Page 16 of Roman & Olivia
“Mmm-hmm.” Olivia bumped her shoulder into him, but it did nothing to put him off balance. “So maybe when this is all said and done, you might have someone you can take out, too.”
He cocked his head thoughtfully. “Maybe. Who knows?”
7
Roman
“The big date today?”
Roman snorted into his coffee when his brother entered the kitchen. “Don’t know if I’d call it that.”
“You’re not looking forward to it?”
Lifting a brow, his eyes followed Mateo from the door to the cupboard, where he retrieved a mug. “No. I can’t say that I am.”
“But you enjoy spending time with Olivia.”
“Yeah. So? I don’t have to enjoy spending time with some random guy from her work that she likes.”
Mateo stilled, the coffee pot in one hand and his mug in the other. “You do realize if all this effort you’ve been putting yourselves through ends up being successful, then you’re going to have to enjoy spending time with him a lot more often, right?”
“How do you figure that?”
This time his brother put down the pot and smirked at Roman. “Are you going to suddenly stop spending time with Olivia?”
Roman opened his mouth, but before he could comment, Nikki entered, yawning. She wandered straight up to her husband and plucked the mug from his lips with a sleepy smile. Roman eyed her. “Aren’t you supposed to be a morning person? I thought you’d be out fixing breakfast for everyone by now.”
Mateo shot him a dark look. “It’s none of your business when my wife decides she needs a day off.”
Nikki whacked Mateo playfully. “He doesn’t mean anything by it. Leave him alone. Clearly, he’s not happy about what he’s going to be up to today.”
This time, Roman’s eyes narrowed, but not at Nikki—at her husband, his brother, who might very well get disowned. “You told her?”
Mateo pulled Nikki into his chest and kissed the top of her head. “We don’t keep secrets from each other.”
Nikki smiled at Roman as she leaned into her husband. “You want to talk about it?”
That threw him off guard. “What is there to talk about? We’re going on a double date. And when it’s over, then Mason will be one step closer to realizing that Olivia is the girl he wants.” Even saying those words put a foul taste in Roman’s mouth. When he glanced back to Nikki, he found her watching him with an intensity he wasn’t prepared for. So he looked away and got to his feet. “It’s gonna be fine.”
The air in the kitchen was suffocating. He needed space to think. Why was it bothering him so much that he was going on a double date with Olivia? It wasn’t that he was worried about spending time with her. She was his favorite person. There was no question about that. No, his issues were stemming from the intention behind the double date.
For some unexplained reason, he didn’t like the idea of this Mason guy becoming interested in Olivia at all. That was strange, wasn’t it? Roman didn’t know this guy from the next button-down shirt nobody in town.
And yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he shouldn’t be doing this for Olivia, no matter how much he cared for her.
Or perhaps it was in spite of how much he cared for her.
He blew out a heavy breath as he headed out to do his chores. The group wouldn’t be arriving for a couple of hours yet, and he wanted to make sure everything was in order. A Friday morning date didn’t sound like the most fun he could have, but at least he wouldn’t be completely bored to tears. Olivia would be there, after all. And so would her roommate.
Roman tuggedon Olivia’s wrist, causing her to stumble and land exactly where he wanted her—in his lap.
She gasped and a heartrendingly beautiful laugh spilled from her lips. Her eyes found his, and he arched a brow, telling her this was all par for the course. He didn’t have to look over to where Mason and Cammi were seated on the large blanket he’d put out for their brunch picnic.
The man was practically salivating as his eyes traced over Olivia’s form.
Olivia got the hint—the intelligent woman she was.
She draped her arms around his neck, and their noses touched. The other couple was too close for her to speak to him, so they only had their eyes for communication.
