Chapter 7 #2
At least in terms of looks, the two plates she placed on the table were five-star-restaurant worthy.
She hoped they tasted as good as they looked—and not only because she wanted to impress Matt.
She’d spent a lot of time experimenting with this recipe, and she’d hate to find out it had been a waste.
“Okay, I want your honest opinion. Don’t just tell me it’s good because you don’t want to hurt my feelings.”
Her brother and Phoebe were always brutally honest when it came to new dishes. Emma and her sister-in-law were honest too, but they always took a gentler approach when they didn’t like something she made. If Matt didn’t like it, she didn’t care which approach he took as long as it was the truth.
“You’ll get it. Promise.”
For the next several minutes, she spent more time watching Matt than eating.
Sure, he’d said he’d give her his honest opinion, but he might have just been saying that.
And while a person could lie when they were done and tell you it was delicious, their facial expression usually gave them away when they ate something they hated.
“This is amazing,” Matt said as he cut another piece of chicken. “What’s in it?”
“Chicken thighs, dry white wine, and vegetables served over creamy polenta.”
“Well, I’m not sure I’ve ever had this before, but it is delicious.”
“Do you think we should make it a special at the restaurant and add it to the catering menu?”
“Liv, I’d make it a permanent addition to both menus.”
When they finished eating, he’d offered to help with the dishes, but she’d insisted he was a guest as she cleared the table. Now Matt watched Liv add their salad bowls to the dishwasher.
“I know you already said I should add the chicken chasseur to the menus, but do you think I need to change it at all?”
Despite the success he’d had with the band, occasionally he worried fans wouldn’t like a song he’d written.
And no matter what anyone said, his doubt lingered until the fans responded to the song, so he knew that no matter what he said now, she wouldn’t be entirely convinced. But that wouldn’t stop him from trying.
“Trust me. If you put it on the menus, customers are going to love it.”
Liv closed the dishwasher and then washed her hands. “I’ll talk to Dad about it tomorrow. Are you ready for dessert, or do you want to wait?”
He was ready for dessert, just not what was inside the bakery box.
The kiss they’d shared last night had turned his world upside down.
But it was nothing compared to what he’d experienced when he’d kissed her in the kitchen with her body pressed tightly against his and her fingers caressing his neck.
“Let’s wait.”
“That’s fine. I can’t eat anything right now anyway.”
She drummed her fingertips against the countertop, and Matt wondered if she even realized she was doing it.
“Do you want to watch a movie?” she asked.
What he wanted was to find the closest bed, because based on his body’s reaction to just kissing her, making love to her would be like nothing he’d ever experienced.
But now wasn’t the right time. Liv was far more relaxed with him tonight, but there was still a trace of that uncertainty vibe he’d noticed last night.
He wanted her 100 percent comfortable around him before they had sex.
And it wasn’t a question of if but when in his mind.
“Sure. Do you have one in mind?”
She grabbed his hand on her way from the kitchen to the sofa. “I was thinking The Fellowship of the Ring, but we can look through what I have and see if anything sounds better.” She switched on the television and then sat next to him.
“Tell me if you see anything you like.” She glanced at him before scrolling through her movie collection.
The first several movies were classic Bogart films. He enjoyed most of them, but tonight he wasn’t in the mood.
Next were several movies based on Jane Austen novels, which were immediate noes for him.
He’d been twelve when his mom had rotator cuff surgery, which forced her to take things easy for weeks.
To cheer her up, he’d sit with her after school.
Sometimes they’d play board games, other times they’d watch movies.
One of her favorites was an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, a movie so boring that no twelve-year-old boy should be forced to sit through it.
More than once, he had fallen asleep while watching it.
He almost commented when he spotted the icon for One Last Heist, the movie he’d done with Anderson Brady, sandwiched between another movie starring Anderson and one starring his cousin’s husband, JT Williamson.
Not that he wanted to watch it, but he would like to know what she thought of it.
Matt kept his mouth shut, though. She liked it at least enough to own it.
“Wait, stop. You’ve got the original Star Trek movies?” His brothers were die-hard Star Wars fans, but not him. He was a card-carrying Trekkie.
“I’ve got all the Star Trek movies that have been made. I also have the episodes from all the television series made, except the most recent one.”
“Where have you been all my life?”
A splash of pink appeared on Liv’s cheeks. “Orchard Harbor, Maine,” she said before looking back at the television and taking a sip of her wine. “So you’re a Star Trek fan too. I knew there was a reason I liked you. Do you know my brother prefers Star Wars to Star Trek?”
“Believe me, I know.” He’d had more than one heated argument with Owen over which was the better movie universe.
“I once refused to talk to him for an entire month until he finally agreed that a Federation phaser was far superior to a Jedi lightsaber,” Liv said.
“How old were you?” He hadn’t subjected his friend to the silent treatment, but they’d had a similar argument not long after they first met.
“Ten. And it drove Owen crazy. You know how much he loves to talk. I wouldn’t even acknowledge him at dinner when he asked me to pass him the salad.”
Laughing at the image her statement created, he reached for her hand and lifted it toward his lips.
“Before we go any further, I want you to know, I agree 100 percent with you.” Matt kissed her knuckles.
“Hands down, Star Trek technology is better than anything in the Star Wars universe.” Turning her hand over, he pressed his lips against her palm.
He couldn’t stop his smile when Liv’s hand trembled ever so slightly in his.
“I’m glad we’re on the same page, because if we weren’t, I’d have to ask you to leave.”
“You’d really do that?” He trailed his fingertips up her arm and to the back of her neck.
She fought to control a smile as she nodded.
“Then I’m glad we agree.”
Adrenaline and need shot through him the second his lips touched hers.
And when her tongue traced his bottom lip, he changed the angle of his head and deepened the kiss as an intense urge to find her bedroom, remove her clothes, and look at her overwhelmed him.
He’d desired plenty of women before, yet somehow this time it was different, more intense and overwhelming.
Matt allowed himself one more pass over her lips before digging into his self-restraint, pulling his mouth away from Liv’s, and resting his forehead against hers.
Several seconds passed in silence; the only sound in the room came from the dishwasher in the kitchen.
“Should we start with the first movie starring the original cast or the first movie with the cast of The Next Generation?” he finally asked, because it was either do that or kiss her again. He wasn’t sure his body could handle just kissing right now.
“It’s not my favorite, but let’s start with the first one the original cast made.”
Matt didn’t believe in soulmates, but if he did, Liv might be his. “Yeah, I don’t love it either, but let’s watch it and get it out of the way.”