Overtime(59)

“Karl, hush! You don’t know that,” Regina yelled back.

“I’d really like to talk to you privately, Kacey.” Liam tried to be heard over all the yelling, but Kacey couldn’t even move.

Was this really happening?

Was she dreaming?

She looked to Karson for help, but he was standing there, his mouth gaping open, no help at all. She looked to Lacey, but she was holding Mena, her eyes wide as she looked back and forth to each person who was yelling. When his eyes met hers, Jordie just grinned in a slow, very condescending way. Almost like he found this not only hilarious but downright stupid. She could read him like a book; it was easy for her, even with him holding back so much of himself. But sometimes, he opened up, and when he did, she absorbed everything he said and stored it in her heart for later. Now though, she wanted to smack him as his arms went over his chest, his eyes watching her so intently.

Waiting for her next move.

Asshole.

Not that she wanted his help, but Jesus! Could someone help out here?

“I won’t allow it, Kacey Marie King! I refuse to!” her father yelled, bringing her attention to him.

“Allow it?” she muttered, her eyes narrowing angrily. “Daddy, I’ll do whatever I please.”

“The hell you will! You don’t even like this guy! Better yet, love him!” he yelled at her, his nose flaring, and she really didn’t understand why he was so mad. Yeah, he was right, but why did he feel the need to make a scene like this? Her daddy was overdramatic, but even this was a little crazy.

“Kacey, can we go outside?” Liam asked, but she held her hand up, stopping him.

“In a second,” she said sharply, her eyes never leaving her dad’s. “Why are you so mad?” she asked him then, trying to keep her cool even though she was beyond embarrassed.

“Because I don’t like him.”

“But what if I do? What if I want to marry him?” she asked and Karl basically shot steam out of his nose.

“What?!” he said, along with Karson and Jordie.

Jordie came off the wall, his aloofness gone as his eyes burned a hole in her head.

“You can’t be serious,” Karson said then. “You just met him.”

“You sure as hell don’t love him,” Jordie added as Karson nodded.

“You don’t know that,” Liam shot at him and Jordie laughed.

“Dude, I know her and she don’t love you,” he snapped back and Liam glared as Karson nodded.

“Yeah, what he said,” Karson agreed.

“Kacey, maybe you should think about this,” Lacey said then.

“What the hell, Lacey!” Jordie yelled and she shrugged.

“Hey, don’t yell at her,” Karson shot at Jordie, but then he looked back her. “But really? What the hell?”

“I’m just saying! She needs to think this through.”

“No, she don’t,” Karl said. “There is nothing to think about. This guy is not for you!”

“Kacey, can we please go outside and talk?” Liam asked again.

“We are trying to talk to her!” her mother yelled, but Kacey’s eyes never left her father’s as her face burned with embarrassment. This was her family and she knew if she looked at Liam, his face would be full of horror. Everyone was so loud, so opinionated, and that wasn’t what Liam was about. She knew this and also knew that they were all right. He wasn’t the man she was going to marry.

“Don’t you think I can make my own decisions, Daddy?”

His eyes burned with fire, his body taut, and she was sure he was two seconds from slamming his fist into something. Preferably Liam’s face, but she wouldn’t allow him to. He was upset over nothing, and really, it made no sense to her. Yeah, he was overprotective, but he never flew off the handle like this. But this was the first time someone had asked to marry her, she guessed, and at least she knew what to prepare the future Mr. for.

If there ever was a future Mr. She had one proposal and, of course, she couldn’t keep her eyes off the dude who broke her heart. Easy to say she was insane. Or stupid. Or both.

Karl’s head fell to the side, his chest falling and rising. “Yeah, I do, but—”

“No but needed. Now, let me handle this,” she said sternly, and he didn’t say anything else as she turned to look at Liam. Like she knew he would be, his face was full of dismay, his cheeks bright red, his eyes wild, and his shoulders back and tight. “Let’s go outside.”

The room was silent as she went around the group that had gathered and out the front door with Liam on her heels. When she heard him say, “It was nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. King,” she was surprised. After all that, she had fully expected him to run, and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t intrigued. When she reached his Prius, she turned just as he reached her.

“Well,” he said, tucking his hands in his pockets. “That didn’t go as planned.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, looking up at him. “What the hell, Liam? You asked my dad to marry me?” she asked, her words coming out sharper than she’d intended. “We just met. It hasn’t even been two months.”

He nodded, looking down as he shrugged. “When you know, you know,” he finally said, meeting her gaze. “I wanted you to come by tomorrow, and I had a dinner planned. And then I wanted to get intimate with you, and if it went as well as I’m sure it will, I wanted to ask you.” He was rambling, but all she heard was that he wanted to get intimate.