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‘My parents argued a lot, even though they pretended that they didn’t. And my father argued a lot with Spencer.’
‘Why Spencer?’
Ben pressed his lips together. ‘They just didn’t get along.’
‘And so you tried to intervene? Keep the peace?’
‘As much as I could. I don’t think I was very successful. But yes, I tried.’
She could imagine him, a young boy desperate to keep everyone happy and never quite able to manage it. She wondered if that was why he had that wildness in him now...because he’d always had to be the stable, sane one who kept everyone else on an even keel. Maybe he’d never had a chance to truly let go.
And maybe he would with her tonight.
Ben raised his gaze to hers. ‘What about you? Were you close to someone in particular, one of your sisters?’
‘Not really,’ Olivia admitted with a frown. ‘We all had our own interests, I suppose. I wish we were closer sometimes.’ She hesitated, then added impulsively, ‘I was close to my mother, though, more so than my siblings. We were very similar. Both of us had a flair for the dramatic.’
‘Is that why you went into acting?’
‘Yes.’ More than he could ever know...than she’d ever tell him. ‘I know she’d be glad that I did.’
‘Being so close, it must have made it very hard when she died.’
‘Yes.’ Olivia felt that familiar burning in her chest. She suppressed the urge to press her hand to her chest, as if that would alleviate the pain. Nothing would. She’d lived with the loss of her mother, and her own failure in that regard, for fourteen years already. She didn’t think it would ever go away.
‘This conversation’s become rather serious all of a sudden,’ she said in as light a tone as she could manage. ‘Maybe we should talk about something else.’
‘How about the second course?’ Ben suggested. ‘And you can tell me all about this film you’re hoping to get a role in.’
He disappeared again, and Olivia took the opportunity to compose herself. She shouldn’t have mentioned her mother, yet for some reason when she spent time with Ben she started saying things. He was a good listener, but more importantly, he seemed to actually care about what she said. What she felt. It was an unusual feeling, and she had to admit she liked it. Liked feeling important to someone.
Whoa. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Fling, remember?
Yeah. Fling.
‘So this film,’ Ben said when he’d returned with two steaming plates. He put one in front of Olivia and she inhaled the delicious aroma of orange and lime. ‘Wild salmon steaks with citrus beurre blanc,’ Ben explained. ‘A bistro speciality.’
‘It looks and smells amazing.’
‘So tell me about this film.’
‘Well.’ She took a bite of the salmon, the flavours bursting and then melting on her tongue, as she marshalled her thoughts. ‘It’s a war drama, and I’m up for the lead role, the wife of a missing marine. My first lead in a major film.’
‘And when will you find out if it’s yours?’
Just thinking about this role made her nerves start to jangle. ‘Hopefully by the end of the festival. The producers wanted to see how my role in Blue Skies Forever went over, but they told my agent it’s a done deal. Well, nearly.’
‘And so you can’t afford for anything to mess it up,’ Ben surmised softly, and she let out a self-conscious laugh.
‘You mean our dating debacle, I suppose.’
‘I don’t know how much of a debacle it’s turned out to be,’ Ben answered, and Olivia felt a thrill rise up in her like a wave, crashing over her senses. So this was what it felt like to be wanted. Desired. Treasured.
Ben’s steady, approving gaze was the most powerful aphrodisiac in the world. Her throat tightened and she licked her lips before saying, ‘Ben...all the trouble you’ve taken tonight with the food, the restaurant...I really appreciate it. This has been the most incredible night of my life so far.’ She blushed at this admission, but Ben just smiled.
‘And we haven’t even got started.’
‘No, we haven’t.’ Olivia murmured her agreement, her mind dancing with images of just what getting started would look like. Feel like.
‘I love it when you blush,’ Ben told her, his voice a low, sexy rumble that stole right through her. ‘It makes me wonder if you blush all over.’
Heat scorched through her and she shifted in her seat, amazed at how quickly and easily he’d been able to ramp up the desire in her.
‘But first,’ he continued, a hint of laughter in his voice, ‘dessert.’
