With Matt sitting so close and holding her hand, thinking straight was impossible. Hell, she was lucky she could even breathe at the moment. But when she got home, she’d sit down and examine what had transpired tonight and what it might mean. In the meantime, she had to answer him. “About four at the restaurant, but I need to spend a little time at my office. We have two events this weekend. But I should be done by about five.”
“Let’s do something when you’re done. Whatever you want.”
If they went to a place like the Northside Tavern or Heavenly Ice Cream, Matt might be bombarded with fans. He might not mind that, but she’d rather not be dragged into it, especially since she didn’t even know what was really going on between them yet. Of course, that was assuming anything was going on between them. Maybe Matt had kissed her because he was bored or lonely. Tomorrow he might get out of bed, pack his bags, and head back to Florida, and another year might pass before he stepped foot in town again.
“I’ve been playing with some new recipes. Why don’t you come over, and I’ll cook dinner for us?”
Friends could have dinner together. If he came over tomorrow and things remained strictly platonic, she’d know tonight had been a fluke. A once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience some of her teenage fantasies. Really, how many people got an opportunity like that?
“I’ll bring dessert.”
Six
Liv dropped her cell phone on the nightstand and fell back on her bed. During the ride home, she had focused on driving rather than what she really wanted to think about now—replaying the last several hours and maybe figuring out what it all meant, assuming it meant anything at all.
When Matt stopped by the office and suggested they spend time together tonight, a tiny part of her wished it was because he was interested in her. Who wouldn’t want Matt Sherbrooke interested in them? As far as she could tell, the man was the total package. He was gorgeous, successful, talented, and genuinely a nice person. Regardless of her secret desire, she’d known he’d only asked because her brother wasn’t around, and she was the only person in town, except her parents, that he knew.
Now, though, she wasn’t as confident in her assessment.
Matt kissed me.
Correction: He kissed me multiple times.
If someone had told her this morning that Matt would kiss her, she would’ve either laughed in their face or told them to wake up from whatever dream they were having. But not only had they shared one kiss, they’d shared three.
Closing her eyes, she replayed those moments. The first kiss had been almost tentative, as if he was waiting for some sign from her. And when she put her arms around his neck, he turned the intensity up. There had been nothing tentative about their second, and she was glad she’d been sitting down for it. The final kiss he’d given her after walking her out to her car had fallen somewhere between the other two.
Thank God.
If he’d kissed her again like he had while sitting outside, she’d still be in Matt’s driveway trying to remember how to drive.
But what did tonight mean?
Some people spent their evenings watching sports or exercising. Did Matt like to spend his evenings kissing whatever woman he brought home?
He was a rock star. They had a reputation for sleeping with a different woman in every city where they performed. And she had seen him photographed with countless women over the years, including the pretty brunette a couple of weeks ago. Although she didn’t doubt that he’d dated a lot of women, she couldn’t picture him hooking up with a groupie each time the band stopped to perform. She could picture the other members of Eclipse doing that, especially Travis Hart, the band’s drummer, but not Matt. But he was also an actor. Maybe the Matt she knew wasn’t the real him. Perhaps he lived the rock star lifestyle described in Our Life on the Road, a biography she’d read about her favorite rock band.
An image of Matt in bed with two beautiful women formed.
Don’t go there.
Even though his lifestyle shouldn’t matter to her, she hoped it wasn’t anything like what she’d read.
But even if he wasn’t into one-night stands and threesomes, that didn’t mean boredom wasn’t the driving force behind what happened between them tonight. Matt dated gorgeous actresses and supermodels. While Liv didn’t consider herself ugly, she wasn’t in the same league as the women he’d been linked to, so there was no way he’d ever be attracted to her. However, she was the only single female in town who he knew. But when she thought about it that way, though, it made it sound like Matt was using her.
The idea of him using her—or anyone, for that matter—didn’t feel right. Last weekend, he’d handed over the keys to his SUV without being asked or expecting anything in return. And tonight, before their first kiss, he’d given her plenty of time to move away if it hadn’t been what she wanted. Afterward, he’d walked her outside, opened the car door for her, and waited until she drove away before going back inside the house.
Opening her eyes, Liv stared at the ceiling, the wheels in her brain spinning much the same way the blades on the ceiling fan were. Even without Matt sitting next to her, making it impossible to think straight, she couldn’t figure out what tonight meant.
“Loving You” erupted from her cell phone, reminding Liv that someone had called her earlier. With her mind centered on Matt, she hadn’t even thought to see if the caller had left a voicemail.
She wasn’t surprised to see the name “Emma” on the screen, and after answering, she put the call on speaker so she could change into pj’s and talk at the same time.
“We missed you tonight. It’s not the same when you don’t come with us.”
Liv grabbed a pair of sleep shorts and an old New England Rebels T-shirt from the drawer. “If you guys are free this weekend, let’s get together.”
Between her catering schedule and Phoebe’s busy schedule taking wedding photos, the three of them hadn’t been able to get together in over a month.
