I lead Rita to the elevator then down to the car, filling her in on my business trip and how things have been crazy at work. Keeping the conversation going in the direction of safe topics. I can tell she’s not happy with this line of discussion, but she doesn’t push.
Carl drops us off at Bridges, one of the best restaurants in the city. It’s Rita’s favorite place to have lunch so we have a standing reservation for our Thursday lunches. The hostess leads us toour usual table and leaves us with promises that our waiter will be with us shortly.
She’s barely walked out of earshot when Rita gives me a no-nonsense look. “Now, I want to know about Olive.”
“I don’t know what to tell you other than we are seeing each other.”
She lets out a little snort. “Well, that’s obvious. I want details, my boy. Details.”
I shake my head in exasperation. “I don’t know what details to give you.”
“I noticed she’s not sending me any more letters for her match.”
Both pleasure and guilt pool in my gut at that. Pleasure because I know Olive wants only me and guilt because I don’t know that I can give her what she so obviously wants. “She hasn’t written because she wrote her match telling him she found someone else.”
Rita’s eyes widen at that. “She did?”
I lick my lips feeling nervous for the first time in as long as I can remember. “Yes… she said she has feelings for another man and wants to see where it will lead her.”
“Interesting. And how do you feel about that?”
Thankfully the waiter chooses now to come and take our orders. It’s only a brief respite, but it’s enough to help me wrap my brain around what I want to say.
“So…” she says, letting me know she’s not going to let me off the hook I’m dangling on.
“Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I don’t do relationships, and we both know that’s what Olive wants.”
“But it’s been weeks now, and you’re still seeing each other.”
I nod. “Yes, but we haven’t discussed where this is going or made any promises to each other.”
“How do you feel about her?”
“She gorgeous and funny. I enjoy spending time with her.”
“Is the sex good?” she asks as I take a drink of water. I choke on the water, drawing attention from everyone in the dining room.
“What the hell kind of question is that?” I finally ask once I’m done choking half to death.
“A reasonable one coming from a matchmaker, dear.”
I shake my head in exasperation. “The sex is fine.” I choose to answer her because I know she won’t let it drop otherwise. She’s like a dog with a bone when she gets something in her head.
“Just fine?”
“What do you want me to say? That it’s phenomenal? The best sex I’ve had in my life? That we can’t keep our hands off each other?”
Rita’s eyes twinkle, and she smiles widely. “That’s exactly what I want to hear. I knew you and Olive would be a perfect match.”
“What do you mean you knew we would be perfect?” I ask suspiciously.
She rolls her eyes. “Why else would I let you take her letters? Come on now, you had to know that I wouldn’t just let you take someone’s letters without a reason.”
She’s right. In the back of my mind, I’ve known from the start. I knew this was a setup, and yet I did nothing to stop it. In fact, I pursued it with a single-mindedness I’ve only had with work before now. I should be angry at my aunt meddling, but I’m not. What does that say?
This isn’t the first time I’ve thought about how easily Olive fits into my life. If I could’ve picked a woman for me, someone like her would’ve been it. I just never saw the point of having a relationship before. All my past relationships, no matter how casual, they just weren’t worth the trouble. Olive isn’t any trouble at all.
In fact, the only trouble that I have is not having her with me every minute of the day. I want more of her than my schedule allows. My mind flits to the last two days when she brought lunch to my office. Best lunches I’ve had since I opened my business ten years ago. No one has ever been able to distract me from my work until Olive.
