AllFreeNovel
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It’s late, and I’m exhausted. I’m also very aware of how few hours remain of my time in New York. Oliver and I haven’t had a chance to talk alone since our dance was interrupted. The rest of the night was spent conversing with what’s become a blur of names and faces in my mind. For someone who claims to hate attending parties and socializing, he’s awfully good at both.
I kick off my heels, stretching the arches of my feet. Oliver’s head tilts in my direction, tracking the movement. I’m tipsy, and I think he’s buzzed too. Every time I saw him standing in the center of a group of men who were hanging on to his every word, he had a glass in hand.
The limo rolls through the city streets slowly, the lanes crowded even at this late hour.
“I haven’t been in a limo since senior prom.”
When I glance over at Oliver, he’s looking at me. “Who’d you go with?”
“A group of friends.”
One eyebrow rises. “No guys asked you?”
“They did. I just didn’t want to go with any of them.”
“I should probably find those high standards flattering.”
“Who’dyougo to prom with?”
“I didn’t go,” he replies.
“Did a girl turn you down?”
He scoffs. “No. I didn’t see the point in going.”
If I ever meet Arthur Kensington, I would hand him a parenting book. He did a number on Oliver. On both his sons.
“The point isfun, Oliver.”
“It only would have beenfunif we’d gone to high school together.”
I tuck my feet under the silk of my dress and roll my head toward him. These leather seats feel like sitting on a cloud. “You would have asked me?”
“Of course.” He says it like there’s no other possible answer, and for some reason I believe him.
Warmth unfurls in the center of my chest, flooding me with an intense affection I’m scared to name.
I don’t drop his gaze, feeling around for the buckle of my seatbelt. The quietsnapof the belt releasing sounds loud, in the silence between us.
Shadows pass across his face as I crawl into his lap, the flashing lights of the cars and buildings we pass disappearing as quickly as they appear. Then the car stops, either at a red light or stuck in heavier traffic, and I can see Oliver’s expression perfectly.
He’s staring at me like he never wants to look at anything else.
All night, I saw him schmooze. Watched him be charming and intimidating and serious, all at once.
I knew it was a mask. I’ve seen past the polished tycoon act he portrayed all night. And it feels like even more of a privilege, after witnessing him in his world tonight. Knowing none of those people get to see his real smile or hear his real laugh or experience the potent sensation of his undivided attention.
His hands slip beneath the fabric of my dress that’s fanning out around us, settling on my calves.
The car begins moving again. I shift on his lap, not prepared for the motion, and his grip on my legs tightens.
“Hannah…”
I rest my forehead against his, inhaling his scent. “Can you be quiet?” I whisper.
“Can you?”
I kiss him. It’s messy and urgent and heady, sending pulses of arousal through my entire body. Oliver called himself boring, but I’m more daring around him than I’ve ever been with anyone else.
