“You all coming to Sunday dinner?” Mike asks them.
“We are now,” Whit tells him.
“Good, we’ll see you then.” He stands from the couch and holds his hand out for me. I put mine in his and allow him to pull me from the couch.
Whit jumps up and wraps me in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me too. This one needs to work this week, so can we get together sometime?”
“You can count on it,” she assures me, then turns to Mike. “Take care of her.”
His eyes lock on mine. “You can count on it.”
Jamie insisted we run by the bar. I admit that I really want to check on things. I was too… I’m not sure what I would call my mood yesterday. All I know is that I missed her and I was in no shape from my sleepless night the evening before to be there.
Reaching over the console, I place my hand on her knee. I’m not sure if it’s for reassurance that she really is here for two entire weeks or it’s because the attraction I feel for her burns deep inside me and that craving to touch her all the time wins. Either way, she’s here and my hands are on her.
“Whose car is that?” she asks when we pull in behind Liv’s new Honda Accord.
“Olivia’s, she just bought it last week.” She climb out of the truck and beats me to the front, not giving me the opportunity to open her door for her. “Liv,” I call out once we’re inside.
“Back here,” she yells back.
With her hand in mine, I lead Jamie back to the office. It’s large with two desks, another change I made. I wanted Olivia to feel like this was just as much hers at it is mine. “Hey,” I say in greeting.
She looks up and her eyes go wide. “Jamie!” She’s out of her chair and wrapping her in a hug. Then she turns to me. “You didn’t tell me she was coming.” She pushes against my chest.
“I didn’t know,” I laugh at her.
“Everything okay?” she asks, concerned.
“Yes, I think I mentioned that I thought my boss was going to retire?” Olivia nods. “Well, he did and here I am.”
“On my God, are you moving here?” Liv jumps up and down in excitement.
“No, I’m just here until after the wedding. I figured I would spend a few extra days here.”
Olivia turns to me. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Uh, I wanted to check on things, and Jamie wanted to see behind the scenes.”
Liv looks over at Jamie. “You’ve been here before.”
Jamie shrugs. “Yeah, but that’s the only way I knew I could get him to come. I know he lives and breathes for this place. I felt guilty that he wasn’t at least stopping in because I showed up on his doorstep.”
“Not anymore,” Liv says under her breath. It’s not quite low enough since I hear her and she’s right. Not anymore. I don’t know when it changed for sure, but Jamie’s at the top of my priorities list, hands down. “Things are good here,” she says, louder this time. “Deposits have been made, order has been placed, staff is all good to go. Now go enjoy your time together.”
“Why don’t we take over tonight, let you and David go out,” I offer.
“You only have two weeks,” she says, her eyes darting between Jamie and me.
“We need to work out a schedule so we’re both not here all the time.”
“Okay, in a few weeks we can make that happen. Now go. Besides, this is good for me. I need to see what the pressure is like if I’m going to do this.”
I stare at her to make sure this is what she really wants. Her smile is bright and I can tell she’s happy. “Fine, but not tonight. We’ll be here. You go call my friend and tell him you’re his for the night.”
She laughs. “My boyfriend will be excited. Sunday dinner this week?”