by Marie Force
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Olivia, talk to me,” he said in a gentle, cajoling tone. “Come on.”
“I’m kind of freaking out,” she confessed.
“Why?”
“This whole thing is just…”
“Intense?”
“Yes.” That was exactly the word she would’ve used.
“Is that bad?”
“It would be if you were to suddenly lose interest.” She cringed, hating how needy that made her sound.
“Or if you did.”
“I won’t.”
“Then why do you think I would?”
“I can’t help but wonder what a pilot who’s been everywhere and done everything sees in a perpetual student who works at the airport.”
He sighed. “Olivia, why do you do that? Why do you make it sound like there isn’t a single thing about you that’s interesting?”
“Because nothing about me or my life is all that exciting.”
“If that’s the case, why have I thought of you constantly since Friday night? Can you tell me that?”
Amazed, she rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. “I don’t know.”
“I do. It’s because you’re beautiful and fun and talented and interesting—very, very interesting. I loved talking to you, and I can’t wait to kiss you again. So what do you have to say to that?”
Olivia’s cheeks burned and her lips tingled.
His soft laughter rolled through the phone and went straight to her heart. “Nothing at all?”
“How about right back atcha? Would that suffice?”
“Yeah,” he said, his voice husky and sexy. “That works.”
Olivia wanted to crawl through the phone to him.
“Call me tomorrow after you see the adviser?”
“I will.”
“Are you one of those girls who says you’ll call and then you don’t?”
A burst of laughter took her by surprise. “No. I’m not.”
“I know. I’ve known that since I came to and saw you looking down at me. It’s a good thing I found you that next time.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I never, ever would’ve forgotten your face. So don’t you forget to call me tomorrow, okay?”
It was all Olivia could do to say, “Okay.”
Chapter Seven
Walking on air, Olivia left the art department. They wanted her to put together a portfolio, and there were forms to be completed and arrangements to be made, but switching her major to studio art wasn’t impossible. Wanting to jump up and down with joy, she managed to contain the urge until she reached the quad where she plopped down on the grass and took a long, deep breath. Then she reached for her phone.
“Hey,” Cole said. “You called.”
“I thought about making you suffer,” she teased.
“I guess I had that coming. How’d it go?”
“The good news is they didn’t say no. In fact, they promised to help me make it happen in time for the start of the spring semester, provided my portfolio is up to par.”
“Congratulations, Olivia. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thank you for giving me a push, for encouraging me.”
“I’d hate to see talent like yours wasted on the International Monetary Fund.”
Laughing, she reclined on the grass and gazed up at the blue sky. The color reminded her of his eyes. Everything seemed brighter today, the hues sharper, the air fragrant with promise.
“How does it feel?” he asked.
“So, so good.”
“I wish I was there with you. I’d like to see that amazing face of yours lit up with happiness. I’ll bet it’s quite a sight.”
“You say those things and my heart just…”
“What?”
“Skips a beat,” she whispered.
He groaned. “How many more days until Friday?”
“Too many.”
“Do you think you could work it out so you could spend the weekend with me? The whole weekend?”
Olivia’s feet, which had been skimming through the grass, went still. The heart that had been beating so fast slowed.
“Too much?”
“No,” she said. “I’d like to… to stay with you.”
He released a long, deep breath. “Are you sure it’s only Monday?”
By the time Friday rolled around, Olivia was a bundle of nerves. They had talked every day, sometimes as long as two hours, and she couldn’t wait to see Cole again. The afternoon in the store dragged even more than it had the week before when she’d had only dinner to look forward to. This time, they had a whole weekend, and Olivia thought she would go nuts waiting for seven o’clock to arrive.
She had traded shifts with a coworker to get Sunday off and had done extra homework during the week to make sure she wouldn’t have to do any over the weekend. Her father had agreed to run interference with her mother and planned to tell Mary that Olivia was helping Jenny with the baby. That was easier than telling her mother the truth and then having to face a hundred questions Olivia wasn’t ready to answer.
The only thing standing between her and three nights and two days with Cole was the last hour of her shift. Every minute felt like a year. She was waiting on a customer at six-forty when she did a double take at the sight of him walking into the store wearing a black sweater and faded jeans. He carried a black leather jacket and had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Olivia realized she had never seen him out of uniform.
“Can I have my change, please?” the woman at the counter said.
Olivia tore her eyes off Cole. “Oh,” she said, flustered. “I’m sorry. Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
Since they had the store to themselves, Cole strolled up to the counter. “Would you happen to have any Mentos?” A smile lit up his handsome face.
With one hand on each side of that handsome face and without a care as to who might catch them, Olivia leaned over the counter to kiss him. “I thought you’d never get here.”
His eyes trained on hers, he turned his face and pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand. “I’m here now.”
“I almost didn’t recognize you without the uniform.”
“Are you disappointed? Did I lose some of my mystique?”
“No,” she said, sending her eyes on a journey from broad shoulders to sculpted pecs, to narrow hips and beyond. She licked her lips and turned her eyes back up to find his blazing. “Definitely not.”
“That’s not fair,” he hissed. “Don’t look at me like that—at least not yet—and keep your tongue in your mouth.”
She replied with a coy smile. “Was it out?”
He glowered at her. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Where are you going?” she asked, bereft.
“A quick errand. I’ll be right back.”
“Hurry.”
He left his duffel with her and walked into the terminal.
Olivia took the advantage of the opportunity to check out the back of him and once again found herself staring. She still couldn’t believe he had come all this way just to see her.
“Mmm.” She brought her hands to her face and took a deep breath of the cologne that clung to them. Forever and always the scent would remind her of him.
He came back ten minutes later and pretended to shop while she finished. She looked up at one point to find him watching her over the top of a book. Her face heated with embarrassment and anticipation and a million other emotions. At two minutes to seven, a shift supervisor came to the store to collect Olivia’s drawer and paperwork.
The second the supervisor left, Olivia slid into her denim jacket, grabbed her tote and the bag she had packed for the weekend, and led him from the store. Once they were outside, she dropped the metal gate that served as the door to the store and locked it. As she removed her key from the lock, he hauled her into his arms.
“Finally,” he sighed, turning his head ever so sligh
tly, just enough to capture her lips. He pressed her to the wall and sent his tongue to find hers.
She clutched handfuls of his sweater and met the ardent thrusts of his tongue with her own until she remembered where they were.
“Cole,” she gasped. “Not here.”
He hugged her and took a deep breath. “I wasn’t going to do that.”
“What? Kiss me? I would’ve been very disappointed if you hadn’t.”
Brushing the hair back from her face, he smiled. “I wasn’t going to do it the second you finished work.”
“I’m glad you did. I couldn’t have waited another second.”
A tick of tension pulsed in his cheek. “Let’s go have dinner somewhere.” He put an arm around her. “Anywhere you want.”
“How about room service?”
He stopped walking, and when he looked down at her, his face was set in an expression she hadn’t seen before. The cockiness was gone, and in its place was something she wouldn’t have expected from him—vulnerability.
“Are you sure?”
“I don’t know if I’m ready to, you know…” She felt her cheeks heat with color. “But I want to be with you. Alone with you.”
Tugging keys from his pocket, he tightened his arm around her. “Let’s go.”
“You rented a car?”
He nodded. “That’s where I went.”
“This weekend is costing you a lot of money.”
“Do you think I care about that?”
“I’m guessing you don’t?”
“Not one bit. When I was in the Navy, I never had time to spend a dime of what I made. That, along with the option to my story I sold to Hollywood earlier this year, has given me a nice cushion to pay for things like a weekend in Washington with the lovely Olivia.”
“In that case, spend away.” She looked up at him. “They’re really making a movie about you?”
“They bought the option to the story. From what I hear, that happens a thousand times a year and only a fraction of the movies ever get made. I haven’t given it a thought in months, to be honest.”
“That’d be so cool.”
“I don’t know,” he said warily. “It would just fire the whole thing up again. I’m ready to slide back into anonymity and just live my life.”
On the short walk through the terminal, she saw more than a few double takes from passersby. “I doubt you’ll ever be entirely anonymous again.”
“Don’t crush my dreams,” he said in a teasing tone. He led her to a tan Toyota SUV and held the passenger door for her. Before he closed it, he leaned in for another kiss. “I couldn’t wait to see you,” he whispered. “This week went by so slowly.”
“For me, too.”
He caressed her face. “I want you to know that when I asked you to spend the weekend with me, I wasn’t expecting anything. I’d be perfectly satisfied to just hang out with you.”
Her hand curled around his wrist. “Thank you for saying that. I feel the same way.”
“I wish we lived close to each other and could date like regular people.”
“But then we wouldn’t have an excuse to spend the weekend together as our third date,” she said with a saucy smile.
“Fourth.”
“How do you figure?”
“The TKO counts.”
She laughed. “Okay. Fourth then.”
His face hovered over hers for a breathless moment.
Olivia urged him into a soft, lush, endless kiss. By the time they resurfaced, she was partially reclined in the front seat and he was pressed against her, half in the car, half out.
His lips touched hers lightly once, twice, and then he simply held her for several long, quiet minutes. “What do you say we take this somewhere more comfortable?”
Overwhelmed by the feelings he aroused in her, she nodded in agreement.
She showed him the scenic route to Old Town, along the George Washington Parkway. He glanced over to find her looking out the window in an unseeing stare. She’s so tense, he thought, reaching for her hand.
When she smiled at him, it didn’t involve her eyes the way her smiles usually did.
He vowed in that moment to do everything he could to make sure she had a relaxing, stress-free weekend. He suspected she hadn’t been on the receiving end of much pampering in her life, and he wanted to take care of her.
After years of dodging serious relationships, the realization should have terrified him. But it didn’t. Being with Olivia felt right, and there was this thing—he couldn’t explain it, exactly—that happened when he touched her. The connection between them was nothing short of electrifying.
Go easy, man. You don’t want to scare her off by letting her see how badly you want her or how completely she’s captivated you. She worried about him losing interest, but could she imagine how he worried that she would? Or that she’d become so afraid of the feelings ricocheting between them that she wouldn’t give him a chance for fear of being hurt?
Tightening his fingers around hers, he made a silent promise to be careful with her always.
As he thought about her, his cell phone vibrated incessantly in his pocket. What the hell is going on? He had a feeling he didn’t want to know.
“Shouldn’t you get that?” Olivia asked.
“I’m sure it’s nothing. I’ll check it later. I’d shut it off, but I never want to be out of touch if my dad needs to reach me.” He grimaced when it vibrated again.
“Someone sure wants you for something.”
Cole’s stomach twisted with anxiety as they arrived at the hotel and parked in the garage. He kept his arm around her and carried their bags to the elevator. After a few minutes of power flirting by the star-struck desk clerk, they were back in the elevator with a key to a room on the fourth floor. Olivia’s shoulders, he noticed, seemed rigid with tension.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said. “I can’t believe she’d come on to me with you standing right there.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Is everything okay?” Did she not believe me when I said I didn’t expect anything?
“Of course,” she said.
He used the key card in the door and held it for her, ignoring the buzz of his cell phone yet again.
She went in ahead of him.
The small living room was decorated in navy blue and gold. French doors opened into a bedroom with a king-sized bed and a bathroom off the bedroom.
“What do you think?” Cole asked.
Pushing the heavy navy drapes aside, she checked the view of the street. “It’s beautiful.”
That wasn’t the word Cole would’ve used. He’d stayed in better places—and worse places. But when she turned to him, her eyes bright with excitement, he wished he had taken her to the Ritz. Next time, he decided, he would take her to the Ritz—or somewhere just as fancy.
She crossed the room to him. “Thank you for this.”
Resting his hands on her shoulders, he kissed her forehead. “Thank you for rearranging your schedule for me.”
“It was no problem.”
“Where does everyone think you are?”
“My dad and Jenny, my cousin, know I’m with you. We told my mom I was helping Jenny with her baby.”
They keep things from her mother, he thought. I wonder if she’ll eventually tell me why. “How old is Jenny’s baby?”
Olivia’s face softened. “Six months.”
“And you adore him.”
“I’m mad for him.” She looked up at him, shyly. “Jenny wants me to bring you over for dinner tomorrow night. If you want to…”
“That sounds like fun.”
“That’s because you haven’t met Jenny.”
He laughed. “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to take that.”
“Let’s put it this way—she already has us married.”
Again he should have been undone by the mere mention of a word he had studiously avoided, but he wasn’t. “Is that so?”
/> Her cheeks went pink with embarrassment, and Cole decided she had never been lovelier.
“You can see why I’m not sure that taking you there would be such a good idea,” Olivia said.
“She’s important to you. I’d love to meet her.”
Olivia’s brown eyes turned up to gauge his sincerity.
He hated that she felt the need to question it. “What do you feel like doing?” he asked.
“Would you mind if I took a shower?”
“Of course not.” His hand on her chin, he tilted her face up so he could see her. “You’re not my guest here, honey. This is our room. If you want to take a shower, take a shower. I want you to relax and do exactly what you feel like doing.”
Apparently, what she felt like doing at that moment was wrapping her arms around his neck and sliding her lips over his.
Cole held back, letting her take the lead, curious to know where she would take him. But when her tongue skimmed over his bottom lip, he couldn’t keep a gasp from escaping. His hand found the small of her back, and he brought her closer to him. Still he fought the burning urge to plunder.
“I thought you were going to take a shower,” he whispered.
“I am,” she said but made no move to go.
“Is it your intention to kill me first?”
She laughed, a full laugh that engaged her eyes.
The impact hit him like a punch to the gut. He tilted his head, found her neck with his lips, and could have drowned in her scent.
Her head fell back. “Cole,” she sighed.
“Hmm?”
“I’m going to the shower now.”
“Okay,” he said, but he continued to drop hot, open-mouthed kisses on her neck.
She giggled and gently pushed him away. “I’ll be quick,” she promised.
“Please.”
Picking up her bag, she left him with a smile.
“Are you hungry?” he called through the closed door.
“Sort of.”
“What do you feel like?”
“Whatever you want is fine with me.”
She was easy to be with, undemanding, pleased with the little things another woman might have taken for granted. If he wasn’t careful, he would be halfway in love with her before the weekend ended.