Page 74 of All Bets Are Off

“I very much doubt those techniques are going to help me hit this ball.”

“Never say never.”

All I could do was sigh when he showed me his impish smile. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

18

EIGHTEEN

“What’s this?”

Olivia looked up from the end of her bed and took in the stack of new clothing I’d dropped on it.

“That’s a new golf outfit,” I replied. “My father insists that we wear matching shirts. I picked purple, because I noticed you like that color.” Actually, the shirt was more of a lavender color, but I could tell already it was going to look great with her coloring.

“This is more than a golf outfit.” Olivia picked up a black dress that was already on a hanger and covered in a protective see-through cover. “What’s this?”

“That is for the cocktail party after.”

“There’s a cocktail party after?” Olivia’s eyes bulged. “You didn’t mention that. I thought I just had to hit the ball twice, get laughed at, and then we were going out for drinks.”

“There will be drinks.”

“Ugh.” She stood and took the new golf skirt and shirt. “Can I wear one of those visor things? I see people wearing those on television.”

“You’ve taken to watching golf on television?” I didn’t know what to say. “Do you want a visor?”

She shrugged. “It’s going to be hot out there. Even though I plan on spending all of my time in the shade of the cart—I’m driving by the way—I think I would look cute in a visor.”

“You would look cute in anything.”

She beamed at me.

“If you hurry to get dressed, I’ll find you a visor,” I promised. “We have to be out of here in twenty minutes, though. That includes packing whatever you’re going to need to get dressed for the cocktail party later as well.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” She gave me a saucy salute and clicked her heels together, causing me to laugh.

“You’re too freaking adorable sometimes.” I grabbed her chin and planted a kiss on her. At this point, we’d been sleeping together for two weeks. Being with her was as normal as breathing oxygen. It should’ve been weird, but it wasn’t. Not even a little. “Twenty minutes.” I started toward the door because I knew we would never leave if I didn’t put some distance between us.

“Make sure it’s a cute visor,” she yelled at my back.

“I’m on it. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

TRUE TO MY WORD, I DELIVERED.The only visor I could find for Olivia on short notice featured a pair of rhinestone lips, and I kept it in the bag until we’d arrived at the country club. It was black and matched her skirt, and she fell in love with it the second she saw it.

“Now, this is what I’m talking about.” She popped it on her head as I finished getting her shoes in order. She was less interested in golf than she was in driving the cart. At least she would find some joy in the afternoon, so I was happy to give her the keys.

Once I was finished with her shoes, I whipped my own visor out of my back pocket and pulled it over my head. It matched hers, meaning that we were both wearing black bottoms, lavender tops, and lip visors.

“Oh, we’re awesome.” Olivia gave me a high five before searching for her purse. “We need a selfie.”

I was more than happy to pose with her—she insisted on one serious photo and one kissy-face photo—and she was giggling as she slapped a filter on the kissy-face one and prepared to load it to Instagram.

That’s when my mother and father found us.

“There you are.” Mom gave me her stern look before darting in to press a kiss to my cheek. “I was starting to think you were a no-show.”

“I know better than that, Mom,” I replied dryly. My father didn’t say anything; he just nodded in greeting. I followed suit. “You remember my wife,” I supplied when I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

---