Stay with Me by Jules Bennett (11)

“You can’t possibly paint the kitchen something called Yellow, Is It Me You’re Looking For.”

Olivia held up the paint swatch and met Jade’s horrified look. “I think it’s pretty. This place is too beige.”

“It’s bright yellow,” she reiterated.

Melanie pulled a sample from their pile on the island. “What about this one?”

“What’s the name on that one?” Jade asked, examining the colored square.

“Blonde. James Blonde.”

Olivia laughed. “The names don’t matter. It’s the tone and the entire house is drab.”

“Do you want to sell this house or make it about what you like?” Jade asked. She took a seat on one of the barstools and started sorting through the colors. “You need to keep things neutral because most likely whoever buys the place will put their own touch on it anyway and repaint.”

“Then if they’re repainting, I’m doing the bright yellow,” Olivia confirmed.

Jade groaned. “Can I at least choose the color of the master bedroom?”

Olivia glanced through the shades. “As long as it’s a color and not another shade of beige.”

“Your condo is full of color,” Jade argued. “Why are you making this house about what you like?”

Olivia shrugged. “Maybe because it’s still mine for now and I want to see the change.”

Quite possibly there was some deeper meaning she wasn’t ready to face yet. Which was even silly to entertain considering she didn’t like being back, she didn’t want to be here. But she couldn’t help but feel the nostalgia in each and every room. She’d have to be completely unfeeling and dead inside not to have all her emotions stirred with each picture she came across.

“I’ll do this one, then.” Jade pulled up a swatch. “Shades of Summer.”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “Even the name is boring. It’s a cross between tan and yellow.”

“Then get bright curtains if it makes you feel better.”

Dollar signs kept racking up in her mind. She knew she’d regain her investment once the house sold, but she also didn’t want to get out of control with the amount she sank into this place. She truly only wanted to do the necessities. And so far, the kitchen was going to be the biggest money suck.

“Fine,” Olivia conceded. “Mel, do you want to choose a room color?”

“Sure, but if you want me to paint, you should know I’d rather go see the dentist and gynecologist in the same day.”

Jade’s brows rose. “Well, then. We’ll just count on you to fix lunches and make sure we’re well supplied with drinks.”

With a nod, Melanie reached for a color. “Sounds like a deal. I’ve been looking at this color. I think it would look nice in the living room.”

“I wasn’t going to paint the living room,” Olivia stated.

“Honey, every room needs some love.” Jade took the sample from Melanie. “Olive-ia Newton John. I like it.”

The pale shade of green was beautiful and would look nice in the living room with the wide bay window letting in the morning sunlight. Since Olivia wasn’t changing out the furniture, that color would be perfect with the dark brown leather sofa and dark tables.

“Fine,” she told them. “Now that we have this done, who’s going to Knobs and Knockers to pick all this up?”

Knobs and Knockers was the town hardware store now owned by the third generation. Macy Hayward Monroe had taken over her father’s business, but she was now married to Liam Monroe.

Everything in this town seemed to circle back to the Monroe boys and that resort they opened. Maybe Olivia should go and chat with Macy and see if she could squeeze in some massages at Bella Vous. They’d need their muscles worked out once all the painting was done.

Well, Melanie wouldn’t, but Olivia would make an appointment for her, too. She was part of this painting project by default.

“I don’t mind going,” Melanie volunteered. “What time do they close?”

Olivia glanced to the old clock over the window. “It’s only three. She’ll be open another couple hours.”

They’d gone straight from the airport to Knobs and Knockers to get the samples. Her friends were wise enough not to question her when she came out with tear-stained cheeks after talking with Jax. They knew her well enough to know that if she wanted to talk, she would. Right now, though, she wanted to do something productive to make it seem like she was getting somewhere and not at a total standstill.

“I’ll go get the paint,” Melanie said as she grabbed her purse and the keys off the hook by the back door. “I assume we need drop cloths, brushes, rollers, trays.”

“All of that,” Olivia agreed. “And paint stirrers. We won’t get to all of the rooms today.”

“Want to start in here?” Jade suggested.

Olivia glanced at the walls, the curtains. “Sure. I’ll take this stuff down. Oh, make sure you get some painter’s tape so I can protect the cabinets. Several rolls since we’re doing so much.”

“You might want to text me all the supplies so I don’t forget something.”

Jade came to her feet. “I’ll ride with you. Between the two of us we’ll remember.”

Olivia handed over all the colors they’d agreed upon and waited until they were out the door before she started removing pictures from the walls. She piled everything onto the island, ignoring the faded outline from where things had hung for the past decade.

The ache in her chest couldn’t be described. Knowing her father had been sick when she and her mother left cut so deep through her emotions. He’d spent more time at the airport in those final days before Olivia left in an attempt to hide his illness. What did that say about the marriage? Olivia was starting to see that maybe her father had stepped back when his marriage fell apart and let his daughter make her own decisions.

Part of her feared she’d made the wrong one.

Granted, the cancer hadn’t taken his life and he’d come through, but Olivia wondered who had been there for him. Had he been sick long? Who helped him get to and from appointments on days he felt too bad to drive?

She climbed on the counter and started tugging at the curtain rod. It came loose and she tossed it to the floor. She stared at the brackets and realized she’d have to go to the garage and get a screwdriver. The garage was one place she dreaded tackling. What should she do with all those tools?

She swallowed the lump of guilt and hopped off the counter. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she sent off a text to Jackson. She didn’t want to see him or talk to him right now, not when he’d slapped her in the face with reality and the truth. She was humiliated and angry at herself for being a selfish teen, not seeing how much her father had needed someone.

Olivia could freely admit, since this new fact had come to surface, she was angry at her mother as well. Had she seen signs her father wasn’t feeling well? He’d obviously had to go through some doctor appointments and testing to get the final diagnosis. How had they not known?

Another part of her was angry at her father and his pride. Damn it. Why hadn’t he reached out? Yes, she understood his concern of them staying out of guilt, but what would have been so wrong with that? At least he wouldn’t have been alone.

Olivia grabbed the handle in the middle of the garage door and gave it a twist. She shoved the door up and headed inside. She didn’t park her car in here because there was no room. She doubted her father ever had his car in there since she left because the one-car garage was overflowing with tools, spare parts for lawn mowers, a couple of old push mowers, and random things she’d have to classify as junk.

She had no clue what his filing system was, or even if he had one here, but she was going to have to find a screwdriver in this mess. With the sunlight pouring in, she glanced around the mayhem. At this rate, she may have been better off texting Melanie and telling her to just buy one. There was no way she’d find anything in here . . . except maybe a critter.

The thought crept into her head and sent shivers racing through her. Olivia didn’t want to stick around to see if something had chosen to take up residence.

Just as she turned, she ran directly into a hard chest.

“Easy there.” Jackson’s hands gripped her arms. “Where you running to?”

This was the second time today he’d grabbed her . . . and the second time her body responded instantly to his touch. The arousal that assaulted her each time he was around was only growing stronger and stronger. Denying her ache was a moot point because she constantly lived with it now.

Why did she have to find this man attractive? Wait, attractive was much too tame of a word to describe what she felt for Jax. He was sexy, caring, frustratingly smart, and managed to take up some serious real estate space in her mind.

There were so many red flags that popped up when her hormones attempted to take over. She was much older than him, she wasn’t sticking around here, and . . . well, that’s all the reasons she had. Wasn’t that enough?

“I’m positive there’s a rodent in there or a snake or a hairy spider.” Once again, she shivered. “I was trying to find a screwdriver and . . . what are you doing here?”

“I was on my way home when I got your text.” He glanced over her shoulder and surveyed the inside of the garage. “It would be a miracle if any living creature could survive in that place.”

His eyes focused back on her, a naughty grin spreading across his face. “How bad do you want that screwdriver?”

Olivia narrowed her gaze. “I’m still upset with you, so keep your lips and all other body parts to yourself.”

Jackson reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear, feathering his fingertips down her jawline. “You can still be upset and turned on.”

Batting his hand away, she lifted her chin because damn it she was definitely turned on.

“I’m not any such thing,” she insisted.

His laugh mocked her, but she held her ground. No way would she admit the mere sight of him did funny things to her belly. Fighting this attraction clearly wasn’t working. How could she lose a battle with herself? That didn’t even make sense.

“Well, then I guess that was someone else clinging and moaning when we kissed.”

Before she could reply, he’d released her and headed into the garage. And he had the gall to whistle. Whistle as if he hadn’t kept her on her toes since she came back. Whistle as if he hadn’t a care in the world while she was more confused than ever.

She hoped a big hairy spider crawled inside his shoe and bit his toes off.

“Don’t you have a daughter you need to be with?” she asked, remaining on the outside away from the unknowns inside.

“Cash has her at the gym,” he replied, his back to her as he searched through the mess. “I was headed home to shower when you texted, so I have time to find a screwdriver and glance to see if there’s any tools I might want.”

He went back to whistling and it took everything in her not to explode. She waited while he dug around, muttered under his breath, examined various parts to machinery.

“The screwdriver,” she reminded him when he seemed too enveloped in all the other things in the garage.

“I’ll get to it. I’m just looking as I go.”

“Well I need some brackets down so I can start painting. If you could speed up your shopping spree, I would appreciate it.”

With some greasy part in hand, Jackson turned to face her. “I have a screwdriver in my truck. Why didn’t you just tell me you needed something done right now?”

He laid the part down and headed down the driveway. “I did tell you,” she argued as she followed the infuriating man.

“No, you just said you needed a screwdriver. I thought you wanted one on hand for convenience.”

He opened his squeaky door and reached behind the driver’s seat. Pulling out a small black toolbox, he dug around and found what she needed.

When she reached for it, he shook his head. “Show me what needs done.”

“I can do it myself.”

He kept walking and started up with that damn whistling once again. Olivia ran ahead and stood in front of him, blocking his path.

“Why are you doing this?”

He raised his brows, but she couldn’t see his eyes behind his aviator glasses. “Can’t you just let people do things without questioning everything?”

“No.”

Jackson laughed and darted around her. “Get used to it if you’re going to be working with me.”

She followed behind as he mounted the back steps and just helped himself into her house. No, her father’s house. This wasn’t hers other than on paper.

“What does that mean?” she demanded as the screen door slammed at her back. “You’re going to do the renovations?”

“It means I’m not completely opposed to more discussions.”

He stared at the brackets and leaned against the counter. When he reached up over his head to unscrew the pieces, his T-shirt came up slightly, giving her a magical glimpse of the side of his abs, and the vee disappearing into his jeans.

She really should have looked away, or replied to . . . what had he said?

“Piper has a birthday party Saturday afternoon. We can talk then. Just come by my house.”

Olivia took a second to process what all he was saying. He wanted her to come by his house . . . when they’d be alone? Did that mean they wouldn’t even be chaperoned by an adorable four-year-old?

“Don’t you have to go to the party?” she asked.

He sat one bracket next to the sink and reached up to remove the other. “I offered, but another mom took pity on me since it’s a spa theme and she didn’t figure I’d want my toes painted.”

Olivia laughed. “Oh, but red would be your color.”

Jackson pulled the last bracket out and laughed. “Well, I’ve had many shades in the past several months. Piper has really taken interest in girlie things. I went to the dollar store and bought some things for her to play with. Makeup and stuff, but I don’t have a clue what I’m buying. I found some sparkly tote to put it all in so that seemed to excite her even more.”

Why did he have to be such a great dad? Jackson may have had a rough hand dealt to him, but he hadn’t once complained, at least not that she’d heard. If anything he acted like he was the most blessed man on earth. He kept Piper and the airport at the top of his priority list. He was faithful, loyal . . . and so damn sexy she was having a difficult time finding a flaw with him.

“I hate not to go to the party, but at the same time, I know she would rather go with a woman,” Jackson went on as he sat the screwdriver and last bracket down. “She loves her best friend’s mom, so she’ll be fine. It’s just difficult sometimes—”

“I’ll take her.”

Olivia didn’t know who was more startled at her declaration. Jackson stared at her with his mouth wide open and Olivia rubbed her palms down her pants. She had not given herself permission to say such nonsense. Why on earth would she volunteer to do such a thing?

“You don’t have to do that,” he told her after an awkward moment settled between them. “She’s used to tagging along with another mom at this point.”

“But she shouldn’t have to.”

But she couldn’t let it go. Piper was the sweetest little thing with a mop of curly blond hair on the rare occasion it wasn’t in crazy pigtails, and the image of her in Olivia’s old bibs kept flashing through her mind.

“I could just go as a friend,” she explained, realizing she truly didn’t mind stepping in. “We’ll just explain to Piper that you and I are friends—”

Jackson snorted. “Is that what you call it?”

She quirked her brow and continued. “Friends only and I’ll tell her I need a break and a spa party sounds lovely.”

Jackson narrowed those gorgeous deep brown eyes. “You’re up to something.”

Olivia swallowed. She didn’t want to admit she knew that emptiness of having one parent being around more than the other. Granted Olivia was older, but Piper had a void in her life and try as Jackson might, he couldn’t fill it completely. Not that Olivia was trying to step in as a mother, but she could be a friend to sweet Piper while she was in town.

“I don’t have to,” she told him, leaning against the counter. “I’m just throwing it out there.”

“Are you that desperate to get out of talking to me?”

She hadn’t thought of it from that angle, but being alone with Jackson wasn’t smart. So, if she went to this party, it would be a win for Piper and Olivia.

“I’m doing this for your daughter.”

Jackson shrugged. “I’ll ask her, but I want her to understand that you’re just a friend. She can’t be confused about what you and I have going on.”

“We don’t have anything going on other than trying to figure out the airport.”

That sly grin spread slowly across his face as he took a step forward and closed the distance between them. “You can keep telling yourself that, but I don’t believe it any more than you do.”

He didn’t touch her, simply put one hand on the counter, turned his body toward hers, and put his other hand on the opposite side of her, trapping her against the counter. Her eyes widened. Perfect, she wasn’t as unaffected as she kept claiming.

“You want to be angry,” he murmured, his eyes darting to her mouth. “But you’re not upset with me, you’re upset because you have emotions you don’t know what to do with.”

“Stop touching me.”

He leaned in within a breath of her lips. “I’m not touching you at all,” he whispered. “I haven’t even begun.”

She closed her eyes. “I can’t think when you’re this close.”

“Then we’re on the same page.”

He slid his mouth over hers. Without rushing, without pressing into her, because he wanted to get to know that touch, that taste that only Livie provided. When she opened for him, it was all Jax could do to continue to tease her. He wanted her aching, he wanted her to be just as frustrated as he was. And she was. He could tell by the way she looked at him, the way she kept trying to dodge him, but her body betrayed her when she melted against him.

Jax continued to only touch her with his mouth, but her fingertips gripped his forearms, digging in as if she were barely holding on by a thread, too. He wanted her to snap, he wanted to see her unleash that inner passion. Why did she keep it so pent up when there was obviously so much inside of her?

She whimpered slightly, arching as her hands trailed up his arms and over his shoulders. Her fingers threaded through his hair as she angled her head the opposite way.

There. She was taking the lead. The one and only time he would relinquish control with Livie would be if she wanted to show him exactly what she needed. He’d not been this stirred up by a woman in so long, he couldn’t even attempt to stop this roller coaster of emotions.

“Well, I see why she wanted us to go get the paint.”

Livie jerked in his arms and Jax glanced over his shoulder toward the back door where Melanie and Jade stood, both wearing huge grins. Their arms were loaded with paint cans and sacks from Knobs and Knockers.

“Ladies,” he greeted, while Livie attempted to disengage herself from between his body and the counter. He wasn’t quite ready to let her go, nor was he going to act like they were caught doing something wrong when it had felt so very right.

“I did not ask you to go,” she corrected. “You both volunteered.”

Jade sat the gallon of paint on the counter. “Looks like you took advantage of the time we were gone. We can come back later if you’d like to finish.”

Jax hadn’t known Jade well when she’d lived here before because he was so much younger, but he liked her sass.

Livie gave him a shove that had him stepping back. “There’s nothing to finish,” she argued, straightening her clothes. “Jackson stopped by to look at the tools in the garage to see if he wanted anything. Then I had him take the brackets down.”

“I’ve never seen brackets removed that way before,” Melanie replied in her sweet tone as she sat her bags on the counter.

Jax couldn’t help but smile. Melanie had that perfect Southern belle appearance with her blond hair and her bright blue eyes. Her voice was like honey, sweet, soothing. But she delivered that snarky comment like a seasoned pro.

Livie let out the most unladylike growl and grabbed his screwdriver from the counter. “We’re done here.” She handed him the tool. “Let me know what time the party is.”

“I’ll text you about the party,” he told her. “And keep the screwdriver. You’ll need it when I come back to put the brackets back in place.”

Because he just wanted to, and maybe because they had an audience, he leaned down and captured her lips one last time. Before she could protest, he stepped away and rounded the island.

“Looks like you guys are all set,” he said, nodding toward the counter full of supplies. “That’s my cue to go because I don’t like to paint.”

“What party were you two talking about?” Jade asked, eyeing him. “A private party like what we walked in on?”

A burst of laughter escaped him. “Not yet. Livie can tell you about it.”

He let the screen door slam behind him as he started whistling and headed down the steps. Painting never bothered him, but there was no way in hell he was going to stick around with those questioning eyes on him. His body was still revved up from that simple, yet gut-churning kiss.

Why did every taste of her leave him even more needy than the last? Why did it have to be this woman who got him in knots? Since his wife left, he’d sworn not to get involved with another woman unless it would lead somewhere—mainly because of Piper, but also because he didn’t want his heart crushed again.

Even at the bottom of the porch steps, he heard the chatter inside the house. He rounded the corner and headed down the driveway. With a glance at his watch, he realized he had just enough time to get home for Cash to drop off Piper, but not enough time for that shower. Oh well. Some things were worth a disrupted schedule and kissing Livie Daniels was certainly one of them.