A Vine Mess (Love on the Vine #4)

4. Liam

Take me with you .

Those words hung in the air between us.

Ella, horrified by her outburst, clapped a hand over her mouth, and I was doing everything I could to not immediately and vehemently agree.

“But why?” I blurted, then mentally punched myself in the face.

My dream girl—who was finally single for the first time in three years—wanted to take this two-week long vacation with me, and I was questioning it ?

Christ, Danvers. Get your shit together .

I picked up my sandwich and took a massive bite to keep my mouth busy, lest I say something even dumber.

“I…need to get out of here,” she said quietly, her tone toeing the line of pleading. Somehow, I sensed that wasn’t all there was to it, but it was a solid reason nonetheless. She picked up a fry and popped it in her mouth, chewing and swallowing before continuing. “I’ve been doing better since the breakup. But I could really use the chance to regroup away from everything.” She waved a hand in the air, as if to encompass her whole life in Apple Blossom Bay.

Her whole family.

I understood that sentiment well. Hell, isn’t that exactly what I’d done when things with Mellie imploded? I ran away from home and found myself in the middle of nowhere, Michigan. Licking my wounds and making a new name for myself. I knew Ella would return home at the end of the trip. I wasn’t in danger of losing her to some far flung locale like my family had lost me.

But I was in danger of losing her, period. If I let the space between us grow further, the chasm opening wider between where we were and where I wanted us to be. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew I had to jump at this chance if I ever wanted things to change between us. If ever there was an opportunity to show this woman how fucking good I could be to her—how perfect we could be together—this was it.

Her calling me tonight had been a good sign, right? That she’d come to me for help when all of her family was busy? She’d been so frazzled when I arrived at the flower shop, and it gave me an extreme sense of pride to know I’d been the one to soothe her.

I’d come to her rescue every goddamn day if she’d let me.

I had to be careful, though. I couldn’t appear too eager, because the last thing Ella needed was me forcing her into something she wasn’t ready for. And I definitely wasn’t the kind of guy to take advantage of her situation.

I wasn’t privy to what exactly caused the end of their relationship, but I’d bet good money her twit of an ex was the one who fucked it all up. Ella wouldn’t have spent those first couple months so devastated and withdrawn otherwise.

Ezra’s words from a few days before came back to me then, reminding me that she’d been more devastated by the lost time than the lost love…so maybe I had it all wrong. Maybe she’d simply finally come to the realization that she could do better.

Whatever the reason, I was glad for it. Not that she’d been hurting, but that it was over. That I had a chance.

“Liam?” Ella prompted.

I blinked at her, realizing I had yet to give her a response. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

The words came out more skeptical than I intended, and I winced as I watched them land. As Ella’s shoulders curved in just a bit.

Determined to not let me see her sweat, though, she straightened her spine and tipped her chin up. With a scoff, like she was damn tired of people questioning her, she said, “Look, I know you’re a big, beefy man and can take care of yourself, but wouldn’t it be nice to have some company?”

Inwardly, I preened. She had been checking me out as I hauled those buckets earlier, and I definitely hadn’t imagined the way her eyes darkened when I’d flipped my hat backward.

Damn . It turned out that move really did work. For me, it was a force of habit, but I wasn’t above performing it more often simply to see that color rise to her cheeks again.

Admittedly, I was a big dude, but Ella wasn’t petite by any means. Each of the Delatou daughters was only two or three inches shy of six feet. Ella was on the curvier side, and I loved that about her .

In fact, she had an ass I wanted to sink my teeth into. I never thought I was an ass man until the first time I laid eyes on hers.

I raised an amused brow in response to her statement. “Beefy?”

Ella’s cheeks turned pink again, and I found myself desperate to reach out and brush my fingertips over that warmth. Fuck, I bet her skin would be so smooth under my rough hands.

And not just the skin on her face.

There I was, thinking about her ass again.

Marching ahead despite my light teasing, she waved a hand at me, eyes scanning my body up and down.

“ Yeah ,” she said, like duh . “Beefy. How tall are you anyway?”

“Six four.”

“Fucking hell,” she breathed as she stepped closer, close enough that we were basically sharing air. “I’m five ten and you make me feel tiny.”

I reached up and tugged on a lock of her hair. “You are tiny. Like a little wildflower compared to all this lumber,” I said with a grin, flexing my biceps. “But you’re strong too.”

“As weird as this is going to sound, ‘lumber’ kind of suits you.”

“Oh?” I asked. I hadn’t been serious; it’d simply been the best I could come up with. But I was interested to see why she thought so.

“You’re…rough around the edges. Like tree bark. But you’re solid and steady all the way through.”

I blinked in surprise. “That is…one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about me.”

Ella giggled, the sound music to my ears. “Plus you dress like a fucking lumberjack. ”

I tossed a piece of bread from my sandwich at her, but she batted it away, giggle morphing fully into a laugh.

“You’re a lot like a wildflower too,” I said quickly. “In fact, I think that’s what I’m going to start calling you.”

“And how is that, exactly?” she asked, sobering.

“Beautiful,” I told her, eyes scanning her face. She was beautiful in all ways, but without all that heavy makeup and dark lipstick she used to wear, she was breathtaking. I remembered a week ago, showing up at the winery greenhouse, my breath literally leaving me when she turned to look at me. It was the first time in months I’d seen her face free from that shit. Clear, olive skin. Marking pen eyebrows. Those gorgeous green eyes I wanted to get lost in for hours. “Stronger than she looks. They’re called wild flowers for a reason. Nothing can tame them. They keep popping up no matter the circumstances.”

Ella appeared thoughtful for a moment, then said, “I like that.” She mouthed the word wildflower , as though savoring it, turning it over in her mind and letting it soak in. Then her eyes clapped on mine again. “But you’re still not giving me an answer. Can I come on this road trip with you or not?”

“Yes.”

Ella’s entire face lit up like a child’s on Christmas morning. “Really?”

“Of course,” I assured her. “You made a good point about keeping me company. Who else am I going to use as a human shield if a bear attacks?”

To demonstrate, I grabbed her hand and dragged her halfway across the table, angling myself behind her. Pretending to peek around the sides of her head as if avoiding one the surly creatures. Ella’s squealing filled the space between us, and she tipped her head back as she laughed.

I looked down at her, wide grin at her hysterics softening. God, she was stunning. Those bright green eyes like fresh flower stems, lined with long, sooty lashes. Her purple-streaked hair and the way it spilled past the tops of her creamy shoulders. The lines of her tattoos were stark against her skin, and I barely resisted the urge to lower my head and press my lips to the one at the cap of her shoulder.

As it was, my restraint was fraying rapidly with her rosebud mouth slightly parted, offered up to me with the angle of her head.

Reluctantly, I cleared my throat and let go of her.

I wasn’t about to fuck this thing up before it even started.

Ella sat back, dropping her gaze to her plate and roughly shoving her hair behind her ears. “So when do we leave?”

“In a week.”

Her head snapped up, eyes wide as she leveled me with them. “A week ? That’s not nearly enough time for me to prepare.”

“I’ll get you a list of everything you’ll need to buy.”

“That’s not what I mean,” she said. “I mean…I have to tell Fanny I’m leaving. I have to tell my family .”

I sensed what she wasn’t saying. “Are you worried they’ll try to talk you out of it?”

She snorted. “Please. You’ve met them. You tell me.”

I nodded in understanding. “I’ll help you tell them if you want. Ease the blow a bit. Your parents love me.”

“My mother loves you,” she corrected me. “My father is wary of any man in the vicinity of any of his daughters. ”

My brows drew together. “All of your sisters are in deeply committed relationships.”

“Exactly. The only one he actually likes, I think, is Logan.”

“I’m failing to see the point.”

“The point, my friend,” she said with a mischievous grin, “is that my sisters have done whatever they wanted regardless of how our parents feel about it.”

The lightbulb clicked on. “So you’re going on this trip whether they like it or not.”

She shot finger guns at me and made little clicking noises with her tongue, as if to say bullseye . “Precisely. But I will take you with as back up when I tell them.”

“Which will be when?”

“Tomorrow,” she said around a yawn. I flicked my wrist to check the time, fighting back a yawn of my own. It was well past eight p.m., and I’d been up since five.

“Are you going to warn them you’re coming over?” I asked.

“No need. They’re expecting me for dinner.”

“Wait wait wait,” I said, holding up my hands. “You want me to come to dinner with you? Just us four?”

“Yeah?” Ella said, though it sounded more like a question. “Is that going to be a problem?”

I swallowed hard. You mean other than the fact that it feels an awful lot like a double date with your parents? “No, of course not,” I said aloud.

“Perfect.”

We both glanced up as Tanya dropped off our check and cleared our plates. I’d been so caught up in this conversation that I’d somehow managed to eat my entire meal without remembering a bite.

Ella had that effect on me. Had the ability to wrap me so wholly in her presence that everything around me drifted away to nothingness.

Across the table, our gazes collided, and I knew what she was thinking. That she was buying, as some sort of misguided need for paying me back for the help earlier.

She had no idea I’d meant what I said: I’d do it for free.

Again. And again. And again.

So before she could move, before she could fully complete the thought and reach for the check, my hand snaked out and grabbed it.

Then I was out of my seat and running toward the register, Ella hot on my heels and swearing up a storm.

I grinned.

This road trip was going to be fun.

As I followed Ella into the Delatou home the next evening, I was practically shaking in my boots. I had to remind myself the stakes here weren’t all that high given their daughter was only taking a road trip with me. But…I had high hopes it would become more than that.

“Mom? Dad?” Ella shouted into the ominously silent house.

“Back here, El!” Lena hollered from somewhere down the long hallway that served as the foyer and entrance into the house.

She glanced back at me, and I didn’t miss the tightness around her eyes. For all her bravado yesterday about not caring what they thought, it was obvious her parents’ opinions mattered to her. The last thing I wanted to do was be responsible for some sort of rift within the family, but if they couldn’t see how badly she needed this escape, then I was making it my job to help her in any way I could.

A few steps later, we passed through the archway into the main living spaces. To the left was the kitchen and formal dining room. To the right was the formal living room they never used, which I knew from attending several special occasions. Seated on the floral patterned sofa that belonged on the pages of a homestyle magazine were Leon and Lena.

Ella clocked them at the same moment I did because, with a tentative step in their direction, she asked, “Mom? Dad?” for the second time since arriving.

“Hi, honey,” Lena said softly.

“Ella,” Leon greeted his second youngest daughter. “Why is he with you?”

“Backup,” Ella said as she sauntered deeper into the room, throwing herself unceremoniously onto one of the uncomfortable looking armchairs, accent pillows flying to the floor. Lena made a noise of protest, but Ella ignored her.

“And what exactly do you need backup for?” Lena questioned.

Ella, who had been tapping away at her phone, glanced up at me and gestured me into the chair at her side before saying, “You tell me. This is quite the little production. Very… Godfather .”

“We’re worried about you,” Leon said, reaching for his wife’s hand and giving it a squeeze.

In that moment, I understood with stark clarity why Ella wanted me here. She must have had a sense they were going to pull some shit like this, and for whatever reason, her sisters hadn’t been brought up to speed.

I refused to examine too closely how deeply satisfied that made me—to know I was the one she was relying on when her parents were staging some sort of fucked up intervention.

“And why is that?”

“You’re—” Lena cut herself off, clearly grasping at straws. She cleared her throat and tried again. “You’re looking a little thin.”

Ella, who had made herself comfortable in the hideously uncomfortable chair by slinging her legs over the arm, tipped her head back and laughed. A full body, throaty sound that had my skin tightening. I had to turn away, mentally urging my cock to stay where it was.

The last thing this evening needed was me popping a spontaneous boner because of this woman’s laugh .

Fuck, I was down bad. But it was mesmerizing to watch her come to life before my very eyes. That flush of her skin, her throat working, her eyes squeezed shut with mirth. It was like watching the petals of a flower slowly unfurl beneath the light of the sun.

I was making it my personal mission to hear that sound at least once a day from now on, and to be the reason for it.

At last, Ella settled and looked her parents dead in the face as she said, “You two are insane.”

“Ella,” Leon warned.

Distantly, I heard a door slam, but I was too transfixed by Ella and the fire in her eyes to question it.

“What?” she asked, sitting up, spine ramrod straight. “If you’re worried about me, do you really think this ”—she gestured between them—“is the best way to go about it?”

“Really, parents,” a voice said from behind us, and I whirled to find the cavalry filing in, Delia leading the charge. She stepped up beside Ella and gripped her shoulder reassuringly. “Got your SOS text.”

“Thanks for coming,” Ella said to her sisters as they fanned out around her. When she caught me gaping, she tossed me a wink, then faced her parents once again.

“Really, Ella?” Lena asked, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing those peculiar golden eyes she shared with Amara and Delia. “You had to bring them into it?”

“You tried to ambush me,” Ella reminded her. “Of course I called in reinforcements.”

“What do you call Liam, then?” Leon glanced at me, his pine-green eyes colder than I’d ever seen them.

“A friend,” Ella told him, this time grinning widely at me. That smile was so fucking contagious, I couldn’t help but return it. “And my road trip buddy.”

The room went terribly silent for a moment before the entire Delatou family erupted. I barely resisted the urge to cover my ears. As it was, I had difficulty picking out who was saying what—though from the expressions on faces as my gaze swept the room, it was obvious some of Ella’s family was less enthused than others.

Namely Lena Delatou, who seemed to be pouting.

And, okay, definitely Leon, who glared daggers at me.

If looks could kill, I was a dead man.