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I met Audrey at the Carriage House, just like all the others and she was a poor man’s version of Eva. Audrey was pretty enough, with dark brown hair and light brown eyes, curves that were on the plumper side and a beautiful smile that she was too shy to show off. “Sorry, what did you say?”
She sighed, obviously annoyed at my distracted state. “I said, what kind of topics do you cover in your podcast? I listen to a true crime podcast and one about hiking. I love to hike.”
She’d mentioned that once before, at least I thought she had. It was hard to tell when I couldn’t take my eyes off Eva, with her head tossed back and laughing with her whole body at something the big, bearded bartender had whispered to her. “Hiking isn’t really my thing, but I’ve done a few impressive trails,” I told her and really tried to give her my full attention, but Eva had on skintight jeans and a sexy cashmere sweater that showed off the tiny dipped-in waist she usually hid from the world. She teased me and my hands itched to slide across that little strip of honey brown skin. “My podcast is called Your Best Bachelor, it’s all about avoiding relationships.”
Audrey laughed until it became clear I wasn’t joking. “So, what is this? Some kind of social experiment?”
I shrugged. “You could say that. Or maybe I’m just trying hard to change my ways.”
“Are you?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Right.” Audrey pushed her red wine away and dropped her napkin on the table with a frustrated grunt. “You know what, Oliver March? You are an asshole. You’re gorgeous and you say all the right words, do all the right things, but only when you want to. You’re rude, and you couldn’t even manage polite, civil conversation, and why? Because I’m hideous or horrible? No. Just because you aren’t interested, I don’t deserve basic human kindness. Well… fuck you, Oliver March. Fuck you very much!” The way Audrey stormed off would have been impressive, if it hadn’t turned all eyes in the bar my way. And she stopped at the door with a wicked glint in her light brown eyes. “Good luck dating twenty-year-olds until you start losing your hair. Asshole!” With a final wave, she was gone.
Goodbye, Audrey, and good riddance.
“I guess that’s what intentional sabotage looks like.” Eva didn’t sound amused like I thought she would, she sounded upset. Genuinely upset.
And that made me upset. How in the hell could she expect that I would take these dates seriously after what had happened with us? “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, Oliver, I’m not kidding. You were rude to her.”
“I was rude to… unbelievable!” My hand wrapped around Eva’s arm and I pulled her out of the bar and around the side to the garden that was closed for renovations. “You cannot seriously be this callous or clueless, can you?”
Eva yanked out of my grasp and tried to step away, finding herself stuck between the stone wall and my imposing glare. “Don’t you dare yell at me, I’m not the one who just acted like a giant jerk for no reason at all!” She pushed at my chest, her own anger rising. “And don’t ever manhandle me!”
“You think I should actually take that woman seriously after the day we spent together? What is wrong with you, woman!” This, right here, was exactly why I kept my relationships simple. Uncomplicated. It was hard to get all tangled up like this when you kept things simple.
Eva’s gray eyes swam with confusion, like she really didn’t get why I was so damn upset. She swallowed hard around the lump that seemed to form in her throat, looking around the empty parking lot nervously. “Yes. Why not?”
“Why not?” The question came out on a disbelieving growl and I couldn’t be sure if Eva was trying to make me go crazy, or if I was already there. “You make me so damn angry sometimes, Eva! I could just… ugh!” I grabbed her shoulders and yanked her body flush against mine, slamming my lips down on hers with all the energy and passion that had been building all night as I’d watched her flirt with the bartender. Right there, up against the wall of The Mayflower, I kissed Eva long and slow and hard. I put my whole body into that kiss so that this frustrating woman would know how much she had me all twisted up.
I kissed her until the flames touched us both, until we were both on the verge of losing control, right there in the most public place in all of Pilgrim. Masculine pride swelled at the thought that I could make this woman, usually so uptight and in control, lose all sense of herself. But this was a small town and no matter how those sweet hips ground against me, I would do no more than push my hips back, make her gasp with pleasure and the tiny growls that sounded deep in her throat. Delicate fingers twirled through the locks of my hair, silently asking, no, begging for more.
