Despite the smart suit that probably cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, Oliver looked so far removed from her idea of one of the world’s richest men. He was less confident here, hungover, his demeanour slightly crumpled. Seeing him like this, his defences down, human, made her shift a little in her seat.An eligible bachelor,her brain added all by itself. She put her cup on the table. ‘I can listen.’
He shook his head quickly. ‘No. There’s no point.’
‘What d’you mean, there’s no point?’
‘I’ll just end up sounding like the selfish asshole I am and you don’t need that hassle.’
‘I don’t like people making judgement calls for me.’ She sniffed.
‘No?’
‘I thought I’d made that clear last night.’
‘When I insulted your wish.’
‘I’m over that. I thought I made that clear too.’
She swallowed. Despite his dishevelled appearance and the fact he reeked of booze, she was dipping her toe into dangerous waters here. The memory of their kiss in the snow was pushing its way into her frontal lobe. If she let her brain pull her back to that place, she could still recall the texture of his lips on hers, the weight and urgency of his mouth…
‘My mother’s dating.’ He nodded. ‘My father’s best friend.’
‘A littleDear Deirdre,I guess.’
‘It’s been over a year. Things move on.’
‘But it doesn’t sound like you’re happy about it.’
‘It isn’t about her moving on necessarily. It’s who it’s with.’
She watched him grit his teeth and rock forward on the sofa.
‘And I know how that sounds. Like I’m a kid with issues,’ he added.
Hayley held her hands up. ‘I wish my mother would date anyone, just to stop her watching gardening programmes. No judgement here.’
‘Andrew Regis was my father’s best friend since school,’ Oliver began. ‘We’ve been in discussions about Drummond Global taking over his company and now I know why.’
‘You think it’s because he’s dating your mother?’
‘Yeah I think that.’ He reached for the coffee pot with a shaking hand. ‘And I’m also thinking a lot of other stuff too. Like what are his other motives for this merger. Like whether this relationship started before or after my father died.’
‘Oh, Oliver,’ Hayley said. She watched him pour himself a coffee then warm his hands with the mug.
‘Don’t sympathise. A counsellor would just sit and listen and quietly think about bringing the appointment to an end as soon as was reasonable.’
‘Shall I yawn and look at my watch?’ she suggested.
She saw him smile. ‘That might work,’ he replied.
‘So have you spoken to your mum about it?’
He shook his head. ‘There’s other things going on with us right now.’
‘Like what?’
‘You’re good at this.’
‘Good at what? Conversation? Yeah, I have to admit I do like to talk. Particularly that last word.’
