“There he is. That’s him,” Olivia said.
I got out of the car and came around, watching as a shockingly young man came out of the hotel lobby doors. I reached down and opened Olivia’s car door, then slowly helped her out of her seat. He couldn’t have been any older than his midforties. I knew Olivia’s parents had had her young, but for some reason the lack of age on his face shocked me. He had gray in his hair, but I could tell who Olivia inherited her hair and eyes from, the staunch furrow of her brow . The man smiled at Olivia before his eyes darted over to me, and I watched him posture.
Oh, no.
This wasn’t going to go over well.
“Daniel Wilson,” the man said.
He stuck out his hand, and I shook it, clocking how tightly he intentionally tried to grip my hand.
“Brett Greyson. Nice to meet you,” I said.
“So, you’re the boy dating my daughter,” he said.
“Man, and yes.”
“Trust me, only a boy brings a fancy car to try and show off. That suit looks pretty expensive, too.”
“That’s because it is,” I said coolly.
“This is Brett. The guy I was telling you about over the phone,” Olivia said.
“Uh-huh,” Daniel said.
He let his eyes fall down my body before he reached over to Olivia to give her a hug. But she put her hand up to stop him. She took his hand and shook it, and I saw the look of shock and confusion in Daniel’s stare. The man really was a piece of work, thinking the daughter he abandoned would want to hug him or touch him in any fashion after only one damn dinner. I watched Olivia’s face closely, registering every emotion she went through, every single thing she felt, just in case I needed to step in on her behalf.
“It’s really good to see you again, Olive,” Daniel said.
My eye twitched at the nickname.
“No,” Olivia said.
“No what?” Daniel asked.
“You don’t get to call her that,” I said curtly.
His eyes whipped over to me as he let go of his daughter’s hand.
“And what makes you think you can dictate that to me?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t want you calling me it, either,” Olivia said.
“But I called you that all the time as a child,” Daniel said.
“And then you forfeited the right to that nickname when you left. Brett calls me that from time to time, and he’s the only person I let call me by that name. He made it beautiful again. You don’t get to destroy that a second time,” Olivia said.
I felt my chest swell with pride as the light in Daniel’s eyes dimmed. I wanted to see the man squirm. I wanted him to feel the abrasive tactics I knew Olivia had whenever she was upset. I’d been on the receiving end of many an attack back in college. And Olivia was right. Something seemed very off about this man. The way he looked. The way he spoke. The way he wanted to automatically be close to her after abandoning her at such a young age.
All of it struck me as odd, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. I was glad Olivia was being as guarded as she was. She needed to stay alert with him.
“Well, wherever you want to go to dinner is fine by me,” Daniel said.
“I don’t care where we go,” Olivia said.
“There’s a fantastic pasta place up here on the corner. They make it homemade in-house. It’s on me,” I said.
“I can get my own dinner, thanks,” Daniel said, his eyes never leaving Olivia.
“Pasta sounds good, Brett. Let’s go,” she said.
The three of us got into my car, and I kept my eye on Daniel in the back seat. Every once in a while, his eyes would connect with mine and I saw them line with hatred. Oh, he didn’t like me. And I didn’t like him. So, we at least shared that much in common. I saw his eyes land on the back of Olivia’s head from time to time, and I watched his gaze soften, like he was reminiscing on something. Or possibly concocting a plan. I didn’t really know. The man was full of mixed signals I had a hard time sifting through. I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and helped Olivia out, and then the three of us started in.
The entire time, Daniel tried to size me up.
“Three for a table, please,” I said.
“A booth would actually be better. My daughter loved booths as a little girl,” Daniel said.
Olivia looked over at him, looking disarmed at something.
“You remember that?” she asked.
“I remember everything about you, Olivia,” Daniel said.
I watched her soften to him a little bit before she nodded. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the fact that she was dropping her guard. But I followed her lead anyway. The hostess led us to a booth in the corner where the three of us sat, but not before Daniel tried to sit right beside her.