"I know you're scared. But no matter what happens, you'll always have me, Patti, Brett, and of course your family, no matter how kooky they are." He stepped forward and flung his arm over her shoulder, the bags in his hand slapping against her. "Now let's get my princess ready for the ball."

They walked to the bathroom fused together, Liv drawing all the strength she could from her best friend.

"T-minus ninety minutes until the big date." He rushed through the hall and deposited the bags on her bed. "All this freaking out has caused me to lose focus. "I brought surprises." He turned and c.o.c.ked his hip. "Ones that are sure to make Mr. Miller drool."

Giddy with excitement, she went to rummage through them, but Austin held her in place. "All in good time, my love. First we need to fix your hair and get rid of the redness all over your body. If redness isn't from spanking then it's not kosher." He stepped into the tiny bathroom. "Take a seat." Motioning her to the toilet, he proceeded to beautify her.

Half an hour later, her hair was straight as a pin and her makeup was subtle. Looking in the mirror, she had to admit she did look pretty good.

"Where are those jeans we bought last month?" he asked.

"The tight ones?"

"Yes, the tight ones. Where are they?"

Liv groaned. "I can't wear those." Buying those jeans was Austin's attempt at forcing her to be trendy. But she so couldn't pull it off.

"Yes, you can. And you will. You didn't spend two hundred dollars on designer jeans to let them collect dust in your closet."

"I'll be uncomfortable." She grabbed at her stomach. "They're really tight."

"Liv, those jeans fit like they were made for you. They hug your curves and lift your a.s.s." Austin headed for the closet, knowing exactly where she would have stashed them. He grunted when he pulled them out. "You didn't even take them out of the bag."

She shrugged. "I had no occasion to wear them."

"You do now. Put them on."

She struggled, but she managed to stuff her body into the dark denim while Austin scoured her closet.

"Make sure you have good underwear on," he yelled from inside the closet.

"I think we're way past that stage."

"You're trying to attract this man. Men love ladies in s.e.xy underwear." He paused and turned to face her. "I think."

They both giggled.

He pulled out a black scoop-neck sweater with three-quarter-length sleeves and handed it to her.

"And now for the best part." Austin headed to the bed where the shopping bags waited.

Liv knew he had raided the fashion room at the magazine where he freelanced as a writer. She couldn't wait to find out what he brought.

He rustled inside the biggest bag. "Now, don't take offense, but there was no way you were going to fit into the sample sizes sitting in the magazine's closet. So I brought the next best thing-shoes and accessories."

Austin was right. Liv wasn't plus size, but there was no way her size eight body was going to squeeze into a size two. "I scoured the racks, found the perfect items, and voila. This is my gift to you. Think of it as congratulations for finally turning your life upside down."

Austin pulled out a pair of black leather boots. Not just any black leather boots. Her heart leapt at the sight of the cla.s.sic red sole-Christian Louboutin.

"You didn't!" She lunged for the boots, but Austin held her at arm's length.

"Do you like?" He beamed with confidence.

Liv may not have been label-conscious or determined to add labels to her wardrobe, but what girl wouldn't want a pair of Louboutins?

"I love!" She clasped her hands in front of her chest then reached for the boots. They were soft and supple in her hands. She yanked them on her feet. The sound of the zipper teeth clenching was music to her ears. "I don't have to give these back, right?"

Austin confirmed with a shake of his head.

She paraded around her bedroom. She felt s.e.xy and confident and ready to take on this date. She posed for her friend, hand on her hip, with her best supermodel face. "Are you sure these jeans aren't too tight?"

"They're perfect. Compared to the c.r.a.p you usually wear, he's going to bust a gut when he sees you."

"What else did you bring me?"

He rustled around and pulled out an oversized fuchsia bag. "No collection is complete without a little Dior."

"Nice!"

Liv hugged the purse, but her eyes darted back to the bed to the newspaper sitting on top of the bag. "What's that?"

"Oh." Austin lunged for the paper.

"Is that my ad?" This was a big deal. Her very first major ad campaign for her business.

"It's your ad." Austin's face wasn't...happy.

"Let me see it." She reached for the paper but Austin pulled it close to his chest.

"I didn't want you to see this before your date."

Dread. That same feeling that had been haunting her settled in her stomach.

"Let me see it, Austin."

He hesitated but eventually handed it over.

Liv didn't have to search through the pages. Austin had kindly folded the paper to the correct section. She couldn't afford one of the larger ad s.p.a.ces, not at this point, so she had opted to go with sort of a co-op ad. She'd sent her logo by email weeks ago. The logo would remain a constant, and all she had to do was send in the text. Each week, for four weeks, she could advertise any two hundred and fifty words.

But...the text. She wasn't Toronto's newest "capcake bakery." Capcake? The ad was spelled incorrectly. She had checked it over a hundred times.

"I'm sorry, honey." Austin reached out and rubbed her arm.

She proofed the doc.u.ment one hundred times before handing it off to Nancy. Nancy. She must've screwed with the text-that was the only possible explanation. Nancy had some serious explaining to do.

"It's...fine." She wanted to hide under a rock. How embarra.s.sing. How unprofessional. Who would want to buy a product from someone who couldn't even get her advertis.e.m.e.nt right? She took a deep breath and laid the paper on the bed. There was nothing she could do about it at this moment. "Really, it's fine."

"Go on." Austin grabbed her arms and shook her. "Go and do a last glance and fix your face." He was right to refocus. Liv had a date.

She rushed into the bathroom. When she returned, Austin had already transferred everything she needed into the new bag.

"I put in lip gloss, your compact, breath mints, some smelly hand cream, and an extra pair of underwear."

"Austin, I don't think I need that."

"Do you plan on doing the walk of shame in your dirty undies?" He held the purse out to her as it dangled on one of his fingers.

"I don't think tonight is about that, hence the nervousness."

"Don't tell me there won't be any s.e.x. The two of you can barely keep your hands off each other." He thrust the purse out closer to her. "Take the undies."

"All right." Liv grabbed the purse and headed for her front closet. "I'm thinking the black wool coat."

"Good choice." Austin held up the coat for her to step into. Turning around, she slipped her arms into the coat. He straightened the fabric as her stomach did flip-flops and her nervousness pooled under her arms.

Austin rubbed his hands along her arms. "Let's take a couple of deep breaths."

Liv followed his instructions.

"Remember,"-Austin squeezed her bicep-"if all he wanted was your body, he would have crept out of here Sat.u.r.day morning without saying a word. Personally, anyone who can brave one of your freak attacks is good in my book. And very into you. Not bartender Liv, or s.l.u.tty Liv, or even crazy Liv."

"I'm not a s.l.u.t."

"Notice how you didn't say you're not crazy."

She laughed. Austin's sarcasm put her at ease, but she knew the moment she knocked on Jake's door, the terror would set in.

"I think my work here is done. My little girl is all grown up and she's going on a date." Austin pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome." He pulled her in for a hug.

After grabbing her keys from the table, they headed for the elevator, but not before she locked, then re-locked the front door.

Liv stood in front of the solid steel door to Jake's condo and contemplated running for her life. She was scared and nervous, not to mention her skin glistened with a sheen of perspiration. Ah, who was she kidding? She was full-on sweating from nervousness.

He knew she was here. He had buzzed her up, but she was terrified to knock. She wanted to get to know Jake. She wanted him to get to know her. But there was still a wall between the two of them, something inside her that stopped her from being fully committed.

Maybe it was the years of being closed off. Maybe she was incapable of letting someone in. Whatever it was, she knew it was going to come between them. Especially since Jake had the amazing ability to throw her off her game.

But she was ready to give this a try. She was ready to give herself over to another person. And that came with emotions, expectations, and, worst of all, accommodations. Her stomach bounced around like a jumping bean. She zeroed in on the thick gray door, the only sound in the hallway the rapid beating of her heart.

She would face her fear head on. As soon as he opened the door, she would be comforted by his bright smile and it would remind her that she was doing the right thing.

Jake is not your father. She repeated her new mantra in her head.

Taking a deep breath, Liv raised her hand to knock on the door, but before she made contact, it swung open. She was greeted by the bright smile she expected and a pair of sparkling eyes.

"There you are." His shoulders relaxed. "I thought you got lost."

"Here I am." There was no way she was going to tell him she had cold feet and had to talk herself into knocking.

"Come in. You're right on time."

Maybe because she'd been pacing around his block for the last twenty minutes.

He motioned for her to enter, a welcoming smile settling her nerves. She smiled and walked ahead of him into the open s.p.a.ce.

"Let me take your coat."

As he waited for her to hand over the garment, she caught him. He didn't hide his stare, the way his eyes surveyed the length of her body. A shiver ran up her spine at the hunger in his eyes. Her stomach clenched and she was reminded of the tight denim that stuck to her lower half like a second skin. The jeans were too tight.

When his eyes finally met hers, what she saw was not disgust, but desire. Heat flushed her face. Not only from his approval, but for the way he looked in his dark jeans and b.u.t.ton-up shirt.

She reached down to take off her boots but he stopped her. "Keep those on."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." He walked over and laid her coat over the black leather couch. He motioned down to her feet. "Red sole."

"You know the red sole?"

"I have two sisters. My older sister, Briget, bought a pair of red sole shoes with her very first paycheck from her very first full-time job. They were all she could talk about for a month."

"Totally warranted." Liv rested against the back of the couch. Silence. Useless small talk? Was that what she was supposed to engage? "You have a great place."

"Thanks. Can I get you a drink?"

"Sure."

He disappeared into the kitchen to grab their drinks, giving Liv the opportunity to nose around his place.

It was a loft, equipped with a full stainless steel kitchen to the left, and in front of her, sleek modern furniture surrounded a gla.s.s coffee table. Facing that was a flat screen television that was attached to the wall. In the corner there was a gas fireplace and a couple of squishy-looking chairs. She glanced up and noticed the bedroom overlooked the entire s.p.a.ce. His style was minimalist, no clutter, decorated with black and white oversized photos. Probably his own. The loft was very Jake-cool, casual, and s.e.xy.

Liv's attention was drawn to one particular picture hanging above the fireplace. It was of a field, tall dense trees lining the background, and at the forefront were two hands, fingers threaded together, obviously a man and a woman. One hand was dainty, the other callused and weathered. Based on the angle, it looked as if the picture was taken from only three feet off the ground. It was romantic, honestly. Totally not the type of picture she expected to be hanging in the residence of a so-called womanizer.

"Do you like it?"

Liv turned around to find Jake standing behind her, two beers in his hands. "It's beautiful." She grabbed one of the bottles. "All of the pictures are beautiful, but I do like this one the best. Are they all yours?"

"Yes." Pride filled his eyes. Photography, just another thing that didn't reconcile with the man she'd originally met.

"I love it." It was like something out of her romance novels. A couple, walking hand in hand into their happily ever after.

"I was about seven years old when I took that photo. Those are the hands of my grandparents." He gazed at the picture with such affection.