“I’m on the false alarm list now, aren’t I?”
“Nah. This is only your first offense.” She slipped into the space between his thighs to put the ice on his eye. Almost close enough that her chest touched his.
“You weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow. I thought you were staying in L.A. so you didn’t have to drive back in the dark.”
“Changed my mind.”
“Danny.”
“It was fine.” L.A. was only an hour away.
She wanted to argue, he could tell, but he sat before her safe and sound—except for the face thing—so she sighed instead. “Hold this.” She brought his hand up to keep the bag in place.
“What are you doing?”
“Sweeping up the mess you made.”
“Not in your bare—”
The rest of his sentence got caught in his throat as she bent down, giving him a glimpse at the swell of her breasts when she slipped his shoes off his feet and slid her size eights inside with plenty of room to spare. “There.” She rose with a satisfied smile on her face that took all his pain away.
A better man would get up to help, but it had been a long day, his eye hurt, and watching the way she moved while she cleaned up the broken plate provided him with more sexy images for his daydreams.
“How’d it go today?” she asked while sweeping, her back to him.
“Great. The client was really happy, Jennifer was happy, and the shoot went well.” A photographer friend of Danny’s had taken pictures of the pieces he’d delivered so Danny could start a website for Ellis Design.
Liv looked over her shoulder. “Jennifer is the interior designer?”
“Yeah. And get this. She’s set to head up a hotel remodel and wants my pieces in the lobby.”
“That’s huge.”
“I know.” It’s exactly what he wanted. To work, keep busy, and leave something of himself behind before his blindness took away his ability to build with his hands.
“I’m so proud of you.” She bent to sweep the porcelain pieces into a dustpan. Her shirt stretched across her backside and he couldn’t look away. He knew he should. Told himself to stare somewhere else, but he was stuck.
Stuck on so much more than just her beautiful body.
“So you broke a couple of rules.” He lowered the ice pack from his face and put it on the counter.
“What?” Clean up done, his awesome best friend pulled out the fixings for another sandwich, kicking his shoes off her feet as she did so.
“The sink, Maybug.” He nodded to the pink panties teasing him. “And it smells like something died in here.”
“Oh, come on. The rules don’t count when you’re not here. Everyone knows that.”
“I’m here now and seeing and smelling things that break our agreement.”
She tilted her head and scowled at him. “If you’d been a courteous fiancé and called or texted me that you were coming home, we would not be having this conversation. So, really, this is your fault and gives me a free pass.”
“Everything from here on out will be my fault, won’t it?” he asked with a smile. He’d watched Zane and Sophie’s interactions, watched his friend surrender to his wife on most everything. What was that saying? A happy wife makes for a happy life?
Liv shrugged. “You said it, not me.” She walked around the counter to hand him his turkey with cheese and brushed her finger over his eyebrow with her free hand. “I’m afraid you’re going to have a black eye.”
“Not my first.” Her gentle touch and closeness messed with his breathing.
“I know.” Her gaze dropped to his mouth.
Kiss her, his mind whispered.
Hers obviously whispered, step away. “Now eat while I rinse the sink of contents that shall not be named and remove them from sight.”
“Got a quick acting air freshener, too?”
She rolled her eyes. He’d debated on retaliation, but that sealed the deal. He was going to break a rule or two himself now.
“So, besides the killer candle, what else did you buy today?” He took a bite of his sandwich.
Her entire face lit up as she eyed the bags on the floor. “Baby stuff. I couldn’t resist. Let me run this upstairs and then I’ll show you.” She took off with the lingerie in her hands.
He had time for three more bites of his sandwich and she was back, digging into the largest of the bags. Danny’s stomach knotted at the pure joy and excitement in her movements and in her expression.
Impending motherhood did her body and soul good. And maybe it was helping her get over her heartbreak, too. She hadn’t brought up Will, which both pleased and bothered Danny. Normally, they talked about everything so her silence meant she either wasn’t over him or she didn’t trust Danny enough to share her feelings. Both killed him.