Page 2 of Love Off-Limits
“True,” he said. “But I know I’d like to get to know you.”
Rosie appeared between us. “Hi, guys,” she said pointedly. “How are things going?”
I took a step away from Tyler, suddenly needing the distance. For a moment, the tension simmering between us felt less like flirting and more like...fate. “We were just saying goodnight,” I said.
Tyler pushed his hands into the pockets of his dark suit pants. His tie was loose, the top few buttons of his shirt open, his jacket slung over his arm. If I’d been keeping score, he would have gotten double points for the slightly undone look. “The dinner was great, Rosie,” he said, his eyes still on me. He took a step backward. “Goodnight, Olivia.”
As we watched his retreating form, Rosie reached out and squeezed my hand. “Um,whatwasthat?”
I shook my head.Fireworks. Lightning.I lifted my shoulder in a casual shrug. “What was what?”
Rosie rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. Don’t even try to deny it. There are some serious sparks between you and Tyler.” She tilted her head, her expression shrewd. “You like him.”
“I don’tlikehim. Why are we talking about this right now? You’re hours away from getting married.”
“Which only means I’m tired of all the attention. You know how I feel about the spotlight. Indulge me for two seconds and help me keep my mind off the fact that tomorrow I’ll put on the fanciest dress I’ve ever worn and let people stare at me for four hours.”
We moved toward the door of the downtown Charleston restaurant where Rosie and Isaac had held their rehearsal dinner.
“Tyler is really great,” Rosie said, clearly unwilling to let the subject go. “I’d love it if you liked him.”
“He’s adorable,” I finally admitted. “But we’re just flirting. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“It could. Charleston isn’t that far away from North Carolina. And he’s perfect for you. I know you both really well. You should trust me on this.”
I did trust Rosie. Almost more than I trusted anyone. But the Olivia that Rosie knew well was not the Olivia I had the luxury of being. Not anymore.
Undergrad Olivia was impulsive. Spontaneous. A social butterfly who only managed to maintain the grade point average my volleyball scholarship required through a religious devotion to alarms on my phone and a dedicated consumption of energy drinks.
But that Olivia was long gone. Sometimes I missed her.
We paused on the street outside the restaurant and waited while Marley, Rosie’s cousin and maid-of-honor, pulled her car around. Her SUV was just big enough for Rosie and all her bridesmaids to pile in for the ride back to the hotel where we’d stay for the next two nights. “Just think about it,” Rosie said, lifting her eyebrows playfully. “It could be fun.”
I had no doubt it would be fun.
But I had too much on my mind to get wrapped up in a relationship, especially one that would have to be long distance, no matter how sparkly the chemistry between us. My focus for the next six months had to be my family’s farm and event center. Nestled deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Stonebrook’s rolling hills full of apple orchards and vineyards had been an idyllic place to grow up. We’d all loved it—me and my four older brothers—but I was the one who had always dreamed of running it.
I’d thought I had plenty of time to graduate and assume my place next to Dad, but then he’d had a stroke a month before I finished my MBA, forcing him into early retirement. My oldest brother, Perry, had stepped up to help run things while I finished school, but it was always understood that as soon as I graduated, the job would be mine.
That had always been the plan.
Or so I’d thought.
Weeks after I’d finished my degree and moved back home, Perry was still around. Admittedly, Dad’s continued recovery complicated everything. Dad couldn’t be in charge of the farm; his speech and mobility were both still impaired, and Perry insisted he was still needed. But why? I was capable, willing. Why not let me take over when everyone knew how long I’d been planning on the job?
It was hard to argue about it when Dad was still sick. It felt crass to debate who should officially replace him when he’d hardly been ready to give up the job in the first place. My energy was better channeled into proving to Perry that I could handle it. That he could go back to his consulting business and rest easy having left me in charge.
If I had any hope of keeping what little ground I’d already gained, I had to be serious now.
Fun and spontaneous Olivia might have thrown caution out the window and jumped into a relationship no matter the risk or outcome.
But fun and spontaneous Olivia couldn’t manage an enterprise as large as Stonebrook. Or so I assumed. What else could explain why Perry was so resistant to leave?
Whatever his motivation, one thing was clear: flitting away every other weekend to see a boyfriend in Charleston would not help my cause.
“You know what’s on the line at Stonebrook,” I finally said, shaking my head. “A long-distance boyfriend will only look like a big fat distraction.”
“Who said anything about a boyfriend? Liv, what happened to you? What happened to living in the moment?”
