Page 45 of Undeniable

“Why not?” I started pacing in front of my desk.

“Because I’m not sure your girlfriend would like that.” She said it so matter-of-factly.

“Girlfriend?” I frowned. I didn’t have a girlfriend, and I had ended things with Katie weeks ago.

“You know…Lucy?”

I laughed but quickly sobered when she didn’t join me. “Lucy’s not my girlfriend. She’s my aunt. She raised me after my mom died.”

“Oh.”

“Olivia,” I said in a teasing tone, relief coursing through me. “Were you jealous?”

“What?” Her voice pitched high. “No. Of course not. I just didn’t want to cause a problem.”

“I can appreciate that.” Especially considering what had happened with her own parents. “Just to be clear,” I said. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

It was something I should’ve asked weeks ago, but I’d always been terrified to find out if she was seeing someone. Now that I was going to California, I had to know. And I prayed that Olivia was single.

She laughed so hard, she snorted, and it was fucking adorable. “No. I don’t.”

“Good.” Relief coursed through my veins—relief and excitement. “Because I’m taking you out when I come to LA next week.”

“Are you even going to ask me?” she teased.

“You promised.” I said, an idea already forming in my mind.

“I did.” Despite her confusion, despite her earlier hesitation, she sounded excited.

“Just check your email, okay?” I said, unable to hold back my smile. There was a knock at my door. “I have to go.”

“Bye, Connor,” she said in a soft voice.

“Bye, Olivia. I’ll see you soon.”

I might not know what the future held, but one thing was for certain—I couldn’t wait to meet Olivia.

* * *

“Your dad wantedme to give this to you,” Lucy said, handing me a letter.

She’d invited me over for a homemade meal, and part of me still couldn’t quite believe that she’d visited my father. That he was actually dying. I’d half expected to find out it was yet another ploy to get me to see him. But based on what Lucy had said after her visit, I knew it was true.

It had been seventeen years since my mom had died. Seventeen years since the last time I’d seen my father. And I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to see him again.

I took the letter from Lucy but didn’t read it. And I wasn’t planning to. I shoved it in my pocket.

Lucy went to check on dinner, and my phone buzzed with a new text message.

Olivia: Finished. That was one hell of a story.

Right? Fucking awesome. Tell Alyssa she did good—again.

Olivia: I’m scared it will inflate her (already large) ego.

Maybe. But maybe if you stroke her ego, she’ll give us another one.

Olivia: Are you turning into a romance addict?

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