“Sure. I can picture you as a quarterback, working the field, leaving a trail of cheerleaders in your wake. I mean, for God’s sake, you fit into their clothing. The next step would be a uniform . . .” I bit my lip to try to hide my smile. “Did you play in high school?”
“I did, though I would’ve preferred to focus on the swim team.”
“Quarterback? Linebacker?” I leaned back against Lucy’s desk again, running my hand along the edge. “Tight end?”
“QB.”
“Thought so. I had a crush on our high school quarterback.” I cocked my head. My eyes wandered down. “He looked a little like you, but not as tall.”
David’s hand twitched, and he tightened his arms over his chest. “What are you doing?” he asked.
I shrugged one shoulder, staring him down. “What?”
“You’re flirting with me, just like on the roof the other day, even though you asked me to back off.”
I couldn’t deny it. My need for him was beginning to seep out of the cage where I’d locked it. Davena had warned me that would happen. One moment, I was in control. The next, I didn’t know what might come out of my mouth. Was this how my mother had felt, unraveling in the weeks before my father and I had left? Fantasies bordering too close to reality?
David’s nearness set me on fire no matter how I tried to douse the embers of desire.
No matter the fact that I wore another man’s ring.
“Olivia, I’ll put on a show in front of your friends, at your work, whenever we’re in public. But I’m growing tired of pretending when we’re alone. Don’t tempt me,” he warned.
His tone meant to scold me, but my body thrilled with his words.
Thiswas pretending? What happened when he stopped?
Lucy burst through the door. “Sorry,” she exclaimed. “I looked everywhere, but the seamstress is gone.”
David stepped back, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. “What now?” I asked.
“I can tailor the pants,” Lucy said, “just not as well as she could’ve. I’ll get the suit ninety percent there before you have to leave, David. Are you okay with that?”
He shrugged. “I’m man enough to walk into a party looking ninety percent good.”
As if David could ever look anything less than a hundred-percent handsome.
My phonedinged. David glanced at my handbag before I went to it, took out my phone, and read a text from Bill.
Bill:We’re pulling up out front. Come down when you guys are ready.
“Your event is soon. Give me your pants.” Lucy hurried into the curtained area and grabbed the pinned slacks. “While I work on sewing this, finish getting ready. Liv can help.”
The moment Lucy disappeared again, my stomach knotted. As I returned my phone to my purse, it started to ring. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I silenced Bill’s call but turned away quickly.
I should’ve been gathering my things to meet my husband. Instead, I was going to stay to help dress a man who seemed to be herding me into his arms every day since we’d met eyes across a crowded room, popping up in my life at each turn, becoming less of a stranger each moment we spent together.
My eyes drifted over him as it hit me. “You were wearing a tux at the ballet.”
He paused only a moment, then picked up a dark leather box from Lucy’s desk and removed a pair of cufflinks. “It’s being cleaned.”
“Is it?” I asked. “Or did you know I’d be here today?”
“How could I have known?” He made a fist around the delicate silver pieces and walked toward me. “You’re mistaken if you think I need to scheme to get what I want, Olivia. I agreed to do the article to spend time with you, and to help you with your promotion—but if necessary, I would’ve found another way to see you again.” He stopped inches from me. “When you walked into Lucy’s engagement party in that tight white dress, I knew with complete certainty I wouldn’t be leaving without you on my arm. I wouldn’t let you get away like I had at the ballet.”
My head tilted back to take him in. When I’d walkedinto the party? So those chestnut browns had been on me before I’d even known David was there. Observing me. Learning. Not just watching butseeing.
“Yes, I noticed you instantly,” he said, reading my expression. “I followed you into the kitchen to find out your name, which I did, and to ask you on a date.” His jaw firmed. “Which I did not.”
