It was expected. There had been a few projects at work that had involved me having to sign one. It was par for thecourse when you were dealing with this kind of high profile story.
Oliver’s eyebrows raised. ‘That’s it?’
I tilted my head; confused as to why my acquiescence was making a small vein in his temple throb.
‘I mean, it makes sense. You have to protect yourself and your career. It would be ill advised if youdidn’task me to sign one.’
He glanced down at his food, back to me, and then sat back in his chair. ‘Alright, then.’
The next half an hour mainly consisted of me asking questions about the book and Oliver slowly morphing into the monosyllabic man I’d first met. By the end, he dropped talking altogether and gave me grunts in response.
Trying to temper my frustration, I exhaled a sharp breath and put my phone face down on the table.
‘Where did you want to meet? I assume you don’t want to do it in public.’
At those words, a glint of something I couldn’t recognise sparked in Oliver’s eyes. Leaning across the table so our faces were only a foot away from each other, he lowered his voice.
‘Yeah, doing it in public is not really my thing. Why? Is it yours?’
The deep sensual tone he’d deliberately laced those words with heated my cheeks as I realised the double entendre of my question.
Seeing my face turn a deep shade of crimson seemed to bring Oliver joy because his lips lifted into a smile.
‘You’re such a dick.’ I growled.
‘Hey.’ He leaned back, raising his hands in the air. ‘You’re the one who brought up public sex.’
‘I did not,’ I cried momentarily forgetting where we were and that there were people around us. Oliver wore his signature baseball cap pulled low so it would take someonepeering underneath to get a good look for them to recognise him, but still at the attention, Oliver tensed in his chair.
‘Let’s go.’ He slipped out of the chair and headed for the door before I even blinked.
Slipping out of the booth, I said in an undertone, ‘You go from carefree guy to paranoid spyreallyquickly.’
He opened the door, and I waited for him to walk through before me. However, his arm slid up the door over my head as he stood to the side, letting me go first. Stunned at his unexpected show of chivalry, I held in the instant retort and walked out onto the street, pulling on my coat against the night air.
Oliver pulled his hat lower over his brow and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. He started walking down the street without a word. Apparently, there was a limit to his courteousness.
‘Is that the end of the conversation then?’ I called, annoyed at his flip-flopping personality. Oliver stopped a few yards away. We were too far apart, but I saw his chest deflate in a huge sigh. He stepped forward to the row of cars and pulled out a set of keys from his pocket, clicking a button. A sleek silver car beeped. He opened the passenger door and held it open, pointing to the interior.
‘Get in the car.’
18
FALLON
Istrode towards him.
‘You could at least tack on a please to that.’ My blonde hair whipped around my head as a gust of wind blew past us. I was about to reach up and get it out of my face when Oliver’s hand reached out and slid the rogue lock behind my ear.
My breath hitched. Oliver let his finger linger near my ear as he stared down at me. Our height difference was even more apparent now he was so close.
Why was he so close? The wind brought his scent to my nose, and like that first time in the pub, I had to hold myself back from burying my nose into his shirt. There was something about that deep woody scent some men had that made you want to burrow into them like a cat looking for a warm place to sleep. I wasn’t a hugger. Rosie was the only one I allowed to spontaneously hug me. Usually, when a hug was offered, I would stretch out my hand instead or give the person a stiff nod. Wrapping your arms around someone felt awfully personal and intimate.
So why was the urge to hug Oliver so bloody strong?
‘I earn enough money.’ Oliver said, his hand still by my ear.
I must have been momentarily stunned into stupidity because I had no idea what he was talking about.
