She takes another step back.
I take another step forward.
Olive narrows her eyes at me and crosses her arms with a huff. “What do you want?”
I rear back my head and mimic her crossed arms. “Really? You have to ask me what I want?”
She raises her eyebrows in response.
Dropping my arms, I close the distance between us, my t-shirt brushing her crossed arms. “Okay, we can play this game.” I take a deep breath and release it slowly. “Why did you leave without saying goodbye?”
Blood rushes to my ears as her eyes fall closed and she wraps her arms around her middle. When her eyes find mine again, the pain and conflict in them has my stomach clenching. “Look, I don’t know if this is a good idea. I have stuff going on. You’re trying to do your job. Just seems likewe’re just asking for this to end badly.” As she drops her gaze from mine, I place two fingers on her chin and raise it to mine once again. If she’s going to blow me off with lame excuses, she can look me in the eyes. More pain flashes across her face, and then on a whisper, she continues. “Nate, you need to forget about me and last night. It’s for the best.”
Like hell that will ever happen.
I bend down so I can stare directly into her gorgeous, tortured eyes. “So you mean to tell me you don’t want my lips or my hands on you…ever again?”
Olive brow furrows as her rough exhale puffs against my lips. With the hand not on her chin, I grasp her waist, and she sways into me before quickly stepping back out of my hold.
Her voice breaks when she says, “Nate, I can’t.”
Then she practically sprints down the hall, back to the green room.
With my hands on my hips, I drop my chin to my chest.
At least this time, she ran away from me to my face.
Progress.
Ian bumpsmy shoulder as he steps beside me. “You good, man?”
We’re standing in front of the stage, near the front row of seats. I narrow my eyes as I watch Olive and Cade in the small VIP section roped off on the opposite side of the stage. They’re talking and laughing with the rest of the flight crew and a few other people not with our group. A sigh grinds past my lips. “Yeah, I guess.”
Frustration and anger tighten my chest. Any of the earlier fears and hesitations I felt about what happened tomy parents happening to her have evaporated. Now that I know how good we are together, the only fear I have is that one night is all I’ll ever have. I’ll respect her decision if she’s simply decided I’m not the man for her, but my gut is telling me that there is something else going on.
Ian interrupts my thoughts when he says, “We have about twenty minutes left. You want to go coordinate exit plans with facility security?”
“Yeah, I’ll go talk to them.” I take a few steps to head backstage, when something catches my eye.
An obviously intoxicated man has his arm slung around Olive’s shoulder. I freeze for a moment to search for Cade, but he’s nowhere around the pair. When Olive leans back, trying to dislodge his arm, with an unmistakable look of discomfort on her face, I immediately change the direction I’m heading.
The man leans farther into her, his lips dangerously close to her cheek. As I quicken my pace without sprinting, which could cause unnecessary panic and attention, my stomach flips as the man grabs her aggressively around the waist and pulls her into him. She pushes against his chest to put space between them, and I’ve seen all I need to see. Rage blinds me as I duck under the ropes and grab two handfuls of a t-shirt. I yank him away from her, which isn’t difficult, considering his inebriated state.
“What the fuck?” the man yelps as I shift so that I’m between him and Olive.
“How about you keep your fucking hands to yourself?” I say through gritted teeth.
I toss him away from me. He stumbles but rights himself surprisingly quickly. “I wasn’t fucking doing anything she didn’t want.”
My hands curl into fists, and I take a step forward. Theonly things that stop me are a hand on my bicep and the man’s friends stepping in front of him and pushing him back. They mumble an apology for their friend as they usher him to the side farthest away from me and Olive.
A soft voice saying my name has me pivoting around to face Olive. “Are you okay?”
She takes a deep breath. “Yeah, thank you. I’m really sorry. I thought he was just being friendly at first.”
Not being able to stop myself, I reach out and run my thumb over the back of her hand. “You don’t need to apologize for that guy being a drunk idiot, Olive.”
She gives me a hesitant, sad smile, probably unsure of how I’ll react after our interaction an hour ago. “Guess you get to be my personal security tonight, too. Full disclosure—I can’t pay you anywhere near what Jenny pays you.”
