Page 16 of Untroubled Heart

Chapter eight

“Oh my god,” I groan, dropping my head against Liv’s kitchen counter. “What do I do?”

“I can’t believe you were talking to a guy and didn’t tell us!” she says as she kneads a batch of dough. I don’t know what she’s making, but it smells amazing. “Especially someone as good-looking as Mason Heart.”

My head pops up, and I pin Liv with a disgruntled sneer. “He knows it, too.” I take a sip of my cider. “I think he propositioned me no less than three times in the space of five minutes, and now I’m meant to work for the guy?”

And I know it wasn’t anything special to do with me—not that I’d want it to be. Once I found out who he was, I may have looked him up. You have to get past all the articles highlighting events with his family and his work, but eventually, you find the gossip forums. They all concluded one defining fact: Mason Heart is hung, hot, and always up for a good time.

“Do you think he’s hot?” she asks, tossing the dough over again, kneading the other side.

My stomach flips as heat rushes across my chest. “What?”

“Do. You. Think. He’s. Hot?” She drags out each word. “It only matters if there’s a risk of attraction, right?”

“I’m not blind,” I mutter. “But would I risk a well-paying job for a cute guy? Definitely not. Plus, my brother and Lee vouched for me. And I think we both kinda need each other. His current assistant leaves soon, and my maternity leave has officially run out. Plus, the lawyer bills—I need the money.” Would have been okay if Derek hadn’t stolen the safety net I’d been working on for six years.

“That settles it, then. You’re officially the new assistant to Heart City’s most eligible bachelor.”

My chest deflates as I sink into the chair, rolling my eyes at Liv. “Is that helpful?”

Liv chuckles as I lean back, peeking into the pram behind me where Navie sleeps soundly.

“It’s not like you guys hooked up or anything. You said you didn’t even like him. I bet after a week, neither of you will even remember that you first met at The Wayside”

“You’re right.” I nod. “We’ll probably be laughing about it in no time.” I can’t imagine it, but sometimes you gotta believe in something before you see it.

“Have you heard from Maevyn’s friend yet?” I ask, keen to shift the subject. A few months ago, a friend of Maevyn’s came to visit. He was an undercover cop, the one who had protected her identity for the last twelve years, but the second he laid eyes on Liv, he panicked. Maevyn didn’t know his real name until he gave it to Liv as if she would remember, but she didn’t.

She shakes her head, her face a war of curiosity and confusion. “He won’t respond to Maevyn. I don’t understand.” She flips the dough over. “He knew my name. He thought I’d died. He clearly knows something about me. Why would he just ghost me after all that?”

“And you still can’t remember him?”

Liv had a traumatic accident a few years back that left her with retrograde amnesia. It also left her pregnant with absolutely no recollection of how it happened. None of her friends or family knew she was dating, and no man came looking for her in the weeks that followed. It’s been four years now, and she has nothing but unanswered questions and memories stuck on the tip of her tongue. Until a few months ago.

“No. And Maevyn doesn’t know much more than I do. He was very secretive in all the years he helped her. There are a lot of Xanders online, but he’s a cop. I assume they keep a low social profile.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll hear from him soon.”

“I hope so. He might be the key to helping me find Daisy’s father.”

I want my friend to find her happily ever after, but my life so far has not given me the best first-hand experiences with fathers. I know they’re out there. Just because my personal experience doesn’t inspire much confidence, it doesn’t make it the only option. There are plenty of amazing fathers and men in the world. My own brothers are at the top of that list. But with Derek’s dismissal of Navie and my own father’s disinterest in me and my brothers, the fact that Liv’s baby daddy never showed up in the months following her accident, not even a random text, doesn’t help with these resigned feelings.

“Are you sure it wasn’t a one-night stand?” I want to give the guy the benefit of the doubt as much as I want to support my friend.

Liv shakes her head. “It’s really not my thing. I’d be so surprised if that were the case.” She brings a flour-covered hand to her temple, massaging the sides. “I’ve always been a bit of a workaholic. Maybe it is the only thing that makes sense.”

“When was your last relationship?” I’ve told myself I want to wait until Navie is much older before considering a romantic relationship again. I want to settle into life with me and my girl, to make sure we’re okay before opening my heart to another again, but I am curious to hear from Liv how she manages dating with a young child.

“Oh, gosh.” She blows out a breath. “Probably like a year before the accident.”

Five years ago.

My mouth twists with curiosity. “When was the last time you…” I leave the question hanging in the air.

“Last time I what?”

“Were… intimate.”