Olivia turned her head, giving him a wane smile, before leaning up to whisper back, “It’s fine.”
She wasn’t fine. Far from it in fact. Heath knew women well enough to know, when they said they were fine that wasn’t the truth. “You’re not, though.” He blatantly told her. “Let’s just go. We’ll go somewhere quiet.”
Olivia looked startled by his suggestion, considering they were only a few feet away from the table and his friends, but he didn’t care. Olivia was uncomfortable, and he didn’t want to make her sit through this, if she didn’t want, too. He had much better plans for the evening anyway, and they involved his apartment and bed. It was preferable to having to watch Olivia get grilled by the women and his friends tease him.
“But we’re already here.”
“I don’t care.” And he didn’t. His friends could go to hell right now. They had forced this meeting not him. He was content keeping her all to himself.
“It would be rude to leave now. One drink, and then we’ll go.” She compromised.
“One drink.” He agreed. Heath would make sure it was a small drink. “Let me introduce you to everyone.” Heath brought her up to the table and helped Olivia into her seat, and then took the open one next to her, placing Linzy on her left. As far as pairing went, it was perfect. They were both the newest to the group, and Linzy wasn’t as inquisitive as the others.
“About time.” Cora said, yelling across the table. “I thought I was going to have to send Liam to get you.” Heath rolled his eyes, because he knew Liam wouldn’t have. The man was pussy whipped, but Liam wouldn’t chase him down.
They all knew he went straight after work to get Olivia. He was sure Mike had been sent to make sure he showed up. He didn’t need to whole team coming after him.
“Is everything alright?” Abigail, who was seated on his right, asked concerned, leaning around him to look at Olivia.
Abigail was a retired FBI agent that became a PI, when she met and fell in love with Aaron, when she’d followed a serial killer to California. She may be barely five foot, but the woman acted like she was six feet tall in person. The woman could be a real ball-buster, when she wanted, too.
“It’s fine. I just didn’t get a chance to warn Olivia about meeting you all, and she’s not a fan of crowds.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” She scolded him. “We could have met at one of the houses or somewhere quieter.”
“Don’t worry about it. She agreed to a drink, and then we’ll leave.”
“Well, at least we get to meet her. I’ve never met one of your girlfriends before.” That was the second time Olivia had been called his girlfriend. Mike said it in jest, and he had quickly denied it, but hearing it again, it made him wonder. Was Olivia his girlfriend? They had been seeing each other on a daily basis for the past couple days. She bought a cell phone two days ago, and now, they texted each other throughout the day. Did that make her the girlfriend? He hadn’t had one in so long that he didn’t know what to call her. It wasn’t casual dating. He saw red, when Mike teased her earlier. Heath didn’t like the idea of other men hitting on her. He had never considered himself a jealous man before now.
Heath glanced over at Olivia to see how she was doing, and then narrowed his eyes, when he saw Mike had come over and was squatting down between her and Linzy, leaning close to Olivia. Far closer than he would need to in order to talk to her and be heard. “Let me introduce you to everyone.” Heath announced, pulling her chair closer to him and ignoring Mike’s chuckle. He knew the prick was doing it on purpose, but it still halted the flare of jealousy. Him jealous. What a novelty. He didn’t like the feeling at all.
He introduced everyone, starting with Linzy and working his way around the room. “This is Linzy, Sam, Carter, Kinsley, Liam, Cora, Aaron, and Abigail. The only one missing is Hannah who’s with Ben.”
“She’s in LA working on her project.” Aaron explained to Olivia.
“Hannah started an organization to help victims of trafficking.” Heath added.
Olivia just nodded.
“What about me?” Mike pouted. “Don’t I get an intro?”
“No, she’s already met you.” He dismissed Mike and turned to Olivia. “What do you want to drink?”
“A club soda. I have to drive home and don’t want to be drinking and driving.”
“I can drive you home, if you’d like a drink.” Heath offered.
“No, I’d rather drive myself home.”
“Okay,” he agreed rather than argue. “I’ll be right back.”
Heath went up to the bar to order a beer for himself and a club soda for Olivia. He looked back to watch Olivia, while waiting for the drinks. Abigail had claimed his seat, while he was gone and was entertaining Olivia. He was glad Olivia had people to talk to that wasn’t Mike. If she was going to be hanging with them more, it would be nice if she got along with the women.
Whoa, where had that thought come from? Hanging with his friends more. Why was he thinking about Olivia in a more permanent view? He didn’t date, and he didn’t do relationships, and yet, he found himself in one—possibly. He hadn’t made up his mind yet—and thinking about Olivia being a part of their group.
“Here you go.” The bartender said, sliding the drinks over to him.
“Thanks,” he said absently still watching Olivia. She looked like she finally started relaxing and was actually laughing at something Linzy said. Maybe, she had just been nervous about meeting his friends, and that’s why she had seemed off. Mike had been pushed away, and Abigail was now in his seat. In fact, all the other women were moving their men and surrounding Olivia. He better get over there to save her.
