With movements he’d choreographed as a cocky nineteen-year-old, he rolled the cocktail shaker down his arm and neatly caught it, all while giving his hips a few thrusts. When cheers went up, he set the shaker down on the bar, grabbed a bottle of vodka, threw it into the air, caught it with his other hand, and poured it into the shaker. Enjoying himself now, he repeated the action with the rest of the ingredients. It had been years since he’d put on the moves. That teenage verve, the desire to impress the opposite sex, had disappeared under the weight of nappies and nights of broken sleep.
After throwing and catching five glasses, he slid them onto the bar and poured out the cocktail as Sophie and her friends whistled and clapped their hands.
Unable to help himself, he glanced at Olivia. A small smile played around her mouth. Daring him to make another move?
If so, challenge accepted.
Chapter 4
Olivia pressed a hand to her chest, certain she was on fire. Nope, no flames. Just skin that was really, really hot. She was nearly forty, for God’s sake. Watching some young guy mix cocktails in front of her shouldn’t make her this flustered.
But the sensuous way he moved that big body was impossible to ignore.
With fingers she couldn’t help but notice were long and verymasculine, Connor popped daft little umbrellas into the glasses, shooting her a look that sent the butterflies in her belly flapping like overenthusiastic cheerleaders. Ruddy hell, couldn’t they see how wrong he was for her?But wrong could be right for a holiday fling.
“Oh my God.” Beside her, Jessica looked decidedly flushed. “I’m a happily married pregnant woman but that man in those chef’s whites is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Ashley let out a raspy noise that sounded like agreement. For once, she seemed to have lost her voice.
“You’re considering it, aren’t you?”
Olivia dragged her attention away from Connor and over to her smirking middle sister. “Of course not.”
“Then why do you keep staring at him?”
She forced her eyes to stay away. “I don’t.”
“Jesus, Liv, you have to tap that.” Ashley finally found her voice. “If you don’t, you’ll regret it forever.”
Connor slid the glasses over to Sophie and her friends, and Olivia’s gaze tracked the corded veins on his forearm where he’d rolled up his sleeves. She swallowed a large gulp of champagne. “What on earth would we talk about?”
Ashley burst out laughing. “You won’t be talking, you muppet.”
His eyes met hers, a flash of brilliant blue, and his crooked smile sent her heart cartwheeling in her chest. Like it was sixteen and had forgotten all about being mature and sensible.
Luckily the moment was broken by the arrival of four guys in the lounge. She took one look at them and knew instantly what they were here for. “I need to go to the loo.”
“Oh no.” Ashley gripped her arm. “You think, as your big sister, I haven’t wised up to you? You’re staying. And you’re enjoying yourself.”
“I’ll stay,” she grumbled. “Beyond that, no promises.”
One of the guys set a music system on the floor. When he pressed play, they all strutted farther into the room. Olivia stepped back toward the terrace, more than happy for Sophie and her friends to take the front row as the group began their act, thrusting their hips out like they were in some cheap porno.
Of its own volition, her gaze swung to the man behind the bar, currently laughing with one of the hotel staff who’d come to replenish supplies. Untidy brown hair as if he’d just tumbled out of bed, straps around his wrists like some rock star, tall frame, and broad shoulders that wouldn’t have been out of place sauntering along Bondi Beach, a surfboard under his arm. Then there was the surprise, a crisp white chef’s jacket that should not scream sexy... but on him somehow did.
It made the four men currently whipping off their shirts look like they were trying too hard.
Her stomach dropped as those same four men held out their hands, inviting their audience to dance. Olivia edged farther back, but her movement caught the eye of the one on the right and he ambled toward her.
“Go on, Liv.” Ashley and Jessica practically shoved her into his arms.
Irritation, resentment... it simmered inside her. This might be fun for them and for Sophie and her friends, but it wasn’t fun forher. She got her kicks from staring down a room of arrogant male coworkers, from digesting numbers and charts and ultimately seeing her fund outperform. She wasn’t wired to enjoy this.
“Relax, sweetheart.” The man currently thrusting his hips at her looked confused. “I won’t bite.”
Screams from her left made her whip her head around. Nicole was cheering on one of the guys as he undulated on the floor; Chloe, face wreathed in a giant smile, was sitting on a chair with one of the dancers leaning over her, giving her what Olivia presumed was a lap dance.
Her insides shriveled. “I’m not doing that.”
