“I want to. Okay?” Our eyes connect and I’m not sure how to identify this emotion that’s passing between the two of us.
“Well, could you choose for me?” She looks down like she’s ashamed to ask me to do that for her. Her voice is low, so I lean down to hear her better. Inhaling her enchanting lavender scent, it washes over me. I bite the inside of my cheek to distract myself from all the blood that is rushing to my cock.Fuck, I didn’t expect this when she came back into my life.“I just, there’s a lot here. And I only taste tested a few things. I would like the pretzel bites for sure,” she rambles.
“I’ll be happy to order for you.” She lifts her head to look at me and I see it. The trust is there, but I need to continue to work on it. She can have a wall for everyone else, but I want her to let me in. Glancing at the pulse in her neck, I have to fight the urge to lean down and kiss it. “You don’t have to be afraid to ask me to help you. I’ll always help.”
She nods once; her gaze never leaves mine, and she doesn’t lean away from me even though I am in her personal space. I rub my thumb along her neck again, wishing it was my lips instead, and she sucks in a breath. I smirk before standing back to my fullheight and turn back to Sarah. “For the drink, get her a Tequila Sunrise.” I look back at Olivia. “Only one, unless you let me drive you home tonight.” I don’t wait for her to answer as I continue. “Pretzel bites for the appetizer, Korean Cheesesteak, and the chocolate souffle cake for dessert.” Sarah nods and walks off to put the order in.
“That’s a lot of food,” Olivia murmurs. She sounds anxious.
“You don’t have to eat it all, but at least try everything.”
Her lips lift into a small smile. I’m beginning to realize she likes when decisions are made for her. I don’t know if that’s because of the anxiety she tries her best to hide or if it’s just who she is. It could be a bit of both. She would be a perfect submissive. That thought causes my pulse to increase and I can hear my heartbeat in my ears. I always said never again after Josie, but for the first time I’m reconsidering that.Fuck.
“Okay, I can do that.” She takes a sip from the water that’s already been brought to her. I wonder if she realizes how at ease she’s become since I walked over here. Her shoulders aren’t tense and she’s only focused on me. Olivia hasn’t looked around the pub once. “I’ll definitely eat all of those pretzel bites, though.”
I chuckle and wink at her. “Oh, I expect you to.”
My voice drops an octave lower without me thinking. I clench the back of her chair until my hand aches as I wait to see how she reacts to that. I get to witness her eyes dilating for the first time.She liked that tone. Interesting.
“I have things I need to attend to in the kitchen. I’ll come check on you in a while. Okay?”
She nods and her hand extends toward me like she wants to touch me, but she pulls it back before she does.
“Okay,” she whispers.
Winking at her again, I walk away pretty sure I just made a breakthrough. I glance at her one more time before I disappearinto the kitchen and she’s still watching me. My heart beats heavy in my chest at the realization this is so much more than I was expecting.
Chapter fifteen
Olivia
After attending the opening night at Victor’s pub by myself, I decided to bring Caroline and Ansley, while Ansley’s in town visiting. I’m not sure what’s happening between me and Victor, if anything, but he will be in my life, so I thought it would be a good idea to intertwine these two parts of my life slowly. It didn’t go very well. Victor seems to still be having issues with his staff and Lincoln showed up. I pull my lip between my teeth. That was me and Caroline’s fault, though. We told him where we were going to be because we thought Ansley would want to see him too. Apparently not.
We did wind up having a great time, but I could tell Ansley wasn’t her normal self after Lincoln showed up. She won’t talk about it though, and I’m not sure how much she wants me to push. I walk out of the bathroom and to the living room whereAnsley is waiting. She’s staying with me this weekend before she goes back to Atlanta.
I always open my house to my friends since I was never allowed to have sleepovers growing up. I get nervous at times about having a night terror, and having to explain it, but I don’t let that stop me.
“Are you okay?” I ask Ansley. She’s pulling at a loose string on the blanket covering her.
She gives me a sad smile. “I don’t want to go back to Atlanta.”
I squint at her as I sit down. “Really? Do you not like it like you thought you would?”
She shakes her head and looks up at the ceiling. “I hate the hours and I have a coworker that gets on my nerves.” She sighs. “It’s not how I thought it would be.”
“I’m sure Lincoln would let you come back.”
She’s shaking her head before I finish my sentence. “There is no way I’m working for Lincoln ever again.” Ansley groans and puts her head in her hands. “It took everything I had tonight to walk away from him. I’m so pissed at him, but I still want him.”
I scoot close to her and wrap my arm around her shoulders. “He obviously wants you too.”
Ansley scoffs, but doesn’t raise her head. “He wants to fuck me. That’s all it is.”
“That’s not all it is, Ans,” I whisper.
She turns her head and looks at me. “He won’t tell my brother, and I’m not going to keep being a secret. As much as I want him, I’m worth more than that.”
“You are,” I agree. “But I know his feelings for you outweigh whatever it is that’s making him hold back from telling your brother. He’s going to come begging for your forgiveness. I just know it.”
