Page 52 of Love Off-Limits
Mom only shrugged. “Nothing. I told him you met a man at Rosie’s wedding and that you really liked him.Andthat you ended up hiring him for the summer.”
“That’s not nothing.”
She held her hands up. “Well you didn’t tell me not to say anything. What would you have us do? Pretend like he’s a total stranger and we’ve never even heard of him?”
“Yes. Precisely. That would be amazing.”
Mom rolled her eyes. “Whydidyou hire him?”
“I don’t want to leave him out there with Dad long enough to explain. He just...needed to get away from his old job and get out on his own for a while.”
“What did he do before?”
I peeked back into the studio to make sure Tyler was okay. He was smiling, at least, except, was that tension around his eyes? Probably. How could it not be?
“He was a cameraman forRandom I.I told you about Isaac, right? Rosie’s husband?”
“You did, though I don’t understand any of that YouTube nonsense. He was the cameraman, you say? That’s a far cry from goat farming.”
“He’s just here for the summer, Mom. He’s not looking to start up a farming career.”
She sighed. “Are you sure we can’t keep him? I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of looking at him.”
“Mom!” I swatted her on the arm.
She grinned. “What? You can’t blame me. He must like you, Liv. He’s here. That has to mean something.”
I shook my head. “It only means that we’re friends, emphasis on thefriends,and he needed a job to keep him busy while he figures some stuff out. That’s all.”
She eyed me, her lips pursed. “Perry thinks it’s more than that.”
“Perry has been talking to you about me?”
She looked at me like I was sitting in a canoe with only one oar in the water. “He eats dinner at my table every night. What else are we supposed to talk about?”
“How about Perry’s love life? Is he seeing anyone? Anyone for Dad to mercilessly grill?”
She chuckled. “So youareseeing Tyler.”
“No! That’s not—” I huffed. “You’re trying to trap me into admitting something, and I swear there’s nothing to admit. What does Perry think?”
“That Tyler must have some ulterior motive. Perry can’t figure out why he’d be here otherwise.”
Admittedly, I’d been surprised myself that Tyler had agreed to take the job. Even more surprised that he’d stayed after I’d done such a thorough job of keeping my distance. I hadn’t been able to give him the job he’d hoped for, andthenI’d rejected the possibility of a relationship. So why was he here?
Whatever his reasons, they weren’t nefarious. I trusted that as much as I trusted anything.
“Perry also believes the government faked the moon landing. I promise, Tyler has no ulterior motive. He’s a nice guy. And Kelly says he’s doing good work.”
“You don’t have to convince me, honey.” She leaned to the left so she could see around the kitchen door into the studio. “I already told you how I feel about him,” she said, her voice low and smooth.
“Mom. Gross. You sound like Blanche Devereaux from the Golden Girls.”
“Blanche always was my favorite.” She giggled. “You’d better get back in there. Tyler looks like he’s starting to sweat.”
The look of gratitude that crossed Tyler’s face when I dropped onto the sofa next to my dad was proof enough that Mom was right. Even with Penelope acting as a buffer, the tension in the air was palpable.
“I’m sure...you’ll make the right...decision when it’s...time,” my dad said gruffly, shooting Tyler a pointed look.
