Page 55 of Call My Bluff
He cleared his throat and kept talking, mostly because he didn’t want to fixate on the unexpected sensation. “It worked outin the end, though; life’s a lot easier when you learn to let people assume whatever they want. Expectations are lower that way,” he said. “If you ask anyone I graduated with, they’d probably tell you I was a hardened criminal with a line of broken hearts a mile long.”
Olivia’s thumb brushed over the back of his hand, and Noah felt lightning travel up his arm and lodge somewhere beneath his collarbone.
“But you weren’t,” she said, and he was amazed by the way it didn’t sound like a question.
He huffed out a breath and pushed his free hand through his hair. “Reports were greatly exaggerated,” he admitted.
Olivia smiled faintly before taking her hand back and using it to turn left into a subdivision. “And what about in college? Is the line a mile long now?”
Noah considered her question carefully before answering, thinking back to all the girls he’d flirted with and all the nights that hadn’t meant very much. Then he flattened his hair where he’d made it stand on end. “Reports are greatly exaggerated,” he repeated.
Her expression grew thoughtful, and Noah passed his eyes across her face before looking out the window again. Two-story, brick houses rose on either side of the road, separated from each other by tall, wooden privacy fences. This was the kind of neighborhood he’d lived in before his father had left—before the day everything had fallen apart. It was the kind of neighborhood he’d only been welcome back in as the hired help.
Olivia turned into an immaculate driveway where three other cars were already parked alongside the house. Then she cut off the engine, though she kept both hands tight on the wheel. “Okay, this is home. You ready?”
Noah watched uncertainty skip across her face and wondered—again—what she’d told her parents about him. “Areyou?” he asked.
She let out a long breath and reached for her door handle. “We’ll see,” she said, though the words were nearly lost as she opened her door and the jarring sound of a nail gun filled the car’s interior. Somebody was hard at work somewhere.
“Livvy!” came a voice from the porch.
Noah looked through the windshield and saw a woman coming through the front door—a woman with olive skin and dark hair that fell in a braid down her back. She had a baby propped on her hip, and there was no possible way she was Olivia’s mother.
“Issa!” Olivia shouted as she climbed from the car.
Noah did the same and stood awkwardly while the women greeted each other.
“Noah, this is my sister-in-law, Issa, and my niece, Aria,” Olivia said. She cooed the last words in the direction of the child, who closed her tiny fists around her mother’s shirt and held on.
“Noah?” Issa asked, not bothering to lower her voice. Her gaze slid down to Noah’s feet in unabashed curiosity. “I thought you said you were bringing a friend.”
“Heisa friend,” Olivia hissed, and Issa’s eyes seemed to light up even more.
“Well, hello then, Friend Noah! Welcome to Casa di Cohen,” she said. Her voice was soft and lilting and carried a hint of somewhere far away. Definitely European.
Noah stepped forward quickly and shook the hand she offered. “Glad to meet you. Issa, is it?”
“Yes, short for Isabella. I’m Michael’s wife,” Issa explained. “Come on, I’ll show you where everyone is.” Then, she turned andwent back through the front door, still talking to Olivia as she went. “Your mom is having a spa day with Aunt Tammy, and the guys are still assembling the gazebo. They’ve only got five hours until we need to decorate, so I hope they make it.”
Noah followed quietly behind, his head on swivel as they made their way through a spacious living area with an open kitchen. The interior of the house was fairly quiet, but the sound of men arguing entered the moment Issa opened the back door.
“That side should face out.”
“No, it matches the others.”
“Then they shouldallface out!”
“Hey, guys!” Issa called, but to no avail.
“Shouldn’t we have seven railings? There are only six in this pile.”
“Hey, guys!” Issa shouted again, this time rising above the noise. “Livvy and her boyfriend are here.”
Suddenly, there was silence.
The men—obviously Olivia’s father and brothers—froze where they stood, and all three heads whipped toward the porch as if by synchronized command.
Olivia glared at her sister-in-law, who only smiled.
