Never Ever Read online

  I jumped when my friend Allie touched my arm. “Liv…you okay? You went blank there for a minute?”

  “Yeah, no, never better. What’s the game plan, Allie Cat? Drinks? I could use a drink.”

  Allie laughed, “Baily hired the cuties specifically for that reason.”

  “Noooo…you make it. You’ve been making my drinks for 12 years, you know how I like them. Hottie’s one and two, don’t. Pleeeease?” I clasped my hands in front of me, pleading for a perfectly made vodka drink.

  “Ugh. Fine.” She pointed a perfectly manicured finger in my direction. “Look, I’ll show them how to do it, and then the rest of the weekend I’m off bar tender duty. Deal?”

  “Deal.” I slapped her ass as she walked away. Allie was my party friend. We drank so much and so often together in college it’s a miracle we were still alive. You know that one friend that can talk you into anything? Everyone has one. Well, Allie was mine. Hey Livi, let’s drive across two states and spend the weekend with these guys I know. Okay! Hey Livi, we’re going to sleep in this horse trailer tonight. Sure! Hey Livi, mixed drinks in the beer bong is the same thing as beer in the beer bong. Sounds good!

  Baily joined Allie at the bar and once everyone had a drink in hand she proposed a toast, “Here’s to girl’s weekend. So hard!”

  I raised my drink and we all said, “So hard!” It was tradition.

  I took a big gulp. I coughed and shot daggers across the bar at Allie, that little brat did that on purpose. Taylor patted my back a few times, then he started to rub circles, then his hand dropped dangerously low. Since I clearly wasn’t choking and clearly was trying to put the moves on me, I stepped away from his hand. I moved closer to Baily, who not surprisingly was still talking, “So as you all can see, we have two handsome men with us on this trip. They are here to do the heavy lifting. Bar tend, drive us around, take us on hikes, dance with us, make us laugh…all that fun stuff. They are nice guys. Be nice to them. Allie, I’m talking to you.”

  Allie put her hand to her chest in mock indignation, “Me? Well I’d never.”

  I chuckled, Baily was right to call her out. Allie had a bit of a bitchy streak, luckily her fun loving streak was much bigger.

  Cole smiled, he could be a politician with that adorable smile and that baby face, “We want to thank y’all for having us. This place is stunning and you all are beautiful, this hardly feels like work. If there is anything y’all need, please don’t hesitate to ask, that’s what we’re here for.”

  I shivered when Taylor stepped up behind me and whispered in my ear, “Day or night, Sugar.”

  I turned to face him. Big mistake. The man standing before was so damn handsome, I was rendered speechless. It took me a full 30 seconds to recover. “Do you ever give up?” He just winked at me and walked away. Oh yeah, he was going to be calling my bluff at some point tonight. Taylor Hill had trouble written all over his perfectly sculpted tan body.

  The room cleared when we all went to change into our swim suits. Not only was this house right on the lake, it also had a huge in ground pool. I stepped out onto my porch/bedroom, it was completely screened in and had a great view of the woods and the lake. Everything was so green and lush. The room had a bed, a night stand, and a huge box fan. And that was it. When I crouched down to look under the bed for my bag I was confused. There were three bags under there and I only brought two. I pulled the foreign bag out and unzipped it. Resting on top was a Georgia Bulldogs tank top, size L. I shook my head. Really? Did Taylor really put his things under my bed? I could act offended, even though I really wasn’t, or I could have a little fun. I changed into my swim suit and then put Taylor’s tank top on. It came to mid-thigh and the arm holes were so big you could see right through one to the other side. As I walked out onto the pool deck, Cole choked on the water he was drinking. I tried my best not to laugh. When I glanced over at Taylor, the look on his face made my knees weak. His lips twitched into a half smile, his eyes became hooded. He looked...turned on. [vk.com/newreleasebooks]

  Chapter Four:

  Taylor

  I have never seen anything sexier than Livi wearing my shirt. Holy fuck what is it about this girl that’s got me all tangled up? This isn’t me. I can get who I want, when I want. She’s ballsy, I’ll give her that. “Nice shirt. Is it yours?”

  She pursed her perfect lips and shrugged one shoulder. “It was in my room, right with all my other stuff. So…I guess so.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the porch railing, “I didn’t know you were a bulldogs fan.”

  She smiled, coyly. “You’ve known me for an hour, Tay. There’s lots of things about me you don’t know.”

  I watched as she sauntered down to the pool, sipping from her cup along the way. Baily came out the door, suddenly blocking my fantastic view of Livi’s ass. “Hey, y’all come on down and swim with us. Make a drink, have some fun. We aren’t doing any driving tonight.” Hell, she didn’t need to tell me twice. I walked over to the cooler and pulled two. I popped the tops off the ice cold beers and handed one to Cole. I didn’t wait on him before I went to join the girls. Their laughter was inviting and Livi was like a magnet. I sat down on the edge of the pool, dangling my feet in the tepid water. Georgia was already sweltering, this pool didn’t stand a chance of staying cool. “So, you all know each other exceptionally well I gather.” I gestured to Cole with my beer as he made his way down to us, “But we know nothing about any of you. What do y’all do? Outside of vacationing without your husbands, of course.”

  Allie went first, “I’m in oil.”

  Baily, “Acquisitions.”

  Kate, “Real-estate.”

  Ah, the best for last. Livi, “I, uh, I work from home, I’m a writer.”

  Allie prompted her, “Annnnnd? What do you write Livi?”

  Livi shot a death glare at her friend. Hmmm….What didn’t she want to share with the class?

  Before Livi could answer, Allie answered for her. “Porn.”

  Cole spewed beer out of his mouth, man he was having the worst luck with liquids around these chicks.

  I was proud of myself, I didn’t even bat an eye. Don’t get me wrong, inside I was jumping up and down like a fucking cheerleader. But outside, I was stoic. “So, porn. Like romance novels, mom porn stuff? Or like you write the scripts for actual pornos?”

  Livi smile was a little shy as she shook her head. “Mom porn.”

  “Interesting. If you need any new material, any inspiration, let me know.” I gave her my most charming smile.

  She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow, “Oh yeah? You think you got lines I haven’t heard before, kid?”

  Kid? Again with the kid? “Sugar, one weekend with me, and you’ll be able to write 10 new books.” I winked for added effect, she seemed to like my winks.

  Livi just stared at me, grinning. I could tell she didn’t want to look away and neither did I. Then fucking Baily ruined our moment by clearing her throat and saying, “Uh Liv, don’t you think Patrick would have a problem with that?”

  Livi looked confused, she looked adorable when she was confused. “Who?”

  Baily narrowed her eyes, “Patrick. Your husband.”

  “Aw crap, I’m married.”

  I started laughing at Livi’s response, but Baily looked mortified.

  Livi nodded emphatically, “Yes. You are correct. He most likely would not like that.” Livi was smiling though, I took that as a good sign.

  When Cole asked, “Do y’all have kids?” I kind of tuned the conversation out. I vaguely heard that Kate did have a son, but everyone else was childless. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Livi. Her eyes had gone blank and her lips into a tight smile when Cole had asked about kids. Almost like a practiced response. I suddenly wanted to pull her aside and ask her a thousand questions about her life. I wanted to know everything about her. Why? I never wanted to know anything besides a chick’s name, age, and marital status, and I already knew those about Livi.
<
br />   Chapter Five:

  Livi

  Talking about kids made my heart hurt a little. It always did. I had practically been begging Patrick to have a baby for 2 years now. He always had some excuse. Work was crazy, he was traveling too much, he wanted to buy a bigger house. It was all bullshit. He just didn’t want to have kids. When we first started dating, we talked about having children, and he had seemed so excited about the idea of being a dad. Over time, his wants changed. He became money hungry and too driven for his own good. Then he cheated. Patrick kept begging me to forgive him, like down on his knees begging. I forgave him for cheating, I really did. But the cheating isn’t why I divorced him, it was just the final nail in the coffin. I took a big gulp of my way too strong drink and plastered a smile on my face. I looked up and caught Taylor studying me, his eyes full of mischief. It made my blood hum.

  “So Livi, porn?”

  I nodded. “Well, the polite term is erotic romance.” I rarely ever told strangers that I wrote mom porn for a living. The questions were often inappropriate.

  “How in the hell did you decide to write erotic romance novels? I mean when I picture a romance writer…I picture an older lady, lots of cats, no dates…”

  “That’s extremely stereotypical. But somewhat accurate, so I’ll let it slide. It’s not like I woke up one day and thought, hey I feel like writing porn. It just sort of happened. And it’s fun, and I get paid to do it. No pun intended.” If I knew how to wink, I would’ve winked at him. I had to settle for a flirty smile instead. “What about you? What do you do when you aren’t trying to bed rich divorcees?”

  “First of all, I don’t ever try to bed our clients, you’re just special. And like I said earlier, I’m a few weeks away from graduating. I’ll have a degree in sociology, which I’ll waste working for my father.”

  I nodded, all the pieces falling into place. Taylor’s cocky sex appeal, his confidence. “Correct me if I’m wrong. Spoiled rich kid, daddy owns half the town, side job and degree are both to piss him off? Which is futile because for some reason or another he still has you by the balls. Eventually, you will fall in line; trophy wife, 2.5 kids, and a yellow lab.”

  Taylor took a deep breath, cocking his head to the side. “That’s extremely stereotypical, but somewhat accurate, so I’ll let it slide.”

  Allie floated over to us on her back, slowly peddling through the water with her hands. “What are y’all talking about, it sounds boring.” She flipped over and stood next to Livi peering into her drink, “You should drink faster.”

  I put my hand on her forehead, pushing her face away from my drink. “You made my drink a double, you ass. I have to take my time or I’ll be asleep in an hour.”

  Taylor smiled against his beer bottle, “Is Livi prone to passing out?”

  Allie laughed, “Oh yeah, she used to be for sure. One time, when we were in college, Kate Livi and I closed down the bars. But there was party that Kate and I wanted to hit. We put Liv in the back seat and before we even got the car started she was curled up in a ball asleep. We just locked her in the car and partied without her. She never even knew.”

  Taylor pursed his beautiful lips, “She doesn’t still do that does she? Would be such a shame to waste a perfectly good night sleeping.”

  I cut my eyes from Allie to Taylor, his gaze was once again dark and steely. I caught the innuendo, wonder if Allie did? Not that she would give me a hard time about it. Out of all my friends Allie was the least judgey and the most flirty. I shook my head, laughing, “I can go all night long now.” I hid my smile in my cup.

  Chapter Six:

  Taylor

  I can go all night long now…Livi’s hot little body in that tiny black bikini, coupled with her sexy words? She had given me a semi by the pool. If I played my cards right, I had a feeling this could be a very unforgettable weekend. Cole and I left the girls by the pool to start dinner. We were grilling steaks for them. Not too difficult, throw some meat and potatoes on the fire. Standing with Cole by the grill, beer in hand, watching Livi laugh with her friends by the pool. It all felt very domestic for some reason. Odd because I had never felt domestic in my entire life. Not even at home with my two workaholic parents. I closed my eyes and took another pull off my beer. I needed to remember who I was. I was Taylor Hill. I was a fucking legend. I played baseball for 4 years at the University of Georgia. I bagged more tail than team Real Tree. I put myself through school flirting with women. Well, my parents put me through school. But my fun little job paid my often enormous bar tab. Either way, I was a bad ass.

  “Hey, bad ass, could you hand me the butter?”

  I opened my eyes, did I just call myself a bad ass out loud? Not very bad ass of me. “Yeah, here you go man.”

  Cole used the butter to coat the grill before putting the steaks on. Then he went and sat down in one of the overly padded chairs on the patio and trained his eyes on me. “What are you doing, Tay?”

  I went and sat in the chair opposite his, turning it slightly so I could still see Livi. “Giving myself a mental pep talk. What are you doing C-man?”

  “Wondering what the hell your game is, blatantly hitting on a married chick.”

  Hmm, Cole’s self-righteousness was showing. I looked around to make sure all the girls were still by the water. “Dude, you know Livi’s getting divorced.”

  He rolled his eyes. “It’s probably not even final yet, man.”

  “So? I’m not asking to be her new husband. I’m asking Livi to have some fun with me for three days.”

  Both of us looked out at the pool. Livi was grinding on Baily to some seriously old school rap and cracking up about it. She looked carefree and fun. Edible. When I brought my eyes back to Cole, I noticed his were still on Livi. I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “Hey. Eyes over here, I hit on her first. Plus, you need a job for the next year or so. You can’t get fired.”

  Cole shook his head, “You need to just leave her alone, Tay. She’s here to have some fun with her friends. She’s obviously going through something and the last thing she needs is a weekend fling that she’ll regret the second her plane lands back in Texas.”

  I tore my eyes away from Liv to look at my ex friend Cole. “First of all, no women has EVER regretted a fling with me. Second of all, I’m exactly what she needs right now. She needs to have some fun, feel desired, let go.” I drained my second beer, “We’re both adults, what’s the harm?”

  Cole looked confused, “What’s the harm? Well let’s see, it could out her divorce to her friends. Or even worse they could think she’s being unfaithful to her husband. Or she could fall for you and get all clingy. Which, we know how well you would deal with that. You could knock her up. I mean the list goes on and on.”

  I crossed my fingers on both hands and spit on the ground. “You bite your tongue, bro. If I knock her up, it’s on you.”

  “Uh no, that’s not really how that-

  “And, I am smooth as glass, her friends will never even know. As for her being a clinger? She doesn’t really seem like the type.”

  Cole chuckled, “Jesus Tay, you’ve known her for mere hours. How do you know what type of chick she is?”

  I scoffed, “Women. It’s what I do. And don’t even act like I’m not a pro.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest, “I’m going to laugh my ass off when she ends up playing you. Leading you on and then slamming the door in your face.”

  Should I tell him I already put my stuff in her room? Should I tell him it’s already a done deal in my mind? That I have to have her this weekend? It’s my life’s goal and I will not fail? That the first time our eyes met my heart skipped a beat? That she can give me a semi with just a few words? Nah. I should probably keep all that to myself. “Not gonna happen, C-man.”

  Chapter Seven:

  Livi

  Dinner was delicious. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had cooked for me. Patrick was always working late, wait, scratch that. Patrick was always out
late screwing his assistant. We all sat together at this long dining table and ate, drank and laughed until we couldn’t move. I was for sure buzzed. Kate and Baily were flat out wasted. They were dancing on their chairs and singing at the top of their lungs. Salt-N-Peppa always brought out their crazy. Allie and I were standing at the bar making a round of shots. Allie was an expert mixed drink maker, but when it came to pouring up bomb cups I was the go to girl. I had a steady hand.

  Cole came over and leaned on the bar across from us. Eyebrows raised in question. “Shots?” His grin was infectious.

  “Shots.” I answered with a smile.

  Cole turned, watching Baily and Kate dance for a few moments. “You think those two need any more alcohol?”

  Allie snorted, “Oh son, this isn’t our first rodeo. Those two get the super special shot glasses. Where the vodka is actually water.”

  I handed two bomb cups to Cole, “These are for them. Please.” I laughed as I watched him mosey up to the table to deliver the drinks. Baily took one and handed Kate hers and then they pulled Cole up on the table with them and instructed him to dance. He shook his head, but complied. These guys were good sports. Allie handed one to me and passed one to Tay. We all toasted “So Hard!” and took the bomb.

  Cole spoke up above the music, “So what’s the deal with the ‘so hard’ toasts?”

  Baily pointed at me across the room and then beckoned me to the table. “Come on Livi Lou, let’s explain ‘so hard’ to these boys.”

  I let out an irritated breath and but did as I was told. If I didn’t she would just end up coming down and dragging me back with her. It was always easiest to just do what Baily asked the first time. I climbed up as Cole and Kate climbed down, apparently giving Baily and me the stage. With her curvy figure and long dark hair she was born to be in charge, to command a room. She put her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek loudly. “Once upon a time we were down at the coast. It was only our second girl’s trip and we were all dragging. We had plans to go out that night, but two days of drinking had made us all so very weak.” She made a pouty face before continuing, “Livi managed to rally first, which let me tell you, was rare. She was dancing around, loading up the shot ski, jumping on beds…doing everything in her power to get us going again. Finally, she got me up and dressed and she and I were dancing in the kitchen. She looked at me with this oddly serious look on her face and she said, ‘I’m going to dance on you so hard tonight.’ And I couldn’t stop laughing. None of us could. It was the phrase of the night and we’ve toasted to that rally ever since.” Baily had the remote to the speaker in her hand and after she was done with her tale she turned the music back up. She giggled, “Livi, will you please dance on me? So hard?”