Page 20 of Finally Home

He steps up to me and wraps his arms around me. I could get lost in this man’s hugs. He presses his lips to my temple, and I all but melt. “You deserve it. I figured you would need some sustenance this morning. I think you were burning plenty of calories in your dreams,” he teases with a smirk.

“Oh my God, you just had to ruin the moment.” Slipping from his grasp, I shove at his shoulder, but that just makes him laugh more since he barely moves.

When I eye the plate of french toast, I’m pretty sure I have heart emojis in my eyes. I grab the plate and take a seat, pulling my feet up under me and double-checking I’m not flashing him.

“For the record, you can never go wrong with french toast.”

“Oh, you’d love my mom’s french toast recipe. She makes the best.” He reaches for the stack of pancakes and smothers it with syrup.

“So be sure to eat up because we’ve got plans today.”

Jeez, how long was I in the bath for? First, he ordered all this breakfast, and now he’s made plans?

“What sort of plans? You remember that we have an engagement party today? You know, the whole reason we’re here and in this situation.”

Ollie leans over and twists the fork in my hand in his direction, stealing the bite of french toast. “Damn, that’s good.” He leans back in his chair, smiling. “Yeah, I know that. And we will be back in time to get ready for it. Did you want to just sit around the hotel room all day, avoiding your family?”

I purse my lips together. “Well, I guess not. What did you want us to do?”

A devilish smirk paints his face. “That’s classified.”

“Classified,” I shriek. “Are you serious right now? How do I know what to wear? Can I have a hint?” My eyes drop to his plate, which has only three pieces of pancakes left.

Oliver takes his fork and stabs a piece of pancake before swiping it through the syrup and holding it out for me to take.Oh, yes, please.I push myself up from the chair and wrap my lips around the fork.Oh wow, that’s delicious, too.

“Dress comfortably.”

“That’s it?”

Ollie shrugs and chuckles. “What, it’s something.”

I stand with my fork in hand, quickly stab the last two bites of pancakes, and shove them in my mouth. I leave him in his seat, mouth agape, as I head to the closet to grab my clothes.

It doesn’t take me any time at all to emerge from the bathroom ready to go. I find Ollie sitting on his side of the bed, one arm perched behind his head and his legs stretched out in front of him while looking at something on his phone.

“Wow, you’re ready?” he says when he sees me standing there.

“Umm, yeah, is that okay?”

Ollie jumps up from his bed and pockets his phone. “Absolutely. I wasn’t sure if you’d be like my sister and take forever to get ready.”

Anxiety creeps in, and I look down at my outfit. It’s simple with a pair of black leggings and a maroon three-quarter-sleeve top, which hangs off one shoulder, revealing the lace strap of my bra. I’m thankful that I threw a few extra items in my bag for this trip.

While my focus is on my outfit and wondering if I look okay or if it’s too simple, Oliver closes the distance between us and places his forefinger under my chin, lifting my gaze to meet him. He slowly brings his lips to mine, tasting sweet like the maple syrup from earlier. But before I can take the kiss further, he pulls back.

“Sorry, I had to get you out of your head there.” You won’t see me complaining, yet I’m a little stunned since we didn’t have an audience in here. He grabs my hand and pulls me toward the door. “Come on, let’s have some fun.”

We spend the elevator ride hand in hand, with me trying my hardest, but failing, to get him to crack on telling me where we’re going.

“Come on, please, please, please,” I whine, my free hand wrapping around his arm as we enter the lobby.

“Holland.” My mother says my name, causing us to halt. We spin to find my family and Brett standing there in the hallway, naturally dressed to the nines.

“We didn’t see you at breakfast,” my mother adds.

“That was my fault. We were up late last night, and I wanted to have breakfast in bed. Clothing was optional. So we ordered room service.”

God, I wish I had my camera on me to take a photo of my family, all staring at us with mouths hanging open. I must say I’m shocked, myself, at what Ollie said.

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