Chapter 11
She was ready. Olivia opened the door of her hotel room, halted, swore under her breath, then let it close again and walked
up to the full-length mirror she’d just finished looking in. Cream cropped trousers, her favorite black top. It was fine.
She looked fine.
This indecision wasn’t her. She was the kind of person who decided what to wear, gave her eyelashes a cursory flick of mascara—mousy
hair she could put up with, mousy lashes she couldn’t—maybe added some lip gloss if her lips were dry, then walked the hell
out the door. She didn’t linger in front of a mirror wondering if she looked okay. She definitely didn’t then return to that
mirror for a second study. She was averagely attractive, and that had always been perfectly satisfactory.
Damn Connor and his cute smile, come-to-bed eyes, and sexy big-dick energy. And damn Chloe for the phrase that was now making
her think of parts of Connor she did not want to think about.
With an inward sigh she turned away from the mirror and marched out of the room. As she walked toward the stairs, her phone
pinged with three messages from Ashley.
Just about to board flight to Boston.
Enjoy your week.
Enjoy Connor xx
Olivia reacted to the first with a heart, the second with a thumbs-up. And the last with a rolling-eyes emoji. Then she slipped
the phone into her bag.
It had been a strange day, saying goodbye to everyone after a week with them. The bride and groom had gone first, off to honeymoon
in Martha’s Vineyard. Chloe, who’d given Olivia a fond hug, had gone with Gabrielle, Samira, and Nicole to catch the ferry
to Hyannis, where they were going to spend a few days exploring Cape Cod. The hardest part had been waving goodbye to her
sisters. They’d left with her mum to catch a flight to Boston, where they were going to spend a few days before Jessica and
her family went on to New York, and Ashley and her mum flew home.
Now, though, it was her time.
Her heart picked up speed as she headed across the lobby to the bar. It rattled against her ribs when her gaze landed on a
familiar figure sitting on a stool. And it nearly bounced out of her chest when a pair of bright blue eyes caught hers. With
a languid grace that had her lower belly giving a long, hard flip, Connor rose from the stool and strolled toward her, long
legs encased in chinos, a navy zip polo shirt hugging his chest with just the right amount of cling.
“Hey.” He glanced around him, then whispered “Fuck it” under his breath. A beat later, two warm hands circled her hips, and
he pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth. “Your family get off okay?”
“Yes.” The word barely squeezed out of her throat. Everything inside her felt jumpy, giddy. “Why ‘fuck it’?”
A low laugh rumbled through him as he took her hand and led her toward the exit. “Staff aren’t supposed to get too close to
the guests.”
“Oh. Oh. God, Connor, all those times . . . here.” Her mind flashed back to a stolen kiss in the storage closet, to him talking sweet
and dirty behind the pillar at the wedding.
“Before you think of using that as an excuse to drop my hand and scuttle back inside, I should warn you I’ve never been one
for following rules.” His eyes found hers and singed her with the heat of his stare. “I’d break a thousand of them to spend
time with you.”
It was too much. She needed to tell him to stop. She wasn’t worth his apparent crush, certainly wasn’t worth losing his job
over. Before she could say anything, though, he’d turned them down a quiet corridor and had her pressed against the wall.
“I couldn’t focus today.” His nose nudged hers, warm minty breath fanning across her face. “I fucked up the stuffed clams,
had to bin them and start again. Felix wasn’t happy.”
“Why . . .” God, her heart was beating at a wild rhythm, her voice unsteady. He’d turned her into someone else. Someone who
wasn’t Olivia “Steady as a Rock” Davies, portfolio manager responsible for over a billion pounds of other people’s money.
“Why couldn’t you focus?”
He gave her a level look. “You know why.”
Thump-thump. Surely he could hear it. “Maybe I can guess, but I like to work with facts.”
“I couldn’t focus because I kept thinking of this.” His vivid blue gaze dropped to her mouth. “Of kissing you again. Of what
might happen after.” Exhaling heavily, he took a step back, then grasped her hand again and led her out of the hotel.
“Where are we going?” she asked when she finally found her voice.
“Galley Beach.” He glanced sideways at her. “Have you been?”
“I’ve no idea. I got dragged to a lot of places this last week.”
“Dragged, huh?” His gaze dipped to where his fingers circled hers. “Then it feels important to tell you you’re free to let
go of my hand at any moment.”
“Trust me, if I don’t want to go, you’ll know about it.”
A laugh shot out of him. “I wouldn’t expect any less.” He nodded toward the road ahead of them. “It’s a bit of a walk, but
the sunset is worth it.”
He wasn’t kidding about the walk, but the moment he led her onto the beach, she knew she’d not been before. Wicker chairs
and tables decorated with flickering candles were scattered across the sand. Behind them, a backdrop of endless blue sea,
a setting sun that made the sand appear golden, and a sky that was a dramatic color palette of pinks, reds, and oranges. It
was breathtaking.
Connor moved behind her and rested his hands lightly on her hips, his chest a solid wall of warm muscle against her back.
“What do you think?” he asked softly.
What she thought was that it was the most romantic setting she’d ever seen. “I think if you’ve brought me here to seduce me,
it’s probably going to work.”
She felt the laughter vibrate through his chest. “I’ll bear that in mind.”
They were shown to a table with two comfy-looking wicker armchairs and handed drinks menus.
“You look gorgeous, by the way.” He frowned. “Did I tell you that already? If not, I should have.”
“Thank you, but I don’t see how. I’m not wearing anything special.”
“You’ve mastered the art of less is more. I notice you always wear black.” His eyes drifted over her top. “Don’t get me wrong,
you look fucking amazing in it, but why no color?”
She pointed to her trousers. “Cream is a color.”
He gave a slight shake of his head. “Come on, Livvy, answer the question.”
“Black is easy; it goes with everything. I’m not someone who wants to waste her time deciding what to wear.” You weren’t until this week, until you met Connor.
He gave her a slow, sexy smile. “And that right there is why I’m so fascinated by you, so drawn to you.” His gaze held hers.
“You have no idea how attractive you are, do you?”
She wanted to dismiss his words as flattery, just as she wanted to dismiss him as cocky, yet both his compliments and his
confidence came easily, naturally. A man completely at home with women, used to their attention, no doubt because he’d enjoyed
a lot of it over the years.
The waitress came to take their order, and Olivia smiled wryly to herself as the pretty brunette batted her eyelashes at Connor.
Olivia knew, if she decided to throw caution to the wind and have sex with Connor, it would be the best of her life. It was
both an incentive to do it and a reason to run as fast as she could in the opposite direction.
Connor sipped his beer slowly and tried not to think how much it and Olivia’s glass of wine—thankfully she’d declined a cocktail—were
going to cost him. Probably a riding lesson for Ellie.
Guilt wriggled through him, but he pushed it away. He’d worked a lot of overtime; he was due some fun. Could he have taken
her somewhere cheaper? The guilt burrowed deeper. He should have, but he’d wanted to impress her, and the view of the sunset
from here was the best on the island.
Olivia’s phone beeped and she grimaced. “Sorry, I’m going to check that because it’s probably Ashley.” She slid the phone
out of her bag and read the message on the screen. “Yep, they’re at their hotel in Boston and she’s heading out for a drink
with Mum.” Her fingers flew as she typed a quick reply.
“Your mum seems quieter than the rest of your family,” he remarked.
“A polite way of saying we’re loud?” She arched a dark brow, then smiled. “You’re right, of course. Though you managed to
coax her out of her shell.”
“And your dad?”
“He’s no longer with us. Died of a heart attack a year after he was forced to retire.”
“I’m sorry. Were you close?” He wanted to know what made her tick so he could unlock the parts of her that were wound so tight.
She sighed, looking almost uncomfortable. “No. If his funeral was anything to go by, Dad wasn’t close to anyone. He was very
much the alpha male, the head of the household. If he wasn’t at the office, he was in his study working or, in the year before
his heart attack, he was on the golf course. He didn’t have much time for us or Mum.”
“That must have been tough on all of you.”
“It was toughest on Mum. When my sisters and I were home, we had each other, and Mum had plenty of people to look after, fuss
over. But when my sisters left and it was just me and Mum and Dad . . .” She paused to sip her wine. “I love her, but at the
time, I was so disappointed in her. I didn’t need her taking care of me, I was quite capable of doing that myself. I wanted
her to make the most of her new freedom, get a job, do something worthwhile, but instead she continued to spend her days keeping
house for Dad. It was like she’d lost her identity. Her whole life revolved around her children, who, if I’m honest, didn’t
appreciate her enough, and then around a man who barely noticed what she did for him.”
Now he was starting to understand. “And you vowed not to let that happen to you.”
She studied him with those pretty yet razor-sharp hazel eyes. “Well deduced. My sisters don’t get it because they take after
her. Ashley was going to be a pharmacist before she fell for Paul and gave it all up to be a mum. Jessica got a first in English
at Oxford and was an award-winning journalist before she became sidetracked by having kids with Nick.”
He eyed her curiously. “You don’t think being a parent is a worthwhile career?”
“I think for some it works, but not for me. I’m too selfish. I want to do what makes me happy. In that respect, I’m like my
dad. The difference is, I’m aware enough of my shortcomings that I don’t intend to hurt others in the process.”
“So you won’t get married or have kids?”
“Exactly.” She ran a hand over her ponytail, as if checking it was still in place. “I want to be in control of my own destiny.
I don’t want to have to change course for the sake of someone else, nor do I want to be responsible for someone else’s happiness.”
Her eyes met his. “How about you?”
Her life sounded lonely. He couldn’t imagine his without Ellie and all the warmth, the color, and, yep, even the chaos that
came with her. Would he have wanted his daughter to have a mum who played an important role in her life rather than one who
popped up on an occasional video call only when pushed, like Amy? Hell yes. “I’d like a partner someday,” he replied, sidestepping
the kids part. “Someone to share bad days with, rejoice in the good. To hold hands with as we watch the sunset,” he added,
nodding toward the changing colors of the sky. “To roll in bed with on a lazy Sunday morning.”
“You’re a romantic,” she said, and he heard the surprise in her voice.
“I guess I am.” But that was all for the future to take care of. Right now, he was sitting opposite a whip-smart, sophisticated,
strong woman who oozed a quiet, understated sexuality that made his whole body ache. “So we’ve established you won’t be marrying
me.” He lifted his eyes to meet hers. “That still leaves plenty of other options on the table.”
She held his gaze, cool as you like, while his heart had begun to pound so hard she could probably see it through his shirt.
“It does.”
“Jesus.” He ran a hand down his face. “I’m hanging on by a thread here, Livvy. Unless you want to see a grown man get down
on his knees and beg, now would be a good time to put me out of my misery and tell me what you’re thinking.”
She smiled and looked over to the pink sky. “I think we should have another drink and something to eat.” Her gaze settled
on his. “And then you should come back to my room.”
He couldn’t contain the heartfelt groan. “I can’t convince you to get room service?”
She gave him a level look. “You probably could.”
Fuck. Shuffling back on the chair, he patted the space between his legs. “Come and watch the sunset with me.” He smiled when
she narrowed her eyes. “I’d go to you but standing up is an issue right now.”
Her eyes tracked down to the visible bulge at his crotch and she smirked. “On this occasion I’ll do as you ask, but don’t
make a habit of ordering me around.”
She slid easily between his legs, leaning back against his chest, and he slipped his arms around her, resting his chin lightly
on her head. He missed looking at her face, but for what he was about to say, this was easier.
“That drink and food you mentioned.” He swallowed his pride. “I’d love to say let’s have it here, but my budget doesn’t run
that far.”
She turned to look at him. “Mine does.”
“Yeah, thought it might.” Christ, this was embarrassing. “Thing is, I’m not caveman enough to insist on always paying, but
I am caveman enough not to scrounge off my date. Especially when I chose the venue.”
Her gaze raked his. “You brought me here to try and impress me even though you couldn’t afford it?”
“That’s about the size of it, yeah.” Not one of his finest moments, but that was him. He could see his dad shaking his head
at him. That’s the trouble with you, Connor, you’re rash, impulsive. You don’t think things through. Giving the images a hard shove, he bent to kiss the nape of her neck. Silky wisps of hair, soft skin, delicate floral scent.
“How about you come back to my digs and I make us something?”
Olivia wasn’t interested in dating him; she was interested in having sex with him.
And being that guy, the good-time guy, was something he could manage.