Page 23 of Twisted Beauty

“They prepare it fresh at your table here, Liv. It’s delicious,” Nate said.

Katie scooted her chair closer to the table and under the shade of the umbrella, getting herself completely out of the blazing sun. “No beer for me. Can I get a strawberry margarita, please? Blended?”

The waiter nodded. “Sí. Got it.”

The busboy showed up almost immediately with four waters in clear plastic cups. Liv reached for hers and emptied it in a single string of gulps. She sighed and sank back into her chair.

“Better?” Nate pushed his full water toward her, and placed her empty cup in front of himself.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Good. So Katie tells us you’re a photographer,” he said.

“Did she, now?” Liv shot Katie a glare to say, Now I have proof of your meddling ways, but Katie wouldn’t meet her eyes. Instead, she picked up one of the napkins and studied it as if the bull logo on it was captivating.

“Um, yes. I suppose so,” Liv said. “Technically I work for a news station in LA on the camera crew.”

“Brilliant. You must meet some fascinating people.”

Fascinating? A better word might be despicable, considering Grant Connelly was her immediate boss. Controlling would work too. Or egotistical. Neanderthal. Duplicitous.

Damn, just how far did she need to travel to get him out of her head?

She kept the smile on her face and nodded. “You could say that.”

“She’s a super talented photographer,” Katie said. “And she’s going to build a business here and move in with me.”

Liv’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh really? Is that your newest plan for me?”

Katie giggled. “A girl can dream, right?”

“Katie—” Liv started to protest but didn’t get her words out in time.

“Well, you’ve done quite well with your own business, right Kat?” Nate said. “You two might consider joining forces as Garrett and I have. Build a full-service destination wedding shop.”

“Ooh, yes. I totally love that idea.” Katie bounced in her seat. “I’ll plan the weddings and you take the photos.”

Garrett nodded in agreement, while Liv shook her head.

Absolutely everyone had an opinion about her career. Even the people she just met. This was exactly why she needed to stay away from men. They always wanted to plan out your life. Fix everything to their own specifications, even when it wasn’t broken. Like some testosterone-driven mandate.

Though, at the moment, even trying to convince Katie to butt out was a challenge. And getting her mother to understand was next to impossible. She hadn’t checked her texts once since the barbecue, when her mother had tried to ruin her afternoon with three simple sentences.

Just what do you think you’re doing? That man is the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Quit dreaming for once and take some responsibility for your life.

Liv could almost hear the disappointment in her voice. Apparently it was too much to ask that her own mother take her side. Too much to hope for.

And that had come on the heels of discovering she’d deleted every message on her phone in a drunken stupor the night before. She could only imagine all the horrible things Grant had said to her in those missing texts. And even with company expecting her to join the barbecue, she couldn’t seem to hold back the tears. She’d stayed in her room for a good ten minutes before she got it under control. God, she was beyond sick of crying over that asshole.

The waiter set a beer down in front of Liv, dragging her thoughts back to the present. The table was already covered with food and drinks and she hadn’t seen any of it arrive. Bottles of beer, a basket of tortilla chips, several mini bowls of salsa, and a frozen margarita the size of a small island in front of Katie.

A folding table had been set up next to theirs, where the waiter was scooping out avocados and dumping them into a bowl, adding tomatoes and onions and spices as he mashed and stirred.

“—a lot less challenging than you might think to get yourself a work permit here.” Nate’s voice seeped into her consciousness. As he waited for her response, she wondered if he knew she’d completely tuned him out for the last few minutes.

Katie stuck the straw in her mouth and slurped at her margarita, groaning in appreciation. “We could be the Destination Divas.”

Nate raised an eyebrow and nodded, looking impressed. “Not bad.”