Chapter 18
Olivia had planned to work all day Sunday, and she didn’t know how she’d gone from that to this: staring up at a series of
high ropes and zip lines in Battersea Park.
Some of it was her sisters’ fault. The pair of them had engineered it so that Connor now had her number, which he’d used last
night to message her with a time to meet.
Can’t have you ducking out. Don’t want to upset the Dancing Queen.
Seems he wasn’t above using her niece to manipulate her.
“That looks wicked.” Mia’s eyes shone as she watched the young boy currently whizzing down one of the zip lines.
And, okay, the moment Mia had said she wanted to come, Olivia wanted to bring her. It was just that she could have done without
the addition of Connor and Ellie. No, that wasn’t fair—Ellie was a sweetheart, and Mia clearly enjoyed being around a girl
her age.
“Come on, guys, let’s get in the queue.” Connor waved over at them, looking young and sexy in cargo shorts that showed off
his muscular legs and a faded T-shirt that clung to the ridges of his chest. Virile. Had she used that word to describe him? “Livvy?”
His magnetic blue eyes gave her a knowing look.
It was Connor she could have done without seeing again. The man she’d convinced herself she was over hadn’t forgotten her
the way she’d suspected he would. He’d gone to the trouble of seeking her out in the Tate, of messaging her to remind her
to come today.
He wanted to see her. And God help her, it was so hard to keep remembering why she shouldn’t want to see him too.
They lined up, and he slipped behind her, his mouth brushing her ear as he bent to whisper in it. Her body responded with
a long, deep shudder of longing. “What were you thinking just now?”
“I was thinking the ropes look high.”
“Scared?”
Of you, of how you make me feel? Absolutely. “Of course not.” She smiled down at Mia and Ellie, who were watching her with interest. “Connor made me go parasailing in
Nantucket,” she explained. “It’s where you’re strapped into a harness with a parachute and get pulled into the air and along
the coast by a speedboat. This will be a piece of cake in comparison.”
Ellie’s eyes widened. “You did that?”
“I did.” It seemed a lifetime ago. Something that had happened to a different version of herself.
“Can I do that with you, Dad?”
It was still a shock to hear the man she’d suspected was a playboy being called Dad. Even more of a shock to realize he’d
spent his twenties not clubbing or screwing around but bringing up a child. It made her wonder if she’d ever actually known
him at all.
Connor tousled Ellie’s hair, and Olivia was immediately taken back to Nantucket and how easily he’d won over Mia. No wonder
he’d been able to charm an eight-year-old. “Sure, Turnip, when you’re old enough.”
It was their turn to be strapped into the harnesses.
“If you get scared, you can hold my hand,” Connor murmured.
“Sweet offer, but I won’t need to. I’m looking forward to it.”
His chuckle fanned across the hairs of her neck. “Did I tell you how much I’ve missed you?”
Her heart faltered, then sped up. “Don’t,” she warned, keeping her eyes ahead as the two girls scrambled up the rope net.
“Wait for us,” she shouted, and hurried after them.
Away from the man who threw her off balance.
Connor kept his distance as they scrambled around the course. Now and again she’d catch him looking at her.
“Having fun?” he asked as she stood staring down at the zip wire, heart in her mouth.
“Of course.” She gave him a sugar-sweet smile. “Can’t believe I’ve not come here before.”
His eyes crinkled with laughter and belatedly she realized she didn’t want to make him laugh. Amused Connor, like aroused
Connor, vulnerably honest Connor, and playful Connor, was almost impossible to ignore.
“Do we have to go now?” Mia gave her a beseeching look as they finally stripped off their harness. “Me and Ellie want to go
to the playground for a bit.”
“Maybe Ellie and Connor need to go home.”
Connor waved toward the playground. “We’ve got time if you two want to play.” He glanced over at Olivia and winked. “I’ll
keep your aunt entertained.”
“Yay!”
The pair of them raced off, leaving her alone with Connor. Again.
“How do you want me to entertain you?” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Buy me a coffee and keep quiet while I think through what I’m going to say at my meeting tomorrow,” she retorted, feeling
out of sorts.
Connor being Connor, he failed to be put off by her grumpy riposte. “Who’s the meeting with?” he asked as they walked up to
the café counter.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to you or you wouldn’t be thinking about your presentation on a Sunday.” He ordered her a black coffee, and she tried
to ignore the bump of pleasure that he’d remembered her order.
“Maybe I just don’t want to talk to you.”
He paid for the coffees and carried them over to a picnic table where they could keep an eye on Ellie and Mia. “You didn’t
mind talking to me in Nantucket.”
“No.” She slid onto the bench. “But that was before I found out the man I’d been talking to wasn’t who I thought he was.”
Connor walked around the table and lifted his long legs easily over the bench seat. Then he lowered himself down, rested both
elbows on the table, and clasped his hands beneath his chin. “I’m still the same guy, Livvy.”
He watched her steadily, unblinkingly, and she was hit with a wave of memories. Other occasions when she’d been the focus
of that blue gaze: On the boat, when he’d kissed her for the first time. Eating tacos on the beach when he’d shown her his
interest in food. And in her. We have one thing in common. We fancy the hell out of each other. Galley Beach, where they’d discussed her aversion to marriage and kids. And his desire for a partner. The taxi ride to the
airport when he’d admitted to being halfway in love with her. The airport when he’d given her a bracelet to add some color
to her life.
He’d certainly done that.
She swallowed hard. “It’s a shock to see you again, and to see you as a dad. I can’t help feeling let down, hurt, that you
didn’t trust me enough to share such an important detail about your life.”
“I told you, that’s not why I kept it from you. Christ, Livvy, I wanted you. I knew damn well you were out of my league, but I had that precious couple of weeks where I could maybe, if I was really
lucky, persuade you into bed with me. You’d made it very clear that if it happened, it was just a holiday fling. I didn’t
see the harm in not mentioning Ellie, as we weren’t planning to see each other again.”
She understood. After all, she’d been the one to lay out the clear parameters. “But then you asked for my number.”
“Of course I did. Because you meant something to me. I wanted to see you again. Wanted to tell you about Ellie, find out if you were interested in going out
with me.” His eyes searched hers, clear, vivid. So hard to ignore, to not get lost in. “Are you?”
Okay, so it wasn’t the smoothest declaration, and it was on a bench in a play park, but he didn’t do subtle, never had.
Olivia blinked, then glanced down at her coffee. He knew the answer even before she lifted her eyes to his. “We’ve been through
this. I haven’t got time for a relationship, I don’t want a relationship.” She exhaled heavily. “I should be spending today working on my presentation for the media briefing tomorrow.
The people who’ll be deciding who gets the promotion will be watching, waiting for me to slip up, because they want a reason
not to give me the job; they prefer my rival. But instead, I’m here with Mia, and though I love my niece, a part of me resents
the fact I’ll have to work late tonight, which means I’ll be tired tomorrow and not at the top of my game. And I need to be
in top form if I’m going to beat Stuart to the promotion.” She let out a humorless laugh. “How can I possibly fit seeing you,
seeing anyone, into my life right now?”
“Fine.” He’d expected the rejection. Didn’t mean his gut wasn’t churning with disappointment. “When is the promotion decided?
I’ll ask you out again then.”
“Oh my God, Connor.” She shook her head. “The interviews for the promotion aren’t for a few months, but assuming I get the
job, I’m going to be busy doing it.”
He’d never had that drive, that desire, at least not when it came to work. “What about fun? You have to leave time for that.
Otherwise what’s the point?”
“You don’t get it, do you? I enjoy my work. I get all the pleasure I need when I look back at the successful investment decisions
I made. And the alpha my fund generated.” She saw his bewilderment. “Sorry, I mean the excess return my team and I generated because of something
we saw and others didn’t.”
“You’re talking about job satisfaction, Livvy, about rising to a challenge. I’m talking about fun. Laughing, relaxing. Turning off your brain and just feeling. Doing things that bring you joy.” He swigged some coffee, took
a moment to think. “How did you feel when you went back to work after Nantucket?”
She gave a slight shake of her head. “Okay, I see what you’re doing there, and yes, I did go back full of energy. I accept
that now and again, it’s good to have a break.”
“Then let me be your holiday. Your downtime.” He trapped her gaze. “Let me bring you joy.”
She held his eyes for a beat before sighing and turning away. “I don’t know what you’re asking.”
“To see you again, however that will work for you.” Playing it cool had never been possible, not with her.
“I told you, I don’t have time for a relationship.”
“Then use me as a booty call. You told yourself we were just sex. Have just sex with me again.”
Finally her expression relaxed and she started to laugh. “You’re crazy, you know that?” She waved a hand toward his face.
“When you get home, take a good look at yourself in the mirror. What you’ll see reflected back is a man who can have sex with
anyone he wants to.”
“But not you.”
She paused, took a sip of her coffee. “If I didn’t find you attractive, I wouldn’t have spent my week off with you. I’m hugely
bloody flattered, Connor, but you and me picking up again isn’t a good idea.” To his surprise, she reached across the table
and squeezed his hand. “You said you were halfway in love with me. If that’s even partly true, I’m going to end up hurting
you.”
It didn’t feel like she was protecting him. It felt like she was telling him she wasn’t interested in this version of him,
the single dad. “Maybe I think the pain will be worth it.”
Her eyes found his, pretty and unflinchingly direct. “It isn’t only you who might get hurt.” He jolted at her unexpected admission.
“What I said in Nantucket is still true,” she continued, oblivious to the dangerous bolt of hope arrowing through him. “You’d
end up resenting me, and I couldn’t bear that. Besides, you’re hardly free to drop everything and come to my beck-and-booty
call.” Her gaze drifted over to Ellie. “I need to get going.”
She slipped nimbly off the bench and he allowed himself a final longing look at her neat figure, then followed her over to
the play area. Before they reached it, he tugged her around to face him. “If this is goodbye, I’m going to want a kiss.”
Her gaze dropped briefly from his eyes to his mouth. “You can’t say that to me. Not here.” She turned toward the playground.
“Not in front of Mia and Ellie.”
“They’re not looking at us. And I’m not talking tongues. Just . . . let me put my arms around you. Let me feel your body settle
against mine one last time.”
She hesitated for a beat, presumably while her brain sifted through the pros and cons, but then with a sigh she leaned into
him. It was all the encouragement he needed to place a soft kiss on her lips, fold her into an embrace, and hold on tight.
“I’d forgotten how good you feel,” he told her hoarsely, an ache forming in his chest.
She burrowed her head into his shoulder. “I don’t think this is helping either of us.”
It sure as hell wasn’t helping him. All it did was remind him of all the reasons he wanted to see her again. Not just sex,
but that was a huge motivation, he admitted as he slid his hands down her back, forced them to rest just above her bum and
not go lower, where they wanted to be. Damn it, he enjoyed her. Enjoyed sparring with her, challenging her, being challenged by her.
But she didn’t want to see him again. Reluctantly he eased away.
“It was good catching up with you, Connor,” she said softly. She turned, walked to the playground, and called Mia over.
The four of them said their goodbyes, Mia giving him a sweet hug, which, following the one he’d shared with Olivia, sent a
boulder-size lump into his throat.
“Will we see Mia again?” Ellie asked as they watched them walk away.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted gruffly.
“Shame. She was good fun.” His daughter’s hand curled around his. “Livvy’s nice too.”
“Yes.” He could hardly get the word past his constricted throat.
“But we’re not allowed to call her that, even though you do.” She gave him a sly glance. “I saw you hug her.”
He searched Ellie’s face for annoyance or hurt but all he saw was interest. Clearing his throat, he led her toward the exit.
“We became good friends on Nantucket.”
“Uh-huh.” This time her glance was watchful. “The sort of friends who kiss?”
It was the first time he’d had to talk to Ellie about a woman. His other liaisons—brief hookups—had been carried out well
away from her. “Yes. She has a big, important job, though, which takes up all her time, so I won’t be seeing her again.”
“But you want to.”
It wasn’t a question, but he answered anyway. “Yes.” With a rueful smile, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “When did
you get so wise?”
She grinned. “When I turned eight.”
He could do with some of that wisdom, he thought as they made their way toward the tube, because all he could think was that
he had Livvy’s number now. And no way was he sensible enough, smart enough, or proud enough not to use it.
“If I started dating, would you mind?”
Ellie pursed her lips, big blue eyes studying him. “Would I still be your number one girl?”
“Always.” He hugged her tight. “You will always be my number one.”
“Then I don’t mind.” She gave him a wide grin. “As long as we get to go to Go Ape again.”