“Yeah, sorry, some family shit went down,” she said, waving him off. He leaned over, kissing her hard on the lips, but she pulled away just as quickly as he started, her hands coming to his chest as she looked up at his beautiful, chiseled face. He really was a handsome man and someone would really love him, but she just wasn’t the one.
“That’s not a good sign,” he said, standing up straight.
“Yeah, not really,” she agreed and then she stood awkwardly, crossing her ankles and leaning her arm on her hip.
“Well, come on in,” he said, but she shook her head.
“I don’t really see the point,” she said simply, and she decided the truth was the only way to go. “I thought I owed it to you to do this in person, but I’m sorry, I can’t go with you.”
He looked down and then nodded. “Can I ask why?”
“Because as much as I want to love you, I can’t. Not when my heart is still with someone else.”
“Jordie?”
She didn’t want to admit it out loud, especially to him, but soon her mouth was moving. “Yeah.”
“You know he won’t ever love you or treat you the way I can,” he said, and Kacey bit the inside of her lip.
“No? Do you even know him?” she asked, and she was unsure why she was defending him. But she didn’t like the way he talked about Jordie. Even if he was right, she didn’t like it.
“He isn’t that kind of guy. He’s too busy screwing around.”
Kacey nodded, her throat tightening before looking up at him. “I know that, but I’d rather be alone than be with someone I don’t love.”
Liam tucked his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Then we have nothing else to say.”
She nodded. “You’re right. We don’t.”
Going up on her toes, she kissed his cheek, but he flinched away, his anger apparent. But really, what did he expect? She’d never loved him. “I wish you the best. Good luck.”
Turning, she’d made it down the stairs when he called out, “You too, but believe me when I say you won’t have that with Jordie. He won’t ever do right by you. You’re crazy to let me go for a dude like him.”
Stopping and turning back around, she looked up at him. “I’m not leaving you for him. I’m leaving you for me,” she said, and she could tell that he didn’t like that one bit. But she had to stay true to herself. Their relationship had been a dead end since the beginning, but she’d kept driving down that road, praying something would open up. She refused to live a life that wasn’t what she wanted. She really did regret hurting Liam—he was a good guy, but she wasn’t living for him. She was living for her.
Waving, she said, “Bye, Liam.”
“Bye, Kacey,” he called, and when she turned, she heard the door shut and she shook her head.
That was hard, but not as hard as talking to Jordie was about to be.
When she pulled into the parking lot of El Bracero, the first person she saw was Jordie. She figured he’d get a table and wait for her like he had before, so it was easy to say she was surprised. When she got out of the car, he came off the stone pillar he was leaning against, his smile taking up his whole face, which was a hard feat with the beard he was sporting.
She hadn’t gotten to drink him in when her brother was using him as a punching bag, but now, as she closed the distance between them, she took in the fitted jeans and thin blue Henley he wore. His hair was back in a black ball cap, but his eyes weren’t covered by it. No, she could see the depths of those dark brown eyes a mile away. Also the fat lip and bruise on his jaw. Stupid Karson.
What she didn’t expect was to see her daddy come off the second stone pillar. Making a face as her brows touched, she said, “Daddy? What are you doing here?”
“I was the backup plan in case you didn’t show up,” he teased, sending a wink at Jordie as he laughed. They had always been close, always. Almost as close as Karson and her father were, but it was obvious that Jordie was definitely a part of the family. That was one of the reasons she’d fallen so hard for him. Her daddy loved him.