Liv appeared to believe he and Tristan really were her knights in shining armor—and Nate desperately wanted it to be true.
As she chatted amiably with Tristan, Nate propped a hip against the vacant chair alongside hers and casually crossed his booted ankles. She hadn’t changed a bit. Was still breathtaking and so full of life and animated spirit that he didn’t mind having to discreetly bend from this side to that one as her manicured hands flailed about while she went into a humorous dissertation on the hoops she, Fallon, and Sylvia Carter—whom Nate and Tristan had yet to meet—had jumped through for their friend John’s perfect wedding.
As Liv was in the middle of regaling them with a tale of the ten different shades of lavender Chloe had deliberated over before settling on the precise one for the bridesmaids dresses, she suddenly flattened her palms to her chest and blurted, “Oh, shit, that reminds me!”
Fallon let out a small shriek as she consulted the time on her phone. “The fitting! We’re supposed to meet Chloe and Sylvia at the boutique at two.”
“Gotta rush,” Liv told Nate with another peck on the cheek. “Sorry to bail, but we have to shower and pray to the bridal gods neither one of us has gained a pound in the past week or we’ll be subjected to Ruby Jenkins’ scathing tsks and head shakes as she lets out our seams.”
“And here I completely overindulged on that chocolate mousse last night at dinner,” Fallon lamented.
“You both look fantastic,” Tristan assured them.
“Thank you,” the ladies chimed in unison.
Liv gave him a friendly kiss, then snatched her beach bag and asked, “When will I see you guys again?”
“We’re hosting a party on the yacht Friday night,” Nate said.
She blanched. “You really do own that monstrosity?”
His brow shot up. “Monstrosity?”
“She’s spectacular, but surreally ostentatious, Nathaniel.”
“Why, yes she is,” he conceded, since there was no denying it. “The Ariana is five hundred feet of pure luxury from bow to stern. A world’s top-ten megayacht I picked up a few months ago.”
“Thank you, Robin Leach, for your ‘champagne wishes and caviar dreams.’”
Nate fought the smirk. Of the impending party, he told Liv, “The festivities are mostly for business networking purposes, but you’ll know a lot of the people there.” To Fallon, he explained, “I’d already invited Dev and Morgan. I’m assuming you’ll be their plus-one.”
“They hadn’t told me whose party it was,” she said. “Guess they were also in on the surprise.”
Nate grinned. “Don’t be mad they kept it from you. Tristan and I asked them to be secretive. It’s kind of fun throwing this one for a loop.” He winked again at Liv.
She jestingly taunted, “You just might pay for that.”
“Gladly.”
She gave both men a departing hug, as did Fallon. Then Liv said, “We really have to scoot. What time on Friday?”
“Seven o’clock,” Nate told her. “Cocktail attire. We’ll send a limo for you.”
“Which I never turn down.” She blew him a kiss, then flounced off with Fallon in tow.
Nate watched Liv go, the adrenaline pumping steadily through him. Though he called after her, “And it’s just ‘Nate’ now.”
Liv gave a flamboyant wave. “Love it!”
Nate could no longer contain the smirk. She really was too damn much.
* * *
Tristan’s gaze lingered on Liv until she disappeared into a cabana. Then he asked Nate, “Is it my imagination, or is she even more dynamic than usual?”
“The woman lives out loud,” his stepbrother said. “That’s why we’re so nuts about her.”
They headed in the opposite direction from the cabanas, up to the patio and through the formal dining room, since the lounge and casual restaurant were reportedly closed for an overhaul. But the dining room offered cocktails, so they bellied up to the ornate polished wood bar and ordered Glenlivet.