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“No,” she deadpans.
Maybe she’s Jay’s girlfriend? Does Jay have a girlfriend?
“I’m here for Ledger.” She rests a hand on her hip.
Not what I wanted to hear.
“Oh.” My eyebrows shoot to my hairline. “You’re here for Ledger?”
“Yeah. We’re longtime friends.” She tilts her head and narrows her eyes, studying me.
“I see,” I mumble, more to myself.
For my entire life, I’ve caught people in situations where they shouldn’t be. An intern in my dad’s office after hours. My mom’s best friend’s son sneaking out a window when she’s the only one home. It’s something I’m all too familiar with and it’s unsettling. This reminds me of one of those times.
“How do you know Ledger?”
How do I answer this? We never really had the talk. “We’re friends.”
“Based on the look on your face right now, I’d say you’re more than just friends.” Her hand falls to her side.
“Uh. Um. Something like that. By the way, is he here?” My heart hammers in my chest as I glance around. Something’s not right. When my gaze returns to the woman in front of me, she tilts her head to the side as if she’s trying to figure out who I am. Like I’m the one who needs a reason to be here and not the other way around.
“He stepped out but should be back shortly.”
I nod slightly. “When he comes back, tell him I stopped by.” I turn and walk away, but quickly backtrack. “Olivia. I’m Olivia.”
“I’ll tell him you stopped by Olivia.” She flashes me a smile somewhere between sweet and snarky, and it causes bile to creep up my throat.
I whirl around and smack into a hard chest. Woody, rich sandalwood with a hint a grease assaults my nose. One whiff, and I know exactly who it is.
Ledger pulls off his aviator sunglasses and hooks them into the collar of his black t-shirt.
“Son of a bitch,” we whisper at the same time, but mine’s laced with a little more venom.
TWENTY-FIVE
UNCOMPLICATE IT
Ledger
It was risky leaving Stevie alone in my garage. Even riskier that I never mentioned her to Olivia. Of course, they just so happen to meet when I leave for ten fucking minutes. When you play with fire you don’t just get burned, you go up in flames.
“Oh good. You brought breakfast. I’m famished.” Stevie saunters toward me.
Everything plays out in slow motion. Olivia turns toward Stevie and watches her every move, then her gaze sling shots to me. A storm cloud of grays and blacks brew behind her normally bright blue eyes.
I shove the bag toward Stevie. “Take it and go eat in the break room.”
Quickly, she clutches the bag to her chest before it falls to the floor. “You’re not joining me?” Her voice is sweet as she bats her eyelashes. She knows exactly what she’s doing and if it were anyone else, I would put her in her place, but I can’t with her.
“Just go,” I grit through my teeth.
“You know, I kinda want to stay here. See how this plays out.” She opens the bag and digs inside.
“Just fucking go!” I clench my fists.
“Alright. Alright. I’m going. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” She crumples the top of paper bag closed and drops it to her side. “It’s great to meet you, Olivia. Hope to see you around.” With that, Stevie sashays across the garage and down the hallway toward my office.
