But whenever she graced me with ice-blue eyes inherited from her dad, it never failed to steal my breath.
“Hi,” she said once the distance between us had been closed. The move forced Miss Kitty to hiss at me. “Mom, can you grab her? I don’t want Shane getting fur all over his pants.”
Camilla snatched her up as I ignored the feline psychopath and stared into my girl’s eyes in awe. “Liv, you look beautiful.” The apples of her cheeks tinged a shade darker as the smile on her face widened.
“You do too.” In a typical Alivia move, she raised on her tiptoes and kissed me hard.
“Shit,” I said under my breath. “Are you trying to get me killed?” What was it that had those who claimed they loved me needing to put a bounty on my head?
My panic forced a giggle as she smoothed her hands down my lapels before adjusting the pink pocket square that matched her dress. This was a big difference from the leather jacket and jeans that I favored. Also gone was the scruff I usually kept peppering my jaw, and instead I had shaved smooth for the occasion.
Aware of the three sets of eyes admiring us, and the one set monitoring me, I tamped down the urge to pull her into my arms and kiss her back the way I really wanted to.
She twisted toward her parents and smiled. “Dad?”
“Livi…” It looked like the badass was about to cry. This was his baby girl… his squirt. He had called her that her entire childhood until Alivia had put an end to it. Trey then began calling her Livi. I tried once… that ended quickly. “You’re fucking breathtaking.”
“Trey,” Camilla scolded, again forgetting that every other word from her husband’s mouth involved fuck in one form or another.
He waved an impatient hand. “I am what I am.”
I took the moment to slip the corsage on Alivia’s slim wrist as our moms captured the moment. She then pinned a matching pale pink rose to my lapel. We were then positioned in an endless range of other poses for picture after picture, all while I couldn’t keep my eyes off Alivia. I’d crushed on Alivia from the moment we’d met and hadn’t stopped for the last dozen or so years.
During the photo shoot, a shy smile lifted the rose-tinted lips that I loved biting on. That led to thoughts of what would be happening after the prom. But a swift glance at her father had my cock shrinking back in self-preservation mode.
Now wasn’t the time to imagine what would be later. I first had to get through a few torturous hours of dancing and smiling. Only once we were in the limo, heading down the Shore, would I allow myself to become excited at what would happen.
Every detail had been perfectly planned. My parents had lent us our beach house for the weekend. My best friend, Chase, and his girlfriend, Kim, who was also Alivia’s best friend, would be joining us. On Trey’s insistence, Dad had arranged for our housekeeper to serve as chaperone. Like that would stop me. I had asked her to fill my room with pink rose petals, candles, and chocolate-covered strawberries. Okay, it wasn’t all my idea. Dad helped, enabled… whatever.
The man was as romantic as they came. He had me swear not to tell my mother, even though I knew she’d think the entire situation was sweet. As my dad had said, we were in love.
It was time to take our relationship toward a new juncture. Fuck, I was probably the last eighteen-year-old male virgin on earth. But for Alivia, I’d wait as long as it took.
And tonight… the wait would be over.
To say that was the longest night of my life would be an understatement. We had both waited an eternity for this moment to come. From the constant flush on her cheeks to the way she bit her lip whenever our eyes met, I knew she felt the same.
Until now, all our sexual encounters had included sneaking around on the beach as our parents partied a few hundred yards away. Or exploring each other’s bodies in my bedroom because it was safer for me than being caught in hers. I’d kissed and tasted every part of her, and all that was mere prep work, a whole load of foreplay for the main event that was finally upon us.
It was close to midnight when the limo pulled up the cobblestone drive and parked