Page 21 of Liv Parrish

“Why not? I would tell you if the situation was reversed.”

“I know! But this is me, and I’d prefer to keep the details private if you don’t mind.”

“Ugh, you’re no fun. Fine then, keep your secrets. Is he coming over tonight?”

“I don’t know, we didn’t make any plans.” She’s about to reply when something catches her eye over my shoulder, and she looks up towards the door.

“Hey, Heath, good to see you again. How are you?” She doesn’t even try to hide her smirk and I fight the urge to dig her in the ribs to make her stop before she says something truly embarrassing.

“Hi, Ren. I’m good, thanks. I was just about to go upstairs when I heard you two chatting. Nearly set my ears on fire.” Oh shit! “And if you must know, I know quite a few tricks. I’d be happy to give Liv a demonstration.” He winks at me, and she starts fanning herself with the stock list clutched in her hand.

“Damn. I knew you’d be worth the trouble. Liv, go. Make him show you all his tricks, and then come tell me about them later.” Heath laughs at this, while I try to find a way to sink through the floor. He walks over to me, holds out his hand and helps me into a standing position before pulling me into his arms.

“Hi. I really like this blush on you. Might have to find ways to keep it there.” Another wink, then he leads me out the clinic and up the stairs to my apartment.

§§§

It’s finally the weekend, and after spending the night, Heath went out early this morning to get pastries and coffee for breakfast. It was then that I realized that I slept through the night, or at least during the hours that Heath was not showing me his many tricks, and I’m already addicted to his company, attention and affection. Now we sit on my sofa, enjoying the coffee and feeding each other bits of chocolate croissant, smiling like a pair of Cheshire cats. Heath gives me one of his lingering stares, causing my blood to rush through my veins, expectation running high at what he might say or do next. He leans in for a kiss, sweeping his tongue deep into my mouth, and moans at what I can only guess is the taste of chocolate lingering there. When he finally pulls back, his eyes are dark with lust.

“I could stay here forever,” he murmurs softly and I melt deeper into my sofa.

“You’re welcome to.” I’m not even joking.

“Yeah? You won’t kick me out when I start leaving my laundry all over the place or wet towels on the floor?”

“Well, now that you mention it, those wet towels would be a deal breaker. A girl has to put her foot down somewhere, right?” He laughs at this.

“Don’t worry, my mom taught me well. A wet towel shall not get in the way of true love.”

“True love, huh? And here I thought we were just in it for the sex.”

“Oh, look who’s got jokes!” But he’s not laughing. In fact, he looks quite serious except for the two raised brows and a mischievous glint in his eyes. “This reminds me. We know I’m ticklish, but we never established whether you are.” Oh crap! From the look on his face, he clearly thinks now is the time to answer that question. I try to backtrack, while scooting to the furthest end of the sofa.

“No, no jokes. Our love is the truest love of all the true loves. Nothing will ever come between us.” I bat my eyelashes at him for extra emphasis and now he’s outright laughing at me.

“Beautiful girl, you have no idea how happy that makes me, but the fact remains there are things about you I still don’t know.” And with that he launches himself at me, pinning me down on the sofa and digging his hands into my sides. I shriek and start kicking wildly, trying desperately to roll him off me, but I’m helpless with laughter, not to mention his weight on top of me. Eventually I do manage to get my hands free and we’re tickling each other, rolling around, squirming and laughing, gasping for breath.

“Uncle! Oh God, please stop, I’m going to pee my pants,” I call out. He stops immediately and studies my face, probably to gage if I’m telling the truth or trying to get the upper hand. Luckily, what he sees must convince him because he moves away slowly, letting out a deep sigh.

“Well, that was fun. We should do it again some time.” Damn, he barely looks winded while I struggle to catch my breath.

“Ha, you only enjoyed it because you could overpower me. I hardly got to tickle you at all.”

“That’s not true, you got a few good attempts, but if you want to do some strength training, I’d be happy to help. We have an excellent gym at work. You should stop by sometime and check it out–”

“Whoa, easy there. Don’t get carried away. I was just saying you’re bigger and stronger than I am, so it’s never going to be a fair fight.” I realize immediately that those might have been the wrong choice of words.

“Baby, I don’t want to fight. I just think a woman should be able to defend herself. We were having fun now, but if you were ever in a situation where you needed to defend yourself and you couldn’t, I would see that as a huge failure on my part for not doing everything I could to keep you safe, especially in those times when I’m not there with you.” I suddenly feel very uncomfortable with where this is heading, and it reminds me of my conversation with Wyatt.

“I need to ask you something, and I want you to be completely honest with me.” I wait for him to nod his head in agreement, while noting his reluctance to do so. “Are you here with me because you think I need to be protected? I know Wyatt is worried because of the people he knows, but is that the same for you too?” I hold my breath, all at once aware of how important his answer is to me, and the impact it could have on our future.

“Liv, what I feel for you started long before I knew about you and Wyatt. That first night I spent in this apartment, when you took a chance and took care of me the way you did, I knew there was something between us. And no, this has nothing to do with gratitude either. It’s because of the kind of person you are. Everything about you draws me to you, makes me want to know you better and keep you close. I won’t lie to you; I hate the idea that you might be in any kind of danger. When I think about what happened when you and Wyatt met, what could have happened, I … I feel almost paralyzed with fear that I could lose you when I’ve only just found you and I know it might sound selfish and unfair to you, but I’ve spoken to Wyatt about it. I want him to be more careful with you, and if that means you get to see less of him, then that is what needs to happen for now. I’m sorry Liv, but I’m not willing to take any chances with your safety. That’s my deal breaker.”

I don’t want to argue. Heath’s answer was more than I could have asked for and I cannot throw his honesty back in his face by responding on impulse. If I thought he was trying to be controlling or manipulative, I wouldn’t even bother to consider what he said, but I don’t think he is. He sees first-hand what violence and cruelty people are capable of and that must surely taint his outlook.

“Thank you for being honest, I appreciate it.”

“But …?” I take a deep breath before answering.

---