If your feet aren't on the ground they're in a tree, his koala said, baffled.Koalas don't float.
And that brought him right back down to earth with a laugh. "No kiddie tables, then. I'm sure it'll be fine. They'll make room for you, Tiffany."
That much he knew. His family would make room, even if the hotel's catering services protested. Tiffany Wright belonged with him, and Ollie with her. Everything else would fall into place.
"If you say so," she said dubiously. "Look, it's already after five. If I'm going to dinner with a bunch of strangers I desperately need a shower before I go, so I'll…what, meet you at the hotel at a quarter to seven, or something?"
"I could walk you back," Ollie offered. "I have to let them know I'm bringing a date, and if anybody's going to argue, I should be the one to deal with that."
She cast a funny little look up at him. "You're a funny one, aren't you?"
"Am I?"
"You're really calm, but you don't back down from a fight, either. You just don't get all in-your-face about it. I get in people's faces."
"Well." Ollie hesitated as they left the square and took the shadier side of the street on their walk toward the hotel. "Don't take this wrong, but you're much smaller than I am. You probably have to be more assertive to be taken seriously."
"And yeah, I do, and I'm a woman, so that's another thing to overcome, but boy, I tell you what, it'sreallynice to hear somebody say 'assertive' instead of 'bitchy.'"
"I haven't seen you being bitchy," Ollie said, feeling on more solid ground now. "You just know what you need, and don't take any bullshit getting there."
It's so HOT,his koala whispered. Ollie tried not to smile too obviously, although he was in complete agreement with the beast. "Your team seems to work well with a woman in charge, though, so you must have a lot of support."
"I wouldn't keep crew who had a problem with me. That would be dumb. But yeah." Tiffany pulled a face. "I mean, theyalso push me around and tell me to go on dates, so I dunno, but…"
Ollie laughed. "Do they do that a lot?"
"Actually, no, never. You must have made a good impression on Parker. He's a good dude. Really solid. If he likes you, I probably can't go too wrong."
"Did you think you were going wrong?"
They were almost at the hotel, so Ollie was surprised when Tiffany turned and put her hand on his chest, looking up at him quite solemnly. "No. Not for a minute."
His heart leaped so hard Ollie was almost sure she would feel the lurch under her palm. "Good," he whispered. "Me either."
They stood there, gazing at each other in the hot evening sun, until the koala yelledKISS HER, FOR GOD'S SAKE!, which reduced Ollie to a huge smile. "Okay, so I'll deal with the dinner arrangements and text you to let you know everything's okay? And then we'll meet in the lobby."
"It sounds…" Tiffany paused. "Insane, because who takes somebody to a wedding event on the third date?"
"Me," Ollie said with confidence, and Tiffany smiled at him.
"Well, in that case, it sounds perfect."
CHAPTER 13
Tiffany didn't get nervous, but she was nervous now. Despite Ollie's confidence, bringing somebody he'd just met to any kind of thing related to a wedding was either a baller move, or an act of someone who really did intend to be Just Friends.
The way he looked at her did not make Tiffany feel friendlyat all.
No, that didn't sound right. It made her feel reallyreallyfriendly. Maybe that was better.
She stared at herself in the hotel mirror, smoothing her dress out, and muttered, "They're not friendship feelings," at her reflection.
Her reflection was not surprised by this revelation. Tiffany smoothed her dress one more time—it was a pretty, summery thing, white cotton printed with tiny strawberries, fitted through the bodice and flared through the short skirt, with a sweetheart neckline and cap sleeves—and slid her feet into the thick-soled clogs she favored in the summer. They made her about three inches taller, which was enough that stepping out of them alwaysfelt like a genuine stepdown. Someday she was going to try five-inch soles, but she was afraid she'd never stop wearing them.
Yeah. She was nervous. Usually she'd be out the door by now, not fiddling with a small purse and making sure she had her room key and everything else she needed.
Tiffany Wright did not fiddle about nervously, she told herself, and marched off to meet Ollieand his entire family at a wedding rehearsal dinner that there was definitely no reason to be slightly freaked out about oh my God.
