Chapter 3 #2
Olivia didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye before Alice was off the phone and onto her book.
That was her friend, completely in the zone when she wanted to be even if she was a distraction from Olivia’s work at the same time.
It was okay, though, because her watch buzzed at that moment, reminding her to move.
Her job required her to sit for long periods of time, staring at a computer—and ruining her body in the process.
She would just go for a walk, clear her head, and then come back to finish up the end.
If she focused, she could finish today and get the book out well ahead of time.
That was always her favorite thing to do, but she also did her best not to get authors used to that in case she got behind, or the book took longer than expected.
The latter usually happened with fantasy books because the world was so vivid she either got lost in it or had to break it apart to make sure it flowed.
She loved it, but it was even more of a headache than the one currently running rampant through her brain.
After making sure she’d hit save one more time on her project, she closed her laptop and went to her bedroom to find her shoes.
Since she was already wearing leggings and a tank, she was pretty much always ready to work out.
Not that she wore them for that reason, but the practicality of not having to change was nice.
She couldn’t run in the bra she was wearing, but with the size of her breasts, it took two sports bras at a minimum to keep herself from bruising her chin.
She was pretty sure it had happened once, and explaining boob strain and bruised chins to people wasn’t something she ever wanted to do.
Not again.
She pulled on a light jacket and made her way outside, putting in her headphones so she could listen to an audiobook rather than hearing the sound of her feet hitting the pavement.
If she had to listen to that, then she wouldn’t walk, and she’d end up lazing about, working and slowly growing horizontally.
If she were ever to run—something she only did when she contemplated the zombie apocalypse and reminded herself that she needed to at least be fast enough to outrun them—she had to put on loud music rather than a book.
Olivia was a little kooky, but she was fine with that.
She’d long since realized she’d be the crazy cat lady living alone as she worked at home.
She just needed a cat—something she was going to do soon, but she hadn’t found the right one at the shelter yet.
Plus, she was still getting over losing her other cat last year and didn’t want to bring about change so quickly.
And now she was walking quickly and blinking away tears while trying not to think of her cat or Derek.
She was officially losing her mind.
With a deep breath, she focused on her audiobook while making her one-mile trip around the neighborhood. Any more than that, and she got bored, so she took more than one walk a day. How she’d become so neurotic, she didn’t know, but it worked for her.
On her last leg, she passed her neighbor’s house and smiled, waving as Sierra Montgomery got into her SUV with her two sons, Leif and Colin.
Leif was as tall as Sierra now, and Olivia wasn’t sure how that had happened.
She’d been living next to Sierra’s husband, Austin, for years, even before he met and married Sierra and before Leif, his son from a previous relationship, had shown up.
She didn’t know the whole story as it wasn’t her business, but she knew the family was a loving one.
She also knew that Austin had like seven siblings who were all married and most had kids of their own.
Sometimes, Austin had the entire crew over for a family event, and Sierra would always come over with leftovers or even a whole cake, apologizing for the noise.
Olivia never minded since everyone was always nice to her and they were never loud after nine at night.
She’d had worse neighbors. The Montgomerys were actually pretty amazing.
Plus, Austin always came over to help her fix things she couldn’t reach.
She might not have a man in her life, but she had friends and acquaintances who helped out when things were beyond her abilities.
Before Sierra drove off, Austin came outside, gave Olivia a curious look, and then went to kiss his wife.
Olivia’s heart melted a tad, and she held back a swoon as Sierra took a staggering step backward before getting into her SUV.
The man could apparently kiss, and after all their years of marriage, the two were still pretty damn hot.
Olivia was only a little jealous.
And by a little, she meant a lot.
Olivia went to sit on her porch and enjoy some of the breeze before she headed back inside, so she was in Austin’s line of sight as another car pulled into the space Sierra had just vacated. Since the couple constantly had family and friends from the tattoo shop visiting, this wasn’t a surprise.
What was a surprise was the man who got out of the vehicle, his long legs encased in jeans that made his thighs look sexy as hell.
He had on a thin Henley that only enhanced his broad shoulders and trim waist. His beard was growing in and made her want to run her fingers through it, and his hair was brushed back out of his face, though she knew he needed a haircut.
Derek.
Holy hell.
Austin knew Derek.
She fought to control her breathing as Austin and Derek did that man hug that always confused her before Austin turned to her, a brow raised.
Traitor.
She didn’t know why that thought popped into her head, or how Austin knew Derek, or even how Derek knew that Austin knew her.
All she knew was that the man she needed to stay away from was currently walking toward her—far too sexily—with an intense look in his eyes. He actually prowled, and all she could think was that he was the predator and she was the prey.
Only, in the end, he would be the one that got hurt. She knew it.
After all, she would deliver the final blow.
Again.