Page 33 of Reckless Intentions
Chapter Seventeen
It had been less than twenty-four hours since Olivia had left, and Brody felt… He couldn’t put his finger on the exact term, but the wordbereftseemed to fit. He had grown used to having her around The Roca Bar. The office was already back to its previous messy state, and it felt empty.
“You okay, Brody?” Carlos had been popping in and out the whole day, with seemingly irrelevant questions and tasks that he could quite easily carry out himself; he didn’t need to ask Brody’s advice on every little thing.
“Yeah, I’m thinking about the trip to North Ridge.”
That was the one bright spot on the horizon. It wouldn’t be long before he was heading over to see Caro to talk about The Indigo Lounge refurb. That would mean he would be able to see Olivia again. They’d already exchanged about a million messages, not to mention one super steamy late-night video call.
There was a nagging thought in his head though. They still hadn’t spoken about what happens next. After their last night together, neither of them had broached the subject of the future. For the first time in a long time, Brody wanted there to be something long term. It was a strange feeling.
“How long are you there for?”
“A couple of days, maybe three. I’ve got a few things in London I need to sort out.”
Maybe he could ask Olivia to accompany him to London. They could treat it like a holiday, both away from what they called home. Do touristy things for a day or two, extending the time he was away, and the time he had with Olivia.
“And will you be seeing Olivia again too?”
Was he really that transparent? Had his thoughts been transmitting outwards?
“What makes you say that?”
“The two of you seemed to get on well.” Carlos shrugged. “Really well. I thought she was a nice girl.”
“She is.” Brody’s mouth curved into a smile even thinking about her.
“Then you should make some time to see her.” His foreman went to leave but then turned back at the last minute. “She’s much better for you than that Valentina woman.” Then he was gone.
Brody hadn’t given Valentina a second thought since the night he’d dumped her. The feeling was clearly mutual as there hadn’t been any needy, begging text messages. Maybe she’d finally seen sense and was concentrating on her wedding. He felt strangely relieved.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of activity, and by the end, Brody could see that the team were close to completion. He hoped that he would be able to give Caro the good news when he saw her soon.
Instead of heading home, he decided to go to Legends and get a bite to eat, and a beer. It would be good to catch up with Pep.
“Where have you been, Brody?” His friend waved as he walked through the door. “I’ve been fending off a lot of women in your absence.”
“It’s only been a few days, Pep. I’m sure you’ve been happy as a pig in shit with my leftovers.” Brody rolled his eyes.
“Group of girls from Newcastle in tonight.” Pep jerked his chin in the direction of six women who were gathered around the jukebox.
Brody stared disinterestedly in their direction. One of them had shoulder length black hair, that reminded him of Olivia. But she was wearing the shortest of shorts, teamed with a crop top, which was about as far removed from Olivia as he could get. He guessed that was how it was going to be from then on. Everyone would be automatically compared to Olivia.
He shook his head and reached for the beer Pep had placed on the bar. It was gone within seconds; he hadn’t realised how thirsty he was. A second and then a third went the same way. Several beers later, in quick succession on an empty stomach—he’d forgotten to order the burger he’d been so hungry for when he first arrived—and it wasn’t long before he approached the group of women.
“Hey, ladies,” he slurred, sidling up to the one with the black hair.
“You okay, handsome?” She shot back, her Geordie accent strong.
“I could be.” Brody reached over and stroked her hair. “You’re really pretty, you know that?”
“Right.” She shot a look towards one of her friends.
“It’s okay, she can join in if she wants. I wouldn’t mind a threesome.”
“Ugh, that’s gross.”
“You remind me of my girlfriend.”
