AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ignore the call if it’s him.”
“I can’t ignore him.I’m paidnotto ignore him.”
“Well, maybe you and Hayden need to revisit your contract with him and insert a clause that protects your personal time.”
She gives me a pointed look.“I think you of all people can understand that personal time doesn’t always come into it when work is involved.I imagine that whatever you just did on your phone while I made your tea was for work.”
She’s got me there, and since I never want a repeat of what happened the last time I got in the middle of her and Slade, I let this go.However, my brain doesn’t let it go and I stew on it while she takes the call.
Olivia’s worked with a lot of assholes in her time and none of them have irritated me the way Slade does.I only have to see his name in the news and my chest tightens with annoyance.
I’m all the way down in this irritation when Olivia laughs at something Slade says.It’s at this point I know I’ve reached my capacity for being with her tonight.I take hold of the cup of tea she made me and stand.“I’m tired.I’m going to drink this in my room and go to bed.”
She frowns.“Okay, but—” Slade says something that pulls her focus back to the call, to which she says, “Sorry, Slade, can you give me a second?”She meets my gaze again as she shifts her phone away from her face.“This won’t take long.I want to try and massage some of those knots out of your shoulders.”
“My knots can wait.I’ll book a massage in for tomorrow.”I nod at her cell.“Don’t work too late.You need sleep too.”She likely needs it more than I do.She’s worked a million hours this week.
This earns me a smile.“Okay.Let me know what time your massage is so we can coordinate breakfast together.”
I’m in my own room fifteen minutes later when there’s a knock on my door and I find Olivia on the other side, in her pajamas, with her hair falling down over her shoulders and her glasses on.
Holding the sleep mask out to me, she says, “You forgot this.”
I take the mask while barely looking at it.That’s because I’m staring at the mint candy stripe pajama shorts she’s wearing and the cropped pink top that sits tightly against her breasts and doesn’t cover all her stomach.If I thought the sexy black dress from dinner was hell on me, I had no idea what was coming.
We’ve got ten more weddings to go and I’ve just decided I may need to cancel all of them.There’s no fucking way I’ll survive this season if I have to spend it with Olivia killing me like she has tonight.
5
OLIVIA
“Callan’s being weird this weekend,” Sasha says over cocktails at the wedding reception on Saturday.“I seriously just watched him avoid a woman who was desperately trying to give him her number.Have you two got a deal that says he can’t sleep with anyone at all the weddings this season?”
I eye my best friend who is currently at the bar talking with Rhodes and another guy.“No.”I look back at Sasha.“We didn’t discuss it but he can do whatever he wants.”
“And you can do whatever you want, right?Because if so, there’s a guy here who hasn’t taken his eyes off you and I’m pretty sure you haven’t even noticed.”
She’s right, I haven’t noticed, and that’s because the only guy here I have noticed is Callan.He’s wearing a new suit and holy hell, it should be made illegal.The way he fills out those trousers causes me to forget that breathing is a thing.
I shrug.“Sure, we can both do what we want, Sash, but I’m not really looking at the moment.”
She crosses her legs and settles in for the conversation I know she’s wanted to have for weeks.Sasha lives for romance even more than I do and is a diehard matchmaker.The idea that a woman isn’t currently looking isn’t an idea she would ever entertain.“Tell me why.It’s been a couple of months since you and Jensen broke up, and it’s not like you were heartbroken, so why the break from dating?”
I sip some of my Cosmo and glance at the twinkle lights strung above us while gathering my thoughts.I’m not entirely sure why I’ve been reluctant to put myself back out there and I know any sign of hesitation will give Sasha the in she’s looking for to take charge.I need to be clear with her that I’m not open to matchmaking right now.
Placing my glass on the table, I give her a look that I hope conveys how seriously I feel about this.“I’m not sure why I’m taking a break.I just know I need it.I’m almost thirty and all the guys I’ve dated up to now haven’t been right for me.I need a minute to assess and figure some things out.”
Rhodes walks past me to sit next to Sasha as I say this.I sense Callan slipping into the seat on my other side and turn to find him looking at me intently, like he’s wondering something about me.Sasha wasn’t wrong when she said he’s being weird today.I keep catching him watching me like this and I don’t know what to make of it.
Rhodes draws my attention when he asks, “What kinds of things do you need to figure out, Liv?”
I groan inwardly.This is the last conversation I want to have with the group.“There’s a lot to work out.Mostly, I want to narrow down exactly what I’m looking for in a man.”
“Well, I don’t think that means you need to stop dating,” Sasha says.“I think we discover things about ourselves through other people.The more guys you date, the faster you’ll learn what you do and don’t want.”
Callan makes a noise and I could swear it’s a grunt, which is odd because I’ve never heard him grunt.“The more guys she dates, the more assholes she’ll meet.”
Sasha fixes a dirty look on him while I try not to laugh.This isnotthe conversation Sasha was looking for.
