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“No. I have meetings all day, I’ll probably just eat lunch in my office.”
“Got it.”
I dropped Oliver off at the front and pulled away to park. Unsurprisingly, Chantel had more than enough tasks for me to fill my morning, and I was on the move till lunchtime.
I finally broke free of him and went to find Marina. It was past noon, but she was still at her desk in front of Daphne’s office. I nodded toward Richard and leaned over Marina’s desk.
“Hey roomie,” she grinned. “Here for your man?”
“Not today. I’m on my own for lunch - you hungry?”
“Starving.” She rolled her eyes. “But Donovan strolled into Daphne’s office about 20 minutes ago, so there’s no telling when she’ll need me to fake an escape.”
I laughed, but I knew she was serious. Donovan was the son of an executive and had quickly risen through the ranks. He did good work, and he had a good reputation with clients, but he had made it onto Marina’s list once it became clear he had a thing for Daphne.
“Fair enough. Want me to grab you something? I might just go down to the cafeteria.”
“Oooh, I wouldn’t say no to one of their buffalo wraps. But no blue cheese, that shit’s nasty.”
“Got it.”
Before I had a chance to leave, Oliver’s door opened. He paused when he saw me, then straightened his suit. He cleared his throat. “Change of plans,” he said, his eyes flicking between me and Marina. “I’m going out for lunch.”
Marina pouted at me, making sure her head was turned far enough away that Oliver couldn’t see. “I’ll fend for myself then.”
“Sorry,” I tried to apologize, but she just waved me away.
“Maybe I’ll make up a lunch date to shoo Donovan off.”
“Ben,” Oliver called, already halfway to the door, and I followed, like the loyal dog I was.
“Where are we heading?” I asked as I unlocked the car.
Oliver didn’t answer, so I asked again as I slid into the front seat. “Oliver?”
I waited for the back door to open, but it didn’t. Instead, he opened the passenger seat.
I was too shocked to say anything, but he beat me to it. “What’s your favorite pizza place near here?” he asked, buckling his seatbelt.
“Uh, I’m not sure.”
He was so close to me that I couldn’t focus. We had had sex and had been as close as two people could be, but this was different. He had never sat beside me like this before, and my heart was pounding so fast I could feel it beating as I gripped the steering wheel.
After another few seconds of silence, I tried a different approach. “I know a good sushi place, though.”
“Let’s go there.”
A million thoughts were crisscrossing through my mind, but I held them back. “Alright.”
It wasn’t unusual for our car rides to be quiet, but this time there was a tension that hung in the air. He consumed my mind, and it took all my focus to remember the way to the restaurant.
There was a small furrow between his brows as he gazed out the window, watching people walk by. Traffic was slow-moving in the middle of the lunch hour, but he didn’t complain.
We were only a few blocks from the restaurant when he spoke again. “You should just move in with me,” he said. “Until your apartment is fixed.”
I almost hit a pedestrian, but I didn’t think Oliver noticed. “Why?”
“Why? Why are you staying with Marina in the first place? You’ve been late two days in a row, and I don’t pay you to be late.”
