Stay with Me

by Jules Bennett

  And if that meant putting it all on the line, then so be it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Olivia pulled her car behind the trucks currently occupying her driveway. What were all these people doing here? More importantly, who were they?

  Jax’s truck she recognized, but who were the others?

  “Yay.” Piper squealed from the back seat. “Cash and Tanner are here!”

  Melanie and Jade both let out a groan. Once Jax had come by with Piper, he’d immediately jumped into painting. Since Olivia wasn’t quite ready to face him, even with her friends around as chaperones, she, Jade, and Melanie took Piper to get some ice cream.

  The ice cream trip turned into a walk in the park, literally, followed up by a quick run by the pet store. Piper seriously knew how to wrap adults around her adorable little finger.

  Not only had Olivia’s heart taken a drastic turn since coming to Haven, her diet had gone all to hell. The run this morning was replaced with prepping walls for painting, so she doubted that burned the calories she’d just inhaled with a double chocolate mocha chip in a waffle cone. A waffle cone dipped in chocolate.

  If going through your late father’s belongings and falling for a sexy pilot who gave you hickeys as a sign of endearment weren’t cause for calorie overload, she didn’t know what was.

  “I didn’t know they were coming over,” Piper announced as she unfastened her belt and hopped out of her booster seat. “We should’ve brought them ice cream.”

  “They aren’t staying long,” Melanie mumbled as she got out of the car.

  Olivia laughed. Melanie was still a tad bitter over the whole ticket situation. For a woman who’d been through what she had, Melanie deserved a break. Instead, she’d caught the eye of the small-town officer. If only Tanner knew he was seriously wasting his time in his warped way of flirting with Mel.

  As they all headed toward the back door, Piper ran ahead and went on inside. The entire house was a bit of a wreck. Boxes were stacked in rooms not being painted that moment, drop cloths covered the old hardwood floors. Blankets and plastic wrap draped over furniture that had been shoved to the middle of rooms. It would all be worth it once she got it done and sold.

  But a piece of her had a pang of guilt over taking her father’s home and completely changing it.

  “They’re upstairs.”

  Piper’s anxious yell came from the staircase. Olivia followed her to make sure she didn’t step her foot in a tray of paint or trip over the mayhem.

  The fumes weren’t too overpowering with all the second-story windows open allowing a breeze to pass through. Fans were stationed around as well to help with ventilation and drying time. Olivia reached the top landing and came in direct eye contact with Cash’s backside.

  “Well, good evening,” she laughed.

  He glanced over his shoulder and down from his perch on the stepladder. “Hey, Livie. I’m on ceiling duty. Jax said they needed to be done.”

  Did he now? Because she hadn’t said anything about ceilings. And where had that paint come from? She didn’t have ceiling paint.

  “Thanks, Cash.” No need to gripe at him. “Where’s Jax?”

  “Guest bedroom.” He flashed a quick wink to Jade. “Yours, if the little pink sports bras are any indication.”

  Jade let out an unladylike snort. “I better not be missing any of my unmentionables or I’m coming after you.”

  “I sure as hell hope so,” he muttered as he focused back on the ceiling. “You should swing by my gym and we could spot each other.”

  “I’m good. Thanks.”

  Livie didn’t have time to get into whatever verbal sparring match those two had going on. She headed down the hall and found Jax in the bedroom, pulling off tape from the trim around the windows. Piper sat in the middle of the floor playing on her father’s phone.

  “Did you completely overtake this project?”

  Without turning to face her, he replied, “You seemed in a hurry to get this place ready to put on the market. Tanner, Cash, and I all had a few free hours so I coordinated a team.”

  Something about the way he seemed so matter-of-fact about her leaving didn’t set well with her. It wasn’t that she was eager to put the house on the market, but . . . okay, fine. She was ready to sell it and have one less headache, but she didn’t like how this entire situation made her feel.

  How could she be so torn when she’d had the perfect detailed plan all lined up before she ever stepped foot back in Haven? And now she was all a mess. Between sleeping with Jax, and loving every delicious moment of it, and his pulling in his cousins to help, she wasn’t sure what to think or how to feel.

  Livie examined the room, which had gone from a pale purple to a homey shade of slate gray. With the old hardwood floors, this place would catch the eye of some young couple who was just starting out. It was perfect with the extra bedrooms and close to the park.

  A niggle of guilt slithered through her at the thought of never coming here again. Once it sold she’d have no reason to. Granted, she hadn’t been back since she’d graduated, but the place had been here and in the back of her mind she knew she could’ve.

  Maybe that’s what helped her keep distant for so long. She always knew she could come back on her own time if she was ready . . . and now she’d run out of time. That old life, the good and the bad, were gone. The little girl who ran through these halls, the rebellious teen who pushed her father away at her mother’s coaxing . . . all gone.

  Seeing the fresh coats of paint cut through the defensive shield and pierced her heart. There was no other way to say it because it was almost as if she were erasing every memory from every room. That’s what she wanted, though, right? She wanted to be done in Haven.

  Well, except for the airport she jointly owned and the hunky man moving about the room. Would she ever be done with him? Not on a business level, but personal? Would they ever be able to just go their separate ways after they’d been intimate?

  Sleeping with someone wasn’t something Livie took lightly. She had to care about someone before giving herself to him. And as much as she didn’t want to, she deeply cared for Jackson Morgan. Damn that man for making her want things and confuse her even more.

  Raised voices came from out in the hall and Jax finally shot a glance to Livie. He quirked a brow and she merely shrugged.

  “Sounds like Uncle Tanner isn’t happy,” Piper stated as she continued her game on the floor without a care in the world.

  Livie stepped out into the hall and saw Tanner’s back in the doorway of the bedroom at the end of the hall . . . Melanie’s bedroom.

  “I’ll get my stuff out of the way later,” Mel told him. “I wasn’t aware this room was going to be painted so soon.”

  “I can help you move it and we’ll be done here.”

  Did her friends simply not mesh at all with Jax’s cousins?

  “I’ll handle it later,” Melanie insisted. “Besides, this is Livie’s call and she didn’t tell me to remove anything. We don’t even have paint for this room.”

  “We bought the same shade for all the bedrooms,” he replied, then crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you still angry over the ticket I gave you? You really should be more—”

  “I’m not angry about that,” she growled. “Would you get out of my personal space? I can’t breathe.”

  “Sounds like a lovers’ spat,” Jax whispered in her ear, making her jump.

  Livie glanced over her shoulder, finding her mouth so close to his. So, so close. She turned back to the entertainment at the end of the hall.

  “Melanie won’t be pushed around by men, no matter how minor the situation is.”

  “Want to share that backstory?” he asked.

  Needing to get away from his touch, which muddled her mind, Livie turned and went back into the room. She squatted down and picked at the edge of the blue tape running along the baseboard.

  “Not my story to tell.”

  “I love stories,
” Piper chimed in. “Daddy tells the best ones at bedtime.”

  Yes, Jax was the epitome of fantastic father. He rocked that job just like he did everything else. The man was too damn perfect and she was having difficulty finding fault with him.

  Oh, wait. He drove her out of her ever-loving mind and made her question her sanity and her future. So apparently, he did have some epic flaws.

  “Thank you,” she told him without turning to face him. “You didn’t have to do all of this and I don’t even know where you got all this paint, but I’ll pay you back.”

  “You’re not paying me back,” he demanded. “Paul was like a father to me, a grandfather to Piper. This was nothing in comparison.”

  Of course her father had been close with Piper. It only made sense that if he and Jax were so tight, Piper would spend quite a bit of time around Olivia’s father.

  And why wouldn’t he surround himself with Jax and Piper? The rest of his family had left. Guilt of her past actions settled in deep. What would’ve happened if she’d taken him up on one of his offers to come back? Just once in all those years . . . what could’ve happened between them without her mother’s interference?

  The thought that she’d been a pawn for her mother to use in the marriage left a burning hole inside Olivia. She’d been young and impressionable, but that was no excuse. She’d made the mistake in thinking that her father was invincible and she could come back when she was ready. Unfortunately, the time she came back was for the funeral of the one man she could’ve counted on but didn’t.

  Olivia glanced over her shoulder to Piper playing on the floor on her father’s phone. Jealousy settled heavy on Olivia’s heart knowing this sweet girl possibly knew Paul better than Olivia in the past few years. Why had Olivia let her mother persuade her to move? Why had Olivia believed her father loved the airport more than his family?

  Because the longer Olivia stayed in Haven and learned about her father, the more she read in his journal, the more she was coming to realize he loved his family with his whole heart. He was seriously trying to hang on to his dream and provide the best way he knew how and her mother simply wanted more.

  More raised voices came from the hall—this time Jade and Cash seemed to be going at it. Jax laughed and continued working.

  Olivia figured they all were rubbing one another the wrong way and the sooner she and her girls left town, the better off they’d all be. Of course, there was that whole airport project they’d be working on, so they wouldn’t just cut all ties when they left.

  And Olivia worried it was those ties that would keep pulling her back in whether she wanted it or not.

  * * *

  “When are you going to tell her you’re in love with her?”

  Jax didn’t even try to dodge the question, because it was valid. He’d fallen for Olivia Daniels and his cousins were calling him on it. Bastards.

  Cash rested his arm over the bar and swiped at his forehead with his other hand. They’d been spotting each other for the past thirty minutes and Cash wasn’t even winded. Clearly, Jax needed to get here more often.

  “Pretty sure he’s not telling her,” Tanner chimed in as he replaced his weights on the rack.

  Jax sank to the bench to gather his thoughts and to catch his breath. Cash’s workouts were brutal, not that he’d ever admit that.

  “Why would I?” Jax asked. “She’s leaving, she’s got a life in Atlanta and my life is here.”

  “Maybe if you told her, then she’d stay.”

  Jax stared at Tanner, who clearly didn’t know women as well as he thought. “I’m not asking her to stay or playing some game where I hint at such a thing. If she wanted to be here, then she would. She’s already called Sophie Monroe to put her house on the market and she’s in Atlanta today for some damn meeting for her promotion.”

  Not that he wasn’t thrilled for her. She’d worked hard in her career and should be praised and granted this promotion she so desperately wanted. But that selfish side of him kept rearing its ugly head and he wanted her to see just what she was throwing away.

  There had been a change in her since coming here. She was a different person and she seemed happier. Oh, she was definitely frustrated, but overall, she’d relaxed, she’d gotten comfortable with the town, with him. Did she not see that he’d do anything for her? That he’d completely fallen for her?

  “So is that why you called this session?” Cash asked with a knowing grin. “You needed to work out some frustrations.”

  “Pretty much.”

  Jax wasn’t going to lie. The three of them had been through too much together, but they’d always been honest.

  Weights clanged across the room as another trainer assisted his client. Cash’s gym was the best in the area, but it was still rather early. The place seemed to really pick up when locals got off work.

  “Is she coming back?” Cash asked.

  “She never really said. I assume she was just going for the meeting.”

  Plus, Melanie and Jade were still at the house. He knew this because he’d seen them running when he’d been on his way to the gym. He had no idea when Livie was coming back, perhaps tonight, tomorrow . . . next week. She never told him and he didn’t ask. He hoped like hell she was thinking of him and just as mentally frustrated as he was.

  Part of him wanted her to get that promotion, to move up where she belonged, but the other part of him wanted her to come back and proclaim she’d had some epiphany while she’d been in Atlanta and she never wanted to return. Doubtful, but a guy could hope, right?

  For someone who swore never to get emotionally invested again, he was a complete failure. Honestly, though, he didn’t care. Livie did something to him and he wouldn’t trade it. Even when she left for good, he’d carry her in his heart. As ridiculous as that sounded, the times he spent with her, frustrating as they were, were so much more than he’d ever had in his marriage.

  But his heart literally ached at the thought of not having her in his life. Piper loved Livie as well, so he’d have to figure out a way to make sure those two stayed in contact. Would Livie take the time to text or call Piper? Knowing Livie, she absolutely would. There was complete adoration whenever she looked at his daughter and the way she interacted with her.

  “Your turn,” Cash stated, pulling Jax from his thoughts. “Ready to do some squats? Can’t just work on the arms, have to sculpt those chicken legs.”

  “I don’t have chicken legs,” Jax growled, coming to his feet.

  Cash nodded to Tanner. “He sure as hell does. Good thing he has to wear pants for his uniform.”

  “You wish your legs looked half as good as mine,” Tanner retorted with a snort. “I run daily.”

  “But you don’t build muscle.” Cash slid weights onto the bar and patted the middle. “Who’s up first, ladies?”

  Jax shot Tanner a look and shook his head. “I’m done here. I have Brock coming in for flight lessons shortly.”

  “I don’t have an excuse,” Tanner stated. “I just don’t want to.”

  Cash laughed. “Let me know when you two think you can keep up. I’ll be here.”

  Jax headed out and welcomed the fresh air. He needed to grab a shower and get to the airport. Brock wasn’t coming for about three hours, but Jax was done at the gym. He needed to be alone with his thoughts, he wanted to figure out what the hell he was going to do when Livie came back. At some point he was going to have to be up front and honest with her about where he stood.

  And he was going to have to shore up enough strength to handle it when she walked away for good.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Finally. Fi-nal-ly.

  Olivia had cinched the promotion. Her boss was all too anxious to announce the new shift in authority and then he’d taken her and several coworkers—including Steve—out for drinks. She’d gotten out way too late and ended up staying in her condo for the night.

  Now the early morning sun was shining as she headed back into Haven. She passed the
sign, announcing the miniscule population; she passed the hill with Bella Vous resting proudly on top, she traveled down the main part of town passing Knobs and Knockers, then the roundabout with the tall, antique clock.

  Haven was a beautiful place full of charm, but it wasn’t Atlanta. Atlanta thrived with nightlife, theaters, her coworkers, and friends.

  As she drove farther through town and stopped at lights, people would wave. She’d been here too long. People all around loved her father and the fact she was back in town seemed to get them gossiping and speculating. Hopefully, they could be given facts fairly soon about the renovations. All they needed was the green light on the grants and then Zach’s proposed plans to be approved by the city engineers.

  There were careful steps to take, but Olivia was confident when she went back to Atlanta, the airport would be in good hands.

  Jax’s hands.

  Swallowing the lump of emotion, she turned down the road that led straight to the airport. She owed him the courtesy of explaining what happened in Atlanta. The entire drive home she rehearsed what she’d say, how she’d finally end their intimate relationship. From here on out, they had to be business partners only, not bed partners.

  In two weeks she’d be back to her big city, back to her condo and her new corner office with two walls of windows offering her a beautiful city view. She couldn’t wait to take a seat behind her new desk in her new space.

  As she pulled into the lot, she noticed only Jax’s truck was there. It was still early and she hoped he wasn’t out on a flight. She wanted to talk to him before her excitement from the promotion wore off. If she sat in his office too long waiting on him, she wasn’t sure where her thoughts would go and what doubts would creep in.

  Being in her hometown had a way of skewing her thoughts, but she’d just been handed the top position she’d been vying for and nothing was going to take that from her—not nostalgia and not a fling.

  Olivia shut off her car and pulled in a deep breath as she tugged on the door. As she stood beside her car, she glanced to the main building while smoothing a hand through her hair. She’d grabbed her favorite yellow sundress from her closet and a little kitten heel, strappy sandal, and opted to leave her hair down.