She would also never ask to borrow one of his guitars because, while she played well, she’d never be able to perform for Matt, a man who played his guitar and sang for stadiums packed with people.
“Do you want to eat first or while we play?”
“Whatever is fine with me.”
What she really wanted was a tour of the house. The little she’d seen of it so far was beautiful, and she wondered what the rest of it looked like. If Emma or Phoebe owned the home, she wouldn’t think twice about asking, but not Matt. He might see the request as an invasion of his privacy, which, in a way, it was.
“Let me grab the pizzas from the kitchen, and then we can start a game.”
After a quick stop in the kitchen, Matt led her down a hallway. Unlike at her apartment and her parents’ home, there were no family photos on the walls. Instead, professional-looking photos of the ocean and various beaches provided the only decoration and left her longing for weather suitable for relaxing on the sand. The last one on the left captured her attention.
“Do you know where this is?” Liv pointed toward the photo.
“I took that one in St. Barts.”
Thanks to the palm trees, she already knew the picture was taken in a tropical area, and it didn’t surprise her that he’d visited there. She was surprised that he’d taken it, though, because it was as good as the ones Phoebe did, and she was a professional photographer.
“I took all these pictures,” he explained, gesturing around him.
“They’re great. I thought they were professionally done.”
“Thanks. It’s a hobby of mine. I took all the landscape photos hanging around the house. If you’re interested, I can show you the others later.”
Maybe she would get a tour of the house after all. “I’d like that.”
At the end of the hall, he stopped at a door and gestured for her to enter. At least half the size of her entire apartment, he’d set the room up with entertainment in mind. A pool table, a bar complete with barstools, and two small high bar-style tables occupied the left side of the room. A flat-screen television hung on the opposite wall, accompanied by a large sofa and several comfortable-looking chairs, all positioned for perfect viewing. Although, if this were her house, she wouldn’t come in here to watch television. No, she’d come in here for the view the floor-to-ceiling windows provided. Much like the hallway, this room didn’t contain any family photos either.
“Would you like a glass of wine or a cocktail?”
Liv pulled her eyes away from the fantastic view outside to the one now standing near the bar. “Some red wine would be nice.”
She watched as he poured each of them a glass of wine and searched her mind for a safe, unintrusive topic. “Did my brother tell you he was offered a promotion at work?” If anyone deserved it, Owen did. He regularly put in sixty-hour weeks.
“Owen mentioned he was one of the candidates,” Matt answered, handing her a wineglass and an empty plate. “Help yourself.”
Liv eyed the three pizzas he’d set on the bar. Either Matt was a mind reader, or they had similar tastes in pizza toppings.
“The company offered him the position on Monday.” She added two slices of pizza to her plate and then took a sip of her drink.
“I’ll have to call and congratulate him.”
She should focus on her food or even assemble her cue stick. However, her eyes had ideas of their own and followed Matt as he walked toward the rack of pool cues on the wall. For the sake of the female population, the man should be forced to wear a shapeless potato sack. Though even that might not hide his broad shoulders and sexy arms. His T-shirt covered his chest and stomach, but judging by the way it clung to him, both would leave her drooling like a baby teething if she were ever within ten feet of him without a T-shirt on.
Before she could stop it, an image of Matt lounging on the beach materialized.
Don’t go there.
She’d fallen headfirst in love with Matt the moment he walked into her parents’ kitchen that Thanksgiving. Countless times, she’d stared at her bedroom ceiling and pictured them kissing or taking a walk along the beach at sunset—not that he’d noticed her. And why would he? He’d been a college freshman, and she’d been a high school student with braces and bad acne. While she’d never stopped finding him attractive, she no longer wasted her time daydreaming about him.
Liv mentally slapped the back of her head, dislodging the tantalizing image. Of course, when she got home, she might turn on One Last Heist and fast-forward to the scene where Matt exited the bathroom wearing nothing but a strategically placed towel.
“Owen’s not sure he’s going to accept it. He’d have to travel a lot.” Yep, if she kept talking about her brother, maybe she wouldn’t blurt out something inappropriate.
“Didn’t he know that when he applied?”
“Owen didn’t apply. His boss recommended him for this new position in the department. If not for the travel, he would’ve already accepted it.”
“How much is a lot?”
