“Go ahead and try it.” He hadn’t moved from his spot.
“What makes you think no one would believe me?” she asked, edging closer to Luke.
“Because I never did any of those things with anyone except with you.”
“What?” she breathed in, all humor dropping from her face.
Luke walked to where Olivia was firmly rooted in place. “There was no one else, Livy. No one else got what you got. Those were our moments, and ours alone. I wasn’t going to recreate them with anyone else.”
Olivia’s wide eyes held her from looking anywhere else but deep into Luke’s. She was lucky she managed a sentence at this point. “But didn’t you have a girlfriend? I assumed you would with her,” she whispered.
“Well, yeah, of course I had a few here and there, but you assumed wrong because I didn’t sing to any of the girls. Ever.”
Being on the road didn’t allow him to have a girl of his own long-term. And contrary to what people believed, he wasn’t the kind of guy who slept with just anyone. Sure, at first it was all fun and games. He tried to lose himself in his music and any woman who didn’t resemble Livy. Luke was young and fortunate to be doing what he loved, but in the last few years, he’d grown and shied away from the camera, wanting more privacy. Thank goodness he had considering the state his mother was in now. He kept his personal life on the down low as much as he could. Since then, he had only been with a few women, but none of them came even remotely close to the one standing before him with anguish in her eyes.
“I had no idea. Maybe I won’t sell all your secrets after all.”
Luke grinned. “I would hate for the world to know what we shared.”
Olivia stared into Luke’s eyes that held so much honesty. She couldn’t believe what he was telling her. That even after everything that had happened, he still held onto them.
“Why?”
“Why, what?”
“Why didn’t you sing to any of them? Why didn’t you give them what you gave me?”
“Listen to my words,” he emphasized, reminding her how his feelings and emotions were weaved in his music. Luke brushed away a tangled lock of hair from her face. “It was only you, only you who got the real me. And I wasn’t going to ever share that with anyone, Livy. Even though we had split, it still meant too much to share. It didn’t feel right letting someone in on our private moments.” Cupping the sides of her face, he finished with, “So I never did.”
Olivia’s mouth gaped open. “How do I know you’re not lying?” Her voiced cracked.
“I promise you I’m not,” he said seriously. “Go ahead and share our intimate details and watch how many chicks go after you. I’m telling you the truth, Care Bear. There was no one else but you. Only you got the real me. I learned early in my career to wear a mask, but with you I never needed to. I swear.”
Olivia searched Luke’s green eyes for the truth…and found it. She saw it, even when she didn’t want to accept it; it was right in front of her eyes. She didn’t know what to think. He saved their precious moments for them only. It made her jaw quiver with too many emotions knowing he spoke the truth. Olivia could feel tears rising up and settling on her lids. This whole time…she’d been so stupid.
Her breathing accelerated and she did the only sensible thing that she could think of. Olivia grabbed the sides of Luke’s face and pulled him to her, smashing her lips to his. She stood on her tiptoes and leaned into him as Luke grabbed her hips in shock, digging his fingers into her. Olivia kissed him with force, with emotion and with heart. As Olivia wrapped her arms around Luke, he kissed her back slowly but then pulled away. Stormy need laced with confusion swirled in his green eyes. They hit her hard, and she wanted to fall into them. She went to reach for his mouth again, but he stopped her.
“As much as I love your lips on mine, what about Nate?”
Olivia gulped and she loosened her arms. She averted her eyes and bit her lip. Quietly she said, “I don’t want to talk about him.”
Luke wasn’t a cheater by any means and new Livy wasn’t either, but he had to ask about Nate. As much as he loved the feel of her in his arms, her mouth on his as she kissed him with such intensity, Luke felt bad for the guy. He watched Livy’s shoulders sag and felt her regress. He knew something was going on with Nate, he just wasn’t sure what. It wasn’t his business to ask anyway. Not right now at least while she was staring at his mouth, clearly wanting more of him.
“You sure?”
Olivia nodded. “So would it be okay if I did this?” he asked, brushing his lips across hers.
“Yes. Trust me,” she mumbled into his mouth.
“You sure?” he asked before pulling her back to his mouth and taking control.
Olivia nodded her head and then rose up on her toes once more as Luke sucked on her bottom lip. He tightened his arms around her waist, pulling her to him. Luke lapped at her lips, kissing her back with the same passion. He was showing her how much she still meant to him, that after all these years and with what he admitted tonight, the burning need for Olivia King could never be extinguished.
Just like it never had for her.
A month had gone by since riding with Luke on his bike. At this point, Olivia was miserable and angry over her breakup with Nate and falling for Luke again.
Olivia silently berated herself as she sipped her whiskey and continued rearranging her furniture. It had been almost one month since Nate had ended things between them. Usually the whiskey calmed her nerves and made her giddy, but tonight it was doing the complete opposite. It was firing her up the way it burned down the back of her throat and settled in her stomach as she reminisced about the past. She was trying to find justifications for everything. Her emotions were battling with her brain. She just wished it would stop for a little while.
Let me down easy, Liv.
Those words had replayed over and over in her head for weeks.
Another sip.
Just her letting him down, easy.
But it really wasn’t easy in the least. She could read Nate’s emotions as clear as day as he tried to mask them. Sadness had layered his handsome face like translucent skin. She had never felt worse. A low ringing sound pushed through her thoughts.
Grabbing her phone, Olivia picked it up to see Luke calling.
And life just got sweeter, didn’t it?
“What, Luke?” she snapped.
“Whoa. What’s wrong, Care Bear?”
“Don’t call me that!” Olivia squeezed her eyes shut in frustration. Care Bear. She knew exactly where that stupid stuffed animal was sitting.
On her shelf. In her living room. With all her books. Just like it had for many years, and in every office she’d ever had, only this time she moved it to her house. She seemed to create her own misery everywhere she went. Now she felt like gutting the damn thing and watching its white fluff drift aimlessly to the floor. Then she would stomp on it while she laughed maniacally.
“What do you need, Luke?” she seethed into the phone, gripping it hard in her hand.
Olivia heard a lighter strike, a long, deep inhale and then release. “Just needed to call ya,” he said, his southern drawl came out stronger.
She shook her head. “For what now?”
“Nothing, really. Maybe to see if you wanted to go for a ride again.”
She’d actually love to do that, but she was too worked up at the moment to say yes. “Listen, Luke, I’m in no mood today. I’m hanging up now.”
“Livy, what’s wrong?”
Olivia fought the urge to snap back. Her emotions were already running wild and she did not want to be questioned by him. Instead, she huffed into the phone.
“Everything going okay with you and Nate? Why are you breathing heavily?”
Olivia stopped in her tracks. “I’m trying to move furniture, and it’s… It’s none of your damn business!”
“Okay…” Another puff of smoke.
“I’m rearranging my furniture. That’s why
I’m out of breath!” Olivia couldn’t contain herself. Every time she answered Luke, she yelled at him. “And sweet baby Jesus, would you stop smoking those cigarettes? They’re going to kill you and ruin that raspy voice of yours everyone loves.”
Luke snickered into the phone. The guy literally snickered.
That did it. She clicked the phone off and threw it onto her wood table with a loud clang and watched it slide across and drop to the floor.
She needed music. Music always helped when she was feeling down and sad about things going on in her life. It brought her to a place where she was free from everything and let her forget her troubles from the past. So she cranked up the stereo and thanked Mother Mary she didn’t have neighbors to complain about her music.
Thirty-five minutes later, after moving the furniture back to where it originally was, Olivia was breaking into a sweat.
What the hell had she been thinking? Wiping her forehead with the back of her hand, her dog started barking from the loud banging coming from her front door.
Peering to the right, she looked out the side window and stood still.
You have got to be kidding me.
A stupid grin spread across his handsome face, reaching his eyes—green eyes that were shadowed by a hat of course. Unlocking the dead bolt, Olivia opened the door. She stood still staring with her jaw set tight.
“Umm, what are you doing here, Luke? You sure love stopping by my house, don’t you?”
Luke looked down at Olivia and continued to grin at her. She was all worked up, her hair a hot mess and clothes all twisted from sweating. Damn…a wild mess and she still looked good.
“Come to think of it, I never asked you how you found out where I live in the first place. How did you find my address?”
“My people.”
“Your people?”
“Yeah.”
“Could you get anymore clichéd?”
“Aren’t you going to let me in, Livy?”
“Not ‘til you tell me why you’re here, Lukey.”
“Lukey? Come on, baby. Couldn’t you come up with a better one than that?” Olivia glared at him and began closing the door in his face.
“Wait… Wait!” Luke stopped the door with his hand.
“Just let me in.”
“What for?”
“Because clearly your dickhead boyfriend isn’t here to help you with your…rearranging.”
Her eyes were suddenly watery as she tried to hold in the tears.
“Olivia, please, let me in.”
There was nothing he hated more than seeing her cry. Olivia stepped back and allowed him in. When he heard her voice on the phone earlier, he knew instantly she needed someone. The pain in her words pulled him in, so he hopped in his truck and hightailed it north.
Once she shut the door behind him, Luke followed silently down the hall, not saying a word. Hell, no way could he speak a word right now if he wanted to. His eyes were glued to the two plump rounds moving up and down as her feet patted down the hallway. Luke followed her, the music he could barely hear from the front of the house getting louder, into an open room in a massive disarray of furniture.
She was really moving the furniture herself? Was she out of her damn mind? He placed his hands on his hips and looked around. It was a good thing he had called her when he did. She’d been on his mind all day and fought with the urges to call her.
“What’s next?”
Olivia pointed to the loveseat then the empty spot where she wanted it.
He moved it.
“Next?” Again, Olivia said nothing, just pointed. He knew she was hurting but also knew she wasn’t going to open up until she was ready.
Luke watched as the stress started to fade away from her beautiful chocolate eyes as she lifted the small glass of amber liquid, swirled it then brought it to her lips. Using the hem of her shirt, she wiped her face and forehead, exposing her pale belly. The soft and smooth skin rose and fell as she breathed. Luke had to shift his gaze away quickly so his dick wouldn’t get any ideas.
After a little while, she turned down the music and looked over at him. “You want something to drink? I have whiskey, water…whiskey… Maybe a beer layin’ around somewhere… I don’t know…”
“Yeah, I’ll take a beer if you have it. Thanks. Where do you want these books?” Luke asked as he began pulling them off the top shelf so he could move the bookcase for her. Olivia looked around. “Here, give them to me.” She traded the beer for the books.
After emptying the first three shelves, Luke squatted down to the fourth one, and then stopped.
Nestled in the corner and leaning against a thick medical book was the little purple Care Bear he’d given her many years ago. Luke reached for the bear. Clutching it in his hand, he stood and turned to Olivia.
Olivia’s breath hitched at the sight of what Luke was holding. Her heart contracted as he stood there looking dumbfounded between her and the bear. She’d completely forgotten the bear.
“You kept it? After all this time?”
“Of course I did, Luke.”
“Why?”
Olivia walked over to Luke and reached for the bear but he swiped his hand away before she could grab it. Blowing her hair from her eyes in frustration, she placed her open palm out. “Hand it here, Luke.”
“No. Tell me why you kept it first.”
Olivia rolled her eyes.
“Did you just roll your eyes at me?”
“Men are so dense,” she mumbled. “Of course I kept it. But your grubby hand is getting it all dirty. Now please, give it back.”
“These grubby hands are helping you while your boyfriend is MIA. So answer the question.” His eyes were hard and unnerving. “Why did you keep it?”
“Because we grew up together? You were my best friend and you meant something to me, dammit. What? You don’t have anything sentimental?” She sighed heavily while answering.
Astonished, he stared at the bear as he asked, “But Olivia, it’s been, how many years?”
“What does it matter?”
“It’s just a piece of pillow stuffing, Livy. It’s nothing.”
Olivia felt the tears prickle her eyes. Her jaw burned as she fought to stop it from quivering. She refused to cry over a stuffed animal that obviously meant nothing to Luke. Just a piece of pillow stuffing? He obviously wouldn’t understand.
“To you maybe.” She held out her hand and asked softly, “Can I have it back now? Please?” That bear meant more to her than the medical books on her shelves. It was priceless. And if anything happened to it, she didn’t know what she would do.
Luke looked at Livy’s puffy, tear rimmed eyes and handed the Care Bear back to her. He hadn’t expected her to keep the bear. Then something dawned on him.
“What about the necklace? Did you keep that too?”
Livy brushed a hand down the front of the bear feeling the downy softness. Of course she kept the necklace. A sad smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes formed on her face.
“It’s because of you, you know. Nate’s not here because of you,” Olivia whispered, dodging the necklace question.
Luke’s head snapped up at Olivia’s words. Had the bastard actually left her?
“You’re kidding, right? When did he leave?”
Olivia sighed and placed the bear on top of the book pile with great care, as if it was porcelain. She took a deep breath and ran her hand over her knotted hair. Walking into her kitchen, she grabbed another beer for Luke and poured two fingers of whiskey into her glass.
Handing him the beer, she said, “It was over a month ago. The day after the results of your mom’s tests came in, he broke it off.”
“That long ago? Why haven’t you told me?”
She shrugged, shaking her head. “Do you want the truth? All of it from the beginning?”
“Indulge me.”
With a heavy heart, Olivia decided to let the words flow that she had kept locked inside for so long.
&n
bsp; “Truth is, Luke, I came back here because of you. I didn't want to admit it at first, but there was a pull so strong that kept screaming at me to come back to Georgia. But like the incredibly stubborn woman I am, I kept ignoring it. Even though we had been over for years, and I had no hopes of ever reconciling anything with you, I still had to come back. I don’t know why, and I know it doesn’t make any sense. I just needed to be here too. It’s one of those things you can’t explain, just that I knew I had to do it.”
Olivia’s heart was racing a mile a minute, battering against her ribs. Luke just stared at her, not saying a word.
“After everything I dealt with growing up, I needed to prove to myself that I could survive on my own. That going to school in a new city far away was the right thing. I was devastated after I left, you have no idea. There were times where I was ready to drop med school, pack up and come home. The first year was the most difficult, and a few times I almost caved. Thankfully, the overwhelming amount of school work kept me busy. I told myself that I was happy with my new life, that it was what I wanted. It was what I wanted, just not without you. So I stuck it out and stayed. After I completed everything I went to New York for, I worked for a little while until I couldn't take it anymore. I was...done. I wanted to come home. Now when I look back on it, I can’t believe how selfish I was. I was stupid to be so single-minded and not thinking about who I was hurting.”
Olivia inched her way to Luke, taking small steps and scrunching up the bottom of her shirt in her clammy hands. She was nervous as hell and starting to tremble, but desperately fought to keep it from showing. She wanted to appear cool, calm, and collected. That she could handle even an admission as simple as this. But this wasn’t simple. Not in the least.
“Nearly every day I put on a brave face while dying on the inside trying to be someone I’m not. I was hollow, empty without you. I suffered day in and day out without you for years until I finally let go. Now I’m wondering if I made the right decision to come back to Georgia. I never expected this. You, being around again, near me, surrounding me, taking up my thoughts and what could have been. What I threw away. Everything is so messed up.”
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