didn’t do something, then she would be a loser by default. The new Liv wasn’t going to default. She wasn’t going to sit silently and hope that the man she cared about noticed her, as she’d done in high school. She wasn’t going to tamp down her feelings, but she wasn’t going to take a my-way-or-else attitude. She was going to find a middle road if it killed her.
She picked up her phone to see if there was a message from Tim when she heard his truck bump over the cattle guard. She kind of hoped to slip away without announcing her mission, but if she had to, so be it. And she wasn’t going to ask why he’d been at Matt’s place, because, really, did she want to know?
She grabbed her purse, headed for the door, then stopped when she saw Matt hobbling up the front steps.
Dear heavens.
She jerked the door open, not quite able to process the situation. Matt was here, why? She looked past him to the black-and-silver Dodge, which was not parked under the elm like usual. No, it was parked next to the barn and...was that Craig in the driver’s seat?
Her mouth fell open, and after clearing the top step Matt turned to follow her gaze. “He’s practicing for his learner’s permit.”
“Oh.” Liv focused back on Matt, a slight frown forming as she gave him a quick once-over. He’d lost weight, which accentuated the hollows under his cheekbones. He needed a shave, and his hair had grown a little too long. He was hunched over on crutches, his left leg encased in plaster up to the top of his thigh...and looked better than ever. Damn, but she wanted to eat him alive—if he’d let her.
Instead, she looked him square in the eye and said, “I don’t know if you remember our conversation in the hospital. You were pretty doped up—”
“I remember.”
Liv’s gaze did not waver even though she felt her cheeks growing warm. “I meant what I said.”
“I didn’t.” The expression in his dark eyes was intense and Liv’s heart knocked against her ribs as the words penetrated. “Okay, I meant the part about not wanting a mercy reunion, but—” he looked down at the ground “—if you were there for real...”
“I was there for real, Matt.” He raised his eyes to hers. “Honest,” she said. She didn’t know what else she could say.
“Honest,” he repeated.
“Yeah. I...I was so over-the-top as far as maintaining my independence, but I figured a lot of stuff out after you left. I was...afraid.”
“I know,” he said simply. “I finally figured that out. And I was angry.”
“I know...I finally figured that out.”
Matt reached out to cup his hand around the back of her neck, his crutch falling away and hitting the porch with a hollow clatter. Neither of them seemed to notice or care as his mouth settled on hers.
“Still afraid?” he muttered before kissing her again, more deeply. It felt like a homecoming and if she wasn’t so afraid of hurting him, she would have wrapped herself around him.
“Massively. But willing to take the chance.”
He smiled against her lips. “The trick to this relationship thing, I hear, is to tell the other person exactly what you want.”
“I did that,” Liv said. “It didn’t work.”
Matt kissed her again, making her wonder how one had sex with a full leg cast. “Maybe you didn’t totally mean what you said.”
“Maybe,” she agreed, kissing his upper lip, then gently nipping at his lower. “But I thought I did.”
“I know.”
“I have a lot to learn about compromise,” she said.
“I know,” he said with a soft laugh. He leaned back then. “Do you trust me not to take over your life?”
“I’m trying.”
“Trying?”
“I might have my moments, you might have to talk me down, but...I’m working on it. I...don’t want to lose what we have.”
Matt reached out to pull her against him, the other crutch falling away as he lowered his head to kiss her again. “Now we’ve done it,” he said when he finally raised his head and smiled down at her. “I’m helpless. I hope you won’t take advantage.”
Liv then took his face between her hands to answer him with actions rather than words. When the kiss ended she looked past him at the truck where Craig was staring up at the ceiling.
“Your chauffeur appears to be grossed out.”
“My chauffeur is just fine. I’m just fine.”
Liv stroked his dark hair away from his forehead. “Funny thing...I think I’m just fine, too.”