“I was,” her mum huffed, then glanced up at Connor with a coy smile. “I was going to compliment the starters. They were delicious.”
Unbelievable, Olivia thought.
Ashley clearly thought so too, because she raised an eyebrow. “Mum, are you actually flirting with Connor?”
Connor chuckled and kissed her mum’s hand. “You have excellent taste.”
“Is that in men or in food?” Ashley asked drolly, but the smile slipped from her face when Paul and Melissa appeared a few feet away from them. “The bastard’s dancing there on purpose. He’s making sure I can see him.”
“Which shows how insecure he is,” Olivia stated, squeezing Ashley’s hand. “You have to ask yourself why he feels the need to do it.”
Connor frowned, his eyes jumping questioningly to Olivia’s.
“Paul is Ashley’s ex-husband,” Olivia explained. “And Melissa’s his new girlfriend.”
“Girlbeing the right word,” Ashley muttered. “I didn’t mind him bringing her, life moves on. But he didn’t have to flaunt her in front of me at our daughter’s wedding.” They watched as Paul ran his hands over Melissa’s plump and admittedly firm-looking backside. “Those wandering hands? They’re saying,Look, Ash, this is why I traded you in for a shiny new model.”
Her voice caught on the last three words, and Olivia’s heart went out to her. It was another reason to avoid relationships. First her mum, then Ashley—she’d seen firsthand how love could mold you into someone different. And devastate you, if you let it.
“Shiny and new is rarely better.” Connor’s low drawl punctured the emotional bubble.
“Well said.” Ashley squared her shoulders and cast her eyes around the room. “Maybe I should start looking for mybetter.”
Olivia felt Connor’s warm hand smooth down her lower spine. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered, lips grazing the sensitive skin behind her ear. “You look stunning, by the way,” he added, his gaze resting on hers for one brief, intense beat before he turned to Ashley. “While you’re looking for Mr. Better, how about a dance?”
Her sister’s eyes almost popped out of her head. “You want to dance? With me?” She glanced sideways at Olivia. “Okay, I know who you really want to dance with, but damn it, that isn’t going stop me gleefully saying yes and hogging you for a while.”
“I’m not going to deny I’ve got a massive crush on your sister.” He winked at Olivia. “But it doesn’t mean I don’t want to enjoy a dance with you too.”
Ashley let out a delighted chuckle. “Then what are we waiting for!”
Gratitude flushed through Olivia, so warm it felt like it was melting her from the inside, as she watched Connor effortlessly guide her short, slightly overweight forty-six-year-old sister around the floor. A dip here, a twirl there—he had her shimmying and laughing like the carefree Ashley of old.
“What a charming young man.” Olivia felt her mother’s eyes on her. “And something tells me Ashley isn’t the only one enamored with him.”
“He’s... nice.”
Her mum frowned. “Just nice?”
She could have addedconsiderate, funny, interesting, kind,andmakes my toes curl. But she’d never talked about men with her mum, and she wasn’t about to start now. Especially when the man in question was clearly all sorts of wrong for her and the only interaction she was contemplating was one involving hot sex. “Yes, Mum, he’s nice, and he’s been good to Sophie and her friends. Now let’s go and get another drink.”
Connor had danced with every female member of Olivia’s family except the one who was the reason he’d turned up tonight. Ashley had been a riot, Jessica sweet, Sophie bubbly, and Linda shy. He’d even twirled Mia around the floor, a bittersweet reminder of his own little girl back home.
But he’d see Ellie in two weeks, and regular video calls assured him she was enjoying her holiday with Amy’s parents. Horses were currently more important to her than her dad, for which he was profoundly grateful. It meant he could be selfish, focus on what he wanted for a little longer. But what, or ratherwho,he wanted was proving elusive.
He felt a hand at his waist. As he inhaled a lungful of sophisticated scent, his heart ricocheted against his ribs. “I’ve been looking for you.”
Olivia smiled, and it caught him right in the center of his chest. “Well, now you’ve found me.”
Words tumbled around in his head. Should he ask her to dance, sit down and talk, go outside and wrap those gorgeous legs around his waist while he pinned her to the wall and kissed her until she couldn’t stand...
He jolted when she pressed a light kiss on his lips. “What was that for?”
“For being sweet to Mia. She couldn’t stop giggling after you danced with her. Said you called her the Dancing Queen.” She gave him a soft smile. “I didn’t take you for a guy who’d be good with kids, especially not girls.”
Shit, was he blushing? Part of him wanted to tell her why talking to Mia was easy, but a bigger part of him didn’t want anything to put this woman off spending the next week with him. “What can I say, the female of the species seems to like me.”
“It’s certainly true for my family. Thanks to you, Ashley has started to realize she’s still a vibrant woman with a whole new chapter of her life to look forward to.” She slid him an amused look. “I didn’t miss how you accidentally bumped into Paul while the pair of you were dancing.”
