If Ididask, and he complied, then what? It wasn’t as if I could take her place.
I was headed to a secluded cabin with my husband and our best friends for a weekend of relaxation, time on the lake, and card games by the fireplace.
What, was I going to stay behind to be David’s arm candy? Have him escort me to the museum, order me Merlot, sneak me into a dark corner, kiss me, gather up my dress to my waist?
My chest rose and fell faster. Why me, when he could take anyone? David probably had a little black book so thick that it better resembled a dictionary. “How many women are you seeing?”
“At the moment, technically, none. It’s very casual,” he said. “But Icansleep with who I want, and I do.”
I didn’t know why his honesty startled me. I’d known all along that he was a player—casual encounters and all.
I suddenly felt out of my league, which was becoming an all too familiar feeling around him.
I glanced at his phone as it buzzed.
One thing to be grateful for? He couldn’t notch me on his figurative bedpost like the others.
“Anything else?” he asked.
I forced a smile, a front for the sinking feeling of picturing him with not just Maria but other women. “I think I’ve heard enough.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I set down the clipboard and went to stand. “I should check on Lucy.”
“I read some of your articles online.”
I paused, looking up at him.
His shoulders loosened. “You write very well, Olivia.”
My heart somersaulted, but I shook my head. “I contribute when I can, but I told you, I’m an editor. My mother’s the writer in my family.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re talented.”
“Thanks,” I said, embarrassed that it came out sounding like a question.
My heels sank into the carpet. Had I been leaving? I’d told David we could never be alone again, and yet, he warmed me in a way that made me wonder how I hadn’t realized I’d been so cold.
I didn’twantto go. But this had never been about desire. Wanting David was easy. To be near him, to hear whatever bold, wicked thing would come out of his mouth next . . .
Davena had warned me I couldn’t hide from my desires. And here I was, back in a room alone with David.
If you want something, say it out loud.
I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more in that moment than to be kissed in a dark corner at some anonymous event by David Dylan.
Drawing a breath, I forced the fantasy away. I raised the apple rind and tossed it across the room, sinking a perfect shot in the trashcan. “Three-pointer,” I said.
He looked from the wastebasket to me. “You watch basketball?”
“Bill does,” I said. “You?”
“I’m a Bears fan myself.”
“Football? I could see that.”
“Oh?” he asked.
