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“Your arms. You do that when you get defensive.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.” He sighed. “I wish you would relax. I’m not going to hurt you. And, I’m not breaking up with you.”
“But the way you left the other night and I hadn’t heard from you, I thought…”
He stood up, walked over, lowered her arms and took her hands in his. “As much as I want to make love to you, I don’t think you’re ready. I think the other night things may have gotten out of control.” He was delivering his speech perfectly. He almost believed the crap he was telling her.
He did want to sleep with her, but not because he cared about her. He was attracted to her, but his desire to sleep with her was for control. When they finally made love, it would be on Olivia’s terms. Then she’d be his, and willing to do whatever he asked of her, or didn’t.
“So, you’re fine waiting?” She looked surprised.
“Not really,” he smiled, “but I will.”
She pulled his face close. “I respect your honesty.” She gently kissed him. “Thank you.” Maybe Eric was worth changing for.
Chapter 12
Olivia couldn’t believe how well things were going with Eric. For the first time in quite a while, she was excited about her boyfriend. They weren’t trying to be discrete. They just didn’t frequent places where most of her friends went. She spent her days with her charity work, visiting with Mr. Wilson, and doing a little marketing for her father. He was expanding into the south and needed her help with the promotion.
Olivia was considered a consultant, which meant she could work from home. Three days a week she worked from home, and every other Monday morning she met with her father at his office. Only David Bennett would use Sunday family time as a business meeting. After church, she and her parents had brunch, which turned into a mini staff meeting.
She had been contemplating inviting Eric to church and Sunday brunch, but she wasn’t sure it was time to subject him to her father. She’d introduced him to her mother a few weeks ago, and he passed with high marks. Meeting her father was a whole other challenge. Instead, she called her friend DeeDee. A double date would be perfect. DeeDee and Mike were the kind of couple she wanted she and Eric to be. She hoped spending time with them would sort of push Eric to take their relationship to the next phase.
She had always wanted to get married, but there wasn’t anyone she really wanted to get married to. Apart from her two near misses, there hadn’t been anyone else. Truthfully, she was too scared to bring up the subject. She didn’t want to scare Eric. She knew she was already asking a lot of him by not sleeping with him. She felt that if she wanted the kind of relationship DeeDee and Mike had, she was going to have to make a few adjustments. That meant no more using men just because they were using her. And, really taking her commitment to God seriously.
She looked at the clock on her phone. Her lunch date was late, which was strange. DeeDee Matthews was never late. If anything, she was usually the one sitting and waiting on Olivia. She looked around the restaurant, trying not to be noticed. She sipped her wine, and when she put her glass back on the table, she got a surprise.
“Got a hot date?”
She almost choked. “Hi.” Her smile covered her face. “What are you doing here?” He kissed her lightly on the lips.
“I was having lunch with a colleague. What about you?”
“I’m meeting a friend.”
“A friend?” Eric smiled.
“Yes.”
He looked around the restaurant at the nosey eyes observing their exchange. “How much longer are you going to let me stand here?”
“I’m sorry. Please,” she extended her hand toward the empty chair across from her.
“I didn’t mean to intrude…”
“You didn’t. I’m just surprised to see you here.”
He looked around the restaurant. “It’s really not my kind of place.”
She was finding it hard not to fidget. Her nervousness around Eric had gotten better, but there was still something about him that made her feel like a giddy school girl.
“No, it isn’t.” He looked at her, smiling. They rarely ate uptown. He liked having uptown clients, because he preferred a more relaxed atmosphere. He noticed all of the people watching them. All of this attention and scrutiny wasn’t his style. He ignored the prying eyes and tried to keep his hands to himself. “Do you want to have dinner in tonight? You can come over to my place and I’ll order in.”
She looked up and saw DeeDee walking towards the table. “That might be nice.”
“Or, we can go old school and do burgers and a movie.”
