Page 44 of The Best Worst Mistake (Off-Limits #2)

Abby

Starry, Charlie, and Olivia are sitting at the kitchen island with a sizable stack of blueberry pancakes between them when I walk in.

There are two empty plates — for me, and I’m guessing Dax, if he had decided to come back with me.

But he walked me up to the door, leaving me with a kiss and the promise of a call later.

It’s nearly eleven, so it’s pretty much exactly what I was expecting to see when I walk in.

Coffee and the sunrise turned into another round of making love, this time in the shower.

Which then turned into a second round, that time in his bed, before Dax turned me loose for the morning so I can spend more time with Liv before she heads back home tomorrow.

It’s a quick trip, but I’m so glad she made it.

Charlie eyes Starry when I walk in, and they both quietly excuse themselves to go run some errands. Starry gives me a hug before turning toward the door.

“Good morning,” I say, smiling, turning a bit red, like I’m returning home to my parents the morning after being out late for prom. “You don’t have to run out of here.”

“I’m going to take care of some errands in town with Charlie first, to give you some time alone with Olivia. She’s been keeping us in stitches all morning with stories about her and Dom. You two have a lot to catch up on.” She winks.

“Are you hungry?” Liv asks, grabbing the stack of pancakes off the counter after Starry and her husband have headed out. “Let’s go outside. It’s too nice out to be sitting in here any longer.”

We walk out to the pool deck and settle into two lounge chairs, picking bites of pancake off the plate while taking in Quinton and Selma’s incredible view.

“Spill. Everything,” she says, facing me.

I don’t know what type of smile comes across my face next but Liv immediately rolls onto her back and starts laughing.

“Never mind, you don’t even have to say it out loud.

I can see it written all over your face.

You and Dax made fucking love, didn’t you?

” she yells into the view, like she’s announcing it to the world.

“When you didn’t come back last night, I knew it.

You always come back home right after you’ve been with him, but here you are.

It’s late morning, Abs, and you’re just barely walking back in.

I feel like I need to throw you a party for losing your virginity or something. ”

I roll onto my back, smiling up at the black-and-white striped umbrella canopy stretched over our heads.

“I definitely didn’t just lose my virginity.” I throw her a look.

“In a way,” she shoots back, grinning. “The I-didn’t-run-away-from-meaningful-sex-last-night virginity counts, too. Possibly even more than the other kind.”

I laugh, then relent, considering the wisdom in Olivia’s words. “Fair,” I say, stealing a warm blueberry off the top of the stack. It tastes like it was sprinkled in cinnamon.

“You like him,” she says, pointing a finger at me.

“Of course I like him.” That should be obvious.

“No, I mean you really like him, Abby. You aren’t even the same person around him anymore. The woman I left behind in New York last year, and the woman you are right now are two very different women,” she says, wistfully. “It’s like you’ve blossomed from love.”

“Oh my gosh!” I roll my eyes at her, genuinely feeling so happy that she’s here with me, especially to hash through all this. “When did you suddenly become a poet?”

“Love makes everyone a poet,” she says, dreamily, grabbing my hand. “When’s the wedding? Can we make it a double?”

“Oh my gosh, stop!” I laugh, rolling back over.

She laughs happily. “I’m kidding about the double wedding thing though. Of course I’m kidding! We each need our own. Just promise you’ll get married at Dom’s estate over in Hawaii. You have to come see it first.”

“Liv, please,” I say, quieting my laugh. “Let’s just slow it down here.”

“Fair enough. How are you feeling about everything?”

“Excited. Happy. Everything about last night felt exactly right.” I sigh, remembering the moment we rolled over in bed together to fall asleep, Dax wrapped around me, pillows propped up beneath our heads. It was perfect. Then I knit my brows, adding, “But also a little nervous.”

“That’s completely normal,” she says, nodding.

“Normal?”

“To be nervous at the start of a relationship? Hell yes, that’s normal. No one wants to get hurt, especially after opening themself up.”

I eye her, wondering how much of my anxiety is normal.

“Abby, whatever level of nervousness you feel right now is going to be normal for you. Stop trying to analyze it, and just enjoy it. Imagine the start of a relationship where you didn’t feel any butterflies at all.

It’d be disappointing. This feeling you have right now? It can be the most delicious part.”

I smile, absorbing her reassurance that just because I’m feeling a bit jittery doesn’t mean that Dax and I are doomed to failure.

“Okay, if you insist. I’m going to trust the process,” I tell her.

“I wouldn’t say this about many men, but I trust Dax when it comes to how he’s going to treat you.

It’s been six or seven years since I last saw you guys together and I only had what you told me to go off regarding how he felt about you.

Even then, I felt like he was a good catch.

But after seeing him around you this weekend? Abby, he’s the real deal. I swear.”

I smile.

“You think?” I ask, still grinning.

“I do.” She nods happily. “I really, really do.” Then she frowns and smiles all at once, as if it’s taking all her effort to hold some silly tears back. “I’m sorry,” she says, fanning her face. She blinks and one falls out. “I’m just stupidly happy for you.”

I laugh and shake my head, watching her get sappy while absolutely loving everything about it.

“We watched the sunrise out on this huge porch he has. It’s, like, long and full of rocking chairs facing the skyline. I don’t know why, but I always envisioned myself having a porch like that.”

“Because it’s the quintessential wraparound porch that every kid dreams of having,” she says, smiling and swiping at her eyes. “I think everyone imagines having the perfect porch to rock on beside their person when they get older. Like it’s a rite of passage into secure adulthood or something.”

“You know, you might be right,” I say, smiling wider. I never thought of it like that.

“I’m never wrong, Abs.” She grabs another bite from the stack. “I mean, at least about other people’s love lives.” We laugh. “Now, I don’t know what is going to happen next between you, but whatever happens, promise me one thing?”

“What?” I ask.

“Promise me you’ll just enjoy this.” She holds my hand across the gap of chairs. “You deserve every good moment he brings into your life. So just soak it up.”

* * *

The next day, it’s already time for Olivia to hop on a plane back to Hawaii. Starry has tucked a Tupperware of salted chocolate-chip cookies in her bag for Dom, along with a separate one for Liv to snack on along the way.

“Come visit soon. Bring Dax. Maybe once this deal is done? God knows you deserve one hell of a vacation after all this work. Plus, you already have all those new beach clothes. Just head west instead of east for a week.”

“I’ll let you know what happens here,” I say, unsure of what a partner offer from Brett might entail, once The Nile deal concludes.

That will be both exciting and horrible, since it means my time here will be done.

“I might have to fly back for a few partnership meetings at the New York office right away or something. But I’ll keep you posted. ”

“Okay,” she says, wistfully, giving me a hug. “Just don’t forget that little realization you had on the beach the other day, alright? About having a life outside the office? I’m going to hold you to that.”

“I won’t forget,” I promise, hugging her tightly.

“You’ve worked your entire adult life for this, and I’m so proud of you.

But just think long and hard before you accept it with this particular firm,” she whispers into my ear.

“I don’t want you going back to that office with Brett yelling in your face, making you fall back into your old ways.

You know how I feel about him. You deserve a hell of a lot better. ”

“I won’t,” I tell her, not completely trusting myself yet. “Once I’m a partner, I can explore other options. I just need the title first, and then I’ll consider making the jump elsewhere.”

She stares at me, but pulls me in for a second, final hug before heading out to the car where Starry and Charlie are waiting to give her a ride to LAX.

It’s about time for me to get back to work too after playing tourist with Dax while the owners of The Nile Group took a few days to mull everything over.

We’re reconvening this week for the start of what we all hope will be the final negotiations.

I watch them go down the long driveway, Liv waving out the back window at me, and remember how I felt just a few weeks ago, driving down that same path all alone with her on my phone, realizing how much has changed for me since that night.