Her mom bustled over, grabbing the tea towel from Liv’s hand, seemingly unaware her daughter had been thinking about committing a few dozen cardinal sins in the kitchen. Porter watched Liv with an amused expression as her mother went about clearing off what she could of the stain. “I’ve got stain-lifting wipes. Let me get one,” she said, rushing off out of the kitchen.
As soon as she was gone, Porter grabbed Liv’s wrist and pulled her in close. “Now...where were we?”
“Porter... No!” Liv put her hands against Porter’s chest and pushed, but it was like trying to move a wall. “We can’t, not...” Porter loosened his grip and Liv pulled away.
“You need to go,” Liv said.
“Go? But I just got here.” Porter leaned against the counter, refusing to get the hint.
“You can’t be here.”
“Well, I was invited.” Porter grinned as his dark hair fell across his forehead. “And your dad’s barbecue smells delicious...even if it is all over the front of my sweater.”
“I—” Liv wasn’t sure if she was going to apologize or smack him. She needed him to leave, but the stubborn look on his face told her that wasn’t happening.
“Come on, Liv, you know you don’t really want me to leave.” Porter took a step closer and every nerve ending in her body lit up, anticipating his touch. Without even meaning to, she leaned closer into him.
Then the kitchen door swung open and her father burst in.
“There you are, Porter. Glad you came!” Her father held his hand out, and Porter took it for a hefty shake. “See you met my daughter?”
“We’ve met before,” Porter said, with a knowing grin flashed over her father’s shoulder.
“At the last barbecue,” Liv quickly added, lest her father get the wrong idea. She sent Porter a stern warning look. You promised, she mouthed behind her father’s back.
“What happened to you?” her father added, looking at his sweater.
“Just a little party foul, no big deal. I ran into Liv—er, Olivia. It was my fault.” Porter gamely took the blame, but Liv still felt uneasy. He couldn’t—shouldn’t—call her Liv in front of her dad! Her parents weren’t dumb; they knew it was the nickname all her close friends called her—even if they refused to use it.
“I’ve told you about Olivia and Denote? She’s our rising marketing star.” Her dad grabbed Liv by the shoulder and squeezed. She hated that he’d repeated the lie right in front of Porter. Usually, her dad never bragged to strangers. She wondered why he chose this moment to go all proud papa on her. She stared guiltily at Porter, praying he didn’t take this moment to disabuse Dad of his notions.
“Yes, I hear she has quite a career.” Porter’s eyes sparkled. Liv really wished her life had that pause button. Pause, fast-forward, anything to get out of this moment.
“Uh, I should go see what’s taking Mom so long with those wipes.” Liv tried to wiggle away from her dad’s grip. He held fast.
“Did you know she used to sing in the church choir? Such a pretty voice.” Dad squeezed Liv’s shoulders. She tried not to flinch. Great, he was talking about the church now! Pretty soon, he’d talk about how she was an angel several years running in the Christmas pageant, from third through fifth grade.
“That was a long time ago, Dad.”
“I’ve found the wipes,” her mom said, trotting into the kitchen, and thankfully offering up a distraction. Liv moved away from her dad. She let her mom lather the stain fighter all over Porter’s shirt. She wanted to leave the kitchen, but she feared if she did, Porter would take the opportunity to spill the beans. Mom backed away from him and admired her handiwork.
“You must be hungry,” she said. “Why don’t you get a plate to eat?”
Liv’s stomach growled loudly. Porter quirked an eyebrow. “Only if Li—” Liv sent him a warning glare and he quickly corrected course. “Only if Olivia gets one, too.”
That’s how Liv ended up with a paper plate full of barbecue, hugging the corner of her dad’s deck, clutching her plate and trying not to stare at Porter’s gorgeous dark brown eyes. They really were big and deep and warm.
Her lacy black underwear was safely back where it should be, thanks to a quick trip to the bathroom before she piled her plate high with food.
Her stomach felt better with food, but she still felt a hard knot of anxiety there. For the moment, they had the deck to themselves. The wind had kicked up, making it cooler, and her cousins had headed inside to eat.
“Where did you put the toys?” he asked, his voice a low whisper.
“Hidden,” she said. “And don’t you even think about bringing that up.”
“A promise is a promise,” he said.
“Don’t you dare say ‘Scout’s honor’ again,” she warned.
He laughed, a low, sexy rumble that she felt in her own stomach. Why did he have to be so damn gorgeous? Even with the fading teriyaki stain, he looked ready to star in his own commercial: the sexy young lawyer at play. “You know, your dad is a reasonable man. You should just tell him the truth.”
Liv cackled out loud, nearly snorting. “You can’t be serious.”
“I mean it. You should try just being honest.”
“Uh-huh. That doesn’t work so well in this house. They’re both so into church.” Liv sighed.
“Nothing wrong with having faith. I come from a pretty serious Catholic family.”
“Right, but you never tried to sell dildos and tell your folks about it, did you?”
Porter shook his head. “No, but it’s not like I’ve been a choirboy all my life, either.” Porter licked a bit of teriyaki sauce off his fingers.
“Really? But you’re all Mr. Button-Up Lawyer Guy. Smart and handsome and...”
“You think I’m handsome?” Porter quirked an eyebrow as Liv squirmed.
“You know what I mean.” Liv cleared her throat.
“Uh-huh.” Porter nodded, clearly enjoying watching the blush creep up Liv’s neck. “Anyway, I wasn’t always the golden boy, if that’s what you mean. I had a rebel phase. I worked as a bouncer to help me pay my way through law school.”
“You did not.” Liv looked at Porter—he certainly had enough muscles to be an intimidating bouncer. But she couldn’t imagine him tossing out drunk patrons, or getting into a shoving match with disorderly ones. “Where? At like some upscale bar downtown?”
Porter laughed. “Nope. I worked the door at the Admiral.”
“The strip club?” Liv’s mouth dropped open. “You? A bouncer at a strip club?” Liv wasn’t easily shocked, but this really floored her. Porter? Working at a strip club? The Admiral was legendary in the city.
“I know. Hard to imagine. But they paid really well, better than other bars, and it’s really why I was able to get through law school.”
“Was it dangerous?” Liv still couldn’t imagine him working the door.
“Sometimes. Believe me, the guys could get out of hand. I’ve got stories you wouldn’t believe, and I had more than a few fights, but usually I won. Fights aren’t like what you see in the movies. They don’t go on forever. One or two hits, usually, is enough to put someone down. And I was always the sober one.”
Liv tried to imagine Porter in a fistfight. She just couldn’t. And then there were the strippers. All those naked women... She felt a flame of jealousy rise up in her chest. She had a million more questions pop into her head. Did he date any of them? Did he watch them dance?
“Did you date any of the...uh...”
“Dancers? No. My job was to make sure they were safe. I didn’t believe in fraternizing. A few of them might have hit on me once or twice.”
Liv snorted her disbelief. “Only once or twice?”
Porter shrugged. “But I said no. I wasn’t interested.”
“Really?�
��
“Uh-huh.” Porter nodded solemnly. “Scout’s...”
“Don’t you dare say ‘honor.’” Liv gave him a playful punch in the arm. He only pretended it actually hurt. Hitting him was like bouncing off a wall of muscle. “And your parents were fine with you...working there.”
“Not at first,” Porter admitted. “They wanted me to quit. They didn’t think it right for me to be there. They told me I should be an electrician, like my brother and my father. Fixing wires was the family business, and they didn’t approve of me going a different way. All parents have plans for their kids, and I didn’t fit into their plans.”
“Wow, that must’ve been hard, telling your family,” Liv muttered, thinking about all those naked women swinging on poles, probably lathered in some cheap body glitter. Not to mention the rows of drunk men watching them, throwing dollar bills on the stage, some probably even thinking it would be a good idea to get up on stage, too.
“It was hard, but I had to be honest with them,” he said. “And it was better coming from me than them finding out through the grapevine.”
“I guess.” Liv considered this. “But after you told them, did you quit?”
“Nope. I worked there two years. Paid for most of my tuition. I just had to explain to my parents that I was an adult. I had to make my own choices. I had no interest in being an electrician and I was bad at it. I wanted to be a lawyer, but I didn’t want to graduate with a quarter of a million dollars in student loans.”
“And they were fine with that.” Liv couldn’t keep the skepticism out of her voice. She imagined sitting down with her mom and dad and just explaining she was an adult. Somehow, she didn’t think that conversation would go over so well.
“They grew to be fine with it,” Porter said. “They had to let go, eventually. I just helped them see that it was time.”
Liv took a sip of her Coke as she noticed her father walking out the side door of the house, on the path to the detached garage. She temporarily froze, until she realized he was too far away to hear anything they were saying. Thank goodness.
He was probably looking for one of his lost barbecue tools, she thought. She saw a flash of her sex toy suitcase tucked in the corner. Surely he wouldn’t see it. Porter was talking again and she focused on what he was saying.
“What I was doing wasn’t reckless,” Porter said. “It was practical. Just like what you’re doing. The sex toy business is temporary. You’re using it to pay bills until you land a job you really want. It’s no different than what I did.”
“Maybe.” Liv wondered if Porter was right. Could she just come clean with her parents? She couldn’t even imagine starting that conversation. She’d always been the golden child: straight A’s, dozens of ribbons from ice skating and ballet, the whole nine yards.
“Secrets aren’t good for anybody,” Porter said. “Trust me that it’ll be better for you and them if you’re honest.”
“I’m not ready to go there.” Liv took a swig of the Coke in her hand. That much was true: she wasn’t ready to face the truth. Her lie felt bad, but she didn’t believe Porter. Somehow, she was certain the truth would feel far, far worse. Suddenly, she was struck with panic. Would Porter feel the need to come clean for her? Would he feel obligated to be all Mr. Honesty with her parents? “You’re not going to tell, are you? You promised.”
“It’s not my secret to tell,” Porter said.
Liv nodded, feeling relieved. He wasn’t going to tell—for now. She took another sip of her Coke and then glanced over to the back of the detached garage. She looked over just in time to see her father wheeling her suitcase out of the door.
The suitcase filled with purple dildos and bright neon-orange cock rings.
“Oh, no,” Liv breathed. “Oh, no, no.”
Chapter Eight
Liv had a sudden flash of her father wheeling in the sex toy suitcase, opening it up in the living room, and then having all the penis-shaped toys fall out onto the rug in front of all her cousins, aunts and uncles. That could not happen.
“Dad! What are you doing? Dad!”
Her father looked up at Liv. “Getting your uncle’s suitcase. He’s headed to the airport soon.”
That rolling black bag had a neon pink leopard-print ribbon around the handle. Liv knew it was hers, not her uncle’s. Liv saw that one of the side zippers wasn’t completely zipped on the front pocket. A tiny sliver of a condom package stuck out from the little opening, a bright little flash of neon yellow. It was the banana-flavored ones! Liv felt light-headed suddenly as her heart rushed blood to her head.
Her dad took a bump on the knobby stone-covered path from the garage. The condom all but popped out, its label now nearly in full view.
“No, that’s...” Liv trailed off. Was she going to fess up to owning it? Now—when there was a condom sticking out of it? Liv’s throat went dry.
“It’s mine,” Porter said, gallantly stepping up toward her dad.
“Yours?” Her father showed skepticism in his voice.
“I was headed out of town tonight,” Porter said, smoothly. “A trip to see my parents in Milwaukee. My niece tied a pink ribbon on so I wouldn’t forget that I promised her I’d play Barbie tea party next time I visited.” He nodded at the handle, as he easily took it from Mr. Tanaka, and positioned the bag, condom-wrapper hidden from her dad’s view. Her dad looked down at the handle and frowned.
“Oh, I didn’t see that there.” He frowned again. “Why was it in the garage?” he asked.
“Uh...” Porter looked at Liv.
“He took it out to show me the toy he got for his niece. See if a girl would like it,” Liv explained quickly. “We just hadn’t had a chance to put it back into his car, yet.”
“Oh.” Her father seemed to absorb that explanation.
Porter just smiled, holding the handle in his hand. Her dad shrugged and then went back to the garage in search of her uncle’s bag.
“You saved me,” Liv breathed when her father was out of earshot. She nimbly tucked the condom wrapper back into the zippered front.
“You’re my favorite kind of damsel,” Porter said, his mouth curving into a teasing smile. “The kind who owns a suitcase full of sex toys.”
Liv barked a laugh.
“Come on,” he said, putting his hand at the small of her back. “I’ll drive you and your bag of naughty tricks home.”
* * *
Despite Liv’s many protests that she was fine taking a cab, Porter insisted, which is how she ended up riding in his BMW all the way back to her condo in Wicker Park. When they got there, he parked and insisted on carrying her suitcase up to her second-floor walk-up.
“Thanks again,” Liv said, lingering by the door, keys in hand. She glanced up at Porter’s intense brown eyes and his broad shoulders, and all she wanted to do was put her hands on him. She’d been on G-rated mode all through the family barbecue, but now she felt that pull again. Porter leaned closer, magnifying her desire.
“That’s no way to thank me,” he said as he slyly ran his hand behind her and pulled her closer to him. She arched her back a little, anticipating the kiss, as he lowered his head and covered her lips with his. She felt a surge of pure excitement as a current traveled the length of her body. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body further into his, cursing the fabric that kept them apart, wishing she could yank off his sweater right there and feel his smooth, hard muscles. She’d spent the whole night naked with him, and now all she wanted to do was go back for more.
His tongue flicked hers, and she welcomed the taste of him and the hint of the cinnamon gum he’d chewed in the car. He tightened his grip, pulling her in closer, deepening the kiss. A groan escaped her lips, straight into his mouth. He moved her so her back was against the wall, and lifted her easily, as if she weighed nothing.
Her legs naturally went around his waist, as he held her there, trailing kisses down her neck as she threw back her head against the hallway wall and moaned a little. Her body felt as though it was on fire, an exposed wire of heat. Pretty soon, she’d have to invite him inside. She prayed Jordan had found something else to do this Saturday.
She only barely heard the lock being thrown at her front door. Suddenly, Jordan was standing in the doorway, grinning, headphones around her neck.
“I thought it was the neighbor’s dog out here causing all this noise,” she said, hand on hip. “And here it’s just you.”
Porter set Liv down gently and then backed away, grinning himself, as he ran a hand through his dark hair. Liv already felt her face burn red as she sent her roommate a look that said be nice.
“You must be Porter,” Jordan said, holding out her hand. “I’m glad to see you aren’t some kind of sex offender slash serial killer and that you brought her home in one piece.”
“Jordan!” Liv cried.
Porter just laughed. “Would you like to run a criminal background check on me, just to be sure?”
“I might.” Jordan cocked her head to one side, assessing.
“No, she won’t,” Liv said, pushing Jordan back inside their apartment. “She was just going back inside.”
“I was?” Jordan feigned ignorance.
“You are,” Liv said, as she determinedly stuffed her roommate back into their shared living room. Porter handed Liv her suitcase and dipped down for one last quick kiss.
“I’ve got to travel this week, but I’ll call you,” he said, and Liv knew he was serious. He ducked out of their door and reluctantly Liv closed it, her body thrumming with disappointment. She had been so ready for another round.
“You didn’t tell me he was that hot,” Jordan said as she slipped back down on the couch. “No wonder you agreed to a private party.”
“That’s not the only reason,” Liv reminded her.
Jordan snorted, showing her skepticism clear as day on her face. “Uh-huh, whatever you say.”
Boys and Toys Page 6
