Olive’s heart pounded in her chest. This was moving so fast, but it didn’t feel wrong. It felt... right. Scary, but right.
“Until?” she prompted, her voice barely above a whisper.
Chaos leaned in, close enough that Olive could see the flecks of gold in his hazel eyes. “Until recently. Very recently. The intensity of my attraction for this stunning woman is hard to understand.”
Olive’s breath caught in her throat. Part of her wanted to run and protect herself from the intensity of what she was feeling. But a larger part, the part that still believed in true love and happily ever afters, wanted to dive in headfirst.
“That…can be daunting,” she said, her voice shaky. “And terrifying.”
Chaos’s hand found hers under the table, his touch gentle but grounding. “I know. And I want you to know, Olive, that I’m not going to push you. We can take this as slow as you need. I just... Don’t overthink it and instead give it a chance.”
Olive looked at their joined hands, then back up at Chaos’s face. She thought about Gerri Wilder, about the knowing twinkle in the matchmaker’s eye when she saw Olive at the gala. Had Gerri known this would happen? Olive was almost positive she had somehow engineered this intense, immediate connection between them. But how?
“Okay,” Olive said finally, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Let’s give this a shot. But fair warning - I come with a lot of baggage and a tendency to overthink everything.”
Chaos grinned, squeezing her hand. “Bring it on. I happen to be excellent at heavy lifting.”
Olive groaned, rolling her eyes even as she laughed. “Oh god, was that a muscles joke? I might have to rethink this whole thing if you’re going to subject me to puns.”
“Too late,” Chaos said, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “You’re stuck with me now, Ms. Russo. Terrible jokes and all.”
And as they fell into easy conversation, punctuated by laughter and lingering glances, Olive found herself thinking that being stuck with Chaos Amato might not be such a bad thing after all.
Olive took a bite of her caprese salad, savoring the burst of flavor from the ripe tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. “So, Mr. Tech Genius,” she said, gesturing at Chaos with her fork, “tell me more about what you do. And please, dumb it down for us mere mortals who think coding is some kind of secret language.”
Chaos chuckled, his eyes lighting up with enthusiasm. “Well, at its core, we’re working on revolutionizing the way people interact with technology. Imagine being able to control your entire smart home with just your thoughts.”
Olive’s eyes widened. “Seriously? That’s... wow. Although, I’m not sure I want my house knowing what I’m thinking. It might judge me for binge-watching trashy reality TV at three in the morning.”
“Don’t worry,” Chaos said with a wink, “we’ll build in a ‘judgment-free’ mode just for you.”
Olive laughed, shaking her head. “My hero. But really, that’s incredible. You must love what you do.”
Chaos nodded, his expression softening. “I do. There’s something exhilarating about pushing the boundaries of what’spossible. Creating something that could change people’s lives for the better.”
“I can see why,” Olive said, genuinely impressed. “It’s like... writing a book, I suppose. You’re creating whole new worlds, just with circuits and code instead of words.”
“Exactly,” Chaos agreed, looking pleasantly surprised by her analogy. “Speaking of books, what’s the last great one you read?”
Olive paused, considering. “Oh! There was this book calledToxicby Milly Taiden that I picked up recently. I wasn’t sure about it at first – it’s not my usual type of romance – but it ended up being amazing.”
“What’s it about?” Chaos asked, leaning forward with interest.
“It’s this dark romance about a woman who gets involved with this dangerous, powerful man,” Olive explained, her hands moving animatedly as she spoke. “At first, you think she’s this like innocent girl, but as the story goes on, you realize they’re kind of perfect for each other. There’s this intense, dark attraction, and it’s just... weirdly hot. It’s got some pretty steamy scenes and a lot of tension.”
Chaos raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. “Weirdly hot, huh? Should I be worried about competition from dangerous, powerful men?”
Olive felt her cheeks heat. “Oh, stop it. Unless you’re hiding some secret dark past under that fancy suit, I think you’re safe.”
“Well,” Chaos said, his voice dropping to a low, teasing rumble, “I do turn into a giant cat sometimes. Does that count as dangerous and powerful?”
Olive nearly choked on her wine, caught between laughter and a sudden, intense wave of attraction. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but... maybe?”
They both burst into laughter, the tension breaking. As their giggles subsided, Olive found herself marveling at how easy thisfelt, how natural. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d clicked with someone so quickly.
“You know,” she said, twirling a strand of pasta around her fork, “when Gerri Wilder said she’d find me my perfect match, I didn’t exactly expect... well, you.”
Chaos tilted his head, curiosity flickering in his eyes. “Oh? And what did you expect?”