Page 59 of Love for a Lifetime

“Liv.”

Dawson strode down the hallway toward her. His tall frame and powerful stride matched his intense expression. He was usually the funniest guy in the room, but not right now.

They met halfway down the hallway, and he ducked his head to look into her eyes.

“Are you okay? I’ve been looking all over for you.”

His piercing blue gaze bore into her. Why did her best friend have to be everything she ever wanted in a man? He made her laugh, he watched over her, and he protected her.

“I’m fine. I just stepped outside to get some air.”

He inched closer and brushed a hand down her arm, leaving her skin tingling where he touched her. “Jade said you ran out of there pretty quickly. She thought something was wrong. Did that guy bother you?”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “No, Mark is long gone. He was a piece of work.”

Dawson nodded once. “You said it.”

“But you were thinking it,” she added.

“You caught me. It took everything I had to keep from showing him to the door when he was rattling on and on about himself at dinner.”

“Did you hear the part where he said he’s been driving trucks for fifteen years?”

“Yeah. It’s like he wants an award for it,” Dawson said.

“Well, he told me yesterday that he’s twenty-nine.”

Dawson scrunched his nose. “That math ain’t mathin’, babe.”

“Exactly. Plus, he was way too touchy.”

Dawson’s jaw clenched. “I was about half a second away from introducing him to my fist when you moved his hand.”

Olivia covered her eyes. “Oh my goodness. You saw that?” Lingering embarrassment heated her face.

“Seriously, I’m glad he’s gone. I didn’t want to end up in jail tonight.”

Olivia chuckled and lowered her hand, but there wasn’t a trace of a smile on Dawson’s face.

Oh. He was serious. Olivia wasn’t a fan of unwanted touches, but what would she have done if Mark had been the slightest bit more forceful? She’d like to think she could take care of herself, but it was nice to know Dawson was always in her corner.

“No one needs to go to jail. He’s gone.”

Dawson’s shoulders relaxed the slightest bit, and he leaned his side against the wall. “On another note, Levi asked Jade if you could be his teacher sometimes.”

Olivia chuckled. Jade homeschooled Levi, and they used all of Blackwater Ranch as their classroom. “How did that go over?”

“Not well. You could tell Jade’s feelings were hurt, but Levi said, ‘I only meant like two days a week or something.’”

“Oh no,” Olivia whispered.

“Yeah. At least he didn’t ask for three out of five. Jade might have cried.”

“He knows he has the perfect teacher. They both love learning. He’d miss her if he had a different teacher.”

“That’s what I told him.” Dawson glanced over Olivia’s head and whispered, “Don’t look now, but Trey just walked out.”

Olivia tucked her chin at the mention of her ex. Between her awful date and Trey, Olivia was officially maxed out on awkward social situations.

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