Ready or Not (Ready #4)(25)

“Good morning, Mr. Reid,” Kate greeted as I rounded the corner and stopped in front of her desk.

“Again with the formalities, Kate. What am I going to do with you?” I grinned.

“Oh, um…I just thought—”

“Call me Jackson, please. Why don’t we go out to lunch today? That way, we can get to know each other, and you won’t feel so awkward about it.”

She nodded with enthusiasm.

God, I even hate myself right now.

“Great. It’s a date,” I said.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come in, Jackson?” Kate asked, seductively leaning back against the doorframe.

It was Friday night, and after an evening with a woman who looked good enough to eat, I should have been jumping at the chance to walk through that door and find out exactly how good she tasted.

Instead, I was trying to think of any excuse to do the opposite.

“I’d better get back home. It’s my first night out since the move, and it’s a new babysitter. I’m getting a little antsy, wondering how they’re doing,” I tried to explain, throwing out words faster than my brain could process.

“Of course.” She nodded, rubbing her hand over my shoulder in a comforting manner.

I looked down at it, forcing myself not to back away from her touch.

“Tonight was amazing, Jackson,” she started.

She’d gotten over formalities fairly quickly after our initial lunch date, and she now used my first name in such abundance that I was even beginning to hate it.

“Glad you had a good time,” I responded lamely.

“Call me tomorrow?” she asked with expectant wide eyes.

Dear Lord, what have I done?

“I have a busy weekend with Noah lined up, but I’ll be sure to catch up with you on Monday, okay?” I suggested, seeing her face fall as the words tumbled out of my mouth.

“Sure. Monday then.” She gave me a small peck on the cheek and turned, stepping into her apartment.

I watched the door shut behind her perfect little body.

God, I am a grade-A *.

But it didn’t stop me from fleeing to my truck like a man running for his life the moment the lock had clicked into place.

What have I been thinking?

Kate was indeed everything I had hoped to find when I began this new adventure in Richmond. She was smart, beautiful, and came from a similar background as me.

She was also the most boring woman on the entire planet.

Her life could be summarized in a few paragraphs. She was a carbon copy of probably a dozen other women I’d dated in the past. There was nothing special about her, nothing that made her stand out in a crowd. I was left to wonder if there was anything that made her unique at all.

I’d learned one thing while sitting through my torturous hours with Kate. It didn’t matter who I dated—whether she was smart, funny, interesting, or downright gorgeous. None of them would ever be what I wanted.

Because no one could hold a candle to Liv.

Driving home that night, I knew I wanted Liv for more than just reasons of some silly territorial game. Somewhere along the way, between our fighting and battles, I’d begun to fall for my crazy neighbor.

I just had no idea what I was going to do about it.

After paying the babysitter and sending her out the door one hundred bucks richer, I found myself standing by the window, staring at Liv’s house.

There was a single light on.

Was she alone?

Did she have company?

Was it the Latin guy or the clueless football player?

Or someone new entirely?

I was going to go clinically insane while living next to this woman.

“Dad,” Noah said from the couch.

“Yeah?” I mumbled, not breaking contact with Liv’s window.

“Can we go school shopping sometime this weekend?”

“Uh…sure. Does this mean you’re excited about school?” I questioned.

The news that Noah was to attend a private school had not been well received. It had, of course, resulted in a fight, in which he’d asked why I was sending him to a “stuck-up preppy school” now.

I had to worsen the news by adding the tidbit that he was required to wear uniforms as well. Our little argument had gone nuclear and he refused to talk to me for the rest of the evening.

I wanted him to receive the best education possible, and I had the means to do so. The school I’d picked out was one of the top in the area, but it required uniforms. His last school had no such rule. He had been struggling with it since I broke the news weeks ago.

“Maybe,” he said.

Liv was right. He was playing it cool, and I guessed I should just bide my time until he decided he wanted to open up.

Several minutes later, footsteps sounded across the wooden floor, and Noah joined me at the window. “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing,” I lied.

“You know, Dad, it’s okay if you want to go out with Liv. I don’t mind her. She’s actually pretty nice.”

I looked down at him as he stared out the window.

“What do you like about her?” I asked, curious to see what stuck out in his mind.

“She’s different. I thought it was weird at first, the way she dressed and how she acted, but I like it. She’s always the same with everyone. And she treats me like a person rather than a kid.”