by Vivian Wood
I raise a brow. This is news to me.
Carter doesn’t skip a beat, though. He leans closer to Olivia and intones, “Are you sure you don’t want my help instead?”
I grit my teeth, my fists clenching. That sounds like a line I would use on her, if Olivia weren’t absolutely off limits. Somehow the thought that Carter is allowed to hit on her if he wants to doesn’t register for me at that moment.
I can feel a growl gathering in my throat. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
Carter scoffs. “Like what? Like a pretty girl that I’d like to know better?”
Olivia flushes again, her blue eyes wide as she looks between us. “I... I think I should go inside. I’ll be in the library whenever you two finish… whatever this is.”
Ducking her head, she slips away, disappearing back into the house.
That leaves Carter and me standing outside, frowning at each other with narrowed eyes.
“I don’t know if I like you,” Carter says calmly.
“And I don’t like the way you talk to Olivia,” I spit back.
He cocks his head. “Is she spoken for?”
I snort. “It’s 2019, dude. Get enlightened. A woman doesn’t need to have a boyfriend in order to not be harassed.”
Carter takes a second to process that. He seems a little disbelieving. Fair enough, as they aren’t my words; I’m just repeating what an angry girl in a bar said to me about her drunk friend a couple months back.
He settles for avoiding another argument. “I should go.” He looks out across the yard. “And it looks like you have a ton of stuff to do here…”
No shit. I lift my chin and stalk to the front door, my mind whirring. If Carter is indeed my brother, that meeting could have gone better. Then again, when was the last time that I met and got along with another guy?
“I’ll have my eye on you,” Carter says, just as I’m almost through the door.
I freeze for a second, my temper flaring briefly. It is basically taking everything in me to just let that comment slide. I’m here for a reason, not that he knows that. My fists clench tightly and my heart rate speeds up.
I’m practically spoiling for a fight. But I’m not ready to pick one with a guy that could be my blood.
Not yet.
I lumber inside the house, shutting the door hard on Carter. I stop and sip my coffee, looking around.
“Aiden?” Olivia calls.
I move toward the sound of her voice, skirting the large staircase and heading toward the right. She pokes her head out of a doorway a little down the hallway. She looks relieved as I walk toward her.
“There you are. Margaret has already gone to town on an errand this morning, but she agreed to lend you to me today.” Her head disappears as I get closer. I’ve never been further than the front sitting room, so when I see the library it is a complete surprise.
The ceilings are two stories high and vaulted, daylight pouring in the room from several skylights. The walls are lined with books; before me are piles of books and papers reaching up half the wall. It looks a little like something out of “Hoarders”.
I cough at some of the dust that’s in the room. “Jesus.”
Olivia doesn’t look daunted or put off by the clutter. In fact, she looks excited by the prospect of it. She pulls her hair into a high ponytail, her arms lifting to show off that section of toned midriff again.
My fingers itch with the need to reach out and trail them across the exposed skin.
Ripping my eyes away, I scold myself. I know better than to look at Olivia that way. I’m just going through a self-imposed dry spell. I need to remember that.
“I’m ready,” she says, her eyes shining. She puts her hands on her hips and looks up, then scrunches up her face. “Actually… I guess I should catalog what’s in here before I do anything else. Do you think I can borrow a ladder?”
I’m more relieved than I should be. I have a ton of shit on my to do list and I have a lot of thoughts to wade through. There is also the distinct possibility that I don’t want to deal with my libido right now. In any event, I’m not needed here.
“Definitely. There are some really tall ladders in the maintenance shed. I’ll go grab you one and bring it back.”
Olivia smiles. “Thanks, Aiden. And…” She blushes. “Thanks for sticking up for me earlier, with Carter. It wasn’t necessary but it was very sweet of you to think of me.”
More like I couldn’t stand the thought of my maybe-brother talking to you for more than a second. But I don’t say that. Instead I just nod, turning on my heel and head out of the room.
I need to do something. Something that will distract me from Olivia. Anything that will keep me from doing what I want to, which is to bury my hands in her hair, take her mouth, and fuck her up against the wall of that overfull library.
Loathe though I am to admit it, this isn’t the first time I’ve been attracted to Olivia. Not by a long shot. It started when she was around seventeen and has only gotten stronger with every year so far.
Blowing out a breath, I tuck my head down and dash across the yard, trying to pretend that I can run away from my problems.
8
Olivia
I stand in a little space I’ve cleared by one of the library windows, staring outside at Aiden. He doesn’t even notice me there, not that he would particularly care either way if he knew I was watching. I’ve always been essentially invisible to him.
Pressing my forehead against the glass, I sigh wistfully.
He’s just so… dreamy. Darkly handsome, effortlessly cool. There is something so attractive about him, and it’s not just his looks. He’s just a bright, shiny ball of hot man, rolling through this entire world. And I’m not the only one who thinks so.
There are always women around him, buzzing like flies. While there isn’t anyone at this moment, I am sure that his next conquest is right around the corner.
Honestly, I would practically kill to be the next in line. But I’m relegated to being his best friend’s little sister forever. That’s just the way it is, I guess.
Besides, he’s too busy to even look in my direction.
In the four days that I’ve been here now, Aiden has had his hands full with projects. Hammering down the loose floorboards on the front porch. Clearing the yard of debris. Now he’s working on scraping the whole outside of the house clean, taking off years of grimy paint.
Tasks that have required him to be outside, away from my dusty little corner of the house. For my part, I have kept an eye out. Hell, I’ve even worked my way through the piles, edging everything back just enough so I can now see out of one window.
Pathetic, I know. But my hard work was rewarded when Aiden stopped outside this morning and stripped off his shirt. I looked at that magnificent chest he revealed, those well-muscled arms and that very defined back…
I have to fan myself with papers every time I so much as glance outside. Since then, I’ve been trying to work around my own drool. I tell myself that it makes more sense for me to approach tackling this room starting by the window and working toward the door.
Rolling my eyes at myself, I set myself some rules. I can only look out the window every half an hour, and then only for a minute. Otherwise this room will always be a wreck.
So I make myself work. I have to remember that I’m actually here doing the job that I love… or I will be, once I sort through all these papers and books. I wear a dust mask, which protects me from the worst of the dust and debris as I work.
There are newspapers stuffed in with the papers, I think to commemorate the date. Either that or the original collector was a crazy hoarder. I vacillate between those two truths, especially when I realize that a fair amount of the paper is trash. Scrap paper, old gambling receipts, or unimportant ancient invoices for things like lawn services. Interestingly, at least two of the stacks have books of stamps at the bases.
Why stamps? Did this person think that they would someday be worth somet
hing eventually? I legitimately have a hard time getting into their headspace when I find stuff like this.
I’m all the way in the corner of the room, standing on a ladder and piling what looks like a bunch of forty-year-old mail into a pile. Aiden calls out to me from the doorway, although I can't see him.
“Hey Olive?” he calls. Then he stops and sneezes at all the dust I’m kicking up. My heart seizes up at the sound of his voice.
“Hold on!” I call back. “Let me come around to you.”
I climb down the ladder then shimmy around the very outskirts of the stacks of books. Pressing myself tight against the wall at one point, I manage to make it back without upsetting any of the stacks. Then I see him, unfortunately wearing his dark shirt once more. I step out into the hall and Aiden looks me up and down and grins.
When he speaks, the timbre of his deep voice makes the hairs on my arms stand up.
“I was going to ask if you want to ride to town with me, but now I don't know if I should,” he jokes.
I glance down at the ocean blue dress I’m wearing, a little distressed. I’m covered in dirt and grime, from the top of my head down to my once-white saddle shoes.
“I could look a little better,” I agree. Then I eye his equally grungy state. He’s clearly been working outside all day. “I don't think you can judge me, honestly.”
Aiden’s mouth kicks up at the corner, making my heart flutter. I remember suddenly why I’m infatuated with him. It’s moments just like this.
He looks over his shoulder. “That’s true. Do you want to come grab a burger with me?”
Like… a date? I know that’s not what he means, but I can’t help myself. My heart speeds up. My mouth goes dry, so I just nod.
“Ladies first,” he says, motioning toward the door.
Still tongue tied, I walk out of the house. Aiden is right behind me, touching my elbow to guide me toward where his Jeep is parked.
“My car is hidden on the other side of those woods,” he says with a nod in that direction. I slide him a glance as we head that way, trying to pinpoint my feelings about him at that moment.
I long for him to just look at me for a moment and then grab me and kiss me hard. I’m not sure that counts as a feeling, but…
He looks so damnably good right now, his dark hair in disarray so it falls just so over his forehead. Looking at the way his shirt is sticking to his skin a little makes me want to press my legs tightly together.
As we get into his Jeep, I bite my bottom lip. The whole cab smells like him, earthy clean male overlaid with traces of hard labor. It should repulse me, but instead it just makes me want him more.
God, why am I so hard up for him right now? I need to think of something else.
Anything else.
Rolling down my window as he starts driving the Jeep down the bumpy driveway, I stick my head out the window for a second. The warm summer breeze buffets my face. We drive like that for a while in silence before he says anything.
“What are you thinking about?” Aiden asks, looking at me idly.
You, I want to say. But I don’t. My cheeks start burning. The seat belt over my chest feels restrictive suddenly.
“Nothing. I was just… um… wondering what I’m going to find in the archives next,” I lie. It’s not the best lie. Not even a good one.
His brows rise a little, but thankfully he doesn’t press me. Instead, he teases me.
“Are you really that bored? Hmm? I take you away from your books and already you’re daydreaming about what you’ll find? Am I that uninteresting?”
God, of course he took it personally.
My cheeks go red. “No! I didn’t… I mean…”
Aiden grins at me. “I’m just kidding, Olive. You need to learn how to relax. Take up a hobby. Kitesurf, maybe. Me, I listen to records in my downtime.”
The image of him, changing the record and then sitting in solitude washes over me. My embarrassment starts to fade.
“That sounds nice.” I clear my throat. “I like to read.”
He gives his head a little shake in response. He’s undoubtedly thinking that I’m a huge nerd. But he doesn’t comment, for which I am thankful.
He looks out his window just as we emerge from the woods. Beyond him, I see the ocean appear over the cliff we’re driving on, the sky and sea breathtaking in their simple beauty.
“Wow,” I murmur. “That view is really something. I forget that we are so close to the sea, and then… boom. Endless blue waves, as far as the eye can see.”
Aiden surveys me. “Yeah, the view is pretty unforgettable.”
I blush and look away, though I’m not sure why. He clears his throat.
“Are you out here permanently? Like… did you move out here?”
My eyes fixed on the road ahead, I nod. “Yeah. It was a tough decision, moving away from my mom. But I think it was the right one.”
He readjusts how he’s sitting, sprawling his right arm out across the gap between our seats. His fingers rest just behind my head, which makes me tense.
“Have you heard from your mom lately? The last thing Grayson told me was a few years ago. Maybe your high school graduation or something. She went missing right before?” He frowns, trying to remember.
I remember all too well. “Yeah. That was almost exactly four years ago. Grayson was… well, he was back, but he wasn’t in any state to come to my graduation. So I just went alone. Mom turned up a few weeks later, strung out on drugs and already apologizing.” I wrinkle my nose. “She’ll never change. I’ve come to accept that.”
Aiden draws a breath. “I’m sorry, Olivia.”
I shrug. “It’s okay. It was just a high school graduation. And Grayson did come to my college graduation a few months ago.”
There are a few seconds of silence. I swallow and look over at Aiden.
“I know we kind of talked about this already, but… why are you here?” I scrutinize him. “And please don't just shut me down with something about why you aren’t working for the National Park Service. I mean… how did you find this specific place?”
His jaw tenses and he looks away out over the ocean. When he speaks, his words sound almost taut. “My mom died.”
My eyebrows fly up. He almost says it like he’s confessing something, even though he hasn’t done anything wrong at all.
God. My heart goes out to him immediately. “What? Oh, Aiden… I am so sorry.” I pause, thinking. “When?”
He clears his throat and shifts in his seat. “Three months ago.”
I can’t help but reach out and touch his arm ever so lightly. The contact seems surprising to him, because he jumps at the feeling of my hand. He’s not looking at me, seeming preoccupied with looking out his window.
“I’m so sorry. I had no idea,” I say, my voice low and raspy.
A shiver runs through Aiden. He seems as emotional as I’ve ever seen him, his eyes have gone dark and his whole body is clenched. Still, I’m sure he is repressing the bulk of whatever he feels. That seems to be the way that the Navy trains men to be, judging by my big brother.
“Yeah, well.” He draws in a breath. “She spent some time at the estate when she was younger. So I’m just… trying to find out what that was like, I guess. The Morgans have no idea who I am, though.”
“I see.” I lick my lips. “Thank you for confiding in me.” I pause. “Um… what was your mother’s name? Where did she come from? Maybe I can keep an eye out and see if she’s mentioned in any of the family history.”
This a little white lie… I already know her name is… no, was Anna. When I was a preteen girl, I learned everything I could about Aiden from afar. The names of his entire family, what kind of pet he had as a child, his favorite flavor of ice cream.
I’ll need to know this stuff for when we’re married, I would tell myself. I blush as I think of it now.
Yep, it’s definitely way better just to act like I’m in the dark about that one.
Aiden’s l
ips lift at the corners. “Her name was Anna. And she was from Princeton, I think.”
He’s trying to be closer to his mother, though that is left unsaid. Silence stretches between us as I piece the information he’s given me into the jigsaw puzzle that is his mosaic portrait. I give his arm a final squeeze, tension crackling in the air between us. Then I draw my hand back, turning to look out the window.
He doesn’t resist. He is somber, brooding even. It’s a side of him that I haven’t seen that much of before. I have to admit, it’s an alluring look for him.
Then again, what isn’t?
It’s not long before we reach the burger joint. I’m sort of hoping that he will shift out of the strange mood he’s in. Maybe he’ll park and we’ll go inside, maybe we’ll flirt and tease.
But it seems that’s not the case. He just pulls up to the drive through window, orders without consulting me, and picks up the food. He hands it over to me wordlessly, then starts driving us home.
And I just sit there, clutching the paper bag, feeling stymied. A braver woman would use this to open Aiden up, probably. She would find his gooey center and maybe his heart too.
Alas, I’m not that woman. So I just smile when we get back to the house.
“Thanks for taking me,” I try.
“No problem.” He plucks his burger and fries out of the bag in my hands. “I’ll see you later.”
Then Aiden heads off into the woods, leaving me watching after him uncertainly.
9
Olivia
“I can’t believe you do this as your job,” I huff, adjusting my backpack straps for the hundredth time. It’s the weekend. I made a lot of noise about making Aiden take me deep into the wilderness, in theory to hike up Mount Olympus. Or if not Mount Olympus, a little replica, more suited to my hiking skills. It sounded nice and refreshing.
In reality though, it’s sweaty and hard, and we are only a little way up the base of the mountain. Surrounded by pine trees and rocky, upward-sloping terrain, I am pretty sure that my lungs are just going to stop working at any moment.