The Best Friend Bargain(47)

That sounded kind of nice to Liv. Mary Ellis had always treated her better than her own mother had. Her down-to-earth flower child nature had soothed Liv’s hurts more often than she could count. She’d make a wonderful grandmother.

Somewhere deep in Liv’s subconscious, had she wished for this? A family to love her and her baby unconditionally—a family with the last name Ellis. Since Danny had decided against marriage and kids, had she chosen to offer it to Mary, a woman Liv loved, admired, and felt indebted to?

If that were true, could Liv trust these new feelings for Danny? “And that bothers you because the baby isn’t yours,” she said.

“It bothers me because I never planned for this.”

“It’s not like it’s a bad thing.” She wrapped her hand around the edge of the seat cushion.

Danny ran his fingers through his hair. “But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to accept a future different than the one I imagined. Different than I might be comfortable with one day. I’m not just committing to you, Liv, but a child, and I don’t take that responsibility lightly.”

“I’ve forced the two things you don’t want on you.”

“Forced is a pretty strong word. You didn’t take my choice away.”

Olivia leaned forward, elbows on her knees, and covered her face with her hands. “Didn’t I, though?”

“Hey.” He gently took her wrist.

She jumped to her feet. “I’ve made a mess of things and put expectations on you I shouldn’t have. I will totally understand if you want to back out. I’m over feeling like I can’t handle this. I’ll be fine on my own.”

He stood and reached out for her, but she stepped away. “Liv—”

“I get it.” She put up her hand to stop any further advancement from him. “Our arrangement is good for now but one day when your disease takes over, you’re not sure you’ll be able to stick around. The thing is, that’s when you’ll need me. And the thought of not being there is torture, so maybe we step away now, before we invest even more into each other.”

Before Danny could say anything, she bolted for the stairs and took them two at a time, pulling herself up with a firm grip on the railing. When she got to her room she collapsed onto the bed, buried her face in a pillow, and hoped tomorrow didn’t hurt so much.





Chapter Eleven

“I can’t get your rack to cooperate.”

Danny blinked and tore his eyes away from his favorite rack—Olivia’s—to find out what rack Honor’s younger brother, Cooper, was talking about.

“I think the turkey is too heavy,” Cooper added, his head down, the oven door open, potholders in his hands.

Danny took one more peek at Olivia. He hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off her all day. She seemed to have the same problem where he was concerned, his observations rarely going unnoticed. Over the past couple of weeks, they’d talked openly and honestly with one another, leading to arguments and then hot as hell make-up sex. Every minute in opposition was worth it. While not always easy, they understood each other better afterward and were in such great sync as a result that they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

Off the charts only hinted at how good the sex was, and heat climbed up the back of his neck thinking about it. He rubbed his nape. It had taken Liv—his best friend—to blow his mind in bed.

“Dude, a little help?” Cooper prompted. “The rack is not sliding out.”

“Let me grab an oven mitt.” Danny covered his hand and stood on the other side of the oven. “Ready on three. One…two…three.”

They pulled on the rack. Hard. A little too hard. The thirty-five pound turkey flew out of the oven. It hit the side of the kitchen island, launched off it like an Olympic toboggan, and skidded across the floor until it came to a stop in the middle of the room where the huge bird flipped out of the pan.

Danny looked at Cooper, who looked at him with terror on his twenty-year-old face, and for a few seconds the kitchen fell completely silent. Danny turned to Liv and Honor sitting at the breakfast bar. Both their jaws hung open.

“Why is the turkey on the floor?” Bryce asked as he came into the room, a perplexed look on his face.

Everyone cracked up. Bryce crossed his arms over his chest. Someone hurry up and tell me what’s going on, the gesture said. But no one could stop laughing.

Cooper got control of himself first. “Danny and I pulled a little too hard on the oven rack.” He walked over to the escapee, lifted it, checked for damage, and put it back in the pan.

“It’s a good thing Mr. Clean mopped the floor this morning,” Liv said good-naturedly, her lips tipping up in that cute, sexy way of hers.