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Not now.
Definitely not now.
By the time the evening was over, my nerves were frayed and I was completely exhausted, all of my energy focused on avoiding Liam rather than paying clients. With a tight smile, I accepted all the match requests and promised to be in touch before the week was over.
“Thanks for coming out ladies and gentlemen. Have a good night!”
Eva and Sophie stood by the door with warm smiles, making sure to watch everyone leave before we were, officially, off the clock. Eva turned with a half smile and made a beeline to the bar. “Paloma with a double shot of tequila, please and thanks,” she said before collapsing dramatically on the bar.
I took a seat and grumbled out loud as I looked at the date requests. Four of the nine women wanted a date…with Liam. “Of course they do.” He was a desirable man, at least until you got to know him.
“Olive. Can we talk now?”
I looked up at Liam and then back to the stack of papers in front of me. “What part of work do you not understand?”
“It’s paperwork,” he said derisively.
“I’m sorry that I don’t jump out of helicopters and protect rich people from their own stupidity, but it’s my career and it matters. To me.” I smacked the table and stood, my glare turning to a narrow eyed stare. “We have nothing to talk about and certainly not now. When I’m ready to talk, I will let you know.”
“Not good enough,” he growled and held my arm.
I looked at his grip and the way it dented the flesh in my arm and ripped it away. “Keep your hands off me!”
“Everything all right Olive?” Sage, the main bartender at Carriage House glared across the bar, letting me know he’d intervene if I needed him to.
“Yeah Sage, just some guy who ghosted on me and now he’s pissed I’m doing the same.”
Sage’s lips twitched and he pushed off the bar. “All right. Keep your hands to yourself, Reyes.”
“Yeah Reyes.” Sophie crossed her arms and glared at Liam, letting him know that he couldn’t bully me and get away with it. “Hands to yourself.”
“Fine, but we will have that talk,” he warned.
I lifted my chin in the air. “Yes we will. When I’m ready.” With all the dignity I could muster, I scooped up my papers and walked away. With my head held high.LiamThis was getting ridiculous. No, it had already moved well beyond ridiculous and right into the real of un-damn-believable. I’d had enough of Olive’s games and I was done playing them. “I want to see Olive. Now.”
The pretty receptionist flashed her most patient smile as she stood. “And I told you that Ms. Jensen is unavailable at the moment.”
“Make her available.”
Kendra folded her arms and glared at me. “Oh sure. I’ll just run right into the bathroom and interrupt her third puke session of the day and tell her that Liam wants to talk. Finally.” Sarcasm was evident in every syllable, but she gave me a disgusted look just in case I wasn’t totally sure what she thought of me.
“Is she all right?”
“Suddenly you care?”
Okay that was fair. It was annoying as hell, but it was also fair. “I do.”
“Then maybe try, I don’t know, acting like it. Take a seat, Olive will come out when she can.”
I nodded, knowing when I was beat, and took a seat. “Fine. You win.”
Kendra said nothing as she turned her attention back to the slim computer on her desk, fingers clicking furiously. She went about her business, answering calls and making appointments and she did it all with a smile, occasionally casting an angry glare my way.
“Kendra, what was all that…oh,” Olive said when her gaze fell on me. “Here to find your perfect match?”
“No,” I told her on a sigh and stood, closing some of the feet that separated us. “I’m here to see you. To talk to you, actually.”
Green eyes studied me carefully, trying to figure me out or maybe it was my motivation she was uncertain about. Either way, I stood still and let her look her fill, let her figure out what she needed to. “Whatever. Fine. You want to talk? Talk.”
Kendra was the only person around but I wasn’t naïve enough to think Sophie and Eva weren’t listening in somewhere, waiting to pounce if I gave them the chance. “Can we go somewhere a little more private?”
She barked out a laugh. “You came to my office to talk Liam. Talk.”
If she wanted to play it this way, I would do things her way. “When were you going to get around to telling me about the baby?”
Olive folded her arms, drawing my attention to the swell of cleavage peeking from her gray dress. “Well, let’s see. That was the reason for my first call, and the second. And the twentieth. And the forty-third call. And all fifty odd text messages. That’s what I wanted Liam, to tell you that I’m pregnant. Wanna know why you didn’t know until this moment? Because you never bothered to call me back!” She shook her head, silky black hair practically vibrating with the anger directed at me. “Now that you know, you can go away because I have neither the time nor the energy to deal with you.”
