“My dad couldn’t for the life of him figure out why I was volunteering to help out. I hated yard work. But free labor was free labor, so he didn’t question me. If he’d realized I was trying to shamelessly flirt with the son of his customers, he wouldn’t have been so accommodating.”
Finn chuckled. “Best surprise ever when you showed up. And confession: the dog didn’t dig up half the garden a few days later when my dad had to call y’all back out.”
She narrowed her eyes. “So that’s why the next time I helped him, you brought out lemonade and cookies. You knew I was coming and were trying to butter me up. I thought it was very Martha Stewart of you.”
He smirked. “Until you broke out in hives because I didn’t know there was peanut butter in the cookies.”
“God, I still remember your face when you realized what had happened. You were so horrified. It was kind of adorable.” She leaned against the railing behind her, happy to be talking about something else, something good. “And the hives were no fun, but at least Dad let me go into the house to let the meds kick in and take a break from the heat. We watched some random movie that sucked.”
“And then I made an ass of myself and tried to kiss you.”
“Yeah, with my swollen lips and tingling tongue. Very suave.”
His mouth curved, revealing the dimple hiding beneath the scruff.
Damn. Still unfairly good-looking.
“I remember you saying something like, Now? You’re going to try to kiss me now? Like I had broken every rule in the How to Impress a Girl handbook. Any game I thought I had was effectively squashed.”
“Well, your ego could withstand a few dings,” she said, poking him in the chest. “Luckily, you were very pretty and I forgave you. Multiple times. In the library. In the back of your SUV. Wherever we could find.”
He ran a hand over his hair, chagrined and boyish. Memories assailed her. Eager lips and whispered words. All that building need. They’d never gone all the way because she’d still been a virgin. But Lord, she’d wanted him to be her first. She’d told him that on prom night in the closet before everything had happened. If he had asked her to be his date, she would’ve given him everything.
But just kissing him, being touched by those capable hands, still held a spot as some of the hottest encounters of her life. “Our make-out game was strong.”
“Olympic level,” he said, dimple ablaze again.
She wet her lips and had to remind herself that they were just joking around, reminiscing, trying to forget the bad stuff for a few minutes. This was not flirting. Because that would be inappropriate. And ill-advised. And fucked up.
“My tutoring game, not so much,” she added.
“Hey, I passed, right?” he teased, wistfulness filling his gaze. “God, it’s so easy to let that stuff slip away, to remember that there were good things.” He reached out and pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, letting his fingers linger. “Great things.”
Her mouth went dry, and electric awareness traveled down her neck from the spot where he’d touched her, lighting up nerves along the way. She bit her lip, searching for something innocuous to say, but no words would come. All she could see was Finn. Not the one who’d left her. Not the stranger he was now. The one who used to make her feel good. Her Finn.
She couldn’t turn away. She recognized that look, the sharp edge of yearning in it. She had a feeling she was giving the same one back.
She needed to stop, step away. Save them both. But instead, her hands reached out and flattened against his chest. She stepped closer, too close for friendly. She did all of it without saying a word, and then she pushed up on her toes and pressed her mouth to his.
* * *
Finn’s muscles locked the moment Liv’s hands slid up his chest. He’d seen her shift forward but hadn’t expected her to actually touch him again. He’d still been reeling from the earlier hug. But the feel of her hands splayed over him, moving up along his body, was far more erotic than the embrace had been, and his body was so starved for touch that it took everything he had not to groan.
But this was Liv. And she’d been upset. And drinking. He needed to warn her away. Stop this before anything happened. That was the right thing to do. This was not what he’d come out here for.
But then she kissed him.
Salty sweet lips and soft curves melted against him, blowing his noble plan to bits. Every cell in his body caught fire at the contact. It’d been so long—So. Damn. Long.—since he’d had a woman pressed against him. But more than that. This was Liv. Sexy, grown-up Olivia Arias. Subject of his teenage fantasies. His thoughts scattered like shrapnel, making it impossible to piece any together. He was supposed to be doing something. Stopping this. But he didn’t say a goddamned word. He couldn’t. Instead, he did the absolute worst thing.
He kissed her back.
His hands went to her face, and a needy groan escaped. The taste of her was like adrenaline to his blood—the tartness of her drink and Liv’s own unique flavor mixing together. She had started softly, tentatively, a Hey, how about we try this for a second? But soon he couldn’t help himself. When she parted her lips, he took the invitation and deepened the kiss, the starved man taking over. He hadn’t been with a woman in over two years, but this was more than that. He hadn’t kissed this woman in what felt like a lifetime.
Liv gasped into his mouth but didn’t pull away. Instead, she took his cue and shifted closer, torturing him with the feel of her curves and the heat of her against him. His hand slid to the back of her neck, gripping that soft place and holding her where he wanted her. But as the kiss went on, he craved more, every male cell in his body making demands. He wanted to tip her head back and work his way down her neck, take that salty skin between his teeth, fill his hands with her lush curves and follow with his tongue until she moaned for him. Until she begged and fell apart in his arms.
Maybe she wanted that, too, because this was not a fumbling teenage kiss in the library stacks. This was the kiss of a woman with experience, one who knew what kisses like this led to, one who lit matches because she wanted the fire. So when she fully aligned her body against his, all that soft heat grinding against the increasingly un-soft part of him, he was ready to set her whole world ablaze.
His brain switched off completely. Gone were logical thoughts, rational explanations, or wise decisions. He just wanted the oblivion right now. He wanted Liv.
She gasped between kisses, grabbing a breath, her eyes dazed. “Finn.”
His name was a plea, a prayer, a goddamned benediction.
He wanted to answer it.
“I’ve got you.” He took her mouth again and backed her up against the porch column, the wood creaking in protest. Screw good decisions. Screw it all. He’d figure that shit out later. This felt too good to stop.
Her hands slipped beneath his T-shirt, her touch like a firebrand on his skin, and another groan escaped them both. He grabbed her thigh and dragged her leg up, pressing himself against her, liking the noise she made at the contact. Loving the way her nails dug into skin. Yes. This.
Tonight they’d finally—
“Whoa, uh, oops.”
Finn froze at the voice, and Liv turned to stone in his hold, her eyes going wide as she looked over his shoulder at their visitor.
“Tell me it’s staff,” he said against her ear. “Tell me they’re turning around and leaving us be.”
“It’s Kincaid,” she whispered. “And she’s not going anywhere.”
Shit.
Finn grimaced and instantly released Liv, giving her space to straighten her clothes, but he didn’t turn around to greet the unwelcome guest. He adjusted the front of his jeans instead and gave Liv a pointed look.
Blessedly, she got the message and stepped around him, giving him cover while he let the ice water of being caught cool his arousal.
/> “Um, hey,” Liv said, her voice a little wobbly.
“Hey, yourself,” Kincaid replied. “Everything all right?”
“Just fine,” Liv said quickly. Too quickly.
After one more breath to calm himself, Finn rolled his shoulders and turned to face the firing squad. Two of his old classmates stood there in the glow of the open door, Kincaid Breslin and Rebecca Lindt. Rebecca was owl-eyed, her gaze jumping back and forth between Liv and Finn. But Kincaid looked nonplussed.
“Sorry,” she said brightly. “Didn’t mean to interrupt, uh, things. We just got worried about you when we saw you didn’t come back in. Wanted to make sure you hadn’t fallen into the creek. Apparently, you fell into something else.” Kincaid strolled forward, pinning her interrogating gaze on Finn. “And you are?”
Finn had forced himself back to stoic mode, but before he could respond, Rebecca stepped forward, her limp barely detectable. “Finn?”
Kincaid’s brows went up. “Finn Dorsey?”
He nodded and glanced at Rebecca. “Hi, Bec.”
He didn’t have much to say beyond that. His body was still too revved to focus on much else besides Liv. A chat with a classmate and a childhood friend was not on the agenda. Now. Or ever, really.
“Um, can we have a minute, please?” Liv said finally.
Rebecca was still staring at him like she was trying to figure out an equation. But Kincaid smiled a smile that could cut right through a person, her Southern belle accent like a sugarcoated knife. “Sure. A minute. And Finn, it’s great to see you, but our dear Liv here has had a lot to drink tonight, so I’m sure you’ll understand that after I give you a few minutes to say good night, I’ll be walking her to her room.”
Finn stared at Kincaid for a moment and then nodded, keeping his expression smooth and feeling like a world-class dick. “Of course.”
“Great.” Kincaid patted him on the shoulder. “And don’t be a stranger. We’re all having breakfast at nine tomorrow. You should join us.”
Hell no to that. But she didn’t wait for his answer. He wasn’t her concern. Liv was. Kincaid strode away from him, giving Liv a speaking look as she passed her. Rebecca remained silent as Kincaid grabbed her elbow and led her back into the restaurant.
Liv sagged back against the railing and made a face. “Well, that was awkward.”
Finn laced his hands behind his neck and blew out a breath, trying to slow his heartbeat and the unrepentant lust that was still coursing through him. He’d almost hauled Olivia up to his room. Taken her to bed like she was some random woman he’d picked up at a bar.
When she was drunk and vulnerable on top of it. What the fuck was wrong with him? “I’m sorry. I don’t know what… I shouldn’t have done that.”
She crossed her arms, looking grim. “What are you apologizing for? You didn’t do anything. I kissed you.”
“And I let it go too far. You’re drunk. And you’re…” He almost said Liv. “You were upset.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose and gave a humorless laugh. “It’s nice of you to take the chivalrous route, but don’t fall on a sword about it. This was…”
“This was what?” he asked when her words trailed off.
“What I do,” she said flatly. “Or what I used to do at least. Alcohol makes me…” She looked up and then shook her head. “Let’s just say I have a two-drink limit for a reason.”
Part of him was dying to know what word she would’ve filled in there. Reckless. Stupid. Horny.
The last one made him feel like an even bigger jerk for thinking it. He tucked his hands in his back pockets, trying not to let his thoughts show on his face. “It’s been a long day and a lot of memories. I think we both just got carried away. We can’t do that.”
“Kiss?”
“No. Pretend we’re the people we used to be. Those people don’t exist anymore. They’re ghosts.”
She winced.
There was no denying the heat that had arced between them. He’d bet everything he owned that having her in his bed would be nothing short of spectacular. But it would be a lie. Drinking or not, she was seeing the guy he used to be. And he was seeing the girl he used to know. This was a grab at the past. Nothing more. Neither of them could afford to forget that.
She gave him a little smile. “Maybe we went traditional high school reunion after all. Getting drunk and having ill-advised hookups with classmates you never got to bed back then.”
Just hearing the word bed from her was almost too much for him. “It’s good that we were interrupted.”
“Yeah.” She smirked and pushed away from the railing. “Saved you from my drunken mauling.”
Finn sniffed. “Saved you from mine.”
She reached back and tightened the ponytail he’d loosened with his roaming hands. He wet his lips. How he’d love to drag his fingers through that glossy hair, wrap his fist in it when he…
“Do I need to be saved from you, Finn?”
The question yanked him back to the moment. He gave a curt nod. “Yes. You don’t want this. You don’t even know me.”
“Don’t I?”
Grim reality filled him. He reached out and took her hand. “No, you don’t. When you woke up in the morning and your head cleared, you’d be disappointed by what you found.”
She stepped closer and tipped up her chin, their hands linked by just the fingertips. “And what would I find?”
Nothing she was looking for and nothing that she deserved. He could guarantee that.
“That making you feel good for a few hours was all I had to offer.”
Her expression flattened.
He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry I stepped over the line tonight. Go get some rest, Liv.”
With a sigh, she stepped away from him, letting their hands stretch out until the hold broke. When she was a safe distance from him, she put her hand to her hip and cocked a brow. “A few hours, huh? Is that your ego talking, Dorsey, or a promise?”
The little jab made him smile. He leaned back against the rail so he wouldn’t reach for her again and shrugged. “Rough estimate depending on your level of endurance.”
Her grin was broad, full of sass, before she turned and strolled away, calling back over her shoulder. “Hell, that might’ve been worth the regret.”
His fingers curled against his thigh, the need to haul her up against the nearest wall a real thing. “Go to bed, Arias.”
“I’m already gone.”
The door shut behind her, and he rested his head against the porch column. “And so am I.”
He’d come back to do his part and help the charity by giving an interview, but that was over now. There was no reason left for him to hang around. He’d already been taking a risk by being there. He’d taken a bigger risk by kissing Liv.
First thing in the morning, he was getting the hell out of there.
chapter
FOUR
Kincaid was the only one left when Liv walked back into the restaurant. She was spinning the overturned mason jar round and round on the table, chin in hand, obviously lost in thought. Liv reached out and tapped her. “Hey.”
Kincaid startled and then turned, looking disoriented for a second before a smile touched her mouth. “Oh, hey there, Hot Lips.”
Liv groaned. “Guess we’re not going to pretend that you didn’t see anything?”
“Nope.” Kincaid got up from the table, letting the spinning jar slow to a halt. “I have a photographic memory.” She tapped her temple. “There’s no erasing that.”
Liv crossed her arms. “Fantastic. And everyone else?”
“Taryn went home, so she doesn’t know what happened. Rebecca went to bed.”
Liv shifted in her shoes and glanced toward the door that led to the hotel lobby. “Is Rebecca all right? She looked k
ind of freaked out. I mean, she mentioned Finn in her letter…”
Kincaid’s smile dipped. “She’s okay. Confused, I think. She told me she didn’t think you two knew each other. At least not like that.”
“We don’t.”
Kincaid gave her a look. “Sure you don’t.”
“I—”
Kincaid held up a hand, bangle bracelets clinking. “Hey, you don’t need to explain anything to me. But, honey, I know the difference between a let’s-get-to-know-each-other kiss and a reunion. Either way, it’s not my business. My only business is following the girlfriend rules.”
“The girlfriend rules?”
“Yes. Friends don’t let friends bang drunk,” she said sagely.
Liv snorted, mainly because debutante Kincaid had said bang. “Sounds wise.”
“It is. It’s bad for regrets and all that crap. But also, if you’re going to bed a guy that hot, believe me, you’ll want to be sober enough to remember it. Because damn. That boy grew up nice.”
Kincaid gave her a you know what I’m saying look, and Liv laughed. “I think I’m not the only one who’s a little drunk.”
“You’re telling me.” Kincaid put her arm around Liv and used her for balance as she took off her heels. “Which is exactly why we’re going to walk up to our rooms together. I’ll keep you safe from Mr. Dark and Broody, and you keep me away from that adorable bartender who keeps calling me ma’am and making it sound dirty.”
Liv glanced over her shoulder at the college-aged guy behind the counter, and he gave them a wink. She choked down her laugh. “Come on. I think that one’s out past curfew. We both need to get some sleep.”
They walked toward the lobby as Kincaid declared, “Yes. Sleep. Great idea.”
“I’m full of great ideas tonight,” Liv muttered.
“Oh, don’t be like that.” Kincaid gave Liv’s shoulder a bump. “Your idea wasn’t terrible. I mean, even though we’re both ending our night like this—drunk and alone,” she said with a dramatic flourish, “gold star for being the first to take the plunge. I didn’t expect it from you.”