one to blow me off first. Do you understand?”

  “I do.” She understood she would be the next to be blown off.

  “Good.” Drake picked up his fork and resumed eating. And then he paused. “But I’m very touched that you’re more concerned about my reputation than your own.”

  Livvie thought about that for a second, but she didn’t care about her reputation. She was a writer. The only way this could be bad is if her family found out. Her sister wouldn’t care. She’d just want to know in detail how she knew Drake. Her mom would be devastated, though. And if Liam found out…would she even care?

  “Why are you so deep in thought?”

  Livvie was always amazed by how well Drake seemed to know her.

  “I was just worried that my mom will find out.”

  “She won’t, unless she was online last night a little before midnight until three in the morning.”

  “No. They’re in New York, which is three hours ahead. I’m sure my parents were fast asleep at six in the morning their time.”

  Drake nodded. “Good, then you have nothing to worry about. And luckily, no one knew your name. Drink.”

  Livvie had another sip of Drake’s fabulous wine, and he followed suit.

  “Seth was able to remove the videos and pictures from the Internet.”

  “How?” she asked, mid-sip.

  “He has his ways.”

  The odds that Liam had seen the video and pictures were slim. A part of her would have liked him to see them. To see she had not only moved on but that a man such as Drake Morganthal was interested in her. Did that make her a bad person? She considered the question briefly but decided she was only human.

  Throughout the rest of dinner, they made small talk. Drake talked about his concern over his vineyard and that he had a few customers stalking him, hoping to be the first to own one of his rare bottles. His stories made her laugh a few times. Drake kept pouring her wine. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, but it helped her to relax. And she needed to do just that.

  When the bottle of red wine was empty and the meal over, they both cleared the dishes and placed them in her dishwasher. Then they sat down on the sofa in the living room, and Drake opened up one of his bottles of dessert wines. Livvie had never tasted anything so delicious.

  “I have this theory,” Livvie said, sipping the dessert wine.

  “Yes?” Drake took a sip, too.

  “I think Carly and Mitch fucked last night.”

  Drake choked on his wine. “Why do you think that?”

  “Well, Carly told me she thought he was hot, and I saw Mitch checking her out. And then under your orders, he threw her over
his shoulder. And unlike me, she wasn’t all that upset about him acting like a caveman. I even saw her grabbing his cock. I tried calling her earlier to make sure she was okay, and her phone went right to voicemail.” Livvie had a feeling the wine might be getting to her head, but she felt so good.

  “When Carly calls you back, let me know. If you’re right, which I have no doubt you are, then I’ll never use Mitch again,” Drake said as he picked up his wineglass and took another sip.

  “Why?” Even though she was annoyed at Mitch for watching over her, she felt guilty for the way she had treated him.

  “Because I hired him to watch over you, not to fuck your best friend.”

  “But he was off duty.”

  “That doesn’t matter to me. If he did fuck Carly, I’ll never hire him again. End of discussion.”

  “But you don’t know Carly. If she wants to fuck someone, she will. No matter who they are. End of discussion.” Livvie smiled to herself.

  “I don’t hire weak men, Olivia. And no matter how seductive your friend can be, if one of my employees succumbs to that, then they’re weak.”

  Livvie rolled her eyes and took another sip of the wine. It felt so strange and yet so natural to be sitting here with him like this. And yet she’d left his vineyard days ago and never thought she would lay eyes on him again. Life was strange.

  “So if Zach doesn’t come to my house again for a few days, are you going to leave?”

  Drake finished his wine in one gulp and poured more into his glass. Livvie held out her glass for him to pour more into hers, also. Last night, she had drunk Stoli Vanil and ginger ale, and tonight she was drinking Drake’s wine. She’d drunk more in the last ten days than she had in her entire life—not a good habit to get into.

  “What kind of men did you date before Zach?” Drake asked out of nowhere, ignoring her last question.

  She wished he had answered. If he was going to leave soon, she needed to prepare herself again.

  “I don’t know; all types of men, I guess. Why?” Livvie hadn’t decided if she wanted to tell him about Liam. She felt humiliated enough, knowing Drake had heard Zach’s harsh words.

  “Because you wouldn’t have dated a loser like Zach if a man hadn’t hurt you before him,” he said. “Please, Olivia.”

  Livvie sighed. How could she refuse him when he asked so nicely? She took one more sip of wine before she delved into the tale about her love life or lack of it.

  “I dated Jared briefly when I first moved to Los Angeles, before Zach. I liked him. He wanted to be an actor, but he was struggling—financially as well as emotionally. And I couldn’t handle that, so I ended it.”

  “Before him,” Drake demanded.

  “Before him…” Livvie paused. Here she goes, she thought. “I dated Liam.” She paused again and looked down at her wineglass instead of into Drake’s eyes. “I met him in college during my freshman year. We dated for about four years. He asked me to marry him, and I said yes.” Livvie exhaled and sipped more wine, still unable to look at Drake.

  But Drake touched the bottom of her chin and slightly raised her face.

  “I’m not Liam. I’m not Zach, and I’m not Jared. You can look me in the eyes,” he said softly.

  As Drake released her, she swallowed and nodded.

  “I loved him,” she continued.

  Drake had a blank expression. He wasn’t judging, so she felt safe to continue.

  “I really did. When we got engaged, our families were so happy.” Livvie smiled as she remembered her mom jumping up and down when she heard the news. “His parents were both successful lawyers, and they liked my family. We shared the same friends, and they all bought us gifts.” Livvie took another sip of wine. This was harder than she thought, but it felt important that Drake knew her history, even if they didn’t have a future. “Going to an Ivy League school, I felt very hopeful about everything. Liam majored in prelaw for undergrad, and then he went to law school at the university. After law school, he planned to work at his dad’s firm, which was one of the top in New York City.”

  “What was he like?” Drake asked.

  When Livvie looked into his eyes, she felt as if she was back in college with Liam, reliving all of it, and in a way, she was.

  “He was brilliant. I could ask him any question, and he’d have the answer. He was also a talented athlete. He played lacrosse, and I’d go to his games and cheer him on.” Livvie had loved going to those games. She’d been so proud to be his girlfriend.

  “How did you two meet?”

  “When I was a freshman, my roommate sucked me into joining a sorority. I didn’t want to, but she was scared to do it by herself, so I joined with her. I met Liam at a fraternity party. He was an attractive junior. And he wanted me. As a freshman, I thought that was a pretty big deal. He said that the moment he saw me, he knew I would be his wife one day.”

  She looked down. Drake’s hands were clenched into fists.

  “Go on,” he said.

  “He was the only man I dated in college. And I lost my virginity to him.”

  “You did? You didn’t have sex in high school?”

  “No, I was pretty sheltered until I left for college. My parents sent me to a strict private school. No one would have dared had sex…or even drank, for that matter. I dated someone, but we were more like friends. That’s how it was in my high school. We all pretty much stayed innocent.”

  “You had a lucky upbringing.” Drake unclasped his hands and continued drinking his wine.

  “I did.” Livvie smiled, but then her smile disappeared. “Liam proposed to me right before my graduation. He was in law school, so he told me to plan the wedding over the summer and we’d be married on Christmas break when he had a few weeks off. I had time to plan everything because Liam wanted me to postpone getting my Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing until he was working for his dad, and then I could go to a school in New York City. And then we’d get pregnant.” Livvie took a much-needed breath. “It all made sense to me. So I moved in with him after graduation, which wasn’t a big deal since I stayed over almost every night anyway. And I planned our wedding. Invitations were made, and I was ready to send them out.” Livvie paused and put down her glass of wine, staring at her empty hands.

  “It’s okay, Olivia.” Drake grabbed her hands and squeezed.

  She inhaled and continued. “Then I came home from yoga one day, and I caught Liam in bed with my old roommate. The one who wanted me to join the sorority with her? Strangely, he knew the exact time I’d be home, so I think he wanted me to know.”

  Drake looked compassionate, so she continued. “When I saw them, they weren’t fucking. I think I would have been able to get over it if they were doing that. You know?”

  Drake nodded.

  “They were sleeping, cuddling naked. I didn’t even care that they were naked. It was the cuddling that devastated me. Liam wasn’t the cuddling type. He told me how much he hated cuddling, yet he seemed more than fine cuddling her.”

  “Did you confront the bastard?” Drake’s tone sounded harsh.

  “I didn’t have to. I was so shocked; I dropped my yoga mat. They both heard and woke up. My old roommate, my ex friend, panicked and said over and over again that she was sorry. That they had fallen asleep and she had never wanted me to know about them or see what I’d seen. I didn’t say a word to her. I wasn’t mad at her. She had betrayed our friendship, which hurt, but what he had done was worse. Then she got up, grabbed her clothes, and left. And then Liam apologized and said he still wanted to marry me.

  “And in that horrific moment, where I saw my life destroyed, everything made sense. Liam grew up in a family where career and image was number one. I didn’t know that men like Liam had a resume for the perfect woman—the perfect wife. I fit his resume. But love wasn’t listed anywhere on his resume. I think he loved me, but as with Zach, Liam wasn’t in love with me. I think he was actually in love with my roommate. But she didn’t fit his resume at all,
so there was no way he could take her as a wife. She was a middleclass girl from Texas, and he was looking for an East Coast girl from an affluent family.”

  “So what happened?” Drake asked.

  “He wanted the wedding to go on, as planned, and I remained silent. I couldn’t speak. So I left. There are some women who would have told him off or thrown things at him, but how could I have done that to a man who was in love with a woman his career and family wouldn’t have allowed? That was punishment enough. And I thought my actions spoke volumes. I cancelled the invitations, the other wedding details, and mailed back every gift we had received from my registry. It was too late for me to apply to graduate school, so instead, I came here.”

  “And then you dated that actor?”

  “I wasn’t into him at all, but I was told that if you sleep with another man after a break up, it’s easier to forget about your ex. So that’s what I did, except Jared was struggling financially, so he was depressed and stressed all the time. I was trying to get over Liam, and I was also struggling in my own way. I didn’t want any more drama in my life.”

  “And then you met Zach.”

  “Yes, and then I met Zach. I mustn’t have learned my lesson from Liam because Zach cheated on me, too. But I guess you can’t call it cheating if he tells you on the third date that he doesn’t believe in monogamous relationships.” Livvie sighed. “I liked Zach a lot. He made me feel good about myself, and after what had happened with Liam, I didn’t.”

  Livvie leaned her head against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. The next thing she knew, Drake was scooping her up in his arms. She expected him to at least give her his opinion on her past, but she didn’t expect this. And she was too tired to ask if he had any more questions.

  He held her tightly in his arms as he carried her to her bedroom. Then he laid her on the bed and took off each shoe. He unzipped her jeans, and she instinctively clenched her vagina.

  “I’m undressing you, so you can sleep.”

  Livvie blushed, and at the same time, she panicked. Had her story turned him off? He slid her jeans down her legs, and Livvie helped him to remove them. Then he grabbed her tank top and lifted it above her head as Livvie raised her arms. As he unclasped her bra, her breasts were on full display for him, and her nipples hardened. Did he notice?