Page 160 of Sugarloaf Ridge Lies

Chapter Fifty-Two

Liv

Heart thumping madly, I swallow around the sticky lump in my throat.Shit fuckity shit.

“Let me get dressed. I’ll be right out.” I dash into the bedroom.

Jerry’s heavy footsteps pound behind me. He pulls the door shut. “It’s him, isn’t it.”

I nod.

“You sure you want to do this?” he says as I scramble for something decent to wear.

“No!” I hiss, yanking off the slip and wrestling with the clasps of a bra. “This was your idea.”

After repeated failed attempts by Steph, I’d resolved this whole thing in my head. We went our separate ways that night, and it was going to stay that way.

He paces the floor at the foot of the bed. Back and forth. Back and forth. “How in the hell does he know where we live?”

I select a long dress from the wardrobe and huff a wayward hair from my face. “I have no idea. Steph couldn’t find him.”

In a daze, I sit on the bed and bury my head in my hands. “God, he came all this way. I can’t ignore him as much as I want to.”

Jerry kneels at my feet and takes my hands in his, kissing my knuckles before placing them in my lap. The earthy brown in his eyes has a way of calming me as his gaze locks with mine. “You take your time. I’ll go back out there ’til you’re ready. If it’s alright with you, I won’t be invitin’ him in.”

I won’t argue because this must be so difficult for him. “Okay. Just promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

He winks and stands. “Don’t make promises I can’t keep, sugar.”

Somehow a laugh bubbles up my throat. This situation... is ridiculous. I never imagined these two men would meet. At least I’d hoped that’d be the case, knowing how protective Jerry can be.

Before I know it, he’s pulled me upright, his lips seizing mine. Warm arms cocoon and comfort me as he kisses me, demanding yet sweet. A little breathless, he leans his forehead against mine.

He walks from the room without another word.

***

I’m such a chickenshit. Hiding in the hall, eavesdropping. The closer I got to the door, the harder it was to keep my feet moving. I wrap Jerry’s flannelette shirt across my bust and summon courage. I probably look a mess, but wearing his shirt is my way of claiming Jerry. This is my way of showing the man I love, that in this pivotal moment, I’m thinking of him, and also calming my nerves by surrounding myself in his woody, all-male scent.

“Fucking relax, mate,” Kurt says, his voice louder this time. “If I wanted her, I’d have her.”

“The fuck you say?” Jerry growls.

“A wink and a whisper were all it took for her to drop her panties. Imagine what I could do if I really tried.”

Damn, did he really just say that?

As I rush through the screen door, Kurt steps into Jerry’s space, his shiny leather shoes almost butting against Jerry’s work boots.

Jerry sucks in a breath as he winds his right arm back, fist clenched.

I grip his bicep and hold it firm. “Jerry.” My voice catches.The last thing we need is you throwing punches.

He turns his head, eyes wild.

I push my palm against his heaving chest. “I’ve got this.”

“Yeah,” Kurt interrupts. I don’t miss the heat in his gaze as it burns a trail down my body. “We’ve got this.”

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