Page 5 of Roman & Olivia
A moment definitely passed between them.
She let out a nervous giggle—one that was mortifying, to say the least. Mason only smiled at her, his white teeth on display.
Meanwhile, Mason’s date looked utterly bored. She examined her perfectly manicured nails and let out a sigh. Mason didn’t seem to notice that, either. His eyes flicked to Roman the second he slipped his arm around Olivia’s waist. “And this must be Roman?”
Olivia nodded. “Oh! Right. Yeah, sorry. This is my date. Roman.” She flung a hand toward Roman and slammed her palm a little too hard against his chest. Then she winced. Why couldn’t she control herself around Mason? Sheesh.
The perfection that was Roman never wavered. He held out a hand to Mason. “Roman Palmer.”
“Palmer. Ah, yes. You and your family run that…” He snapped his fingers a few times. “The best dog breeders in the state, right?”
“I wouldn’t say that. But we have started to make a name for ourselves, yes.”
Olivia looked up at Roman with pride. His family had worked so hard to get to where they were in the community. Roman had been as big of an influence on their business as any of them. She’d watched it all. She opened her mouth, probably about to make a bigger fool of herself, when Roman cut her off.
He pressed a kiss to her temple and said, “I think we should take a spin around the dance floor, sugar.”
Olivia stilled. Dance? In these shoes? Fat chance of that happening. But before she could argue, Roman had her sweeping across the tiled floor and they were in each other’s arms, swaying to the music.
“What was that?” He chuckled.
At first, she didn’t know what he was referring to. Then she blushed so hot she was sure she looked like Christmas morning based on the green color of her dress. “Was it bad?”
“I’ve never seen you quite so…”
She groaned and pressed her forehead against his chest. “Why didn’t you rescue me sooner?”
“Because it was far too amusing. I’ve never seen you this flustered. Not even over that boy in the third grade.”
“Don’t remind me,” she muttered.
He laughed again. “It’s okay, Liv. The guy wasn’t completely put off by you.”
Her head snapped up. “Really?”
Roman lifted a shoulder. “Of course not. You should have seen the way he was looking at you when he first laid eyes on you.”
Olivia’s lips parted, and she probably looked like a fish more than a woman at this point—especially with the way she opened and closed her mouth without finding the words she wanted to say.
Roman laughed as he lifted a finger to her chin and closed her mouth for her. “It’s not a lost cause, Liv. You have a goodshot at winning him over. You just…” He grimaced. “Might need to tone it down a bit. You’re far too obvious. The best way to win a guy like that? He needs to see you as worthy of the chase.”
“Thechase?” she wheezed. “Are you saying I’m making it too easy?”
“Most definitely.”
This time she really did slug him. In the upper arm. And it did absolutely nothing. He only laughed at her.
“You need to relax. Show him that you’re cool… chill, you know? Become irresistible.”
She chewed on her lower lip. “How do I do that?”
“Well, tonight was a good start.” He let his eyes rake over her appreciatively, and those butterflies woke for a few moments. “But we’re going to have to work on your delivery.”
“Mydelivery?”
“Yeah. The way you talk to him. And it won’t hurt to show that people can’t keep their hands off you.”
She gave him a disbelieving look. “What are you saying, Roman?”
