I squeeze my eyes shut and know that there’s only one solution to this. Only one way to figure this out. And that’s to be away from the beauty and magic of another city and be in the dreary wetness of home. Only at home can I firmly put two feet on the ground and make a decision that will stick. A decision I’ll believe in.
I sigh heavily. Ignoring the warmth in my body and the fluttering in my heart, I ask, “Take me home please.”
26
I stifle a yawn as I follow Aaron around the new bar. They landed back in Seattle minutes after Tyler and I did, and Day took one look at me and told Aaron to bring me here.
She’s taken Tyler to get coffee, and I swear, if she’s pulling her matchmaking shit, I will kill her.
“What do you think?” Aaron asks.
I look around the building. Right now, it’s carnage in here. Builders are everywhere. There’s dust and wooden planks and whatever in every single possible place. But looking at the plans in my hand—Aaron’s vision—I see it.
“I think it’s gonna be the best damn cocktail bar in the city,” I say honestly.
“Good answer.” He grins. “It should be ready to go in two weeks. When do you have to tell Donny you’re leaving?”
“I’ll go by when I leave here and tell him. I’ll give him a week’s notice then take a week off.”
“No offense, but you look like you need it.” He puts his hand on my shoulder and leads me toward the door. “Come on. I’ll take you to see Donny and we’ll grab a drink.”
“This can’t be good,” I mutter.
Aaron catches it and laughs. “Well my fiancée is currently grilling my cousin and I’ve been told that, if I’d ever like another blow job, I have to do the same to you.”
“Fantastic.”
“But here’s the difference—we’ll talk normally, and when she inevitably asks you about our conversation, you’ll tell her that I chewed your ass out from here to Miami.” He shuts the car door behind us and tells the driver to go to White Stag.
I smile. “Man, you know how to handle her.”
“I’m soft as shit for her, but what she doesn’t know isn’t going to harm her or my chances of a blow job.”
I laugh. “In that case, I will willingly lie to my best friend. As far as she’s concerned, you asked so many questions that I decided to offer you my bra size for good measure.”
Aaron smirks. “Now who knows how to handle her?”
“I have fifteen years of experience. She’s wrapped around my finger.” I wink at him as the car stops.
Aaron opens the door and helps me out. My stomach bubbles with nerves when I walk into the bar and spy Donny behind the bar.
“Let me get you a drink,” Aaron says softly. “Sauvignon?”
“Please,” I reply. “Hey, Donny, can we talk?”
My boss glances up and blinks in shock when he sees Aaron. “Mr. Stone. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He holds out his hand and I hold in my sigh.
“The feeling is mutual, Mr. Hall.” Aaron smiles politely.
I cough and Donny looks at me. “Rosie, can you serve Mr. Stone, please? I’m going out back with Liv.”
He waves his hand, and I follow him out to his office. I wring my hands in front of me and sit in the leather chair in front of his desk.
“What’s up?” Donny settles back into his own seat.
“I’m leaving,” I blurt out. Way to quit with finesse, Liv.
“You are?”
“Um, yes.” I run my fingers through my hair. “Aaron—Mr. Stone—has offered me the manager’s position at his new cocktail bar.”
“I see. Well, you deserve it, Liv. You work hard and I’m sorry to see you go.”
“I’m sorry to leave. I love it here. I’ll work out the week.”
Donny nods. “Sure thing.” He stands and hugs me. “Come on, then. I’m pretty sure Ro was imagining Mr. Stone naked.”
I laugh and follow him back out. True enough, Rosie is staring at Aaron across the bar with hearts in her eyes. He’s smirking, amused but not interested. It’s like a high school moment.
“Everything okay?” he asks me when I appear.
“Fine. Let’s go and sit where you won’t be accosted by roving eyes.” I wink at Rosie and grab my glass.
She flips me the bird and I laugh while sliding into a seat in the corner of the bar.
Aaron slides across from me and sets his glass down. The whisky inside sloshes a little with the motion.
“So. You and Tyler.”
“Maybe me and Tyler,” I correct.
“Maybe?” He laughs. “There’s no maybe about it. You know as well as I do you two are more than a maybe.”
“Just because we’re more than a maybe doesn’t mean we have to be. Our feelings don’t always have to define our actions. Yes, I like him. I like him a whole lot more than like, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for me to pursue a relationship with him.”
Aaron sips his drink slowly, his blue eyes leveled on mine. “That’s true. On the other hand, it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for you not to. For someone so impulsive, you’re sure thinking this through a lot.”
“I’m impulsive with shoes, wine, and jobs. I’m not impulsive with my heart.”
“Perhaps that’s your problem. You and Day are so alike in that respect. When I found her again…” He sighs and shakes his head. “Call me a f**king pu**y, but it was like everything in my life was right again. Like it all made sense just by looking in her eyes—and I still feel like that. Hell, Liv, she felt like that. But she fought me every damn step of the way. She kept fighting even when she knew she’d lost. If she’d just stopped, for one moment, she would have seen that we made sense.”
“But she did. In the end.”
“After a few mountain-sized bumps and a f**k-ton of groveling on both our parts, yes. My point is that you’re doing the same with Tyler. You’re fighting everything when anyone can see that you two are good for each other. Stop thinking for five minutes and you’ll see it, too.”
I snort. “We’re not good for each other, Aaron. We’re the very worst thing either of us could have.”
“Sometimes you need the worst to bring out the best in you.” He puts his glass down again. “Look, I know you had a rough time a few years ago. Just like I refuse to tell Dayton about Tyler’s past, she refuses to tell me about yours. I wish we would tell each other, because it would make this a whole lot easier.”