3. Livvy
3
LIVVY
D read coils in my gut as I rest my head on the thick door and try to breathe deep. Sam wriggles on my hip and I let him go, setting him on the floor. He immediately runs, whooping through the house like his whole world hasn’t been rocked. Mine has though.
No way in hell would any of Jesse’s relatives show up here unless there was something bad coming.
Like they’ve finally decided that even an illegitimate grandson is better than none.
I heard about Adam from Jesse. He never had anything nice to say about him. Said he was arrogant and a know it all. A stick in the mud.
So what would that guy be doing at my door this early in the morning unless he wanted something. Especially with coffee and donuts to bribe me with.
Well, if he wants my son it’s gonna be over my dead body and not with coffee and donuts that’s for damn sure.
“Hey, Livvy. I’m sorry. Maybe I should have called first but I didn’t have your number. I’m not here to hurt you or Sam…I just wanted to talk to both of you. Maybe take you out to eat tonight. Get to know you.” There’s a pause and there’s something soft in his voice when he speaks again. “Please,” he whispers. I can barely hear his gruff voice through the thick door but it’s enough.
Shock ripples over me. That’s something that Jesse would never say. I’m sorry or please were foreign words to him. I should have realized that meant something.
“I don’t know anything about you. Why would I want to spend any time alone with you, especially with my son?”
“How about we go out to a restaurant out of town tonight? That way we don’t get interrupted by half the town stopping by to say hey while we’re trying to eat. I know a really nice little restaurant a couple of towns over. Do you like Mexican?”
“Tacos!” My son runs by me, squeals and pushes at the door. Groaning and rolling my eyes, I pull the door open and glare at the big, dark man standing there patiently, deep brown eyes focused and fixed on me and Sam.
I roll my eyes at him and sigh. “Well, you’ve managed to say the magic words to Sam so I guess we can have dinner with you.” I point at him. “But don’t make me regret it. If you try anything…?”
“I swear to you, scout’s honor, I’m not gonna hurt either one of you. I just want to get to know you better.”
Curling my lip, I open the door and let him walk in, my breath coming out in sharp, staccato bursts as he walks past me. The room feels like it’s getting smaller and I can’t breathe without smelling his aftershave, a pine and citrus smell that tickles my nose and settles in my lungs like it belongs there. Like Christmas and an orange grove met and married. It suits him. Fresh, clean and masculine.
He turns and takes off his beat-up brown leather jacket and hangs it beside the door and my mouth goes dry as the Sahara. His bulging biceps are covered with dark tattoos, a swirl of ink and bronzed skin.
I’ve never been a big fan of tattoos considering my waste of space brother has about a bazillion but there’s something about this guy’s that makes my whole body come to life especially my long-neglected girly parts.
I haven’t been touched by a man since Jesse and I was figuring that’s how things were gonna stay.
But my whole belly tingles with want when his dark eyes drift down my body and heat up with something dark and dangerous. He doesn’t touch me but he doesn’t have to. I feel like he’s marked me. Branded me. I jerk myself up tall, firming my lips.
That can’t happen ever again. I’m no man’s. And certainly not the older brother of my son’s dad! That’s just…wrong. Immoral.
He steps forward and I step back, keeping a fair amount of space between us in order to keep my sanity. I’ve apparently lost my mind. Or my girl parts have, anyway. My brain is flashing a million warning signs at me.
My raging hormones are firing up like they’re fixing to throw a kegger party and they know exactly who the guest of honor is going to be.
He clears his throat and drops the bag of donuts to the thick wooden table. “Ummm. I don’t know if you like coffee or not but I got a couple different kinds so feel free to take a look. I know how you girls like your fancy coffees.”
Glaring at him, I study the coffee drinks. “Don’t you think that’s just a little sexist of you?”
He shrugs a boulder of a shoulder and grins cheekily, a dimple flashing in the hollow of his diamond-chiseled cheek, peeking from behind his thin layer of scruff. “I am what I am. I don’t think I’m sexist but I guess I could be. Just not in a bad way.”
I cock my head at him. “What is a good sexist?”
“I’m not sure but I’m him so just stick around and you’ll find out.”
“What exactly do you want from us, Adam Redfern?”
“I want to get to know Sam here. I’m retiring from the Army and I want to get to know my family again.”
I smirk. “Your parents don’t believe that he’s Jesse’s son. That means he’s not your family.”
“My parents are sadly deluded.”
“There hasn’t been a paternity test done so you can’t be sure.”
“He’s the spitting image of my baby brother at that age. Have they seen him?”
“I don’t know. They’ve certainly never asked to see him.”
“Well, I don’t need a paternity test to realize that he’s our family.”
Cocking my head, I stare at him, stunned that for once I don’t have to keep trying to make someone believe something. He just knows it.
I know that he looks just like his father. So I don’t understand how anybody could look at him and not know with one single glance that he’s his father’s son. I was starting to think I was crazy.
On one level it’s reassuring. On another level….”What exactly does that mean to you? What do you want?”
“I just want to get to know him.” He looks around the place and smiles at my rag rugs on the scarred hardwood floors and the mismatched furniture. “Your place looks really…homey.”
“Thank you?” I lift a brow at him not sure if he’s serious or if he’s saying something else but so far he seems to be pretty legit.
He holds out the donut bag and nods towards Sam who’s staring at the bag like it’s the holy grail. I don’t usually allow donuts for breakfast so this is a major treat.
“Go ahead,” I sigh and Adam squats down, his dark jeans tightening on thick, muscular thighs. My mouth goes dry again as he holds out the bag to Sam and nods.
“Here, buddy. Take your pick.”
Sam’s bright blue eyes dart to mine and I nod, smiling slightly when he practically stuffs his whole head in the bag and then pulls out a chocolate-frosted donut with pink and blue sprinkles.
Adam stands up tall and holds the bag out to me. I glance inside and grab a maple-frosted cream stick and move to the table, eyeing the coffee cups. There’s an espresso with a dark chocolate spritz and a vanilla cappuccino and a caramel cappuccino along with a regular black coffee. I grab the caramel cappuccino and my maple donut and sit down at the table, nodding at him. He grabs the black coffee and a bear claw and sits down, his dark eyes never leaving mine.
“So tell me everything about Jesse and you and Sam. I want to know all of it.”
Sighing, I take a sip of the rich, buttery goodness and then take a bite of the maple cream donut. “Well, I was just turned eighteen and Jesse was about to turn eighteen as well. His parents didn’t like me so we…snuck out together for awhile. About a month. And then…”
“You guys got a little carried away one night?”
“Yeah. It was his eighteenth birthday and we had both snuck a couple of wine coolers. I didn’t think I was ready but then we… well, we just didn’t stop. And after a month and a half, I realized that I missed my period and bought a pregnancy test.”
“I assume that Jesse was excited about the baby.”
Flushing, I stare down at my coffee cup, tracing the logo. “No. Actually we’d already broken up at that point and he was on to dating the next woman.”
“He…what?”
“Yeah. That’s one of the reasons that your parents don’t believe that Sam is Jesse’s son. They think that I made up the pregnancy to get him back. And that I don’t really know who is the father because I’ve slept with so many men since then.”
He grimaces. “Yeah. Well, I know my brother even if they don’t. Jesse was not a saint. If you say that he’s the father, I believe you.”
“Yeah, well, he is. There can’t be anybody else.”
He nods his dark head. “Gotcha. Well, do you need anything? Any financial assistance?”
Wiping my mouth and vigorously shaking my head, I hold a finger up until I clear my throat. “Help me? I don’t think so. I’ve been doing just fine.”
He glances around again. “I can tell. This is a nice little place. Kinda looks like what I’m looking to buy since I retired.”
“You’re coming back home to the mountain then?”
“Oh yeah.” His dark eyes glow with some strange emotion and a tingle trails down my spine, settling in my belly. “This place feels just right.”
“Well, I can help you find something similar but this is my home and my son…so…well, just worry about your life and I’ll worry about mine.”
He dips his chin and a smirk tilts his full lips again. “As you wish. Now… I’ll be back to pick you up for dinner tonight. You don’t need to dress up. It’s a very casual place.”
“Okay.”
He stands up and walks over, holding out a large hand. I hesitantly slide my fingers into his palm and he curls his fingers around it, warm and rough, his callouses making tingles break out on my skin. I jerk my fingers back, stunned. He grins at me and backs away, his dark eyes so intense that it feels like I could fall into them.
“I’ll be back, angel. Stay safe.”
And I watch him walk out the door, his broad shoulders barely skimming the frame as he walks outside then gently tugs the door closed.
I glance over at Sam who’s covered in so much chocolate his hair looks like brown spikes. He grins and there’s chocolate frosting on his front teeth. “Yeah. You’re gonna need a bath, my friend.”
For the first time in a long time, I’m struggling to keep from getting excited. I don’t know exactly what’s going on here but I know I like it. A lot.
And that’s a fucking scary thing.