Page 7 of Roman & Olivia
“Liv—” he started when they pulled into her parking lot, “we have to talk.”
She nodded. “I know.” Her voice was small—timid. Even he could hear it. “I’m sorry.” She seemed to be saying that a lot lately—especially to him. “I shouldn’t have invited them over to your home. It wasn’t my place.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
She flinched even though his voice was gentle.
“But that’s not what I’m upset about.”
She peeked at him, and he sighed as he slumped against his seat and turned his attention out the dark window before him.
“I’m mad because we agreed.Youagreed. This was supposed to be a one-time thing.”
“Iknow,” she muttered. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m just so… proud of you. And I wanted to…” She didn’t seem to know how to finish that statement. It was like she wanted to show him off. But that didn’t sound like Olivia at all.
Roman was quiet beside her. All he could hear was his own steady breathing. She didn’t move, didn’t even fidgetanymore. After their initial interaction, Roman had done his best at playing interference. He squeezed her hand when she was getting into murky waters as she interacted with Mason. He remained by her side the whole night, playing the perfect boyfriend. While it had been fun, there was something off about the whole thing. Sometimes it felt… real. But that was ridiculous, right?
To the outside world, they had looked the part, and that was all she’d wanted.
Until it wasn’t.
Part of him wasn’t even mad. He could recognize that, and it felt… strange.
“I’m really sorry,” she whispered, drawing him back to the present.
Roman sighed before pushing the door open. He walked around the truck and helped her out. Then he gave her a firm look. “We’renotdating.” He didn’t have to remind her, and yet that was where this conversation was heading. “You know I don’t like lying. And this goes far beyond that.”
She winced at his words again. Which only spurred a wave of guilt. This was Olivia. She needed him, and he was making her feel cruddy about it. Shoot. He needed to look at this through her eyes.
His voice softened and he pulled her in for one of his famous brotherly hugs. His chin rested atop her head, and then he sighed again. It wasn’t anger—more resigned than anything else. “Help me understand.” If he could get her talking, maybe he could rationalize helping her.
Olivia breathed in deeply. She didn’t respond right away, and for a moment he wasn’t sure she’d tell him anything. Her eyes closed as if she were searching for any crumb of clarity the quiet could offer her. “Ireallylike him, Roman.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, that’s pretty obvious. You were about as bumbling as a do-do bird trying its first time at mating.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and guided her toward the apartment.
She chuffed and attempted to pull away, but he held to her tight and she ended up laughing along with him. “Yeah, I told you it was pretty bad.”
He hummed into her hair. “And how exactly do you think you’re going to get his affection when you’re dating someone else?” Honestly, he was already developing a plan, but he wasn’t sure it would even work. All he knew was that he needed to help Olivia. She’d always been there for him, and he’d done the same for her.
Olivia froze as if coming to her own despairing realization. “I don’t know.”
His laughter was sudden and more of something to put himself at ease. She wasn’t going to like what he had to say. Heck, he didn’t like how true it was either.
Pulling back, she stared up into his eyes. “It’s not funny! I wasn’t thinking.”
Roman lifted a brow, still amused. She was still so innocent.
Pressing her face into his shirt with a groan, she said, “No, I know exactly what I was thinking.”
Absentmindedly, he waited for her to respond. He picked up a few loose strands of her hair and fingered them gently, letting their silken texture catch on his calloused fingers. “And what was that?” he said.
“That I don’t get to see him outside of the office.” She withdrew enough that he dropped the hair he’d wrapped around his fingers. “I wasthinkingthat tonight was the first time Mason had shown even a degree of interest in me—and that was when we were talking about meeting up at your ranch. I wasthinkingthat he doesn’t hang out with people from the office, and if thiswas my only chance to spend time with him, then I’d take the scraps I’m being given.”
Olivia dropped her eyes to her toes, then covered her face with her hands. “You probably think I’m so ridiculous. I can’t believe what an airhead I am.”
Roman didn’t move for a few moments. He hated it when she got like this. He might tease her constantly, but he would never say she wasn’t worth the attention of the men in this town. Quite the opposite. She was too good for the guys living here. After a moment, he tilted her chin and searched her eyes. “You’renotan airhead. You’retwitterpated.”
She laughed, and the sound drew another smile to his lips.
