Page 44 of Head Over Heels

“Go away,” says a craggy voice, unrecognizable as Liv’s.

“I’m going to assume that greeting is about the amount of sleep you got and not about your feelings for me,” I call through the door.

“My feelings for you are that you should go away,” she says, muffled. “You can’t come in. I look like ass. My hair’s a mess. My makeup’s a mess. I have pillow creases in my face.”

“Let me see,” I say.

“No.”

“Please.”

After a long, long silence—I’ve become totally convinced she’s not going to let me in—she says, “Promise not to laugh.”

I open the door.

She’s sitting up, and she’s right, technically: Her hair’s a mess, her makeup is smudged, and she has pillow creases in her face. And it’s possibly the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, because I know that no one gets to see Liv like this.

“You look beautiful,” I say, cupping her face. “I like you rumpled.” I kiss her.

My strategy, if you can call it that, is not to give her any time to doubt me or overthink this. And it seems to be working, because she’s kissing me back.

We tumble back into her covers. Her body is warm and limber against mine, and I’m hard against her thigh, her hands beginning to tug at my clothes, when I remember Katie. I break it off and stand up.

“You are evil,” she says, panting. “You shouldn’t start what you can’t finish.”

“Oh, I’ll finish,” I say. “Later. I promise. In the meantime, come downstairs. There’s coffee.”

“Coffee,” she murmurs. “Thatmightbe better than an orgasm right now.”

I check my watch, cross to the door, and jab the button in the center of the doorknob to lock it. I’ve got another minute or two before Katie finishes her breakfast, and a man can accomplish a lot in 120 seconds.

“Can’t have you thinking that,” I tell her.

Chapter 23

Liv

I’m kind of weirded out by hownotweird things feel.

I mean, we crossed a big line, right? This should be awkward. Or, justwrong.But instead we’re sitting across from each other at the breakfast table, with Katie babbling between us, and it’s normal. Me. Chase. Katie. A meal.

My body’s still buzzing like crazy, because Chase made me come in about thirty seconds.Ican’t even make myself come in thirty seconds. But he did this thing with his tongue that I can’t even explain, and—

Just thinking about it makes me hot all over.

Chase stands and clears his plate. As he does, his cell rings on the counter, “Ode to Joy.”

“Oh, hi, Em.” He paces while he listens. “Um, I can’t. Not today. I’ll be at work. Unless—?” His eyes meet mine. “Hang on a sec.” His arm, phone in hand, drops to his side. “I have a favor to ask.”

“Shoot.”

“Emily, Katie’s other grandma, has an old friend visiting her from the East Coast, and she was wondering if I could drive Katie down, or at least halfway, so they could have lunch with her. Halfway would be an hour’s drive; all the way would be close to two each direction. You could do some shopping or something while you wait for Katie to be done. I know it’s a lot to ask—”

“It’s fine,” I say, meaning it.

Gratitude shines in his eyes. Ilikebeing able to make Chase’s life easier, which is a funny thing, because so much of our friendship has been about giving each other a hard time.

Chase brings the phone back to his ear. “My friend Liv, who’s filling in as Katie’s nanny right now, can bring her.” They talk back and forth for a minute or two about locations and logistics. Then he hangs up and lets me know where I’m heading with Katie, and when.

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