Page 36 of Roman & Olivia
Olivia
Olivia had come to the country club for events before this one, but there was something special about coming here tonight. The second Roman placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her into the building, she felt that zing of anticipation.
They were so close.
Soclose!
Tonight had to be the night that everything officially changed. She could feel it in her bones. Her eyes swept through the room, but she was distracted when Roman took her hand and looped it around his arm.
She glanced up at him, and the smile he gave her made her pause. It was like any other smile he wore. His eyes sparkled with that same sort of amusement and teasing. But for some reason it hit her differently.
Olivia shook off the strange feeling.
This reaction had more to do with the way he’d treated her during their campout than his current proximity. Of course it did. Pretending to be his girlfriend was messing with her head. She tore her focus away from him and gestured toward the entrance to the dance floor. “Ready for the finale?”
Roman patted her hand but didn’t respond. Together they moved toward the music. Without a word, Roman whisked her to the middle of the dance floor. She let out a laugh as he spun her away from him and back to his chest. She draped her hands around him and stared into his eyes with a wide smile.
“You look…” He let out a soft chuckle. “…really beautiful.”
“So you said.” Olivia bit back a smile at the memory of Roman getting his first good look at her when she’d opened the door at his arrival. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have thought he had been at a loss for words. Tonight was a special event for the community, and as such, people were dressed up in semi-formal wear. Her dress was a simple design, but it hugged her curves perfectly. And the color of the dress matched her eyes better than anything else she owned.
Roman’s hands tightened around her waist. “Yeah, well, it’s true.” His voice was void of the teasing she’d grown accustomed to. So was his expression.
Heat flooded her face—her whole body—at that smoldering look. She had to look away before she got caught up in it. “You, too,” she whispered, though she didn’t know if he heard her.
They continued to dance, slow and close. Her thoughts flitted to places they really shouldn’t go. When she closed her eyes, she could almost forget that this was all for pretend. Roman’s hold on her felt too good. His whispered words had a knack for slipping past her defenses.
Was it so crazy to allow herself to entertain the possibility of falling for Roman?
In moments like this one?
Not at all.
But that’s not what she was here for. Roman hadn’t signed up for that sort of complication.
Her hands tightened around him for a moment. She needed to stop allowing herself to think of Roman as anything more than a friend. He was a dang good actor, and she needed to remember that.
She pulled back from him, ready to recenter herself, but then those eyes locked with hers, and her breath caught in her lungs. The room seemed to spin as he moved his hand up to tuck a stray hair behind her ear.
“Liv—”
“Mind if I cut in?” A deep voice from behind startled her.
Roman’s eyes shifted from something unreadable to pure irritation. They locked on the intruder just above her left shoulder. His jaw was set in a tight, rigid line, but before he could utter a word, Mason took Olivia’s waist and pulled her close.
Was it her imagination, or was Roman prepared to lunge for her?
Olivia gave him a warning look, and he stiffened.
“One dance,” Mason said. “Don’t worry, Roman. I’ll bring her back safe and sound.”
Roman’s hands twitched at his sides, his focus darting from Olivia to Mason and back.
She smiled at him, praying it was enough to assure him that this was all part of the plan. But it didn’t look like Roman believed her. She glanced at him over her shoulder as Mason pulled her to a more open part of the dance floor.
“You look amazing,” Mason purred, placing her hand on the back of his neck while holding the other. He pressed a kiss to the hand he held. The action bordered on being a little too forward,but based on the way her stomach knotted at the soft caress, she wasn’t about to look too hard at it.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
