Chapter 14
Olivia lay curled up in a ball on Grace’s soft couch, her head buried in a pillow. The cushion shifted as someone sat beside her. A soft hand stroked her hair.
“It’s okay, Liv.” Grace’s voice floated over her, soothing and sweet. “All guys are jerks.”
“Hey!” From across the room, Brad objected.
“Not you, honey. Just all the other guys.”
Her explanation must’ve been satisfactory, because he was once again lost in the football game. “Go, go, go, go…noooooo!” As an avid sports addict, the fact Grace wasn’t also glued to the television set said a lot about her sisterly devotion.
“I feel like such an idiot,” Olivia moaned into the pillow.
“Don’t worry. I’d probably feel like an idiot, too, if I kissed Santa Claus thinking it was one guy and found out it was another. Does that make you a Santa slut?”
“Grace, you’re not helping.”
Olivia peeked at her sister, not surprised to find her stifling a grin with her hand.
“It could be worse. You could’ve discovered you were kissing Rudolph inside that costume. That would’ve been even kinkier.”
“Gee thanks, Sis. I feel so much better.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You’re kind of mean. You know that?” Olivia stuck out her tongue, and Grace followed suit.
“I got you to smile, didn’t I?”
“What should I do now?” Olivia sat up on her elbows, taking a shuddery breath.
“Well, one thing’s for certain, you don’t need to be cutting out your organs and giving them to his surrogate mother.” Grace propped her feet on the coffee table. A crowd roar rose from the television, and Brad bounced onto his feet, shouting and pumping his fists. Grace glanced at the pallet on the floor where Adeline was sound asleep in the midst of the uproar.
“I can’t go back on my decision to give Martha my kidney. Don’t you think that’s harsh? It’s not Martha’s fault Collin turned out to be a jerk.”
“Still, you have to admit you never would’ve even thought about donating a kidney to this woman if it weren’t for Collin.”
“I would’ve thought about it without Collin’s involvement. Though I wouldn’t have known about it if it weren’t for Collin.”
Grace didn’t reply out loud, but her expression screamed, “I’m not buying it.”
Olivia pushed up to a sitting position. “Fine. I probably wouldn’t have offered if it weren’t for Collin, but that makes it seem doubly wrong to back out now.”
“Does she know you were planning to donate a kidney?”
“No, but that’s not the point.”
Grace chewed on her lip like she always did when she was thinking. She opened and closed her mouth as if she were going to argue further and thought better of it. “Okay, let’s move on to a more pressing matter.” She pointed to the clock on the wall. “It’s one o’clock on Saturday, and you’re supposed to be at the coffee shop in an hour. Are you still going?”
Olivia’s blood started pumping faster, throbbing in her head. “I forgot all about that date. Cripes! I look awful! My eyes are puffy. My nose is red. My hair is a mess.” Olivia ran her fingers through the tangled tresses.
“I can send him a message and try to cancel, if you want.”
“No, I’m going. I’m not going to let Collin screw everything up. It’s like letting him win all over again.”
“At least come in my bathroom and borrow some makeup. We can hide those dark circles under your eyes.”
“Awesome. I need all the help I can get.”
Olivia followed Grace and sat on a stool in front of the mirror. Grace did her best to make her look decent—a formidable task.
“I’m still shocked that Collin would do something like that,” Grace remarked as she dabbed concealer under Olivia’s left eye. “It doesn’t seem like him.”
“I guess we didn’t know him as well as we thought.”
“Maybe there’s some other explanation.” Grace stood back and looked at her work, and then made a face. “I didn’t get enough concealer to hide that blue.”
“It’s pretty straightforward, isn’t it? He dressed up in that Santa costume and pretended to be Blake.”
“For what purpose, though? And why did Blake let him do it?” Grace started working on the other eye, patting and blending as she grimaced with effort.
“I don’t know. I assume he was trying to manipulate me.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would he go through all that with the kids for an entire evening, when he only got to be with you for a few minutes?”
“So what? You think he did it for the money?”
“Maybe so. Didn’t Martha make some remark about Collin rejecting his dad’s money? Maybe he was desperate.” The tip of Grace’s tongue peeked out as she applied liner around Olivia’s eyes.
“I’ll agree it’s possible Collin needed the work, but why pretend to be Blake?”
“Let’s think about this for a second. Which nights was it Collin and which nights was it Blake?”
“I only know last Saturday it was Collin I kissed, not Blake.”
“He probably only substituted one night. And maybe there were some kind of extenuating circumstances. Whatever the reason, Blake was as much to blame as Collin. Unless you think Collin tied Blake up and stole his Santa suit so he could wear it to Bergman and trick you into kissing him.”
Olivia spoke around Grace’s fingers as they dabbed makeup under her eyes. “Okay, I’ll concede that sounds pretty ridiculous. I guess Blake and Collin were both in on this. That’s fine—I already decided I don’t like Blake, either.”
“Here, you do your own mascara. I’m afraid I’ll poke you in the eye.”
Olivia swiped a quick layer on and examined her reflection. “That looks much better, Grace. You’re a miracle worker.”
“I’ll send you a bill.” Grace winked. “Guess you can grill Blake about it tonight at work. Isn’t this your last night?”
“I’m not going back to Bergman. They’ve already got a replacement for me, starting tonight. Frankly, I’m glad I don’t have to face Blake again.”
“Maybe Charlie knows something about this fiasco. You should get going, or you’ll be late. And while you’re gone, I’ll try to catch her on the phone.”
“I better not find out Charlie knew everything and didn’t tell me.”
“Go. Have fun on your blind date. Leave the detective work to me.”
“Okay. I’ll be back soon,” said Olivia, absently biting at one of her nails before forcing her hands down and into her pockets. She’d managed to grow a tiny bit of white at the end of each nail—she didn’t want to ruin them now.
“Call me when you’re on your way home.”
“I can’t—that guy stole my cell phone. I need to get a new one.”
“What guy? Who stole your cell phone?”
“Didn’t I tell you that part? On my way to the subway station last night, this guy assaulted me. I kneed him in the groin, but I dropped my cell phone. He snatched it and ran away.”
“Oh my goodness, Olivia! You didn’t tell me you were attacked. Are you hurt? Did the police come?”
“No, I’m fine. I usually have my mace can in hand, but last night I was too distracted about Collin to think straight.”
“I never have liked you being out alone at night. Promise me you’ll never do it again. Haven’t I always told you it’s not safe?”
Grace’s finger shook in Olivia’s face like she was a first grader getting a scolding.
“Yes, and so has Collin. Guess I should’ve been grateful he came running up when the attack happened, but at the time, I was too angry.”
“Collin was there? You mean, he came to your rescue? That’s so awesome!” Grace sported a dreamy expression, as if Collin were some knight in shining armor.
“He tried to rescue me, I guess. But I’d already taken care of the guy by then.” Olivia had no intention of giving Collin credit for fending off her attacker. She’d been way too proud of herself to share the credit.
“You said the guy ran away. How do you know he wouldn’t have stayed if Collin hadn’t been there? What if he’d pulled a knife? Or a gun?”
Olivia slammed her hands onto her hips and glared at Grace. “For a sister who’s supposed to be on my side, you ask the most irritating questions.”
Grace’s only answer was an unrepentant smirk.
* * *
“I can’t believeyou threw me under the bus for what happened,” Collin raged at Blake, who still sported a sullen frown. “I never wanted to play Santa Claus. I did it for you. Twice. Because you begged me. Now you have her thinking it was all some sort of ploy I planned against her.”
Blake’s jaw jutted forward. “You should’ve told me about the incident in the break room. After all, she thought it was me who did that. I can’t believe the two of you got caught, and you still didn’t bother to tell me. It’s my reputation on the line, you know, because you were being me at the time.”
“What do you think we did in the break room?”
“I don’t know how far you got, but I can certainly imagine. You should’ve seen her face when I suggested there might have been cameras in there.”
“You idiot! You are a complete and total idiot!” Collin marched from one side of the tiny kitchen to the other, his footsteps clomping on the tile floor.
“I’m not the idiot who wasn’t even smart enough to wait until you were in a private place where you could lock the door.”
“I kissed her. That’s all we did. One little kiss. She had on all her clothes and I had on that sweat-factory Santa Suit. I could hardly say no to a kiss since you’d already kissed her the night before.”
“Just a kiss? Nothing else? Not even a little groping?”
“Nothing more. Especially not groping. I would never treat Olivia like that, you…you…you fart-head.”
“Oh.” Blake studied his fingernails. “Fart-head? Is that the best you can do?”
“Martha won’t let me use curse words, but I promise I’m thinking something a lot worse.”
“Gotcha.” He stood up and stretched, popping his backbone. “I’m glad we got that straightened out.”
“Sit back down.” Collin glared until he complied. “We’re not finished here. Because thanks to you, Olivia was so angry she preferred being assaulted to having me walk her home.”
Blake twisted his mouth sideways. “That’s pretty angry, alright. I guess it’s a good thing you don’t want to date her anymore.”
“I may not want to go out with her, but that doesn’t mean I want her to hate my guts.”
“I don’t have any idea what to do about it.”
Collin moved closer until he was looming over his roommate. “Then I hope you have a really strong bladder, because I’m not letting you up from this chair until some amazing idea pops into that pea-sized brain of yours.”
“There’s no call to insult me,” Blake complained, in a sullen voice.
“Actually, I was insulting the pea.”
“That’s pretty harsh, considering I’m one of a very few who aren’t afraid to befriend the pariah of Burkhalter’s class.”
Collin’s anger fizzled out like a fire doused with water. “You’re right. It appears everyone in our class despises me now. I can’t afford to lose the only friend I have left at Columbia.”
“On the contrary, the popular consensus is you’re pretty ballsy to continue to defy Burkie day after day. Always quoting the book verbatim. But no one else wants to become a target.”
Collin massaged his temples, willing his multitude of problems to go away. “I don’t try to defy him, you know. I sit as far away as possible, and I keep my mouth shut, unless he calls on me. But he insists on grilling me, every single day.”
“Perhaps you could miss an answer or two,” Blake suggested.
“That’s been my plan on multiple occasions. But he always makes some demeaning comment about my family before he asks a question. Then I’m too angry to pretend to be stupid to stroke his ego.”
Blake shrugged. “What’s the worst he can do? He can’t fail you unless he falsifies your test scores.”
“I’m not sure. He made a stink with Dean Whittier, like I thought he would. Whittier called me into his office yesterday.”
“They’re not going to kick you out, are they?”
“He said he hoped he could find a way to smooth things over with Burkhalter, because they would love to have the Sterling family be a part of the advancement of the law school. Then he suggested my father should come to some banquet announcing future projections for Columbia. I’m sure it’s a fundraiser.”
“You see? Like I predicted, your family name can be dragged through the mud, but at the end of the day, money leaves you smelling like roses.”
“My father and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms right now.”
“That’s unfortunate, but it looks like you’ll either have to grovel in front of Burkhalter or your father.” Blake stood and stretched his arms over his head, producing a machine gun of vertebral cracks. “Choose your devil.”
Collin fisted his shirt before he could escape. “You’re not leaving here until you call Olivia and apologize.”
“Do you also want me to tell her you’re in love with her, or are you going to grow a pair and do it yourself?”
“We’re friends—I already told you that.” Collin pushed him back into the chair. “Now, make the call.”
* * *
Olivia trottedall the way from the subway station to the restaurant. Breathless, she burst into the coffee shop and scanned the tables for a dark-haired man with a book. She couldn’t even remember what he looked like in his profile picture. If he forgot to bring a book, she was at a loss.
“Olivia?”
She whipped around at the velvety deep voice behind her. The voice’s owner smiled, flashing two deep dimples around perfect white teeth. His eyes, pools of liquid chocolate, made her heart flutter. This man could only be described as beautiful. Her self-confidence flew out the window.
“Hi.” The word passed as a whisper through her suddenly parched mouth, and she cleared her throat to try again. “Hello. You must be…” she stopped, searching her memory for a name that wouldn’t come.
“It’s Fitzwilliam, but I go by Fitz.” His hand pressed against her elbow, guiding her to a table by the window. “My mother was a Pride and Prejudice fan, hence the name.”
“I don’t remember a Fitzwilliam in Pride and Prejudice,” Olivia admitted.
“You probably remember him as Mr. Darcy.” His eyes twinkled with merriment, an effect that took her breath away. “Don’t worry—most people don’t know his first name. Mom considered naming me Darcy, but she wanted to give me a name that wasn’t being stolen for girl babies. She figured Fitzwilliam was a safe bet.”
Only a guy who looked that perfect could pull off a name like Fitzwilliam. With a chiseled jaw and perfect symmetry, not to mention broad shoulders stretching against his shirt, he should’ve been a model. Or maybe a movie star.
“What are you?” she blurted out. “I didn’t mean that...” The heat from her face could’ve charred a steak. “What do you do? For a living, that is?”
His smile broadened, crinkling his eyes at the corners. “I’m an attorney, but I thought you knew that from our conversations online.”
The waitress arrived, giving Olivia a much-needed reprieve to collect her thoughts. “I’ll have a double espresso.” She hoped the caffeine would sharpen her fatigued brain.
As he ordered his coffee—dark roast with cream—Olivia studied him from the top of his perfectly coiffed hair to the tips of his expensive leather shoes. They chatted about mundane subjects, and he peppered her with questions about her goals and accomplishments. He talked little about himself, revealing only that he was an attorney, yet she still had a vague sense that he was a bit on the conceited side, though perhaps it was justified in his case.
“Why would someone like you be using an online dating service? You’re smart, attractive, successful, and you obviously have plenty of money. I’m sure there are women standing in line to go out with you.”
Fitz threw his head back and laughed. “You don’t mince words, do you? Have you always been this direct?”
“If I need to be.” Her caution flags were flapping in the breeze, but way off in her peripheral vision.
“You’re correct that I wouldn’t have any trouble finding a woman to date or one to marry, for that matter. But I didn’t get where I am without being particular. When it comes to choosing a wife, I’m very particular.” He tilted his chin down and gazed across the table through a thick fringe of lashes.
Why do guys always get the ridiculously long eyelashes? It’s so unfair.
She forced her brain back into gear. “But why use a dating site?”
“I’m selective. That’s why I signed up on Find Your Forever. I’m looking for a wife, not a good time, although I hope we’ll have that as well. My wife must be smart and beautiful, witty and driven. You were at the top of a very short list.”
Olivia told herself it was only flattery. “I get that. I’m particular, too. But it still seems a guy like you would have plenty to choose from without resorting to Internet dating.”
“I could ask you the same question.”
“And I would answer that my sister tricked me into trying it. I might as well be honest. You’ve actually been chatting online with Grace instead of me.”
His brows flew up. “Are you telling me I’ve fallen in love with your sister instead of you?”
The waitress dropped off their coffees, and Olivia lifted hers to her lips, using the steaming cup to hide her blushing cheeks. “I certainly hope you’re not in love with her, since she’s happily married. And anyway, you can’t fall in love with someone you’ve never met.”
“Whether or not you call it love, I certainly fell for you when I saw your picture. Your eyes are so beautiful. I was afraid your picture had been altered, that I’d be disappointed when we met. But you’re even more beautiful in person.”
Was his vision failing? Either that or Grace had accomplished a miracle covering up the signs of her exhaustion. Did he expect her to return the same compliment? She wasn’t about to further feed what seemed to be an overdeveloped ego, even though it would’ve been true. She took another sip of coffee.
“You’re very complimentary. If I didn’t know better, I would think you’re trying to charm my good judgment away.”
“Not at all. I hope you employ your good judgment in rampant fashion, for I’ve no doubt it will lead you straight to me.”
He lifted his mug and blew into it, drawing her eyes to his lips. She noticed her mouth was hanging open, and snapped it shut.
“That sure of yourself, huh?”
“Of course.” A slow smile bloomed on his face and his eyelids dropped to half-mast. “I’d like the opportunity for us to know each other better, unless you have some dire confession to make. I assume your sister gave me an accurate representation in her chats?”
“You never know with Grace.”
His heavy-lidded stare made her pulse race. Or maybe it was the double espresso. Either way, she’d better not drink any more coffee, or she might have a heart attack.
“I think I know enough,” he said, reaching across the table toward her fingers, which were drumming a rapid pattern to keep pace with her heartbeat. She jerked her hand back before he made contact and tucked it into her lap.
“I have one more question,” she croaked.
“Fire away.”
He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and stretching the confines of his shirt with a perfect set of biceps. Distracting biceps. She gave her head a shake to clear it.
“I’m twenty-seven, and you’re thirty-six. I’m a student and you’re a professional. Wouldn’t you be better matched with someone who’s further along in her career?”
“That’s a fair question.” He made a grimace, which somehow didn’t diminish his attractiveness. “I hope you won’t think poorly of me, but I have a practical reason for wanting a younger wife.” He cleared his throat. “I want to have children.”
“That’s it? That’s your reason?” Even though she’d been worrying about her own biological clock, she resented hearing it from a man.
“Yes. That and personal preference.”
She fumed, squeezing her fingers into fists. “A woman can still have children at age thirty-seven.”
“Yes, of course. But as a woman ages the probability of complications with pregnancy and the health of the child increases, as well. Am I not correct?”
“No, it’s true,” she muttered. “But still...”
“Don’t get me wrong. If I were in love with a woman my age or older, I would marry her in an instant, even if she were barren. But since I have the opportunity to control whom I date, and therefore whom I fall in love with, I’m simply making a wise choice.”
“Guess that makes sense.”
“That’s great.” He called the waitress to the table, holding up a credit card between two fingers. She blushed when she took it from him and scurried away. “Olivia, I’m afraid I can’t stay. But if you give me your cell number, I’ll call you.” He reached into the coat hanging on the back of his chair, pulled out his phone, and thumbed over the screen. “I have this Thursday night open. Are you busy?” His eyebrows arched in question.
“Thursday is Thanksgiving.”
“Then you’re free?”
What kind of guy wasn’t with his family on Thanksgiving? Maybe he didn’t have any close by. She could invite him to her house, but she wasn’t sure she even wanted to date him, much less risk him spoiling her Thanksgiving.
“I have family plans on Thursday.”
“Too bad. How about next Saturday night, then?”
“Okay. We can get together somewhere on Saturday. I’ll meet you.”
“An entire week before I see you again.” He stood and moved next to her chair, reaching to pluck her hand from her lap and lift it to his lips. A current rushed from her fingers up her arm and sent her heart into calisthenics. Her mouth dropped open, but no words emerged.
He lowered his voice to a purr. “I can hardly wait.”
* * *
“What are you not telling me?”Like a lie detector, Grace always picked up on every nuance when Olivia tried to tell a story without revealing certain details. “You spent an hour and a half having coffee with this guy, so you must have clicked a little bit. I think your other two dates lasted ten and eight minutes, respectively.”
“I was underdressed.” Olivia added, hoping to throw her sister off by getting into a fashion discussion. “He had on a suit and tie.”
Grace twisted her lips to the side. “It’s unfortunate you had to go in those holey jeans and that baggy sweater. I could’ve lent you something, even though you’re too tall to borrow my pants. I just got an adorable new top.”
“Oh! Let me see it!” Olivia exclaimed, thinking her plan had worked.
Grace took one step toward the closet and stopped, rotating slowly to face Olivia with her hands on her hips. “Since when are you interested in clothes? You’re trying to avoid talking about Fitz.”
Olivia smothered a smile with her hand.
“Come on, Olivia. Out with it.”
“Fine. I can tell you this much. His name isn’t Fitz—it’s Fitzwilliam. His mother was a big Pride and Prejudice fan, and that’s where she got the name. I didn’t even realize that was Mr. Darcy’s first name.”
“Me, neither.” The mattress shifted as Grace joined Olivia, both sitting cross-legged on the bed. “That must be a burden, having a name like Fitzwilliam.”
“For any other guy, probably. But this guy is so hot it doesn’t matter.” The second the words left her mouth, Olivia wished them back. She fanned her burning cheeks.
“He was super hot, huh?” Her eyes half-lidded, Grace spread her lips in a smug smile. “How hot was he? Tall, dark, and handsome? Built? Beautiful eyes? Great hair?”
“All of the above,” said Olivia. “And add a strong jaw and mesmerizing brown eyes. Every person in the place was staring at him like they were trying to figure out who he was. He looked like a movie star.”
“You liked him a lot, then? I finally picked a winner?”
“I don’t know. There was something that seemed kind of off about him.”
“Like he wasn’t very bright?”
“No, he’s extremely smart and well-spoken. He’s an attorney, and from the way he dressed, a wealthy one.”
“Then what was the problem?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe his ego is a bit overdeveloped. Or maybe it was that I was practically tongue-tied around him because he was so intimidating.”
“You? Intimidated? That’s got to be a first.” Grace chuckled, but Olivia knew she meant what she said.
“I know I seem confident all the time, but sometimes it’s an act.”
Grace’s lips pressed together, as if she didn’t want to say anything that might spoil Olivia’s moment of transparency. Reading the sincere empathy in her sister’s eyes, Olivia found the courage to continue, though her throat was tight.
“I have this overwhelming fear that one day everyone will suddenly discover I’m a fraud. That I’m not that competent or self-assured or smart or any of those other things I pretend to be.” She swallowed the single half-drop of moisture she found in her mouth. “And they’ll kick me out of med school, because I don’t have what it takes to be a doctor. I keep working and working, trying to stuff all this information into my head, and I’m afraid I’ll never be able to learn it all.”
“I’m so sorry, Olivia.” Big-sister sympathy in her eyes, Grace opened her arms, and Olivia fell into her hug, as she had when she’d had boyfriend problems in middle school. “You don’t have to push yourself like this, if you don’t want to. You’re already an amazing nurse, and you don’t have anything to prove. I believe you’ll be a great doctor someday, but you don’t have to become one for us to be proud of you.”
The sweet words only made Olivia cry harder. She pushed away, swiping her sleeve across her eyes. “Thanks, Sister. You always know what to say.”
“And as for this Mr. Darcy… No matter how good-looking and successful he is, he’s got nothing on you. Bet he hasn’t worked his way through college and nursing school and medical school. Bet he doesn’t volunteer at the free clinic. Bet he would never offer to donate a kidney to a friend.”
Her stomach twisted with guilt. “That’s another thing—I haven’t told Martha about the kidney yet. I signed up and started the testing, but I haven’t mentioned it to her.”
“Because you don’t want her to be disappointed again?”
“I wish that was the reason. But the truth is, I know I’ve still got the option to back out as long as she doesn’t know. I hate to admit it, but I’m kind of afraid.”
“You know my opinion on that matter. Maybe that fear means you shouldn’t go through with it.”
“I’m positive this is something I’m supposed to do, but I’m still scared. I’m a big coward. Like I said, I’m a fake.”
“You’re too much of a giver, Olivia. You give your money. You give your time. And now you’re planning to give away a piece of your body.” Grace’s lips turned downward and a crease formed between her eyes. “If you keep this up, there won’t be anything left of you.”
“You have no room to talk. I started volunteering because you took me with you.”
“I may donate some time, but not as much as you. And you’ll never see me volunteering to have an organ cut out of my body.”
“I bet you would, if it could happen magically, without surgery or blood. If they could zap you and—presto—your kidney is lying on the table.”
A shudder shook Grace’s body. “Ew! Could we please change the subject? We were supposed to be talking about Mr. Darcy. Since we’ve established you’re more than good enough for him and he’d be lucky to have you, are you going out with him? On a real date?”
“Maybe. He asked me to go out with him Thursday night.”
“On Thanksgiving Day? I hope you said no.”
“I told him I was spending Thanksgiving with my family, and he’d forgotten Thursday was Thanksgiving. I guess he doesn’t have any family here. I could’ve invited him to Mom and Pop’s, but I don’t know him well enough. Plus, he doesn’t seem like the type who’d enjoy squeezing around the table with our huge family.”
“Or you could be judging him unfairly. You tend to be prejudiced against people who have money. Seems like you may have been wrong about Collin all this time. Maybe you shouldn’t make the same mistake again.”
“That’s true. I guess I should give this guy the benefit of the doubt. He suggested going out on Saturday, and I said I’d think about it.”
“I think you should go. And I think you should leave from here and make him come pick you up, so I can see this smokin’ hot guy.”
“Hey!” Brad’s voice boomed from the doorway. “Why do you want to see some hot guy? Am I not good enough for you?”
Olivia knew he wasn’t really worried. He tried to scowl, but a smile kept poking through his angry fa?ade.
Grace moved to wrap her arms around his waist. “I would never trade my hunk for Olivia’s hunk. My interest was purely academic.”
His grin escaped its hiding place. “It’s a good thing. My testosterone was about to make me go caveman on this dude. Who are we talking about, anyway?”
“It’s a guy Grace found for me on that online dating site,” Olivia answered, noticing too late Grace’s finger pressed to her lips under a pair of panicked hazel eyes.
Brad’s new frown appeared more genuine as he thrust Grace to arm’s length and pinned her with a glare. “You signed her up for that Find-A-Foolsite? After we talked about it and I said it was a bad idea?”
“It’s called Find Your Forever, but it turned out great. This last guy was a really good one,” said Grace, with pleading eyes. “Tell him, Olivia.”
“You’ve been chatting online with other guys all this time?” Brad asked before Olivia could respond.
“Uhmm, I think I should be going.” Olivia slipped off the bed and tiptoed in a wide circle, trying to squeeze behind Brad to escape. A muscled arm blocked her way. Her eyes followed the arm to a hand, gripping the doorframe with white knuckles.
“Not so fast, Buckaroo.” Brad’s gaze shifted to Olivia. “We’re going to talk about your safety, especially if you’re meeting with strangers.”
Olivia bristled. “I’m twenty-seven years old. I don’t need a father to tell me what to do.”
“You may outgrow your need for a father, but Spencer and I are going to claim the right to big-brother you for the rest of your life. Man or woman, no one should be alone, Olivia. We have to look out for one another. I know you don’t want to be dependent on a man—or anyone else, for that matter—but has it ever occurred to you how selfish your reckless behavior is? When I hear about you walking the deserted streets after midnight, it makes me sick to my stomach. And don’t try to tell me you’re not in danger, because Grace told me you were assaulted last night. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you.”
Her angry retort died a quick death. “I never meant to worry anyone. I’m not really reckless, you know. I always carry my mace in one hand and a sound blaster in the other. Well, almost always. Last night I was kind of upset, and I forgot.”
She could tell by the way his face grew progressively redder her explanation wasn’t helping.
“I’m not telling you what to do, Olivia, but I’m asking nicely. Begging.” Brad’s chest expanded and fell slowly. “Let us play a role in keeping you safe. You’ve turned us down before, but we’re begging from now on to avoid the subway late at night when you have to pass down empty streets to get to the station. Grace had a great idea…a taxi allowance. Please use it, so we can have some peace of mind.”
To her amazement, his words made her feel warm inside. “Okay.” It was the hardest word she’d ever spoken, but she found herself smiling. His protective manner brought a vivid image of Collin to mind, as he rode with her on the subway and walked to her apartment, stubbornly refusing to leave until he saw her safely home. I can’t remember why that always seemed so irritating.
“Great.” Brad’s arm slipped around her shoulder, the other one still around his wife. A gentle pressure moved them toward the living room. “Now, let’s have a conversation about this hot guy.”