“Hey, Auntie Sue.” I kneel down next to her and whisper into her ear, “Today’s going to be one of those long ones, isn’t it? You’re the birthday girl, but I’m not so sure you wouldn’t rather be somewhere else.”
Auntie Sue turns to me and gives a twitch of her eyebrow. She doesn’t speak in words, not anymore. But we’ve always been close, from when she tried in vain to teach me how to knit to when we went swimming together in the town lake when I was little. She worked at Union Bank too, as a teller, years ago before she became a wife and a mother. She spoke of her job with such affection and enthusiasm, and she’s part of the reason I went into the financial industry. She’s our family leader, and just because she can’t talk doesn’t mean I understand her any less.
“It’s Purgatory,” my cousin Stacey whispers to me as I leave Auntie Sue and pass her table. “Today is Auntie Sue’s ninetieth birthday party. We’re all here, her closest relatives, about to stuff our faces with her cake and dance to her songs, and she can’t even feed herself anymore. Purgatory, I’m telling you, Olivia. She’d be better off deciding to die.”
“It’s not her time yet,” I say softly as I walk toward my parents’ table. “Timing is in God’s hands, after all.”
“Hey, baby sis. How’s it going?” My brother, Sheldon, older than me by a year and a half, greets me as he cuddles with his fiancée, Cara, at the table.
“Couldn’t be better,” I say as I take a seat across from him.
He chuckles. “It’ll be okay.”
Never knowing when one of the milling cameramen will be snapping a photo, I try to keep my expression neutral. “Right. Tell me that in about a month when all the gossip has died down.”
My oldest sibling, Daphne, calls out a hello to me as she urges her husband, Todd, into his chair. She wants him at the far corner so he can tend to their five-year-old, Alec, and Daphne can then sit across from him with their two-year-old, Amy. As a camera bulb flashes in her face, Daphne grits her teeth into a pained smile as Todd teases her about being uptight while he tosses a pretzel up in the air and Alec runs to catch it with a screech. Daphne slides into her seat, dragging a screaming Amy onto her lap. I smile at her sympathetically, wondering as I look at her worn face when my sister stopped looking happy.
Cybil, Auntie Sue’s only living sibling, dashes up to our table nimbly, not looking close to her eighty-eight years. Her daughter, Patsy, follows her wearily. Patsy nearly looks as old as Cybil, certainly as worn. She looks tired like Daphne, I realize as I take a closer look at my own sister, who’s now fighting Amy for her plastic drinking cup so she can refill it with juice.
“Olivia!” Patsy says as she and Cybil head straight for me. “How brave of you to come today.”
I nod, hearing Sheldon’s muffled laughter across the table. “Nice to see you both.”
“That’s what family’s all about, isn’t it?” Patsy says. “They always have your back even when you’re lying flat on the ground.”
“I’m sitting up and feeling fine,” I say cheerfully, giving her the thumbs up as a photographer’s flash blinds me temporarily.
My father, God bless him, rises from his chair to give a birthday toast to Auntie Sue, and Cybil and Patsy hurry off to their seats.
I let out a breath of relief. For the next five minutes, no one will be talking to me or about me.
God, this party is already never-ending.
“Olive.”
One word, spoken quietly in my ear, is all it takes to change my entire mood. My body lights up at the sound of the voice I’d know in my dreams. Low, sexy, and unmistakably his.
Jenson’s here.
“J,” I say softly, without turning around.
“God, it’s been so long, Olive. Since I even saw you…”
“The holiday party last year.”
“Right.”
His warm breath tickling my neck sets my pulse racing. He must be at the table behind me. Did he slip in once Dad started talking? No way was he in the room when I sat down because I wouldn’t have missed the telltale shivers that always run through me when he’s around.
“I got your message.”
“Crap.”
A low, sexy chuckle hits my ears. “It was to the point.”
“I was drunk,” I say.
“I guessed that.”
Knowing we can’t attract unwanted attention, I continue to watch my father. I don’t turn around the way I want to so I can look into Jenson’s brilliant green eyes and tell him how much I’ve missed him.
“I’m sorry about your…divorce.”
“Huh.” I start tapping my foot on the tiled floor, the only sign of my unease as I pretend to be deeply engrossed in Dad’s never-ending words of wisdom and cheer for Auntie Sue.
His voice goes so low I have to strain to hear him. “Honestly, in terms of the divorce, I’m sorry only if you’re hurting. I never liked that asshole. You were way too good for him.”
I stop tapping my foot as the tension leaves my body. “Thank you.”
Jenson touches my back lightly. I start to lean into him without thought, but he removes his hand just as fast. “I wanted to call you when my mom mentioned your separation—you have no idea how much—but I didn’t think it would help.”
No, it probably wouldn’t have. To be wondering about us, about him, about his current love life, would probably not have helped while I was in the process of finalizing my divorce.
I tug at the strap on my silver dress, wondering what he’s wearing and if his hairstyle’s still the same. The curiosity is killing me.
Like he can read my mind, Jenson lets out a long exhale.
His hot breath hits my bare neck, and I shiver.
“I’d like to see you later,” he says. “In private.”
Eight words that hit me like an arrow to the gut.
Before I can answer him, I hear him shift and then…silence. I know he’s gone. My heart is pounding, and my palms are sweating because I haven’t been this single—and this close—to Jenson Beau in a long time.
Kyle races over to me after dinner where I’m sitting on the couch next to Mom at the back of the hall. I invite him into my lap and give him a hug.
“I missed you, Livia.” He twists around so he can look up into my face.
“I missed you too, sweetie.”
Between Kyle’s blond hair, green eyes, and trusting gaze, it’s like looking at a miniature version of his father. Jenson has an extra wickedness to his gaze, though, a sexy mischievousness that always drove me wild with need.
My breath catches in my throat.
“And they say that tomorrow’s supposed to be even hotter than today,” Mom continues her rambling about the weather forecast.
Talking about the weather is something my mother likes to do, especially at public events with roving cameramen. Weather is safe that way, comforting.
“July heat is just so muggy, you know?”
“I know.” Kyle snuggles further onto my lap, and I kiss his head.
My searching gaze locates Jenson, and I finally get to check him out like I’ve been craving to do.
God, he looks good.
So good.
Those green eyes and blond hair, combined with a mouth that always takes me back to our first kiss…
He turns his head, and his gaze shifts around the room. I know he’s looking for me, but I’m still out of view of his line of sight. I enjoy ogling him secretly—admiring his chiseled jaw with its trademark sexy stubble, his muscular ass in those black dress pants, and the way his chest fills out his green striped dress shirt. He was a star quarterback in high school, and he may work behind the scenes now rather than playing, but his body still screams athlete. He looks fit like always, and I swallow down my lust. His body never seems to suffer the way his heart does.
“There’s nothing like humidity,” Mom says next to me. “Gets under your skin.”
I nod distractedly. Jenson’s blond hair has gotten longer since the
last time I saw him. It’s a little shaggy, nearly the length it was when he was a teenager, the last time I got to touch him. I always liked his hair shaggy. I liked running my fingers through it over and over again.
I reach back to pull my shoulder-length black hair up off my neck. I’m sweaty all of a sudden, and with this type of material, the sweat’s going to show through my dress any second.
“Although it may rain,” Mom chatters on, “which hopefully would cool everything off.”
I hear her voice like background noise. I hug Kyle closer to me, wondering how long Jenson’s in town for.
“Livia!” Connor nearly trips in his haste to jump up on the couch in between Mom and me. “Aunt Nora!”
Mom hugs him tightly. “Hi, sweetheart. Aren’t you boys growing up quickly?”
I lean in to give Connor a kiss. “Hey, little man. You get taller every time I see you.”
“Daddy drove really fast to get here.” Connor’s green eyes match his identical twin brother’s, and they shine with excitement. “He said we made excellent time.”
I smile at him. “Good for you guys. We’re all happy to see you.”
No one more than me.
Jenson
I can’t find her. I’ve got my head on a damn swivel as I glance around the room while trying to keep up with the conversation in front of me. My stepdad, Dee, is talking my ear off, but my attention is elsewhere. It’s where it’s always been—on Olivia Graham. Like always, Olivia is the best part of coming home. She is home to me.
Our relationship’s always been complicated, but she’s been my closest friend since we were kids and, outside of my mom, one of only two people in the world who knows the entire truth about my family.
Once I grew old enough to like girls, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be with Olivia. I can’t remember a moment I didn’t crave her. No matter how challenging things got, I never stopped believing we had a chance and that somehow, fate would find a way to step in and make this right.
But before I knew it, nearly eight years had passed from that summer night when Olivia was sixteen and innocent, too innocent for me to feel right taking things to a level we couldn’t come back from. Eight years I can’t get back, but I’m not about to let another day slip by.
Olivia Graham and I deserve to be together for real. And this time, I’m going to lay all my cards on the table with her. This time, I’m going to give her everything. I just hope she still wants it.
I finally locate her crossing the room at a brisk pace. Her long legs are as toned as ever, and her body looks like heaven and sin in that dress. Her shiny black hair hangs perfectly down her back. She’s in pain, though—if the narrowing of her eyes isn’t enough evidence, the way she’s scrunching up her nose makes it crystal clear.
I move toward her without thinking. Olivia doesn’t need saving; she never did. She detests the very concept. But one thing she’s always loved? Disappearing with me to a place where no one else can find us.
That I can do.
Chapter Three
Olivia
When I first arrived at the party, comments about my divorce were direct and to the point. And to my face. And while that was bad, the furtive looks and whispers sting even more.
Glenn, the good-hearted reporter my family’s known for years and the only one I trust at Auntie Sue’s party, pulls me aside and asks if I want to say anything on the record.
“Nate and I remain friends,” I say, lying through my fixed smile. “But marriage is something we both agree we’re better off doing with other people.”
He puts down his notes. “Between you and me, I never liked him, Ms. Graham.”
I wink at him. “And that’s why you’re my favorite reporter in Liberty Falls.”
Calvin, my least-favorite reporter in town and someone I would rather avoid on a good day, pushes his way through the crowd and follows me as I try to find some privacy.
“Olivia.” His slicked black hair glistens under the hall lights, and his beady blue eyes are hard as he stares at me. “Care to tell me some details about your divorce or about future dating plans?”
“Nope,” I say with a breezy smile. “Not even a little. Excuse me.”
I make my way across the room, hearing the whispers like a buzzing around my head. They follow me as I walk to the restroom. They’re still around when I return to my mother’s side on the couch. They get louder when I walk alone to the bar for a much-needed beverage.
But once I reach the bar, where the alcohol has made everyone’s tongue loose, the whispers return to direct questions.
“I’m so sorry about your divorce, Olivia,” Aunt Eleanor says to me. “What a pity. You’re single again.”
“Yes, well, it was a pity when I found Nate on top of someone else,” I say to her.
She gives me a hug. “It will get better.”
“Do you think children just aren’t in the cards for you, dear?” Cybil says to me. “Those eggs of yours aren’t getting any younger, you know. Although you could try freezing the suckers; worked wonders for my neighbor’s daughter. She was forty and just birthed triplets!”
“I never trusted your husband,” Kathy, Dee’s daughter from a previous marriage, pipes in.
“Ex-husband,” I say quickly.
She flips her hand in the air like this information is irrelevant. “He’s quite the shark on Wall Street now, huh? Thank God you didn’t land that job in New York. You’re better off staying in Liberty Falls. Who wants to leave home?”
Right now, New York—or Mars—looks pretty damn good.
“Honestly?” I say, my temper rising as I forget about the cameras, “I don’t care about…”
Before I can continue with my less-than-civil response, a warm hand touches my lower back, immediately guiding me away from the crowd of staring women and toward the exit.
“My mom’s got the kids. Come away with me.” Jenson’s low voice buzzes in my ear. “I think you’ve suffered enough for one day.”
I shiver, refusing to make eye contact with him.
But he knows what I need. He always has.
He continues gently leading me toward the door, not stopping until he’s put me safely in his truck. No cameras follow us out, and for the first time in three hours, nobody’s judging me.
Jenson shuts the passenger door, walks around to the driver’s side, and we leave the banquet hall—and our family—behind at last.
Jenson drives around the corner to the nature preserve a block away. The lot is empty, and he pulls into a corner space and puts the truck into park. When he turns to face me, I raise my eyes to meet his brilliant green ones.
Just like it always has, his piercing gaze looks right through me. I swear Jenson Beau can read my heart better than I can sometimes.
“Hey.” His voice is rough, and that one word is enough to make me melt.
“Hey.”
“You doing okay?”
I nod. “I was prepared for the questions. The stares and whispers were a bit of a surprise, but nothing I can’t handle.”
His gaze on me gets more intense, and everything else disappears. It’s just Jenson and me sitting in his truck, and for this moment at least, nothing else matters. I catch my breath at the same time he does, and he lets out a ragged exhale.
“Olive.” He cups my face with both of his large hands. “Shit, I’ve missed you.”
I stare into his eyes, trying to read them. “Are you…your mom said something about a new woman…” Cindy called her a potential stepmother to her two grandsons.
“I’m single.” The words tumble out fast like he couldn’t wait to tell me. “I went on a few casual dates to pass the time. Waiting to hear…”
He cuts off.
“Waiting to hear…” I prompt him.
“Isn’t it obvious?” His hand on my cheek drifts to my neck, and my eyes nearly close from the sensation. “Waiting to hear about you.”
“If we’d ever be in the s
ame place at the same time.”
“Exactly.” His green eyes flare with emotion. “It’s been a long fucking time since I’ve kissed you, Olive. I’ve pictured it.”
“How often?”
His hand goes to my shoulder where he lightly fingers the thin strap of my dress. “All the time. Plenty of times when I shouldn’t have. I’ve got a lot of fantasies built up in my head.”
A bolt of lust shoots through me, and I let out a soft moan.
Screech!
The sound is followed by the annoying honking of a truck as it weaves into the parking lot toward us.
I jerk back from Jenson, who glances over at the intruders.
“Kids,” he says in a tone clearly meant to reassure. “No reporters. Or family.”
But the moment is broken.
“I should get back to the banquet hall,” I say. “I’m not going back to the party. But I need my car.”
“Sure.” He puts his hands on the steering wheel. “I’ll take you.”
We drive the short return trip to the hall in silence.
I glance out the window at the small crowd of people just leaving the banquet hall. A cameraman and reporter from the paper, plus Jenson’s mom, Kyle, and Connor, are all making their way through the parking lot.
“Where’s Dee?” I say.
“He’ll be on his way. My mom’s probably just trying to get a good word in about the mayoral campaign to the reporter.”
Jenson’s mom has worked for my dad for years now, and she’s deeply invested in making sure he gets re-elected next year for another term.
Jenson pulls up next to my parked car.
“I should go,” I murmur even though I don’t move.
“We’re going to sort this out, Olive.” A wicked gleam flashes through his eyes. “In all kinds of ways.”
Jenson (Wild Men Book 4) Page 2