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Olivia placed her drink down on her dresser and quickly stepped into the bathroom. She sprayed her favorite perfume onto her wrist and collarbone before putting her favorite necklace on that said ‘Ally’. Flicking her eyes over her face in the mirror, she supposed she looked presentable before walking back into her bedroom.
Her eyes roamed to her closet, and the money hidden inside.
Eying the bedroom door, Olivia called out, “One second, Colin,” as she hurriedly took the shoebox down. She removed a one-hundred-dollar bill and silently asked Allison to forgive her. She just couldn’t let herself go out with a stranger with no back up-just in case. Silently promising to put it back if she didn’t need it, she replaced the box back under its home of scarves.
Turning, she closed her closet door and shoved the money in her purse before walking back out into the main area with her wine. Sipping it slowly as she went. She moaned a little in appreciation as wine was a knocker.
Colin was still leaning against the counter, patiently watching her with his arms folded as he sipped from the glass she gave him. She cursed to herself at how attractive she found him. Colin had a dangerous aura that perplexed her, and she contemplated why it was so alluring.
“Thank you for waiting, Colin. This is seriously amazing wine. What kind is it?” she asked as she rounded the corner back into the kitchen and looked at the wine bottle, smiling slightly.
She ignored the feel of his intense stare on her face. Colin's nostrils flared suddenly as he picked up on her scent and her cheeks reddened in response.
“Tignanello, 2016,” he stated quickly, his voice slightly deeper than before. “An Italian wine, I’m so pleased you enjoy it. It’s my favorite, gotta love a beautiful bold red,” he said to her pointedly, his eyes flickering to her hair as sipped his wine some more, groaning appreciatively at the flavor.
Her eyebrow arched at the obvious parallel he made between her and the wine.
Colin ignored her surprised expression at his bold words. He turned to point his glass towards the small living room. “What’s the story behind that?” he asked curiously as he turned back to face her.
His eyes bored into hers curiously.
Confused, Olivia scrunched her eyebrows before craning her neck to look behind him, only to see her worktable that sat across from a lamp and sofa. She didn’t even have a television.
“Oh, I don’t have a dining table,” she said, misunderstanding him, she shrugged her shoulder. “The space really isn’t big enough-“
“No, I’m talking about the blueprints on the worktable over there. What are they? They look important. Are you building something?” Colin inquired, curiously.
His gaze met hers once more, making her freeze in place.
Olivia’s hand stilled on her cup as something confusing hit her coiling hot in her belly. She attempted to ignore it and concentrate on what he was saying, he was just so damn handsome she couldn’t manage it. She felt like she couldn’t breathe around him, like there just wasn’t enough oxygen for the both of them inside her little apartment and for some reason it was all being allocated to him instead of her.
“Oh,” Olivia paused, she pursed her lips slightly as she cradled her wine in her hand. Wondering if she wanted to share this piece of herself with him.
She turned and walked to the worktable slowly, feeling him following behind her. They stood side by side, seeing the blueprints and the architectural measuring and drawing tools spread next to them. Nervous, she reached forward and straightened a slightly crooked straight ruler before clearing her throat.
“There’s not much of a story. I used to be in architectural school at Rhode Island School of Design, and this was one of the last projects I was able to complete before being forced to drop out. I kept it because I loved it, for the memories. I always thought I’d end up building it for myself to live in. But my career didn’t exactly turn out the way I wanted it to,” she said, finishing the wine and turning to him. She took a slight step back when she realized just how close he was to her. His arm was almost touching hers.
Colin’s eyes looked at her with more than curiosity, and her eyes widened slightly in response.
I'm not used to being seen, she thought sadly.
He smiled as his eyes flicked to her lips momentarily, causing her to wet her lips with her tongue. Colin’s nostrils flared again at her movement, and his eyes slid from her face as he smoothly turned his attention back to the blueprints.
Olivia took another miniscule step back, desperately trying to put more space between herself and this man. They were obviously attracted to each other. And Olivia wasn’t sure if she was up to dating, much less dating a charismatic man such as Colin. His energy was a lot to deal with, it saturated her and stole her senses. And she needed all her senses intact.
“This is beautiful work Olivia, you must be incredibly smart, you're most certainly wonderfully talented,” Colin praised in his deep voice, caressing over her skin with its smoothness.
Olivia felt herself break out in goosebumps; her breath hitched slightly as he moved over her designs. He’d leaned forward and put a hand down that wasn’t holding his wine, his fingertips spread over the paper momentarily before he caressed it confidently.
Watching his slow movements, she swallowed hard observing that Colin oozed unadulterated confidence. She found herself inching closer instead of away, drawn into his aura, wanting to take some of it for herself.
“Thank you, that’s a very nice compliment,” Olivia murmured, her eyes flickering around the room as she desperately tried to pull herself together. She felt like a thread had come loose and he was slowly starting to unravel it. Her arm burned as she gripped her ribs tighter, digging her fingertips in, needing to ground herself.
“The master bedroom is my favorite spot in the home. The way you’ve drawn this makes an already intimate space seem more so. Almost like you designed the house around the bedroom,” Colin mused almost thoughtfully.
His eyes followed her measurements, taking in how some rooms required more and what didn’t. “The spare bedrooms are so far from the main one. I wonder what made you have that idea? It’s rather unusual. I wonder the reasoning as to the extreme privacy,” he enquired again, that smooth voice feeling like it was caressing straight into the center of her brain. His head tilted as he looked down at her, expecting a reply.
She bit her lip before taking another sip of her wine.
