I grimaced. Obviously, I was busted. “She told you?”
Liv smiled. It was gentle and soft, filled with love as she looked down at Sammy. “She saved me part of one wafer. She didn’t want me to miss out on the treat.”
Aw, hell.
If I wasn’t already fond of the kid, that did it for me.
“It was melted and stuck to the inside of her knapsack pouch, but I ate it,” Liv said. “She was so proud of herself for sharing.”
My voice sounded oddly thick when I spoke. “She’s an awesome kid, Liv.”
“Thanks. I think so.”
With a final stroke to Sammy’s head, she bent low and kissed her brow. Watching the two of them together did something to my chest. The love Liv had for Sammy, and the way Sammy adored her mother, hanging on her every word, saving a piece of chocolate for her. They were an amazing little family.
I followed Liv from the room, resisting the urge to kiss Sammy’s head myself. I had already been given hugs and “smooches.” And she demanded I come listen to Liv read to her. As I had discovered, when Sammy asked me to do something, I was powerless to resist, so I had sat on the floor listening to Liv’s quiet voice as she read to her daughter. A yearning I had kept under wraps for years stirred as I watched them. The need to protect them. The desire to have them in my life. The longing to be part of their world.
It brought me up short, and my footsteps faltered behind Liv.
She turned. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
In her living room, I hesitated. “I should go. You must be tired.”
She sat down, curling her legs underneath her. “Not as tired as I would have been without your help.” She indicated the chair beside her. “I would like to talk to you, though.”
I sank into the chair. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Except, you didn’t have to call Mrs. Miller. Or Ben,” she scolded gently. “I don’t expect you to fight my battles for me, Van. You can’t do that.”
“I didn’t. Ben is a great foreman, but he goes off the rails at times with his demands. He doesn’t deal well, and I stepped in to tell him to back off. I would have, regardless of the person he was dealing with,” I assured her. “And Mrs. Miller is a handful. Bentley promised me this is the only time he will ever take on a project like this. I only smoothed her ruffled feathers. Again, nothing I wouldn’t have done for any of the staff.”
She gave me a challenging look but let it pass. “I still don’t know why he took it on. We don’t usually do builds for people. We buy, flip, and sell.”
“She wanted this house, but Bentley outbid her. She told him the house used to be her grandparents’ and she wanted it for sentimental reasons. She asked him to let her be the one who purchased it when it was complete and to be involved in the renos. She even offered him more than he felt it would be worth when it was done.” I chuckled dryly. “He had no idea what he was getting us into. Last week, he offered to sell it to her for what he paid plus expenses, walk away, and allow her to finish, but she was adamant she loved our work and she didn’t want that to happen.”
“She is very particular, but she has a good eye. We’re about two-thirds done. The rest is mostly cosmetic things,” Liv informed me. “Once the cabinets and fixtures are in place, the rest will happen fast, and we’ll be free.”
“Yeah, another couple of weeks, and it’s done,” I agreed.
“Let me handle her and Ben, Van. It’s important to me.”
“All right,” I said begrudgingly. I knew she was right. She was strong, capable, and smart. She didn’t need me to fix things usually, yet today, I had to step in.
She reached over and touched my hand. “But thank you. For that, taking care of Sammy, dinner—everything.”
Our eyes met and held. The room filled with a strange feeling—taking on a life of its own. One which contained only her and me.
Once again, Liv asked me a question.
“What are you doing here, Van?”
“Spending time with you and Sammy. I like it.”
“To what end?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “I only know I enjoy it. I like both of you.” I studied her for a moment. “Would it be so awful, Liv? To see each other on occasion? Maybe dinner out?”
She hesitated, looking torn. There was obviously a story behind her worry.
“Tell me,” I urged.
A long sigh left her mouth. “Not long after Sammy’s third birthday, I met a guy—Evan. He seemed nice. I told him about Sammy, and he was fine. He was great with her. He was great with me. We dated, and I got comfortable with him. Sammy saw him as part of our lives. We both did.”
“But?” I let the question hang in the air, already knowing the answer.
“Nine months into the relationship, Evan decided a ready-made family wasn’t for him. It was too much. We were too much. He walked away. Sammy suffered terribly. She missed him so much, and you can’t make a three-year-old understand why the person they loved was simply gone. I couldn’t tell her he didn’t love us enough.”
“What an asshole,” I growled.
“We saw him about a year later. With his pregnant girlfriend. He had the audacity to tell me he had decided he liked being a dad figure, but he could never love Sammy fully since she wasn’t his. So he had decided to move on and make his own family.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I have never wanted to hit a person as much as I wanted to hit him that day. He basically told me my daughter wasn’t good enough for him to love. The same as her biological father.”
“Jesus,” I muttered. No wonder she was gun-shy. I couldn’t blame her, given her history. But I had to try.
“I’m not them, Liv. I’m not built to walk away. If I didn’t think we had a shot together, I wouldn’t put you or Sammy at risk.”
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
“Why do you think we have a shot?”
“I’ve always liked you, Liv,” I admitted. “But I made you off-limits because of my own history, the fact that we work together, and you’re a single mom. But I find you highly attractive. Sexy. Smart. An awesome mother. A beautiful woman. I’ve been holding back, but I’d like to see you.”
A smile curled her lips, and she dropped her gaze. I slid my finger under her chin. “What did I tell you about hiding your smile? I love to see it. I love knowing I caused it.”
This time, her smile lit her face. For a moment I basked in it, until she became serious.
“It scares me,” she admitted.
I decided to be honest. “It scares me too, Liv. I have my own history, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d ever want a relationship again. But there’s something between us, and I want to explore it.”
She tilted her head. “Will you tell me?”
“Yes. Soon.” I took her hand in mine. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know. If you want to try this with me, you deserve to know my story too.”
She was quiet for a moment, then slowly nodded. “All right.”
“We can take it slow, Liv. Dinner. Another visit to the park. Please don’t say no to the idea and shut the door.”