Page 51 of Roman & Olivia
A slither of unease slid through his body like a python, ready to strike at any given second. He could sense that Olivia wasn’tthrilled about Mason’s request, but at the same time, she wanted Roman to agree.
If only he could read her mind.
Roman stared hard at her as if doing so would allow him access to her thoughts. But of course that wouldn’t happen. Resigning himself to the trap he’d found himself caged in, he flashed a bright, fake smile to the man who definitely didn’t deserve the angel under his arm. “Sure. Sounds like fun.” He might have muttered that last bit through gritted teeth, but he didn’t care. “One more for old times’ sake.”
Now he had to find a girl who would be willing to play the part of a doting, albeit new, girlfriend.
20
Olivia
Olivia loathed sitting across from the beautiful woman. She was perfect in every single way possible.
Argh!
Where Olivia was too thin, with medium brown hair, and had freckles. That woman…
That woman!
Her bronze skin could only be natural because no one could pick a color so perfect. Her curves made her look like she belonged on a magazine cover. And her short, spunky, dark hair made it clear she was spontaneous and out for a good time. She had pearly white straight teeth and a laugh that was infectious.
Perfection.
Even Mason had given her a double take.
Olivia clenched and flexed her hands in her lap as she forced herself to look away from Roman’s gorgeous date. The worst part wasn’t that she was stunning. It was that she actuallyseemed like a good person. She was a pediatric nurse for a hospital a couple towns over.
A freaking nurse! And she volunteered for Big Sister when she wasn’t pulling double shifts. Where had Roman found this woman? And how had he not told her how perfect she was?
The only solace Olivia got was from the conversation she’d had with Roman before they’d bumped into Mason last week. Roman had insisted that they weren’t together. They’d gone on a couple dates and hadn’t clicked.
Still, as she snuck glances at Melody where she was seated beside Roman, Olivia was struck with a singular, surprising thought.
She was sickeningly jealous.
Mason’s arm draped around her shoulders and pulled her close. He nudged his nose to her hairline and breathed in with a hum of satisfaction. “Did you decide what you wanted to order, darling?”
Olivia could feel Roman’s eyes on her without looking up. She didn’t have to meet it to know that Roman was uncomfortable. He’d been stiff and irritated from the moment he’d agreed to this date. And they argued about it for a couple days following.
It wasn’t her fault he accepted the invitation. He could have said no.
But he’d insisted that she told him to say yes.
With her eyes.
Whatever that meant.
Well, if she knew that she’d end up comparing herself to the goddess at the table, she would have insisted that Roman back out of the agreement. She would have been just fine to make excuses for him.
“Liv?”
Roman’s nickname for her sounded so foreign coming from Mason, even though they’d been “almost-dating” for a couple weeks now. She glanced up at Mason and forced a smile. “I’m not really hungry.”
He chuckled and tapped her nose. “None of that. I know the second the food comes, you’ll be eyeing my plate. And I’m not interested in sharing.” He cut Roman a look when he said that, and Olivia didn’t miss the way Roman stiffened. “How about the chicken Caesar salad? You enjoyed that the last time you were here.”
Roman snorted, drawing an irritated scowl from Mason.
“Anything you want to say?” Mason said.
