Page 36 of All Bets Are Off

I didn’t say anything else. I headed out. If she wanted to pout, then she could pout. I didn’t care. She was being a baby. I hadn’t gotten into this to be married to a petulant pouter. No sirree. She was going to have to shape up … and fast.

WHEN LUNCHTIME ROLLED AROUND ANDOlivia had ignored three of my makeup texts—I was curious if she’d calmed down and wanted me to talk to someone in the accounting department after all—full-on guilt had set in.

She wasn’t lazy. Heck, if I’d gotten dental surgery, I would’ve demanded a nurse see to my every need for a minimum of two weeks. It was the mess bothering me more than anything else. I’d grown up in a house where mess was frowned upon. I had a toy room and all my toys were expected to stay in that room. Clutter made me itchy, even if it was just books and dishes.

When she ignored my fourth text, I made up my mind to force the issue. If we weren’t talking, that penthouse was going to get mighty small mighty fast. With that in mind, I picked up subs from the sandwich shop—they were fancy subs of course—and headed upstairs. We were going to hash this out one way or the other.

The penthouse was quiet when I let myself in. Too quiet.

Olivia wasn’t on the couch. The book she’d been reading was gone. There wasn’t a dish in sight.

Had she gone out? A weird stab of disappointment coursed through me. It wasn’t as if I was looking forward to fighting with her. I just didn’t want things to fester. We had a year to spend together. If things didn’t get better between us, it was going to be a torturous year.

“Livvie?” I called out.

Nobody responded. The penthouse was deadly quiet.

I dropped the sandwich bag on the coffee table and headed toward her bedroom. I didn’t have to knock—the door was open—and when I glanced inside I found her bed was neatly made. The maids didn’t come until the following day—I could’ve requested a visit every day but that was unnecessary—which meant that she was making her own bed. Did she do that every day?

The book she’d been reading was on the bed. I moseyed over to get a look at it up close. She had a bookmark in place, and I was careful not to move it. When I opened to where she’d left off, I almost dropped the book because it was clear she’d stopped in the middle of what could only be described as an intense sex scene.

“What the hell?” I found I was interested despite myself and flipped the page. “Nice,” was all I could say when I imagined the moves that were being described. “Very nice.”

For a moment, I pictured myself doing those moves to Olivia. It was me pressing her against the wall and her scratching my back while making mewling noises in my ear. The image was so visceral I dropped the book on the bed, and immediately lost her place.

“Shit.” I grabbed the book and started searching for where she’d been. If the bookmark wasn’t in the place she’d left it, then she would know I was reading the book. She wouldn’t see it asinnocent curiosity. No, she wouldn’t ever let me hear the end of it.

I was still searching when I registered a clacking sound in the back of my mind. I didn’t immediately react. Then I heard a gasp, and I had no choice but to swivel quickly.

There she was, exiting her bathroom. She had a towel wrapped around her hair in one of those turban deals, but she was buck naked otherwise.

My eyes didn’t know where to go. Instinctively, I knew that staring would be frowned upon, but all thought of propriety went out the window as I cataloged her finer qualities—of which there were many—from head to toe.

“Holy crap,” was all I could say.

“Omigod!” She tried to cover both her lower and upper bits with her hands but it was too late. I’d seen everything.

“I’m so sorry,” I said dumbly. I should’ve left. Part of me recognized that. I continued to stare, though.

“Get out!” she screeched.

That was enough to snap me out of my reverie. Well, mostly. “Um…” Why was I still standing here?For the love of all that’s holy, man, get out of her bedroom!

“Get out!” Her voice elevated another octave, and she turned, giving me a full view of her rounded backside. I couldn’t decide if I liked the front or back better. Heck, I liked both views.

“What is wrong with you?” She disappeared back into the bathroom and slammed the door hard enough to rattle the art on the wall.

The noise finally had me coming back to reality. “I brought sandwiches,” I said like an absolute idiot. “I wanted to make up.”

To my surprise, the bathroom door opened and Olivia’s head became visible, along with her bare shoulders. She’d hidden the rest of herself behind the door. “Are you a pervert or something?”

“No.” I scoffed at the notion. “It was an accident.”

She pointed toward the book in my hand. “Really? It was an accident that you were reading that and just happened to be waiting for me to come out of the shower?”

“I didn’t know you were in the shower.” That was true. I thought she’d left. “I was just… I…” I dropped the book on the bed. “I should probably get out of here.” I said it more to myself than her. I’d just realized how very bad this was going to go.

“Oh, you think?” Olivia’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

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