Ready or Not (The Ready Series Book 4)(33)

“Sometimes, kids need to hear these things from someone else.”

“You’re an amazing woman, Liv,” I said, looking up at her.

Her smile widened. “You’re not the first person to tell me that.”

Edging closer, I reach out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “But I’m the first man, right?”

Her lips were so close that I could feel her warm breath against my own.

“Would it make you feel better if I said yes?” Her tone was light and flirty.

“Sweetheart, please keep joking. It’s water off my back because soon, every other man who has had the pleasure of paying you a compliment, touching this skin, or kissing these lips will be nothing more than a distant memory.”

Just as my lips touched hers, finally doing the one thing I’d been dying to do all night, the screen door creaked behind us as Noah pushed through it.

We broke apart, and I looked up to catch the end of his eye roll. His attention quickly turned toward the grill, and he took in a quick sniff as his mouth curved upward.

“Are we having the steaks well done tonight, Dad?”

“What? Why?” I asked, leaping out of my chair to check on my precious dinner.

Moving swiftly, I lifted the lid, and I was met with smoke. Noah’s laughter filled the air just as quickly as the dark plume engulfed the backyard. Noah and I began moving our hands back and forth in an attempt to clear the air.

I cut the gas and got my first look at the steaks. They were blackened beyond repair.

“So, pizza?” Noah suggested.

Liv joined in on the laughter.

“Pizza it is,” I said.





Liv

“You’re dating your hot jerk of a neighbor?” Clare asked as we all gathered around her kitchen island, waiting for dinner to cook.

“Yes,” I answered with a coy smile.

“So, your assessment of him has…changed?” Leah guessed, her back to us, as she cut a large baguette.

“Oh, he’s still a hot jerk, and he definitely drives me crazy, but in a good way.”

“Details!” Leah called out over her shoulder.

“Husband coming through!” Declan announced as he appeared at the doorway. “No more sexy-neighbor talk. I can only handle so much. Besides, he can’t be that good-looking. I mean, come on!” He looked down at his own body and back up.

We all burst out in laughter.

He really was a cocky *.

“No one is as studly as you, baby,” Leah crooned, her voice soft and sultry.

He wandered over to where she was standing, tucking himself behind her, and he scattered kisses across her neck.

“That’s right,” he purred in her ear.

“Okay, seriously. I’m not sure if I’m going to gag or spontaneously combust from watching the two of them,” I said, turning away from the spectacle they were making in the kitchen.

“Join the club,” Clare said.

“Speaking of club, where is Logan?” I asked, looking around for our missing member.

Everyone knew where Garrett was. We could all hear him in the living room while masses of children pounced on and attacked him. His laughter mixed with theirs was enough to turn any cold heart into a puddle of mush.

“Logan is on the phone in our bedroom,” Clare said.

“Hospital?” Mia asked as she snuck a piece of bread from the pile Leah had been making.

“No, thankfully. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here,” Clare explained. “His sister.”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Logan has a sister?”

I’d been around this extended family for years, and I thought that I’d met every member, including Logan’s mother. I knew he didn’t speak with his father, but I didn’t know he had a sister.

Logan came from a wealthy family. I had been brought up in an affluent family as well, but I had a feeling it was pennies compared to the bank account Logan’s family was sitting on.

His parents had divorced when he was young, and from what I understood, it hadn’t been a pleasant split. While growing up, Logan had barely seen his mother, and he’d spent most of his childhood resenting her. After he’d met Clare, Logan had reconciled with his mother, and she’d been slowly earning back his trust ever since.

“Yeah, his sister has been absent from his life for a while. When his mother, Cece, got married and traded her lavish lifestyle for something a bit simpler, Eva…well, let’s just say she disagreed. Logan’s been trying to get in touch with her ever since.”

“Wow,” I said. “I had no idea. What is Eva like?”

“She’s exactly what you would expect a girl who had everything and anything she wanted to be like. She’s spoiled and spontaneous. She has no sense of ownership or work ethic. I’m not sure she’s changed one bit since the day she learned to swipe her daddy’s credit card.”

We all looked around.

Finally, it was Mia who asked, “What does Logan hope to accomplish?”

“He thinks he can save her from herself,” Clare answered.

“What do you think?” Leah asked. The bread now buttered and in the oven, Leah turned and faced us with Declan’s arms wrapped around her waist.

“I don’t know,” Clare admitted, shaking her head.