Chapter Sixteen
“Olivia, I’ve found someone I think might just be the leading man you’ve been searching for.”
It’s me, Theo wanted to say. I’m your leading man.
Olivia’s pause on the other end of the phone line made sweat begin to bead at the edge of his hairline. Did he say that out loud? Why was she taking so long to respond?
Finally, after a few beats of silence, her melodic voice came through the phone and made his shoulders drop. “Really? Who is the next mysterious contender?” The teasing tone sunk deep into his chest and squeezed the air out of his lungs.
Theo was about to hype up another man, something he really did not want to do.
Not when he could still feel her soft frame against his chest, the breathy words she had whispered and that goddamn kilowatt smile she had sent his way when she had finally sunk the silly striped ball at Robbie’s a few days prior.
Through seething teeth, he said, “His name is Edward, he’s a lawyer, and I swear he seems better than those previous jerks. ”
In truth Theo hated the guy, and a small part of him hoped that Olivia would too.
Olivia clicked her tongue. “I dunno, Theo. Your scouting skills are lacking a bit. How do I know this guy won’t be a complete disaster date again?”
Theo let out a half-hearted chuckle. “I promise you, he’s worth a shot. No more Taylors or Masons.”
Theo had to constantly remind himself of the deal which was made.
Help her find Naomi’s leading man, not hers.
He had only been assigned the task of finding her fictional character’s prince charming.
So why was he reluctant to set up these dates?
He needed to separate his own wants and needs with what was best for Olivia and her novel.
All Olivia wanted was love and fiction. It helped to separate his own wants with this mantra, especially once he realised, lying in bed the night he returned from their date, that the agreement was skewed and completely unfair.
It was then, bare chested and under his navy duvet that he no longer wanted to find her a leading man, he wanted to be it.
He was capable, reliable, and had been conducting their every meeting in accordance with her leading man list of requirements.
He already ticked numerous boxes on said list, and after spending more and more time with Olivia, he’d become transfixed by her.
The time they’d shared was better than it had been with his previous partners, their conversations intellectual and interesting.
She fascinated him far more than he wanted to admit, so much so that the thought of her going out with other men, real or for research purposes made his stomach squeeze, and his shirt collar feel too tight to breathe.
“What’s the plan then?” Olivia sounded just as reluctant to give this guy a chance as Theo did.
He had already been unsure of setting her up with him, and now the sound of her uncertainty gave him hope that she wouldn’t like him either.
That maybe after this third terrible date, she would open her eyes and finally realise that Theodore was the one she was looking for.
“Meet him at the Alice movie theatre tomorrow night at 9:00. I’ve organised for you to both see a rerun of Rebel Without a Cause.
Theo knew it was one of her favourite films, he had noticed the small sticker of James Dean on the lid of her laptop, and the way she casually quoted the old Hollywood blockbuster in everyday conversation.
Small details that hopefully she would pick up on; how he had set up this date, picked a movie she would like, a movie theatre that served extra butter popcorn just how she liked, and realise it had been all him.
“Wow.” Olivia’s surprised tone made his chest tighten.
Had he taken it too far? He had planted the idea with Edward the night before, telling him about how she loved old Hollywood cinema.
Edward had eagerly thanked him for the idea and agreed to meet her instantly after seeing the picture that Theo had taken secretly of her on his phone the other day when she had been writing like crazy in one of her many notebooks.
Was there such a thing as paying too much attention when it came to Olivia?
Theo held the phone up to his face, his feet pounding on the rain-drenched pavement of Oxford Street.
No.
The answer was a solid no. The girl was joyful and far too intriguing in a way that Theo had never felt before. She was beauty and brains and she didn’t even know it.