Malibu by Moonlight Read online

  We set off, riding as a group, and drawing glances from literally everybody. I felt like we were famous with the way everyone stared at us. We drove right next to each other for a few miles until we reached Palos Verdes Drive, at which point we spread out and began cruising single file. I had lived in Los Angeles for years and had never taken this drive—even if I had, it wouldn't have compared to doing it on a motorcycle, and definitely not on the back of Liam Kennedy's motorcycle.

  We rode for about thirty minutes, witnessing breathtaking views before ending the trip at the Korean Friendship Bell. We all got off of our motorcycles to take a look at it.

  "Have you done this drive before?" Jane asked as we walked toward the bell.

  "I haven't actually," I said. "I was thinking about that as we rode and wondering why I hadn't. I've been here," I added, pointing at the ornate pavilion that housed the bell. "But we took city streets to get here. I'm not sure why."

  "No kidding," Liam's grandfather said. "I'd try to take that drive at least once a week if I lived over here."

  There were some other tourist around, and some of our group went ahead while others hung back. Liam and I stayed close to his mom and dad.

  "How long have you lived here?" Gray asked.

  "Almost four years," I said. "That's why I can't believe I've never experienced that drive. It was really beautiful." I glanced at Liam. "Thank you for inviting me," I said sincerely.

  He smiled sweetly as a 'you're welcome'.

  "Where did you grow up?" Jane asked.

  "Hot Springs," I said. "Outside of Hot Springs, actually. A tiny town called Brookdale."

  "Hot Springs, Arkansas?" Gray asked in a disbelieving tone.

  I nodded as we walked.

  "That's in our neck of the words," Jane said.

  Liam glanced at me like he was surprised I had left that piece of information out.

  "That's only like two or three hours from us," Gray said.

  "You should try to come see us in Memphis when you go home," Jane added.

  My heart dropped when she said that. They were such a close, loving family that I knew they would never understand that I hadn't been home, not once, since I was seventeen years old. I left Arkansas and didn't look back. I hadn't even spoken to my family in almost ten years. It gave me a nauseating feeling to realize that the Bishops would probably not understand that at all.

  "I usually don't go back to Arkansas," I said, hoping to brush off the conversation without lying or being completely awkward.

  "They probably come to you," Jane said, nodding and gesturing at the beautiful vista.

  "Yes," I said.

  I really did hate myself for lying, but I just couldn't come out and say that I hadn't spoken to my family in a decade—it would just seem ridiculous to say that. To tell the lie seemed like the more reasonable thing to do at the moment.

  "Do you have siblings?" Jane asked.

  I felt sick.

  The answer was 'yes', but the word got stuck in my throat.

  I was so used to people caring about the clothing I could make rather than my family background that I literally never had to answer questions about my past. I should've known the Bishops would ask me about my family, but it honestly never occurred to me.

  "Yes ma'am. I have two younger brothers," I said, since it was the truth.

  "Liam glanced at me with a sweet but curious expression like he never imagined I would say that.

  "I bet they love your store," Jane said. "Jesse was telling us how nice it was."

  "Thank you," I said, brushing past the comment about my brothers, who, to my knowledge, didn't even know I owned a store.

  We made our way to the beautiful pavilion that was home to the Korean Friendship Bell. It was a gorgeous structure, and we spent the next half-hour walking around it and making small talk about other things we'd seen that were similar, like Asian gardens and the Liberty Bell.

  I was happy to have gotten through that conversation about my family without making a total fool of myself, but it had left me with an odd feeling of incompletion, and I felt the strangest urge to clear the air with Liam about it.

  Before we departed, we gathered to make travel arrangements. They were all headed back to the dealership, but Liam said that he would give me a ride back to my store instead. This detour would either mean that the rest of the family would have to wait on him, or that he would be stuck at the dealership without a ride back to Malibu.

  I agreed that I would follow him to return the bike and give him a ride back to his hotel once he had finished. The family asked if they would see me back at the hotel, but I told them that I had to work and would probably just drop Liam off.

  This prompted a whole round of hugs, and they told me it was very nice meeting me and that they sincerely hoped I came to see them if I ever made my way back home to Arkansas. In spite of my own insecurities about my family, I truly had a nice time with Liam and the Bishops that afternoon.

  It took us nearly an hour to get back to my store, and the whole time we rode, I replayed different encounters I had with them. They were wonderful people, and I could see how Courtney had fallen in love with them enough to pick up everything and move to Tennessee.

  My store was locked by the time Liam and I got back. I opened the door and went inside to make sure everything was squared away, and found that Anthony was still working in the back. He told me that he was just about to leave, and we talked for a moment about things he had worked on while I was gone, making plans for what we needed to do the following day.

  I knew he considered it out of character for me to have Liam with me, but he didn't make it obvious or uncomfortable. We finished our conversation and I left him in the workroom before following Liam to the dealership.

  I went inside with him, and he showed me around and told me a few stories about his grandfather's business. He showed me a portrait of a parrot hanging on the wall and told me it was an actual bird named Elvis who had been the shop mascot at the original Memphis location for half a century. He told me about the bird having certain catchphrases and nicknames for most of their family, and we laughed about how the stubborn creature would probably outlive us all.

  We stayed at the dealership for a little while, looking at motorcycles. Liam gave me a brief lesson on how they were made and which parts could be customized, and I couldn't help but compare the buying experience of a Bishop Motorcycle to that of a nice suit.

  Chapter 10

  My car was parked in the lot at the dealership, and Liam and I walked toward it. It was still light out, but the sun had begun to set, and the colors of dusk made the sky seem heavy. Liam stretched as we walked, and I glanced at him, feeling keenly aware of his masculine presence. He made a little groaning noise when he stretched, which caused me to ask if he was tired.

  "Nah," he said. "I'm just not used to those low drag bars."

  "You mean the handlebars?" I asked.

  He nodded and stretched his arms by making the motion like he was hugging himself.

  "I thought you looked totally comfortable, "I said.

  He smiled. "It was fine. I liked the bike. I just wasn't used to them."

  "Do you ride a lot at home?"

  "At least a few times a week—when the weather's nice."

  "Do you have a double-seater?" I asked.

  He shook his head. "No."

  We walked a few paces, and I came really close to mentioning that I was surprised he didn't since I thought he had a girlfriend, but I managed to keep the question to myself.

  "Are you too sore to drive?" I asked as we approached my car.

  "Never," he said. "I was gonna ask if you wanted me to drive. I like these cars. I rented one when I went to D.C. one time."

  I had a small white Audi, and I dug in my pocket to retrieve the keys. I tossed them in Liam's direction. The keys made it to him just fine, but something else came loose and fell short. I didn't realize that I had a leather thimble in my pocket and had grabbed it
along with my keys. Liam caught the keys before quickly stooping over to pick up the small piece of leather.

  "What is this?"

  I didn't answer right away. I just watched as Liam inspected it curiously. It was a small brown sleeve of leather that was perfectly fashioned to fit over the end of my thumb, going down to about the second knuckle for protection as I pushed needles through fabric. Depending on what I was doing, I sometimes wore similar thimbles on my fingertips, but this was one that was made for my thumb. I watched as Liam inspected it, trying to figure out what it was. Because of the size and shape, he instantly tried it on his finger and found that it fit best on his pinky. He turned it in his hand, staring at it for a second before finally looking at me.

  "What is this? A little elf hat or something?"

  I could not help but laugh at his guess. "An elf hat?"

  "What else would it be?" he asked, seeming genuinely perplexed.

  "It's a thimble," I said.

  "A thimble? I thought those were metal."

  "Not all of them," I said.

  I took it from him and put it onto my thumb, wiggling it around to show him the flexibility. He reached out and took my hand, staring at the thimble and how it fit perfectly on my thumb. There was absolutely no reason for him to stand there and hold my hand like that. I knew he wasn't that curious about the thimble, and he was just doing it because he wanted to make physical contact. I swallowed hard as I watched him. He was aware of me and I was aware of him, and the tension between us was palpable. My hand began to tremble when I realized that I quite enjoyed him holding my hand. I took a deep breath, breaking the contact. I hated to pull away, but I was becoming increasingly aware of Liam, and these new feelings were just too much. I handed him the thimble with a smile, and he instinctually took it from me.

  "You can keep it," I said. "In case you ever need to sew a button."

  "Do you have others?" he asked.

  "Plenty," I said. "I didn't even know that one was in my pocket."

  Liam smiled as he slipped the thimble into his front pocket. He didn't mention the fact that he didn't know how to use it or that it wouldn't be very effective on his pinky; he just took it from me with a thankful grin and then pushed the button to unlock my car.

  He walked with me to the passenger's side to open the door. "I didn't even know you owned a car," he said. "I thought you had a driver."

  I gave him a smile to thank him for opening the door as I sat down. "I hired a driver to take me to the wedding the other night because I didn't know what the parking situation would be or how easy it would be to get in and out of there."

  Liam nodded as he closed the door, and I watched him walk around the front of the car to get to the driver's side. I knew he would be leaving the following day and that our time together was almost over, and I felt utterly disappointed. He was such a real person, and I felt drawn to him for reasons that weren't just his perfectly shaped body and his all-American face.

  We had already discussed plans for me to drop him off at his hotel, so I was completely surprised when he sat down in the driver's seat, looked at me, and said, "You wanna get some dinner?"

  I glanced at the clock, realizing it was past dinnertime. "Sure," I said without even thinking about it.

  He smiled at the fact that I agreed so easily.

  "What are you hungry for?" I asked.

  "I eat literally anything," he said. "Except pineapple. I can't do pineapple."

  "Pineapple? That's an odd thing to not like."

  "It's not that I don't like it. I actually really like it. It just makes my tongue feel funny. I think I might be allergic to it or something. It really irritates my mouth."

  I couldn't help let out a laugh at that. "Are you sure you didn't eat the core? That middle part will tear your mouth up—you know, the core."

  He laughed and shook his head. "I know not to eat the core," he said. "But I can't eat it at all. Not even on a pizza."

  "Okay, so no pineapples, but anything else will do?"

  He nodded.

  "How about Mexican?"

  "Perfect," he said.

  "I know of a little place over by the beach."

  He started the car. "Just tell me where to go."

  ***

  The next thing I knew, I was sitting across the table from Liam at El Chavo. He settled in and then looked around as if he was surprised. I couldn't say I blamed him. It was a hole-in-the-wall compared to the more commercial Mexican restaurants. I had eaten their street tacos one time at a festival and got hooked on them. The meat was flavorful, and they used small corn tortillas with a lot of fresh cilantro. Also, there was no waiting at all.

  The waitress came over and asked us what we would like before Liam even had a chance to glance at the menu. I ordered without consulting him because I could tell he didn't mind. They only had a few things on the menu, anyway. The tacos were tiny, so I ordered ten of them, knowing I would eat about three and Liam could finish them off. They had five different types of meat, and I asked her to bring two of each with two sides of avocado.

  Liam looked at me with wide eyes when the waitress left the table. I could tell he thought ten tacos was a slightly excessive order, so I smiled at him and said, "They're small."

  For the next few minutes, Liam and I talked about the motorcycle ride. He had visited Los Angeles before and had done a scenic drive one other time, but he said the one we did today was his favorite so far. I teased him and told him it was because he had good company, and he agreed with me, which made me blush for saying that in the first place.

  During our conversation, I began to think about his family. I hadn't been able to shake the encounter I had with his mom regarding my own family, and I still felt like I needed to clear the air with Liam. I knew I would probably never see him again after tonight, but I still felt the strangest urge to explain more about my past and why I hadn't been home to Arkansas in so long.

  I was just about to say something when our waitress brought the tacos. She explained what everything was, asked us if we needed anything else, and then took off again. It only took a bite or two to devour one of the tacos, so Liam and I dug in, making quick work of finishing about half of them in a matter of minutes.

  The interruption had given me a little more time to think about what I was going to say, so after I finished a couple of tacos, I said, "I kind of lied to your mom today, and I feel really bad about it."

  I took my napkin out of my lap, wiped my mouth, and set it on the table, knowing that bringing up such matters would effectively kill my appetite.

  "About what?" Liam asked with a curious expression.

  "About my family. I led her to believe that they come out to L.A. to visit me, and they don't."

  "What do you mean? Do you meet them somewhere?"

  "No," I said with a regretful smile. "I just said that because your family is so close, and I was swept away by how amazing everyone was and how much you guys loved each other."

  "What are you trying to say? Do you even have a family?"

  "Yeah, I told the truth about my family. I grew up in Arkansas with my parents and two brothers. They're still there, as far as I know. I left there ten years ago and I, uh, I really haven't talked to them since."

  I took a deep, hitching breath, knowing that I was likely killing whatever admiration Liam might have had for me. I just felt like it was something I needed to say in spite of knowing it would make him see me as a bad person.

  "I told you my family thought I was crazy for wanting to go to London to study men's fashion."

  He nodded, waiting for me to continue.

  "Well, it's not just like they just lightheartedly thought I was being silly—they actually thought I was crazy. They thought I was a crazy person. My parents are just country people, Liam. My brothers played football and baseball, and their world revolved around them. They just didn't understand how or why I would ever want to do anything but marry some guy from my high school and just be baref
oot and pregnant. I became interested in tailoring when I was young, and they never, ever took me seriously about it. I just remember feeling like they literally thought I was off my rocker. So when I graduated, I left. I bought a ticket for London, and I didn't look back. I even changed my last name. I was raised as Taylor Luttrell, and I changed my name to Quinn."

  I paused at this point because these were things I had never told anyone else, and honestly, I needed to catch my breath. I thought Liam might say something, but he just waited patiently for me to continue.

  "Anyway, I used my family's unbelief in me as fuel for success. I have worked tirelessly every single day of my life to prove them wrong. Looking back, I don't think they meant to harm me, but I felt no support from them whatsoever—no love or encouragement at all."

  I paused and took a deep breath, still feeling shaken from saying these things out loud and knowing how very different this was from Liam's family situation. I honestly expected him to lose respect for me. I figured with how close he was to his family he would think of me as being heartless for cutting my family out of my life.

  "The thing is, I didn't really mean to disown them. I hear about people having an estranged spouse or an estranged family, and I don't feel like I identify with that term, but I guess that's what I've done."

  Tears came to my eyes when I said those words, and I blinked trying to get them to go away. "I didn't mean to cut ties," I said. "I didn't mean for things to go this long. It's just that I was so mad at them for not believing in me, and by the time I finally started to have some success, I didn't really feel like sharing it with them."

  "Do you miss them?" Liam asked.

  I shrugged regretfully. "I didn't think I did. I mean, I've just sort of gotten used to my life the way it is." I paused, gathering my thoughts. "I guess meeting your family today kind of made me realize how unordinary my situation is. I didn't set out to be the kind of person who cut her family out of her life. I'm definitely not proud telling you this right now. It's just the truth, and it's just how things turned out for me. I was really mad back then. I was a teenager and it really hurt that they didn't care about the things I wanted to pursue. I really felt like they thought I was insane for wanting to chase my dream, so I just sort of made myself forget about them."