The word woman had a different feel to it. It filled his mouth. Round, soft, mysterious. Unique, singular. Liv, grown up, filled out.
He had lots of photos, but Liv tended to wear big sweaters and long skirts in the winter and loose, baggy sundresses in the summer. A body like that had to be seen to be believed. She’d developed full, swaying tits. And that ass, those hourglass curves from waist to hip, Jesus. He’d thought she was perfect fifteen years ago, but nature had decided to go all out. Fudge sauce, whipped cream, nuts and sprinkles.
Those scanty clothes showed every tremor and sway. No wonder half the town was lined up to watch. He was an equal opportunity ravening wolf-pig when it came to female yumminess. He appreciated all colors, sizes and shapes, though he particularly went for lush curves.
But Liv was a different category of female beauty altogether.
It wasn’t just the way she looked, though she was drop dead beautiful. It was something intrinsic to her. Something so regal and proud. Dignified. Elegant to her bones. She took no shit off anyone. He felt like a dog on the furniture, unworthy to lick those tiny, arched feet, but slavering for it all the same. Bouncing like a puppy, tongue hanging out. He’d do anything to make her smile. Or better yet, get one of those smothered, giggling snorts. Scoring one of those was like winning the lottery. He’d gotten a few today. He was still jittery with triumph.
So his sweet talk still made her cheeks blush pink and her brights go on, ping. Raspberries, crowning those jouncing ta-tas. What a rush, to get the princess all hot and flustered using nothing but words.
That knife cut both ways, though. No coat, box or bag to camouflage his raging boner. He’d had the same problem the first time he saw her. He’d been working construction, and the crew had stopped dead when the boss’s daughter walked by. Gauzy skirt, tits bouncing under her prim blouse, cloud of dark curly hair, downcast eyes. Luminous, rose-tinted skin. No makeup. No need for it.
The whole package screamed “virgin.” Delicious, innocent, succulent virgin. Unaware of her power over men. She hadn’t even noticed the crew wiping the strings of drool off their chins. She just wafted along. On another plane. La la la.
He’d been naked to the waist, wearing boots, ragged jeans and a hard hat. Dripping with sweat, rank as a goat. No way in hell to hide his woody, not that it mattered. She didn’t notice him.
Her sandals had made tiny, dainty prints in the cement dust.
It had started out as a game, just getting that floating uptown angel to notice his raggedy-ass self. It swelled quickly into something hotter, wilder. He wanted to make her want him. He wanted to spirit her off into the woods. Lay her down on a bed of pine needles and rock lilies, peel off her panties and lash away at her delicious, candy-sweet girl body with his tongue until she was begging him to deflower her.
And he would oblige. Oh, yeah. He’d been dying for it.
That plan had backfired when he fell madly in love with her.
Kev had been pissed with him for going after a girl like Liv. She’s not the fuckbuddy type, he’d lectured. She’s gonna get hurt.
She won’t, he’d assured his worried twin. Hurting Liv was the last thing he’d ever do. He worshipped her. He was saving up for a diamond.
Thinking about Kev made this morning’s dream flash through his mind again. You’ve got to do something about Liv’s car, Kev had said.
Strange. He didn’t even know what kind of car she drove.
What a jolt, when she’d asked about Kev. For a split second, it was like Kev had never died at all. None of the bad stuff had happened.
Kev had gotten his doctorate, become a famous scientist, published papers, won prizes, patented amazing inventions, fallen in love, gotten married, had kids. The whole sequence of Kev’s hypothetical life played through his head in a blinding flash, whoosh.
And man, it hurt when reality came crashing back to displace it.
The sinkhole in his gut widened into a crater. He had to haul ass. Bursting into tears in downtown Endicott Falls was his idea of hell.
He’d always sucked at hiding his feelings. Macho stoicism was Davy’s specialty. Kev’s, too, in a lighter way. Davy’s stoicism had a steely weight to it, like Dad’s. Kev’s had been more like a zen monk’s calm. Like a reflecting lake. So mellow.
Christ, he missed Kev so bad. His throat felt like a burning coal.
He clenched his jaw, loping toward where his truck was parked. He was history. Miles was a grown-up. He could fend for himself.
You’ve got to do something about Liv’s car.
He wished he hadn’t interrupted Kev in the dream before he’d finished that sentence. Something was eluding him. Tickling his mind.
Our union will be explosive.
He wished he could look at T-Rex’s letter. The e-mails, too.
Stay away. The cops were all over it. Her folks had mountains of money. If anybody ever had her ass covered, it was Princess Liv.
The something’s-not-right feeling was swelling, bigger and badder. Fire ants in his head. Itching and twitching. What had T-Rex said? Burning in the fire of his passion? Our union will be explosive.
He’d stared at the twisted wreckage at the bottom of Hagen’s Canyon for hours, before they’d climbed down and hauled him away.
Our union will be explosive. Repeated in his head, pounding like a jackhammer. His brother’s body had been charred black. Carbonized.
“Hey! How’d it go?”
Sean jerked as if he’d been stung by a bee, but it was just Miles, coming out of the computer store, his eyes big with curiosity. “Did you see that girl? What did she say? Was she surprised to see you?”
Sean couldn’t speak for the pressure building inside him. He doubled over, pressed his hand against the sucking crater in his torso.
“Jeez. Are you OK?” Miles grabbed his shoulder. “Are you sick?”
He was going to hurl his coffee and sweet roll, right into the potted geraniums in front of Endicott Falls Fine Antiques and Collectibles. Oh, man, what a way to repair his social image.
Our union will be explosive.
He peered back through the haze of smoke. His eye fastened onto Liv’s graceful form. Blair Madden marched beside her, chest flung out.
Liv’s car. Burning. Explosive.
They split to walk around the battered pickup. That wasn’t a trophy vehicle a pompous dick like Madden would drive. Must be Liv’s.
Click. It fell into place. His panic released, like a coiled spring.
He took off towards that pickup like he had rocket launchers under his feet. He barely recognized that howling voice as his own. Time warped, like in combat. People flinched away as he pounded by. Madden goggled at him behind the windshield. Liv’s eyes were huge.
“Get away from that car!” he bellowed. “Get back!”
Liv froze, one foot already inside
Madden locked his door, lunged across the seat, grabbed Liv’s wrist to yank her in, the cretin. Fuck. Sean shattered the driver’s side window with a flying kick. He unlocked the door, wrenched Madden out.
The guy grunted as he hit the hot asphalt. Liv backed away ’til she hit the glass display window of Trinket Trove Gift Emporium.
“Get away!” he yelled, waving his arms at her and everyone else he could see. “Back! Farther! Now, goddamnit!”
Everyone obeyed. Nobody