Chapter 12 Kolton
Kolton
Olivia stayed with us for a week, and it was the best and the worst thing that could have happened.
Like Sloane, she was a name that was easily recognized—the Asian American who was a rising star in Hollywood.
She was a friend to all, but more secretive than most, which only had the gossip sites champing at the bit for more.
Sloane, due to proximity, fell victim. Somehow, word got out that they were together, and I had my work cut out for me watching the two of them so they wouldn’t get overrun with fan requests.
Sloane was too kind for her own good, insisting on stopping for autographs any time anyone asked.
But of course, the minute I put a stop to it so we could escape a situation that I felt put her in danger or to keep us on our schedule, she was called out online for being a bitch.
Never mind that it was me putting a stop to it, not her.
Never mind that no male in the history of males living on this earth had ever been called a bitch because he set boundaries.
I could apologize until I was blue in the face, but it always ended the same—with Sloane’s name getting trashed.
Thankfully, Olivia’s presence helped soothe the pain. She kept her friend busy so Sloane didn’t have time to peruse the gossip sites, and my client stayed as blissfully unaware of the criticism as she possibly could.
On her last night in town, the girls finished a day of shopping on the Magnificent Mile with a private dinner at Toro Toro.
I’d secured them a quiet booth at the back of the restaurant and got a table not far away for myself.
I kept an eye on the patrons while they chatted and ate, nibbling at my salad while they savored plates of tapas that left my mouth watering each time the waiters brought out a new tray.
Sloane was more relaxed than I’d seen her since we met.
Maybe it had something to do with the drink in her hand.
Maybe it was the fact that no one other than the waitstaff had even tried approaching us since we sat down.
Whatever it was had my heart feeling lighter as I saw the smile dancing across her beautiful face.
“Hey, Kolton.” Olivia waved her hand at me, as if I hadn’t been watching them out of the corner of my eye. As if I hadn’t been close enough to listen to nearly their entire conversation. “Come over here.”
Glancing up, my eyes locked on Sloane, not her friend. Her gaze lingered for a moment before she ducked her chin and pulled her drink closer, busying herself with the straw and the hunk of pineapple garnishing the rim.
“Come over here,” Olivia repeated, patting the table in front of her. “Come join us.”
“I really shouldn’t.”
“Psh. Don’t should on me. Come join us. I insist.”
Once again, I glanced at Sloane. Color pinked her cheeks and bridged her nose.
My heart skipped a beat when her brown eyes met mine, then stuttered and choked when she demurely looked away.
I glanced around the dining area. We were in one of the back rooms, and the few patrons who’d been seated here were paying very little attention to the famous actress and singer in their midst.
I pushed aside my empty plate. Grabbed my water and took a sip. Then I rose, unsure if I was doing the right thing but unable to stop myself now that the invitation was extended my way.
Sloane’s back was to the corner, and though it felt far too intimate, I slid into the booth beside her. I couldn’t put my back to the room, couldn’t risk her safety for the sake of comfort. She shifted on the bench, turning slightly and pulling her leg up on the seat between us.
She was inches from my hip, and I swore the heat of her pulsed like electricity between us.
It wasn’t like we hadn’t been close before.
When I stood behind her as I walked her through how to use the security system I’d installed in her apartment.
When I stood with her back pressed to my chest as she blocked Manwhore and Witch on her phone.
There’d been times, out in the crowded streets today, when her body had been crushed against mine as I tried to keep her from getting squished by the crowd.
Then of course, there was the day we met, when she’d all but pushed her face against mine to get in the picture with me, then pressed her perfect lips to my cheek.
My own cheeks heated, and I tore my attention away from the beautiful woman in the booth beside me, willing my impending erection to go the hell away.
I glanced around the room like I was looking for a threat while the threat was that inch of space between us—and the itch in my fingers to reach over and smooth my hand down her bare skin.
“So, Kolton,” Olivia said, drawing me back to the table. “Sloane says you’re from Chicago?”
“Close.” I gripped my sweaty water glass. It was almost empty, but I tossed it back to get what liquid I could to try to ease the ache inside of me. “I grew up just north of here in Evanston. But we were here all the time.”
I’d barely finished my sentence when a waiter stopped by with two trays of decadent desserts. He slid the plates onto the table in front of us as another swung by and filled up my water glass.
When they were done, Olivia prompted me as if we’d never been interrupted. “We?”
“My family. Parents and two older sisters.” I cleared my throat. Glanced at Sloane as she reached for the plate of chocolate dipped fruit in front of me. I pushed it closer to her and got lost in her smile.
“Have some.” Sloane pushed the plate toward me. As she sat back in her seat, her leg shifted, coming to rest against my hip.
“I shouldn’t.”
She giggled, said, “Don’t should on me,” and giggled again.
A smile tugged at my lips, but I brought my hand to my stomach. “No, really. I can’t.”
All levity dropped from her face, and I felt like I did something wrong as she snapped up out of her relaxed position. “Wait. You can’t really think…” Sloane glanced at Olivia before dragging herself back to gape at me. “You only ate a salad. Certainly, you can’t be full.”
“It had chicken,” I stammered as my stomach seemed to tighten without conscious thought.
Her mouth dropped open, and she shot a look at her friend again. When she spoke, her volume was halved. “Kolton, you hardly eat.”
“I had a burger for lunch.”
“Half a burger. I saw you throw it away.”
“I’m watching my weight.” I turned my attention to the room, away from her, sweeping my gaze across nothing.
Sloane put her hand on my arm, and it felt like I’d gotten too close to an electric fence. “What weight? You barely eat anything. You work out every single day. And before you even try to say it, no, your workouts are not easy.”
A grimace ripped across my face. It felt like I was being torn in half.
After she’d found me doing push-ups in the living room one morning when I thought she was asleep, Sloane insisted she accompany me to the gym each day so I “knew she was safe.”
Cue her heavy eye roll.
I’d tried to insist it wasn’t necessary. Then tried to insist it was just a short, easy workout. She’d even pretended to look interested in exercising before she quit halfway through each day. Now, I tried to insist it was necessary.
“The last thing I want is to let myself go—” I cut myself off, because Kendra’s words were loud inside my head.
If you eat that, you’re going to get so fat they’ll have to take the roof off your house and hire a crane to get you out.
“That’s it.” Sloane took her hand from my arm. I hadn’t realized it was still there until I felt its absence. “I’m calling my nutritionist.”
When I reached to stop her from grabbing her phone, our fingers tangled. She didn’t move to unwind them, but the way she looked at me made me want to shrink away.
“Please don’t.”
She tore one hand away, grabbed her fork, and speared a hunk of melon half-covered in chocolate. “Then eat it.”
There was nothing I could do when she brought it to my lips other than take a bite.
Sloane’s eyes flared as her gaze dropped to my mouth, and I could just imagine her disgust as the juice trickled down my chin.
My cheeks heated. My entire body heated, because Sloane wouldn’t look away.
She watched as I finished the entire piece, then sat back with a self-satisfied look on her face.
“Happy now?” I asked, voice rasping around the lump forming in my throat.
“Very.” My god, could her smile get any prettier? “Now, eat some more.”
It was then, as she pulled away to snag a hunk of melon for herself, that I realized our fingers had been entwined the whole time. I glanced around the dining area as I grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped my face.
No one was watching. No one except Olivia. Her eyes sparkled in the pendant light hanging over our booth, her pursed lips doing nothing to hide her grin.
“You know of anywhere we can go after this that’s under the radar?” she asked, reaching for a few treats from the dessert plates. “I’m not quite ready for this night to end.”
Sloane looked up as she took one of the chocolate cherry cheesecakes and dropped it on the plate near my elbow, which now held a little of everything.
She shoved the plate in front of me, her knee grinding against my hip as she sat forward and then back.
She mouthed the word “eat,” or at least I thought she did, before she nibbled on her bottom lip.
“I think I know of something,” I told them, shifting as a flurry of emotions raged through me. Dread and frustration and a hefty side of lust directed at the beauty next to me.
If there was one thing for certain, it was that I wasn’t ready for the night to end either.
Sloane grabbed the collar of my shirt and dragged me down, putting me at eye level with her cleavage as she brought her mouth to my ear. “Who is this again?”
The music and the crowd were loud enough that her words sounded like a whisper, though I knew she had to be yelling.