Page 3 of Every Little Kiss
“He’s also expected next door,” Mavis said, waddling down the aisle, making a shooing gesture with her hands. “In fact, so is Liv. She was headed to the Bear Claw Bakery, home of the best bottomless drip in the Sierras, fifteen years running.”
“Sounds like I’d be a fool to pass that up,” he said, flashing a smile that,holy cannoli, was wicked enough to tempt a widow right out of mourning.
Not that Liv was still mourning. She’d moved through that stage of loss. But while she’d managed to put the worst of her grief behind her, there wasn’t room in her life for temptation. Or to accept a coffee date with a handsome man when her son was waiting for her next door.
That didn’t mean that she couldn’t take another minute or three to enjoy the incredible view or recommend a good place to get a cup of coffee.
“There’s also Java House on the other side of Lake Street that has a beautiful view of the mountains,” she offered. “If you wanted something more exciting than your basic drip.”
“Java House?” Mavis harrumphed. “The only people who go to that overpriced stain on our town are yuppies, tourists, and idiots who don’t know better.” Mavis gave him a full head-to-toe perusal, taking her time and tutting when she got to his chest and those arms. “Which one are you?”
“Thankfully, none,” he joked.
“Yet, I don’t know you.” Mavis crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “How’s that?”
Liv seconded that question, because Sequoia Lake really knew how to put thesmallin small town. Although hundreds of thousands of weekend warriors visited their legendary slopes and fishing holes every year, less than six thousand were lucky enough to call it home.
And Liv might have been a bit insulated from the happenings in Sequoia Lake as of late, but she’d have to be living under a glacier to miss a man like him in a town so tiny.
Sequoia Lake was as known for its brawny, badass, beautiful men as it was for its gossip. And the only recent hottie sighting in the area belonged to Sequoia Lake’s newest hero-for-hire who’d moved in down the street from Liv.
She couldn’t be certain, since she’d been staring at his backside when he’d moved in, but she was pretty sure she was staring down the much-anticipated Officer Cub Candy—as her friends had started referring to him.
“I’m renting a place in town for the summer,” he said.
Yup.“With your family?” she asked, and then realized she sounded as if she was asking if he was single, so she clarified. “I mean, your parents.”
His lips twitched. “It was just me and my mom growing up, but since I’m out here on work, asking to bring my mom along would have seemed odd. Plus, she’s a little busy with her own life.” He feigned embarrassment. “Unless you bring your mom to work. Not that I’m judging—whatever works for you.”
He was teasing her. She’d openly questioned his man-card status, and he’d turned it around on her. Funny and smart.And young.
Not as young as she’d originally thought, maybe midtwenties, more Man Candy than Cub Candy, but definitely in a different phase of his life than a thirty-four-year-old single mom. “You’re staying at Old Man Keller’s place, right?”
“Spying on me?”
“No.”Yes.
She’d spent the better part of Nicholas Sparks and Sangria Night spying on him from her living room window. Even her besties had forgone watching Zac Efron get naked and naughty in the shower to watch Zac Efron 2.0 unpack his truck.
“There’s a contest on the Hot and Ready to Trot Facebook page,” Liv explained. “First person to snap a picture of your face gets a twenty-five-dollar gift card to Petal Pushers.”
His eyes sparkled with interest. “I passed that yesterday. It’s the lingerie shop in town.”
“They also sell a variety of cute and quirky socks,” Liv pointed out primly. “Ones with dogs or frogs or owls on them. I bet they even have mountain-climber ones.”
He looked down at her socks, which were blue with dancing kitties on them, a gift from Paxton, and smiled. “Do they purr?”
Thankfully, a bright light filled the room, followed by the click of a camera. Mavis lowered her phone and grinned. “I bet a picture of your backside will land me the grand prize.”
“What’s the grand prize?” he asked, but Mavis was walking back into her office, her fingers working the keyboard as fast as her legs were pumping.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know. By the way, I’m Olivia Preston.” Liv stuck out her hand. It was, after all, the neighborly thing to do. “But my friends call me Liv.”
She almost snorted out loud at how lamethatsounded. Had it really been so long since she’d talked to a man that she’d forgotten how?
“It is nice to meet you, Liv. I’m Ford. Ford Jamison.” He took her hands in his, and there went that annoying zing again. This time she was certain he felt it too, because his shocked gaze met hers and held. So long she lost track of time.
He just stood there, holding her hand in his, silently staring at her as if waiting. For what, she couldn’t be sure. But for the first time in what felt like forever, she felt a lightness in her chest, in her feet, as if all she had to do was take a single step and she’d finally be moving forward.
