“It’s nice to be here.” Liv concentrated on only taking one chop. They smelled so good her mouth watered. “Especially on pork chop night.”

Marc laughed. “She is a mighty fine cook.”

Marc liked seeing her back at their table too. She fit there with them. As Maggie’s best friend and one of Cassie’s closest friends, the connections were there. And his mother clearly adored her, which was half the battle. Woe be to any woman one of them wanted if Polly didn’t approve.

There was an element of comfort there, but also of knowing. She belonged at that table. At his side. Man, he had it bad and he wanted her to have it bad too. At the end of the evening, Liv helped clear the table while the guys did the clean up. Marc watched her, so animated and vivacious. Sharp-witted, clever and bright.

“Son, you’re besotted,” Edward murmured as he approached Marc. “Don’t think I’ve noticed you look at Olivia that way before. She know?”

Marc sighed. “She does. Well she knows I’m interested but she doesn’t think I’m serious. She thinks I’m just out for a one night stand.”

Edward looked him up and down. “Ah, it’s uncomfortable when your past comes to bite you on the butt, isn’t it, son? One of these days I may just tell you a story about me and your momma. Suffice it to say, Chase men like to run and hunt but once we find our woman, that’s it. There’s no one else for us. You saying Olivia is the one?”

“Dad, I don’t know. All I know is that I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I want more than a few weeks. I like seeing her here. Like feeling she’s one of us.”

“How does your brother feel? I expect you’d have discussed this with him?”

Marc nodded as he looked to Matt, who was joking and flirting with Cassie. “I did. He was worried I’d hurt her but he says he’s behind me and this woo plan one hundred percent. I wouldn’t want him to feel bad. He knows she wasn’t the one for him. And it’s been two years now that they’ve been broken up.”

“Okay then. Well, boy, you let me know if I can help in any way. I do like Olivia quite a bit. She’s a good woman. The kind of woman who’ll be a true partner and won’t run when things get rough. But you’ll have to catch her first because she’s gonna run from you ’til you catch her.”

Marc laughed and the woman in question turned to face him, a question in those eyes of hers. He winked and she shook her head, turning back to his mother.

Later, he insisted on walking her to her car. “Good night, Olivia. I’ll see you tomorrow.” His fingers itched to touch her, mouth watered to taste her.

“Night, Marc.”

“Don’t suppose you’d let me kiss you just now?” He took a step closer so their bodies were just an inch apart.

“I…” She gulped and nodded. Triumph roared through him and he leaned toward her.

“Liv! You forgot your leftovers!” Polly called as she came out the front door. Liv jumped and opened her door quickly, tossing her purse inside. “Oh, thank you, Mrs. Chase. You didn’t need to do that.”

Marc wanted to scream in frustration as he found himself jogging up to grab the bag from his mother. “I’ve got it, Momma.”

“Of course I didn’t need to. I wanted to. Now go on, drive safe, honey and I’ll see you soon. You need to come back to dinner again. Don’t make me hunt you down.” Polly waved and stayed put on the porch as Marc handed the leftovers to Liv, wanting to groan as she bent to load them into her passenger seat. Her ass swayed a bit with the movement.

“Okay then. Good night.” Liv waved at Polly and sent Marc a rueful smile. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. I’m collecting on that kiss. Very soon.” He closed the door and rapped the top of her tiny little sports car as she drove off.

* * *

Liv didn’t know whether to be frustrated or relieved that Polly had interrupted the two of them the evening before.

She smiled as she thought about the slim book of poetry she’d found on her desk when she returned from lunch. Maya Angelou’s, Phenomenal Woman and the little card said, takes one to know one. Lawd. Poetry. But right then her thighs burned through the hell on earth that was Stairmaster time. While she tried to ignore the presence of other people, two of them female who flirted outrageously with Marc. And he returned that attention. It was his nature she knew. But it still made her sad. She wanted to believe she was different and truth be told, he’d made her feel different too. But the other women. Man, she didn’t know if she could deal with it. Maggie had to, Liv knew that first hand. The women in town responded to all the Chase brothers. It was impossible not to, they were loveable rascals and damned good-looking. Kyle had taken Maggie’s feelings to heart and made a concerted effort to never be more than generically friendly to other women. Women fell all over themselves for Shane but he didn’t spare a second glance at anyone other than his wife. But Marc wasn’t hers. No. They hadn’t even dated so her being jealous over flirting was just dumb. And anyway, if she really wanted Marc Chase, she could have him and these little gym bunnies didn’t stand a chance. Liv might be older than they were but she had a lot more experience under her belt, not to mention more intelligence and personality too.

Sniffing with her own self-righteous superiority, she rejoiced when her time was up and she was free of the wretched torture device from hell.