Page 27 of Roman & Olivia
Dust floated through the air, and the only sounds she could hear were the beating of her heart and the shuffling of the horses in their stalls. She stared down at the way he held her hand. It wasn’t something he hadn’t done before when they weren’t wrapped up in this mess. And yet, it felt different.
Pulling away would be the smart thing to do.
But she couldn’t bring herself to make that move.
Roman dragged his thumb across the back of her hand. “So besides coming to tell me I’m not a good friend, why else are you here?”
She scoffed.
“Olivia,” he warned. “I know you. Lately, there’s only one thing on your mind. What do you need?”
This time, she sighed and withdrew her hand from his so she could put it in her lap with the other. “Don’t hate me.”
He chuckled. This was the Roman she loved. It didn’t matter what happened between them. He would always be there for her—even if it made him mad. “I could never hate you, Liv.”
Her smile tugged at her lips. “Don’t say that until you’ve heard what the next stage of our plan entails.” She straightened and looked at him. “Mason wants to do a camping trip. He wants to bring Cammi and…” She grimaced. “He wants to camp out here—at your ranch.”
Roman blew out a heavy breath, causing his cheeks to puff out. “I don’t know, Liv. That’s a commitment. How long does he want to camp out for?”
“A couple days? I don’t know. I figured we could do it over a weekend or something.”
He worked his jaw, avoiding her eyes. It wasn’t a secret that Roman was getting tired of spending time with Mason. This wasn’t supposed to last this long.
Then again, he’d insisted that they couldn’t stage their breakup until he was sure Mason was ready to make his move.
Olivia frowned at that. Then she reached up and turned Roman’s face toward her. “Please? This might be the thing that tips the scales. Only for a couple of days. You, me, Cammi—you like hanging out with her, right?”
His lips thinned as he searched her eyes. “Yeah, she’s alright.”
“I think she likes you.”
Roman lifted a brow and a small smile touched his lips. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Olivia refrained from telling him all the details. For some reason she didn’t like the idea of Cammi and Romangetting together. And she definitely wasn’t ready to investigate why that was, exactly. She cleared her throat. “So… does that mean… you’ll do it?”
His face scrunched with disgust. “Camping? Seriously, Liv?”
She smiled the best she could and batted her lashes. “I thought you loved the outdoors.”
“I do. But that’s not what I’m worried about.”
“What are you worried about?”
He arched a brow. “Somehow, I can’t reconcile Mason roughin’ it. Are you sure he can live without running water for a couple of days? Do I need to commission an outhouse or something?—”
She whacked the back of her hand to his chest. “It washisidea. I’m sure he knows what he’s getting into.”
Roman sighed.
That was all it took for her to let out a squeal, throw her arms around his neck, and kiss his cheek.
He stared at her, startled for a second. Then his eyes lifted to her hair, and he snickered. “You might want to clean up before you’re seen in public.”
Olivia rolled her eyes, then got to her feet. “Next weekend, okay?”
“Okay,” he mumbled as he waved goodbye.
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