Hot-shot striker Andy Kirk fired Hearts to a scarcely deserved win with a second-half double.
And it has been an incredible week for the Northern Ireland international who has scored five times in seven days.
Kirk started his run with a double against Partick last Saturday, added a Cup goal against Falkirk in midweek, and then took care of Livingston.
But make no mistake the scoreline certainly flattered Hearts.
Livingston were the better side for an hour and were thwarted by some great goalkeeping by rookie Craig Gordon.
Livingston did take the lead that their superiority warranted after 51 minutes when Lee Makel cut the ball back for Derek Lilley to net from close range.
And they could have wrapped up the points when Lilley and Stuart Lovell collided as they both chased the same ball and with only Gordon to beat from eight yards.
That miss turned out to be crucial as Kirk knocked home a close-range rebound when Mark De Vries hit the post after 68 minutes.
It was the first competitive goal that Livingston had conceded in over nine hours play.
But they were to lose another one quickly when Kirk latched on to a terrible blunder from Marvin Andrews to fire in a volley from 12 yards that left Roddy McKenzie without a prayer.
And things threatened to boil over in injury time when De Vries won a hotly-disputed penalty after Brian Kerr appeared to win the ball from the Hearts man.
De Vries went down theatrically and referee Dougal immediately pointed to the spot.
David McNamee was furious with the decision and his argument with the official brought him a red card.
However, Hearts skipper Steven Pressley remained unruffled to stroke home the penalty and seal the points for Hearts.