Page 50 of Ride With Me

Over Hugh’s shoulder I see Hawk looking at me with a crazy-looking smile and then he holds two thumbs up to me. I’m gonna kill him. He’s distracting me from the only opportunity I’ll probably have to hug?—

Aaaand he’s stepping back already.

Fucking hell.

I make myself smile at Hugh, and manage to make it a genuine one when I see his kind honey-brown eyes peering down at me.

“Nice to see you again, Ollie,” he whispers only for me.

“Hi, Hugh,” is all I can say while he holds me captive with his gaze. I don’t mind it. At all.

We sit down, and no matter how I try to keep my cool, I fail. I barely speak, and I can’t keep my eyes away from Hugh for more than a minute before I have to look at him again.

He looks so... sophisticated, in his plain button-down shirt. He looks comfortable in it, like that’s what he usually wears. It fits him well too, hugging his defined biceps and pecs. Just a little bit of chest hair peeks through his collar where he has onlyone button opened. He smiles easily at Derek and Hawk, and he doesn’t have an issue listening.

I don’t care if the shirt Hawk lent me is designer, I still feel like a bit of a bum sitting in front of him.

I feel the mortification set in when our waiter asks us if we want dessert and Hawk orchestrates the least covert operation in the history of the world.

“Ollie, you should definitely get dessert, I love it here. Derek and I need to go though, right?” Derek looks confused but Hawk doesn’t give him a chance to respond. “I’ve got a lot to get ready for tomorrow and need a good night’s sleep, you know? You two stay here and enjoy dessert. We’ll pay on our way out.” He’s standing and dragging a protesting Derek up from his seat before he’s even finished talking.

“I’m gonna kill you,” I mumble at him, but he only smiles and keeps dragging Derek away—which he wouldn’t be able to do unless Derek was letting him, so Derek’s now on my shit-list too.

I’m alone with Hugh then, staring at the backs of my new bosses. At this rate, I know my employment won’t last long. Nope, I’m definitely going to jail because Iwillhurt them. My face is burning with embarrassment, I know it. Just like I know there’s no way to hide it from Hugh. But I can’t look at him.

“Subtle,” he quips, and he doesn’t sound angry but also not happy. It’s... neutral? Dammit, I have to look.

My breath stalls when I see the look on his face.

It’s the same one as last night. Again, I can’t speak. How do people function while feeling this? I know other people have to have felt this way, I can’t be the first one.

“Hawk is right, the dessert here is to die for, but why don’t we take it to go?” he asks me softly. I see hope in his eyes. Determination, confusion, eagerness, desire. All the things I’m feeling too.

So what else is there to say?

“I’d like that.”

I feel like my heart explodes and reconstructs itself when he gifts me a blinding, relieved smile.

CHAPTER 4

HUGH

“This is your house?”Ollie demands from the passenger seat.

“Yup,” I confirm, unreasonably hoping he doesn’t hate it.

“You must be really good at your job,” he muses while I wait for the garage door to open. I wince when I see his mouth drop to his lap when the cars inside become visible. I mean, we are in my Ferrari, since I drive it whenever I have the chance, so I don’t know why he’s so surprised. I like sleek, sporty, fast cars. It’s like a hobby.

I do hope he doesn’t hold that against me though.

“I’d like to think I am,” I say when I realize I’ve taken too long to answer his statement. I park the car next to the McLaren and see I probably should’ve just parked it by the front door when Ollie’s mouth is still not closed.

“Do you... not like it?” I ask hesitantly. It’s been a very long time since I’ve felt this vulnerable to rejection. I’m used to knowing when I can close a deal and when to prepare my client and myself for unfavorable outcomes, but this is different than that.

It seems bigger somehow.

“What?” he asks, finally out of his stupor, I suppose. He turns to me in his seat and unclips his seatbelt. “I think it’s freakingawesome that you’ve done so well for yourself that you get to buy whatever you want. I’m just surprised...” He trails off. I get the feeling he has more to say, though, so I shut off the engine, unclip my seatbelt too, and turn so I can look at him.

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