Ready or Not (The Ready Series Book 4)(34)

“Hey, guys,” Logan said.

We all turned and saw him entering the room. He looked tired. His hair was a mess, probably from his worried hands moving through it, and faint lines appeared around his eyes. Those weren’t normally there unless he’d pulled a double at the hospital.

“How did it go?” Clare asked, immediately moving to his side.

He wrapped his large body around her and held on like she was a lifeline.

“Not as well as I’d hoped. She wouldn’t even tell me where she is.”

“But she’s okay?” I asked, concern echoing in each word.

“I guess. I mean, moneywise, yeah. She’s got plenty of that, thanks to our father. He gave up on her a long time ago, and he just funnels it to her without even bothering to ask what she is spending it on.”

“She’ll come around,” I said, hoping my words came true.

I knew how important family was to Logan, how important it was to everyone—even me.

Jackson

“Now, you’re sure you know what you are doing?” I asked.

Liv looked up at me with slight hesitation. She was on her knees. It was quite a lovely sight actually.

“Yes,” she answered.

I couldn’t help but grin. “You’re sure? Because once you start, there’s no going back.”

“You’re making me nervous, Jackson!” she yelled, throwing a piece of sandpaper up at my face.

I ducked as my deep laughter filled the backyard.

“I’m just f*cking with you, Liv.”

Her gaze fell back on the wicker chair that was flipped over on its side in front of her.

After a few days of walking back and forth past my patio door, I’d decided against buying new patio furniture. Instead, I’d asked Liv to help me revamp the existing pieces. I’d seen what she’d done with some of the chairs and tables in her own house, so I knew she was experienced in salvaging old furniture. Plus, it was time alone with her.

When I’d asked Noah if he wanted to help tonight, he’d looked at me like I was clinically insane. He was happily inside where it was cool and air-conditioned, probably blowing up aliens or cop cars on the PlayStation.

For the next hour or two, I had Liv all to myself.

Dating a single father was an imperfect science—especially when the single father happened to be new in town, had a brand-new, highly demanding job, and had little babysitting contacts.

Adding in Liv and her own responsibilities, I had the biggest case of blue balls known to man.

I wasn’t complaining.

Okay, I was—slightly. But I knew it would be worth the wait. Liv was worth a thousand dates that ended at the door rather than in a bed. The longer I knew her, the more I realized that Liv was the one woman I intended to keep. So, I could deal with the blue balls and dates that weren’t really dates since we were never truly alone. I was in it for the long haul.

I just hoped she was, too.

“So, where do we start, boss?” I asked, kneeling down beside her.

“We need to scrape and sand off as much of the old paint as possible. It’s not going to be fun,” she warned.

“Guess we’ll have to find something fun to talk about then,” I replied.

“Like what?”

She handed me a gritty piece of sandpaper, and I watched as she began moving her own piece along the wicker, creating a plume of dust.

“Hmm…” I mimicked her movements with my own sandpaper. “Let’s play Truth or Dare,” I challenged.

Her smile turned mischievous, setting down the sandpaper to grab a large metal tool to scrape off a large patch of paint that had begun to chip away.

“Okay, but how exactly are we going to do dares when we are supposed to be working, genius?”

“Just truths then?”

“So, basically, you just want to know all my darkest, deepest secrets?”

“Yep,” I admitted.

“Fine.” She laughed. “But I get to go first,” she said, her eyebrow angling up in amusement.

“Deal,” I agreed.

“How old were you when you lost your virginity?” she asked, a gleam of wickedness cascading across her face.

“No holding back, huh?”

“Nope. Spill it.”

“Okay, okay, but no laughing.” I sighed. “I was nineteen.”

“Nineteen!” she squeaked. “I would never have guessed.”

“Yeah, well, I was a tenderhearted youth, and I had it in my head that I was going to wait until the right girl came along.”

“And did she?” she asked hesitantly.

“Nope,” I answered bluntly. “But I got Noah out of the deal, so I think that counts as a win.”

I tried to cover up the bitterness with a smile, but I could tell I wasn’t doing a great job.

“Her name was Natalie,” I finally said. “We met in college. Coming from my middle-class, Southern upbringing, Nat was completely foreign to me. She was from Arizona, and she had lived on an Indian reservation for part of her life. She was exotic and looked like Pocahontas, and she was totally out there in the way she lived her life. To a wide-eyed boy like me, she was completely dangerous.”

“Dangerous how?” Liv asked. Her sanding had stopped, and she was now focused solely on me.