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“Everything you’re doing, it’s taking me a second to get used to. Okay? I don’t . . . I mean, I’m not used to this. I’m not trying to be rude, but I’m being honest. When you bought that winery for me, yeah, it showed me how serious and passionate you are, but Finn . . .” Olivia pauses, and I take this opportunity to speak up.
“Let me guess, it was a bit overboard?”
Olivia immediately looks like the weight of the world’s been taken off her shoulders. “Yeah, and it’s not that I’m not appreciative. I am, it was so thoughtful, but it freaked me out a bit because this is moving quickly.”
Nodding, I understand where she’s coming from. “I would apologize, but I won’t. What I will do, however, is tell you I’m trying to do what I can to prove I’m not a bad man, and showering you with gifts is one way I think I can prove it to you.”
“You don’t have to shower me with gifts to prove you have a good heart,” Olivia states, taking a sip of her ice water.
For a while Olivia and I talk about random things, such as what she likes to do and about what I do for fun. By the second drink, the two of us are laughing and she seems to be having a good time, loosening up quite a bit.
A strand of her hair comes loose. I reach out slowly and tuck it behind her ear. Our eyes connect and she seems to be holding her breath.
“Fuck it. I . . . I want you, Olivia,” I murmur cautiously. “I’ve wanted you as mine from the first time I realized you were becoming a woman.”
“You don’t have to say things like this to me, Finn. We’re already getting married. You don’t have to pretend there’s more to this. We’re getting to know each other and—” Her words gut me.
“I’m not pretending, Olivia. I’ve never lied to you about wanting you. I remember the day I realized it, you were seventeen and came into your brother’s office while we were meeting, without a care in the world, smiling brightly and asked him if he had any work for you to do. You were wearing a bright pink summer dress that complemented you in every way. Fuck, it’s the first time I noticed you had a nice rack and I had to pull myself back ‘cause you were still a young lady. So, I kept my distance. If I thought I had a chance when you turned eighteen, I would have taken it, but I’m a smart man and decided you needed time to live a little. That doesn’t mean I didn’t think of you. There was no competition in who I would pick when I found out I had to marry one of the DeLancy daughters.”
And I mean it. There’s no way I could pick one of the other two.
I move my chair closer to Olivia and take her hand in mine. “Why don’t we finish these and get out of here?” I suggest. I know she’s not ready for anything to happen between us, but I do hope she’ll allow me to hold her in my arms for a while and to kiss those melon-tinted lips of hers. I’m sure it’s lip gloss, but fuck if it doesn’t look damn good on her.
Even if neither happens, I know one thing, I’ll never take her choice from her in this regard. Not when I’ve already taken so much from her already.
