I decide to try one last-ditch effort to let me drive her to my house. “I really think you should let me—”
Raising her hand, Olivia places her fingertips on my mouth. She strokes her thumb over my bottom lip and murmurs, “I’m driving, Garrett. No arguments.”
Her tone of voice says it will be futile to stay in this battle, so I just nod at her.
Leaning in, she removes her fingers and replaces them with a warm brush of her lips. “And, Garrett…I most certainly don’t want you to be gentlemanly with me tonight.”
I can’t help the groan that pops free and rumbles into her mouth. I bring my hand to the back of her head and pull her in deeper to the kiss.
Yeah…Alex is right. I have it bad for Olivia.
—
“Wow,” Olivia says, her eyes wide with interest as she steps out of her car to look at my house. “This is just…wow.”
“Impressed?” I ask with a grin, waggling my eyebrows at her as I shut the door to my own car. “Going to get me laid tonight?”
She snorts…so unladylike, yet damn…it makes me want to kiss her.
“More like flabbergasted,” she says with awe as she takes in my six-thousand-square-foot monstrosity of gray slate stone and rough-cut timbered siding. It sits on a heavily wooded acre-sized lot with river birch trees gracing both sides of the driveway.
I reach into the back passenger seat of her car and pull out the duffel bag that she had quickly packed when we drove over to her apartment. “Come on…I’ll give you the grand tour.”
Once we get inside, I drop her bag to the floor. “Welcome to my humble abode.”
“There’s nothing humble about this place,” she says, her chin tilted up to look at the two-story foyer and double wrought-iron staircase that leads up to the second floor. “What can one man possibly need with all this room?”
Chuckling, I take her hand and lead her back to the kitchen. “I don’t need all this room. It’s actually kind of a pain in the ass to take care of.”
“So why did you buy it?” she asks me.
“When you’re young and have more money than you know what to do with, you sort of buy things,” I tell her by way of sheepish explanation. “We didn’t have a lot growing up, so I guess I went a little crazy. Plus…I got a really great signing bonus with the Cold Fury.”
Olivia releases my hand and walks over to my Italian six-burner gas range with double oven. I think I’ve used it a grand total of three times in the last year, and that was to cook frozen pizzas. She runs her hand over the shiny silver surface like it’s a precious piece of art…which is cool, because, hey…it cost about the same. I lean back against the counter, placing my hands by my hips, and watch her. She fiddles with the knobs, lost in thought.
“Does it make you feel better…buying expensive things?” she asks softly as she turns to run her hand over the gray granite countertops.
“Not really,” I answer her truthfully. “Except my parents’ house. I paid that off for them. Tried to buy them a new one, actually, but they wouldn’t accept. And I’ve paid my brother and sister’s college loans off. That felt awesome.”“So you’re not in the game just for the money?” she asks as she turns to walk toward me.
“No. The money’s nice, but I’d play for free. Hell…I’d pay to be able to play hockey.”
Olivia steps in close with a smile and rests her hands on my hips. I inhale deeply, smelling her light floral perfume and looking at the various colors that play through her long hair.
Reaching up, I tug on the end of one braid…so very happy she kept them in. “What do you feel like eating tonight?”
She presses in closer to me and rests her chin on my chest, looking up at me through fluttering lashes. “Would it be completely slutty if I said I felt like eating you tonight?”
Oh, fuck.
Lust, hot and boiling, courses through me, and I’m pretty confident we won’t just be watching movies tonight. “Not slutty at all,” I practically croak. “But only if I can reciprocate.”
“Mmmm,” she says with a breathy moan. “Sounds nice. But we should probably eat some real food, don’t you think? Just so we can keep up our stamina?”
I move my hands from the counter to her hips, spreading my fingers wide across her lower back, and pull her in closer. Olivia hisses and jerks backward, and I immediately release her.
“Fuck! Did I just hurt you?” I ask, and reach my hands out helplessly to her.
She gives me a pained smile and gingerly touches the back of her right hip. “No, it’s okay. I just banged my hip today. It’s fine. Just a little cut.”
“Shit, I’m so sorry.”
Olivia immediately steps toward me. Taking my hands in her own, she physically wraps my arms around her, placing them just a little higher up on her back. “It’s fine, Garrett. Just try to avoid that area tonight.”
“Good thing you got lots of other places for me to explore,” I tell her with a relieved smile.
“That I do,” she says impishly. “Now feed me…I’m starved.”
Chapter 10
Olivia
“Oh, God…Garrett…I’m so close,” I groan.
So damned close.
While I had every intention of giving Garrett a blow job tonight—because I very much want to eat him all up—he’s decided to take control of our evening. After slurping down some lo mein with a chilled bottle of white wine, Garrett decided to bypass our idea of watching a movie and hauled me off to his bedroom. He got no argument from me, because it’s what I wanted too…just one more night of all my worries being chased away.