Chapter 49
OLIVIA
Sparkling red fabric clung to my chest, abdomen, and hips, glittering and refracting the light in the suite as I swayed from side to side. My dress for this evening was more dramatic than what I usually wore to these dinners, but I’d wanted to make a statement—and an impression—tonight.
Mom had assured me that this dress would do just that and I’d always trusted her judgment when it came to fashion.
Abi and London were wearing equally impressive dresses, with Abi in black and London in emerald green.
Even Lacey was dressed to the nines in a gown Mom had sent over with ours, a navy blue sheath dress with lace and studded with tiny gemstones.
“We’re going to kick ass tonight,” London gushed, her hands on her hips as she spun in front of the mirror. “Seriously, we owe Mom for life for choosing these for us.”
“I helped,” Abi teased lightly. “At least, I went shopping with her. I’m sure she’d say I was more of a hindrance.”
I giggled. “She’d never say that and you know it. She’s probably raving to all her friends about her shopping trip with her daughter.”
“True, but I did try to get her to tone it down a bit. Are you sure we’re not overdressed?” She fidgeted with the deep V between her boobs, trying to get the fabric to cover more of her cleavage.
London swatted her hand away. “Leave that alone. You’re stunning and we can’t be overdressed. This is the welcome dinner for the biggest event in our calendar and we’re the future of the firm. We need to look like badasses who have it covered.”
“While not being covered?” Abi motioned to her chest. “I can’t be badass when I’m worrying about accidentally slipping a nipple.”
“Oh, but what a glorious nipple it would be,” London joked, turning to me and giving me a onceover with a critical eye. “You look like the future, Madam President. You’re all set to go.”
I laughed. “Madam President, huh? Let’s not make that a thing.”
London shrugged. “We’ll see.”
“Is it just me, or is it really cool having the guys here with us this year?” Lacey asked, leaning against the doorframe in the bathroom with a glass of champagne in her hand.
There was a soft smile on her lips that told me I wasn’t the only one feeling some things for a cowboy, and she didn’t even try to make a secret of it.
“Dallas and I stayed up so late last night talking, and it was amazing to just sit and be able to talk about our lives when we were here, you know?”
“I don’t know,” Abi said, smiling as she turned to our friend. “I’d like to, though. I’m starting to think that I should’ve moved down to Texas with you all. You’ve only been gone a couple months and you come home with super hot cowboys in tow.”
Lacey laughed. “I guess we did get lucky, but hey. It’s not too late for you. We’re flying back at the end of the week and there’s always going to be a seat open for you.”
“You should at least think about it,” I said, not above begging her to come even if I knew that she couldn’t. “We’ll find someone else to run the New York branch.”
Abi chuckled. “Thanks, but no thanks. I think you guys have got the hot cowboys covered. I’ll just stay here and become a ridiculously successful executive with a harem of subordinates to keep her company during those long, lonely nights at the office.”
“As if you’d ever do that.” London squealed with laughter. “It would be awesome if you would, though. Please do that. I’d pay to see it.”
“I’d be happy with just one guy to keep you company,” I countered jokingly. “If you want a harem though, go for it. We’ll support you.”
Abi flushed beet red and waved a hand in front of her face. “I was kidding, guys. Seriously. I’m perfectly fine by myself, even if I am looking forward to a night out with your guys. They’re fun. I like them.”
“Dinner first,” I reminded them. “We can’t rush through it, either. This year is our biggest turnout yet. We have over a thousand people attending. That’s amazing, but it also means that we need to do our best to shake hands with as many of them as we can.”
Abi sat down on the bed and leaned back on her hands. “How cool is it that it’s grown that much? That the company has grown that much? I remember when we were little and Dad only had a few people working for him. Even when he was home, he was forever on the phone or in his office.”
“I remember being so worried that he wasn’t getting enough sleep,” I admitted, exhaling through my nose as I thought back on all the nights I’d padded down our hallway at home, checking on him in the office just to make sure he knew how late it was.
“I honestly can’t believe that all those nights amounted to one like this, which is why we have to go down there and give it our all. ”
I saw the resolve in my sisters’ eyes as they strode over to the door with determination etched into their features. Thankfully, all three of us had the work ethic of professional athletes, and once we were focused on a task, there wasn’t much we wouldn’t do to make sure we got it done.
We rode the elevator down to the lobby to meet the boys, finding them waiting near the elevators. Colt, Dallas, and Liam were with him, but I had eyes only for Charlie. He’d worn an actual, honest-to-God suit for the occasion and the sight of him in it made me want to head right back upstairs.
Every muscle was displayed just so under the perfectly fitted jacket that stretched ever so slightly over his broad shoulders. In a white shirt with a black tie, he certainly didn’t look like the average, garden-variety billionaire cowboy from Texas.
Although nothing about him had ever been average or garden variety.
He smiled when he saw me, those stunning blues crinkling at the corners and the barest flash of his white teeth visible when they sank into his lower lip.
If he had been any other guy, I’d have thought that he’d done that on purpose in a corny attempt to appear sexy, but he didn’t even seem to be aware that he’d done it.
In my periphery, I noticed Dallas looking at Lacey in much the same way, albeit with more heat rather than the genuine warmth I saw in Charlie’s eyes. Interestingly, Liam also hadn’t looked away from London.
Well, at least, he didn’t until we reached them and she snapped at him. “Stop that. Just because you can’t look at them doesn’t mean you have to look at me.”
He rolled his shoulders in a slow shrug, a smirk ghosting across his lips as he offered her his arm. “I was just looking to see if your horns were peeking out tonight, but you’ve done an awesome job covering them. Thank god for hair, am I right?”
Groaning in frustration, she snatched his arm like she hoped she might accidentally snap it in half and dragged him across the lobby with her. Colt grinned after them. “Is it just me, or do those two have some serious issues?”
“I’m not even sure what you call that, but issues doesn’t seem to cover it.” Abi took Colt’s arm when he offered it to her. “Lead the way, dapper gentleman. We’re never going to get out of here if we don’t start moving.”
He chuckled, leading her away but keeping a respectful distance as they walked. Much to my disappointment, I doubted there was anything romantic brewing there. Colt wouldn’t be the reason my sister moved down to Texas with us. If anything, they seemed to have friend-zoned each other pretty hard.
Lacey and Dallas, however, were an entirely different story. She grabbed his arm and pulled him closer, and they walked with their sides fused and their heads bent together, laughing and talking as they went.
Charlie waited until they were done before he turned to me, gaze slowly lowering from my eyes to my toes and all the way back up again. “You’re breathtaking, Liv. Truly.”
My cheeks became hot, but I didn’t look away from him. “So are you, Cowboy. Or should I call you City Boy tonight?”
“Please don’t.” He grimaced as he extended his arm toward me. “I might have dressed the part, but inside, I’m never going to change.”
“Please don’t,” I repeated his own words back at him as I wrapped my fingers around the crook of his elbow, wishing I could draw him closer than I could, given all the eyes that would be on us real soon.
Even so, I took advantage of our private moment to run my thumb along the hard muscle underneath the layers of fabric. “There’s no steak tonight, but I made sure to include a rack of lamb for you on the menu.”
Charlie blinked hard before smiling. “Tell me you’ve tailored the menu for the whole week according to what I like.”
I chuckled. “Aren’t you supposed to pretend that I didn’t have to do it before you ask me to tell you that?”
“You didn’t have to do it,” he said dutifully. “Did you tailor the menu for the week for me?”
I shrugged. “I guess you’re just going to have to stick around to find out.”
“Oh, I’m sticking around, alright. I never knew how much I didn’t know about marketing.” He released my arm when we reached the ballroom door. “I figured you might want to walk in by yourself, or risk having to be walked into dinner every night by a different client.”
“There won’t be dinner every night,” I responded on autopilot before turning to give him a grateful smile. “Thanks for thinking about it, though. Many guys would’ve tried to march me in there just to stake some kind of claim.”
“I don’t need to stake a claim.” A fire lit behind those eyes as he stared into mine. “It’s already there, inside you, and nobody else needs to know about it right now for that to be true.”
My breath got caught in my lungs and I nearly flung myself at him, but I settled for a quick hug before I turned and strode into the venue by myself.
On my way in, just as it had been this afternoon, I stopped to talk to people and got caught up with as many as I could before I made my way to our table.
My sisters were also making their way around the room, with Lacey and Liam sweet-talking some clients they’d been working with as well. Charlie, Dallas, and Colt were already at the table they were sharing with us, and my dad was there too, looking animated as he spoke to them about something.
Probably the history of the conference and how it had gotten started. I watched them for a moment, but I couldn’t help but wonder if Dad would still love Charlie as much once he found out I was in love with him.
After making my rounds until the bell rang to indicate the start of the dinner service, I took a seat next to Charlie and smiled when I immediately felt him tuck his leg against my own. Both of his hands were still on the table, which was a pity, but we were pretty front and center tonight.
I suppose I should be grateful.
And I was. It was just that I happened to like it when he touched me, and holding his hand had become a little joy that I desperately savored every moment of. Oh, relax. You’ll be out on the town soon enough, and then you can touch him whenever you want.
Using that thought to fortify my resolve, I kept my hands to myself throughout dinner, throwing out ideas with the others about what we wanted to do later and chatting to the occasional client who stopped by our table.
As the meal was winding down, however, I knew we needed to end the night on a high note.
We couldn’t do that if the open bar experienced any problems, so I stood up and excused myself. “We can leave just as soon as everyone is done, but I need to run over to the bar real quick. I won’t be able to relax after we leave without knowing that they’ve got everything they need.”
“I’ll walk with you,” Charlie offered, picking up his mostly empty tumbler of whiskey. “Need a refill anyhow.”
I met those piercing blues and nodded. Our server was fantastic and he’d be by again soon, so I knew Charlie didn’t actually need to go to the bar to get a refill, but I was thrilled that he just wanted to come with me.
“We’ll leave when you’re ready,” Abi said patiently. “Take your time.”
Nodding, I slung my purse over my arm and strode over to the counter with Charlie right behind me.
Although I was pretending not to even notice that he was there, I could feel his presence like a hot water bottle on a cold night.
I wished I could relish that warmth, but soon enough, I would be able to.
When we reached the bar, the bartenders were all busy and I shook my head when one signaled he’d be just a minute, knowing it was more important for him to serve our guests. I could wait a few minutes to speak to any of them.
Until I heard the familiar voice speak up behind me. “Livi, is that you?”
There was only one person who had habitually and always called me Livi.
It had never been Olivia, and it wouldn’t be now either, regardless of how badly things had ended between us.
An icy chill ran down my spine as I turned to see the face of my crusty, dusty ex-boyfriend who had broken my heart some time before I’d left.
Remnants of Todd was back, and I had no idea what he was doing here.
As I looked into his eyes, I felt the blood drain from my cheeks. No way. What the hell is Todd doing here, and why is he pretending like he’s surprised to see me? No way. There is absolutely no way this can really be happening.
And yet, it was. It was totally happening.
My horrendous ex was right in front of me, smiling and opening his arms like he was welcoming me home.