Page 58 of Love on the Byline

“They’re already in the cabinet,” Ollie replied.

“And this is why I keep you around.” He stepped onto thepatio, stretching in the bright sunlight before he stuck his foot in the water,testing the temperature before jumping in and disappearing below the surface.

“I was asking you before. How did you two meet?”

Ollie’s brows lifted. “Wow, um, that’s a long story.”

She picked up the empty glass of orange juice and put it in thesink. “Fortunately, we have to run to the market for arugula, so we have time.”

And apparently, I’ll be staying here this week.

“I guess we do.” His smile eased some of the tension in herstomach.

As it turned out, Ollie drove a sporty hatchback that waslight years nicer than Blake’s old Civic. Not only because it was newer, butbecause it had air conditioning. Riding shotgun in the heat of the Californiasummer, she was actually chilly. She didn’t dare complain, it felt decadent.But once they exited the 5, he killed the AC and put the windows down.

“That’s enough of that,” he said. “I don’t usually run theair when I drive, unless I’m with Bran.”

“Why’d you turn it on, then?”

He glanced at her before returning his attention to theroad. “Your car, it’s the same one from college?”

“Yeah. You remember the car I drove in college?”

He shrugged. “Yeah.” She thought he might say more, but hepulled his bottom lip between his teeth and stared resolutely at the crawl oftraffic.

As she studied his profile, the wind played through thewaves of his longish, dark hair.

“Something on your mind?” he asked.

“You were supposed to tell me how you and Bran got soclose.”

“Oh.”

This was the third time, at least, that she’d asked him.Blake was beginning to think he was hesitant to tell her.

“Did you meet playing soccer for U of P?”

They stopped at a red light, and he turned to look at her.“Is this all part of your profile?”

“Might be,” she admitted. “Technically, everything is fairgame unless you tell me it’s off the record.”

“Is that really a thing, off the record?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

He focused on the road, and they were moving again. “In myexperience, people like you like to use that phrase to get subjects to spilltheir secrets.”

“People like me?”

“Well, not like you but…reporters. In general.”Ollie slowed to turn into the parking lot of the market. It took a few minutesto find a space, but soon they’d grabbed a cart and were heading inside.

Blake trailed after him as he made a beeline towards the producesection. He handed her a mesh bag.

“Mind holding this for me?”

“No problem.” She held the bag open while he picked throughthe oranges, inspecting each one carefully. “Does Brandon Cody only eat prettyfruit?”

“What? No,” he replied, laughing. “I just thought it wouldlook nice in your photos, to have a bowl of fruit on the counter or whatever.”He chose half a dozen picture-perfect oranges, and then a dozen more that heonly gave a quick once-over before tossing them in the bag.

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