12. Olivia
OLIVIA
“ D o you see it?!”
Helen was booming through the speakers of Lucas’s pickup truck, defying modern technology by yelling in an unnecessary decibel range.
Looking over at Lucas’ exasperated face, I curled my lips between my teeth, trying to disguise my smile. She’d been attempting to send us an image for about fifteen minutes at this point. It was taking so long; we were almost at the flooring supplier.
Honestly, I was grateful for the distraction. Being alone with Lucas made me feel cagey, especially after our last outing and my meeting in the city.
Lucas checked his phone again. “No, Helen. I don’t see it.”
“Dammit! Alright, let me try again.”
Lucas rolled down his window and breathed in a lung full of fresh air. I tried to stifle my laugh .
“This new technology, Lucas. It’s ridiculous! You have to be an astronaut to figure anything out! Okay, look now.”
I watched Lucas mentally count to three before checking his phone again. He breathed a sigh of relief when he must have seen the image appear.
“Okay, I see it Helen. So you’re thinking you want something like this inlaid on the floor?”
“Yes. If it’s possible. I’m not sure how it would look best, but I’ll leave that up to Olivia and her creative genius.”
Lucas looked across the cab at me, smiling with something that looked suspiciously like pride. “Sounds good Helen. Listen, we’re almost at the supplier, so we’ll let you know how it goes.”
“Wonderful! Thanks you two. Good luck.”
The line beeped as Helen ended the call, and Lucas took a visible, stabilizing breath. Watching Helen completely exhaust him in the span of a twenty-minute phone call made me chuckle. He turned to me with a pained expression.
“I love Helen. For the record.”
“Mmm.”
“She’s so generous and kind.”
“So kind.”
“And I appreciate her unwavering trust in us.”
“Yes. Love the trust.”
“Also, she drives me insane.”
I burst into a fit of laughter as Lucas pulled the truck into our next supplier’s parking lot. We were here to browse flooring samples.
Lucas handed me his phone, which displayed the photo Helen sent. It was a symbol that looked like it might be Celtic or something of that nature. Though it was difficult to see clearly because the photo was of a tattoo.
“Whose body do you think we’re looking at? And what part?” he asked.
I laughed again, squinting to get a better look at the image.
“Tough to say. This could be Helen’s ass for all I know.”
That got me a pointed glare as Lucas opened his door and rounded the truck. He opened my door and helped me hop down to join him.
“Should we do a reverse image search to find out what this is?” I asked.
“God no. Who knows what kind of stuff would come up from that search? No, I’ll give it to the team to redraw and run it by her to make sure it’s correct before we give it to the installers.”
We were about fifteen feet from the entrance when Lucas stopped me with a hand on my arm. I turned to find a worried expression marring his gorgeous face.
“Listen, Liv… we stay together in there.”
Oh. I hadn’t even registered the similarities, but understood where his concern came from. Last time we visited a supplier together, it hadn’t gone well. It was sweet that he was worried about me, but it was unnecessary.
“Don’t worry Lucas. I’ll be fine. We won’t run into a sexual harasser at every supplier we visit.”
He looked unconvinced and frankly, like he didn’t care either way.
“I don’t care either way. Stay with me. ”
Well. Maybe I was getting better at reading this man who always masked his emotions so well. I felt both triumphant and concerned. When did that happen? What did it mean? Was I becoming a stoic business person myself? Or maybe I was learning more about him than I realized.
I humored him with an exaggerated head bob accompanied by a not-so-subtle eye roll.
He shook his head but seemed pacified and continued into the building.
Almost two hours later, a charming woman named Adele had shown us what felt like their entire inventory in detail.
I’d fallen pretty deeply in love with a batch of flooring that was pulled from a church in Denmark before it was demolished.
You know, normal stuff.
Having essentially no budget was very fun.
I’d called Helen on a video call and showed her our find, which she also went crazy for. Lucas okayed it from a structural perspective. He also seemed pleased to be dealing with a woman in her mid fifties this time.
Everyone was happy.
“You hungry?”
Lucas eyed me as we made our way out of the building.
I shot him the most incredulous face I could muster. “Always Lucas.”
A hint of a smile ghosted his features. “Anthony’s? ”
Lucas Alessi confused me. Most of the time, I felt like working with me was a massive burden to him. Then other times, he surprised me with his overbearing concern or heated stares.
I couldn’t tell if it was from interest or disdain.
“Sure. Anthony’s.”
We drove to my favorite pizza spot in comfortable silence. Well, comfortable in that I felt no need to fill the quiet, which was rare for me.
Uncomfortable in the sense that my mind was running at the speed of light, trying to sort through the emotions the man next to me caused. And wondering if I caused any similar emotions for him.
It shouldn’t matter. Not only would it be wildly unprofessional to date a contractor Helen had so graciously connected me with, but Callie had specifically sought me out for my single lifestyle. How would getting involved with Lucas affect that opportunity?
Deep down, I knew that anything with Lucas Alessi would be more than a casual hook up.
That meant my entire appeal would be gone.
We were literally the exact trope she said she was tired of.
It wasn’t just that I’d be dating someone, we’d be the specific type of couple she had described as played-out and overdone.
But as he looked down at me over those thick eyelashes, after opening my door and lowering me to the ground, I thought I might not care.
“Let’s get you fed.”
Yeah, I might not care at all.