Adding in Liv and her own responsibilities, I had the biggest case of blue balls known to man.
I wasn’t complaining.
Okay, I was—slightly. But I knew it would be worth the wait. Liv was worth a thousand dates that ended at the door rather than in a bed. The longer I knew her, the more I realized that Liv was the one woman I intended to keep. So, I could deal with the blue balls and dates that weren’t really dates since we were never truly alone. I was in it for the long haul.
I just hoped she was, too.
“So, where do we start, boss?” I asked, kneeling down beside her.
“We need to scrape and sand off as much of the old paint as possible. It’s not going to be fun,” she warned.
“Guess we’ll have to find something fun to talk about then,” I replied.
“Like what?”
She handed me a gritty piece of sandpaper, and I watched as she began moving her own piece along the wicker, creating a plume of dust.
“Hmm…” I mimicked her movements with my own sandpaper. “Let’s play Truth or Dare,” I challenged.
Her smile turned mischievous, setting down the sandpaper to grab a large metal tool to scrape off a large patch of paint that had begun to chip away.
“Okay, but how exactly are we going to do dares when we are supposed to be working, genius?”
“Just truths then?”
“So, basically, you just want to know all my darkest, deepest secrets?”
“Yep,” I admitted.
“Fine.” She laughed. “But I get to go first,” she said, her eyebrow angling up in amusement.
“Deal,” I agreed.
“How old were you when you lost your virginity?” she asked, a gleam of wickedness cascading across her face.
“No holding back, huh?”
“Nope. Spill it.”
“Okay, okay, but no laughing.” I sighed. “I was nineteen.”
“Nineteen!” she squeaked. “I would never have guessed.”
“Yeah, well, I was a tenderhearted youth, and I had it in my head that I was going to wait until the right girl came along.”
“And did she?” she asked hesitantly.
“Nope,” I answered bluntly. “But I got Noah out of the deal, so I think that counts as a win.”
I tried to cover up the bitterness with a smile, but I could tell I wasn’t doing a great job.
“Her name was Natalie,” I finally said. “We met in college. Coming from my middle-class, Southern upbringing, Nat was completely foreign to me. She was from Arizona, and she had lived on an Indian reservation for part of her life. She was exotic and looked like Pocahontas, and she was totally out there in the way she lived her life. To a wide-eyed boy like me, she was completely dangerous.”
“Dangerous how?” Liv asked. Her sanding had stopped, and she was now focused solely on me.
“Everyone told me to stay away from her. They said she was bad news and that she’d bring me nothing but misery, but I was young and naive. She’d come from a questionable past, and she had broken a dozen hearts by the time we found each other. The attention she gave me was hypnotizing and addictive, and I swore she was the one I was meant to be with forever.
“I thought I was the special one because she’d stayed. We dated through college and lived together. Shortly after graduation, she told me she was pregnant. I was ecstatic, but she was less than thrilled. It wasn’t great timing, but I knew we’d figure it out. I bought her a tiny diamond ring and promised to marry her after our son was born. When I saw the hesitation in her eyes, I told her that my father had given me a large sum of money. I thought she would be happy.”
“Oh, please tell me she didn’t—”
“She did,” I said. “Being the trustworthy dumb fuck that I was, I gave her access to the account. She was my fiancée, and she was carrying my child. I wanted her to know that I would take care of her. Weeks after Noah was born, she was gone—along with the money.”
Liv’s hand touched mine, and I felt her warmth seeping into me.
“Were there any clues? Or were you completely blindsided?”
I shook my head. “I knew something was amiss. She hadn’t been happy for months—basically since she’d found out she was pregnant. Toward the end, she was on the phone a lot. I tried to tell myself that she was just adjusting, but now, I don’t know. There was probably someone else.”
“Amazing,” was all Liv said.
“Yeah,” I answered. “An amazing bitch.”
“No—I mean, yes, I guess. But I was referring to you. Think about what you just told me, Jackson, but fast-forward eleven years to now and include everything you’ve accomplished. That one event could have crushed you, but instead, you became stronger.”
“I had to. Noah needed me to.”
“There are always going to be people in our lives who will ruin us and pull us down into our own personal hell, but then there are the ones who will build us back up and help restore us to what we are meant to be.”
“You’re very wise, Miss Prescott.” I smiled.
“I know. Lots of education.” She winked. “We suck at this game. Quick, ask me something embarrassing. Better yet, give me a dare and even the playing field.”
“I thought we weren’t doing dares,” I said, feeling my mood improving.
“Didn’t anyone teach you that it’s okay to break the rules every once in a while?”
“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I grinned.
“Lay it on me, counselor.”
“I dare you…to strip down…right here and let me take a picture of you.”
She laughed, her eyes immediately darting to the warm glow within my house, knowing Noah was inside.
“He’s glued to the TV. Don’t use him as an excuse,” I challenged.
“Need something for your spank bank, Mr. Reid?” she asked, her fingers moving down to the hem of her tank top.
“Something like that.”
With a quick whoosh, her top was on the grass next to us. Black lace covered her beautiful round breasts, displaying a deep valley where I wanted to dive in and never come back.
“Now, the shorts, Liv,” I instructed.
She stood up as I watched from below. She slowly unbuttoned them and slid her fingers underneath the denim before sliding them over her hips. When they fell to the ground, she kicked them aside. Thin lace panties barely covered her most intimate parts, making my mouth water as I yearned for a glimpse of what was hidden beneath.