Pretty in Ink (Voretti Family Book 3) (10 page)

“No!”

“Don’t worry. If I hang from the railing, it’s only a few feet to the next balcony down. And I promise not to tell my brothers you knew about this if I end up dead or in the hospital.”

He clenched the cell phone like it was Liv’s hand and if he held it tight enough he could keep her on solid ground. “I’m not worried about your brothers. I’m worried about
you
, you stupid idiot.”

“Oh,” she said, like the thought genuinely hadn’t occurred to her.

Shit
. He couldn’t leave her out there. He wouldn’t be able to talk to Joslyn about the weather, much less his parents, if he was picturing Liv splattered all over the asphalt.

“Stay put. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“But—”

“I mean it, Liv. If you try climbing off that balcony,
you’re
the one I’m gonna arrest.”

*

The fire truck barely fit down the narrow alley. Liv watched, trying to concentrate on how well the driver maneuvered the massive thing around dumpsters and potholes instead of how long it had been since Caleb had abruptly ended their call.

She’d tied the scarf around her neck for warmth, but it was designed for fashion, not function, and her teeth were chattering. She hated waiting. She needed to do something. Even if it was the wrong thing, at least she wouldn’t be sitting on her ass, slowly freezing to death.

She threw one leg over the balcony rail.

I’m worried about
you
.

The memory of Caleb’s voice, low and urgent, froze her in place. And then the fire truck stopped right under her.
 

“Hey, Liv!” called a voice.

She peered down. “Ezra?”

Even by the dim alley lights, it was obvious that Caleb’s friend was checking her out. He grinned, clearly liking what he saw. “Look at you, all grown up.”

“Is this real? Because I’ve had dreams like this. But, in my dreams, the hot fireman isn’t usually wearing a shirt.”

Another guy stepped out of the truck. “I’ll take my shirt off for you, honey.”

And another. “Me too.”

And yet another. “You don’t want to see Hamilton’s chest. Believe me. But I’ll strip for you, doll.”

The whole crew was staring at her legs, making her uncomfortably aware of exactly how much bare skin she had on display.
In the future
, the Annabelle voice in her head said,
try not to climb balconies in a skirt.

Of course,
that
was the moment when Caleb pulled up. As he got out of his SUV, his gaze rocketed from her legs to her admiring audience, and his nostrils flared. “Let’s get a move on.”
 

The fire crew turned toward Caleb, and she took the opportunity to hop back onto solid ground.
 

“Excuse me,” Ezra said. “Remind me again who’s doing who a favor?”

“Who got you out of that parking ticket last month?”

A couple coming out of the back entrance of CJ’s building stopped to stare at the truck.

“Hate to break it to you, buddy, but this is worth a lot more than a parking ticket. This is—”

“Uh, guys?” Liv ducked, narrowly avoiding being caught on camera phone by another couple who had joined the first. “I really appreciate you coming out here. But I’d appreciate it even more if you could get me down before I’m trending on Twitter.”

One of the guys hopped back in the truck, and the next second the ladder began a slow ascent toward the balcony.
 

Ms. Camera Phone’s eyes bugged out. She pointed her phone at the top of the ladder.

Crap
. No way was Liv going to be able to get down without this amateur paparazzo getting a picture. She smoothed her skirt.

Yes. I’m sure as long as your outfit is wrinkle-free, Papa and Mamma will forget all about the fact that you’ve been caught on camera at CJ’s place.

Liv grimaced. She hated when Imaginary Annabelle got sarcastic.

Caleb marched toward the onlookers, badge at the ready. “Police. I’m going to need you to clear the area.”

They took one look at his I-mean-business face and didn’t even protest. Liv could have kissed him. Except not really, because they didn’t like each other that way. But, you know. Metaphorically.

Ezra helped her down the ladder. And then Caleb was there, shielding her from the observers with his body as he escorted her to his SUV. She made it behind the safety of the tinted windows without a single picture snapped.

A strange warmth filled her chest. She had the urge to do something really stupid, like tackle Caleb with a hug as he got into the driver’s seat, but she kept herself to a simple, “Thank you.”
 

“It was nothing.”

“There was a
fire truck
involved. It wasn’t nothing.”

He shrugged, staring at the alley in front of him. “You needed help, so I helped you. End of story.”

It couldn’t possibly be as simple as that. Every guy she’d ever been with had expected at least an ego stroke in return for major favors. Most had wanted her to stroke something else too. But she’d never been with a guy like Caleb. Maybe, to him, it really was as simple as it seemed. She’d needed help, so he’d helped her.
 

To test her theory, she bit her bottom lip and smoldered at him. He didn’t so much as glance in her direction.

The warmth increased to a solid heat. Caleb was the real thing. A genuinely good man. The kind of man she could count on. And, though he wasn’t hers, it was nice to know that kind of man still existed.
 

*

Caleb had never liked tequila, but as he downed another shot, he couldn’t remember why. It was so smooth. It gave everything around him a warm glow, like he was living inside a soft-focus romantic comedy that would end in a neat happily-ever-after.

He grinned at Liv, on the stool next to him. The only problem was, she was too far away. Why were the stools so far apart? What kind of bar had five feet of empty space between stools?

“You see,” Liv said. “All you needed was a couple of drinks.”

“Yeah.” He surveyed the area, but the harder he tried to ID the place, the fuzzier his surroundings became. How many shots had he taken?

“I can’t believe you wanted to go home.”

It must’ve been more than a couple, because he was having trouble processing her words. Why would he want to go home? There was nothing there except empty rooms and a big-screen TV whose high-definition didn’t do a thing to make the shows more interesting. “I don’t want to go home.”

“Good. Because it’s time to party.” Liv held up her next shot.
 

At some point his glass had been refilled. He grabbed it, clinked with hers, then downed the tequila.

He pounded the glass onto the bar—at least, he tried—but the bar was gone. He was by the big fountain in front of the Science Center at Balboa Park.

“You know what we should do?” Liv whispered the question into his ear, teasing every single nerve ending in his body to attention.

He couldn’t settle on one thing. He wanted to scale Everest. Jump out of an airplane. Lay Liv on the ground and make love to her right here, where anyone might see. “What?”
 

“Skinny dipping. You know you want to.”

He looked from the moonlit water to Liv, already picturing her bare skin shimmering with droplets. His fingers twitched with the urge to skim that moisture off her skin. He tore off his shirt.

She laughed delightedly. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

He toed off his shoes and stripped off his pants, working so fast he got tangled in the fabric. But then he was free.

Liv jumped into the ankle deep pool with a whoop. He followed her.
 

The night air was cold and the water was colder, but he didn’t care. Not with Liv two feet away, laughing like a kid as she splashed through the water.

She was just far enough ahead to tease him with glimpses of her bare skin every time she ran past the flood lights. Blood roared in his ears. He put on an extra burst of speed.

Then, finally, Liv was in his arms. He kissed her, and heat flooded his body. He needed more. Faster. Harder.

He pulled her close. Drew her under him.

He didn’t know where they were anymore, and he didn’t care. All that mattered was that she was responding to him.

She bit his lip. Need surged through him like blood. He caressed his way down her body until her breasts filled his palms.

“Need you,” she breathed, between desperate kisses. “Do you have a condom?”

“No.” A distant part of him registered that no condom was a deal-breaker. No condom meant stop.

But he couldn’t stop. He needed her too badly. Had wanted her for too long.

“It’s okay,” she said. “Just this once.”

Of course it was okay. The only thing that mattered was that he get inside her.

He pushed into her body with more desperation than finesse. Her warm heat drove him to madness. He thrust harder. Deeper.

The climax exploded out of him, a pleasure so strong it took everything else away. He braced himself above Liv, trying to catch his breath, every ounce of tension wrung from his body.
 

She smiled sweetly. Cupped his cheek with her soft palm. “Ready to be a daddy?”

Caleb came awake all at once, like a siren was blaring in his ears instead of the polite beep of his alarm. Dream Liv’s final words were still swimming through his head, making him dizzy.
Ready to be a daddy? Ready to be a daddy?

He sucked in a breath. Only a dream. It had only been a dream.

But he was still shaking as he sat up and grabbed his phone. It took three tries to turn off the alarm.
 

It was six AM, still dark enough that he had to use the light from his screen to examine his surroundings. He was alone in his bed, but his heart refused to slow.
 

He pulled up the covers, which he’d shoved into a ball at the foot of the mattress, but he couldn’t get warm. Because this had been more than a nightmare. It had been his subconscious sending him a warning.

Being around Liv got his blood pumping, but it wasn’t good for him. He’d fulfill his obligation to her but that was it. No more chatting on the phone. No more over-the-top rescues. He needed to stop obsessing about her soft skin and the light in her eyes and remember what was important.

He’d built a life for himself. A good one. And it had no place for out-of-control rebels.

*

Caleb rang Joslyn’s doorbell, holding the largest bouquet he’d been able to find, and worried it wouldn’t be enough. The thirty seconds he waited for her to answer the door were the longest of his life.

Finally, there was the scrape of the deadbolt disengaging. Joslyn cracked the door open. “Oh.” She sounded surprised—and not exactly pleased—to see him.

“I got these for you.” He thrust the bouquet at her before the flowers slid out of his sweaty hand. What had he been thinking, abandoning her at the restaurant?

“Thank you.” She took the flowers, but didn’t budge from her position blocking the doorway.

“I came to explain. And apologize.” He paused, hoping Joslyn might invite him in, but she just stood there, eyebrows raised, waiting for him to get to it.

He finally remembered to breathe—and became aware of a peculiar smell.

“Oh, no.” Joslyn grimaced. “You can smell it even out here, can’t you?”

“What is it?” He breathed from his mouth instead of his nose. The smell wasn’t week-old-corpse or meth-house bad, but it wasn’t a pleasant aroma.

“My students love playing with Play-Doh, but they’re still at the age where half the things they touch go into their mouths. I figured, if I made some myself, I could be sure it didn’t have any artificial ingredients. Only it smells terrible. I must’ve done something wrong.” She sighed. “I can see the headline now. Teacher poisons class with all-natural Play-Doh substitute.”
 

Despite the noxious smell, he got a warm, fuzzy feeling, like someone had given him a big hug. Could this woman be any more perfect for him? He had to make things right.

“It’s not bad,” he said. “Only…different.”

“I thought if we stayed out here you might not notice, but since you’re breathing it in anyway, we might as well go inside and sit down. Don’t worry—I have all the windows open.”

He moved inside as soon as Joslyn vacated the doorway, not giving her a chance to change her mind. While she arranged the flowers in a vase, he checked out her place. It was small but homey, with children’s artwork hanging on the walls next to framed Degas prints. Crocheted blankets and squishy pillows were scattered over the couch.

He moved aside a pillow that had
Love is Patient and Kind
embroidered on the cover, and sat. Liv had made pillows like that as holiday gifts last year. Except, hers had said things like
Bite Me
and
Sarcasm is Just One of my Many Talents
.
 

As if Joslyn sensed he was thinking about Liv, she chose a chair well away from him.

Focus, Ward.

Joslyn had set the vase in the middle of the coffee table, where she’d see the flowers every time she walked in the room. That was a good sign. Right?

Good sign or not, he had work to do, so he leaned forward and met Joslyn’s gaze. “I’m sorry for the way I left last night.”

“You paid the bill and put me a taxi. There’s nothing to be sorry for.” The cautious distance in her eyes told another story entirely.

“Still. I want to explain…”

“I understand. You’ve known Olivia for years, and we only met a week ago. She’s a higher priority.”

“It’s not that at all. My relationship,” he choked on the word, barely managing to shove it out of his throat, “with Liv isn’t romantic. Last night she needed help. I would’ve done the same for anyone.”

“But she’s not anyone. She’s a woman you’ve known your entire life. And you were the one she called when she needed help. That seems…telling.”

“She called me because she was at her ex’s place. I’m the only one who knew they were still dating until recently. With anyone else, she would’ve had to explain too much.”