They both turned with a start to find Connor, looking totally out of place in his jeans and battered leather jacket, staring at the Savile Row–suited Stuart like he wanted to physically manhandle him out of the office. And was a second away from doing it.
Stuart’s hand, which she’d not noticed, dropped from her arm.
“Connor?” Her brain scrambled to make sense of the sight of him in her workplace. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine.” He nodded stiffly toward Stuart. “I want a word with him.”
Oh, no. No, no,no. Embarrassment scorched through her. “Whatever it is you want to say needs to remain in your head.”
“But Connor has come all the way here,” Stuart interjected smoothly, eyes glimmering with amusement. “It’s only polite to give him an opportunity to say what he came to say.”
He indicated the now-empty meeting room, and Connor strode in, big shoulders barely fitting through the doorway.
Unable to believe this was happening, Olivia followed them inside and closed the door. When Connor turned to her in confusion, she pierced him with a look. “You’re going to do it in front of me or not at all,” she said tightly, angry at him for putting her in the position of providing entertainment for Stuart.
“Fine.” Connor turned to face Stuart, shoulders set, face stony, his five-inch height advantage magnified by the small meeting room. “I know Livvy can defend herself.” His voice was low, controlled, but laced with steel. “I also know she’s going to hate me doing this, but the last bit of bullshit you said to her involved me, so I’m here to put you straight.Itake care of my daughter.” He pointed to his chest. “Not Livvy but me. And neither me nor my daughter will ever get in the way of Livvy’s career, so you need to cut the crap and try and beat her fair and square.” He let out a humorless laugh. “I’m guessing you know you can’t do that, hence the bullshit.”
Just as he finished, there was a tap on the door. Meera gave her a wide-eyed stare through the glass. Meera and, right behind her, Sally, Simon’s PA.
“We’re being watched.” Olivia drew a shaky breath. “Connor, you need to get out of here, now. I’ll walk you down.”
He exhaled heavily, stalked to the door, and pulled it open.
“Hi, I’m Meera, Olivia’s friend.” She gaped at him like he was something from another planet. “And you are?”
“Connor.” He gave her an ironic smile. “I was the boyfriend. Not sure that’s still applicable.”
Jaw clenched, his movements stiff, he stepped into the corridor, Stuart behind him. Olivia went to follow them but Meera grabbed her arm and pushed her back into the room. “Please tell me the drop-dead sexy guy in the leather jacket who’s currently giving off so much testosterone my ovaries are weeping came to beat up Stuart.”
Olivia wasn’t in the mood to smile. “Worse. He came to tell Stuart off.”
“Wow. Just—wow.” Meera patted her heart. “The man has your back. That’s so romantic.”
“What’s romantic about a man thinking he needs to rescue me?” She was too angry to listen to her friend right now. Too embarrassed. “Please excuse me. I’m about to have a very ugly conversation.”
Clearly not put off by her bad mood, Meera waggled her eyebrows. “Can I watch? Pretty please?”
“Whose side are you on?”
Her friend didn’t miss a beat. “His.”
“Then no.”
Olivia brushed past the now-pouting Meera and darted into the corridor. Connor was leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets. When he saw her, he stood up straight.
“Hi.” His low drawl still whipped the butterflies in her belly into a frenzy, despite how cross she was with him.
“Let’s take this outside.”
Tension hummed between them as she called for the lift. “You shouldn’t have come here,” she muttered as they stepped inside.
He nodded. “Figured you wouldn’t be happy.”
“Yet youcame anyway?”
“Looks like it.”
He was so unruffled, it irked her even more. She was the one who prided herself on calm. The lift pinged, the doors opened, and she stormed across the foyer, all too aware of him walking unhurriedly beside her, one of his long strides to two of hers. The moment they were outside, she whirled around to face him. “I don’t need you fighting my battles.”
