“Thank you.”
Olivia didn’t know what to say. My pleasure? Well, in the end, it certainly had been. In the two weeks since she’d returned from Liya, she’d barely had a moment without her memories being tortured by thoughts of Tamir. His body had controlled hers effortlessly, making her shake and tremble with a single look alone.
“How’s your mother?” Jack asked quietly, running his finger around the rim of a shot glass.
“Amazing.” Olivia’s grin was genuine, and it transformed her face completely. “She’s like a different person now. I mean, more like the mum I remember. Her new doctor is working wonders.”
“At least that’s a silver lining.”
“Yes.” She nodded. One of many. For though she missed him so much it made her ill, she would never wish away her time with Tamir.
“And you? You aren’t really pining for your foreign prince, are you?”
Olivia dropped her gaze. “I… No. Not pining exactly. It’s hard to explain.”
“Sounds like we need more drinks.”
“No.” She held her forearms in a cross formation. “No more drinks. I can’t possibly.”
“Yes. I’m getting you to the point where you can no longer speak. It’s Friday night, you’re young, footloose and fancy-free. Start acting like it.”
She watched him walk away and called after him, helplessly, “Some nachos too, then, Jack!”
He waved a hand in the
air by way of acknowledgement.
Mexican food after work should have been some tacos and a glass of wine. Instead, they’d worked their way through a quarter of a bottle of tequila already, and more was on the way. Still. If it helped her achieve a single night’s sleep without dreams of Tamir, then she would drink whatever Jack put in front of her. It wasn’t wise, but God, she was sick of missing a man who would never return her love.
“You know,” Jack said, as he slid into the seat next to Olivia and handed her a shot. “I don’t understand the appeal, myself.”
“The appeal?” She asked, throwing the drink back without looking at him. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Yeah. Of the man-mountain. Tamir.’
“Oh.” Her cheeks flushed.
“I mean, sure. He’s got that tall, dark and handsome thing going for him. But he’s not charming and blonde like I am.” He grinned. “And he doesn’t have my sense of humour.”
“Nor your penchant for petty-theft,” she responded with a tight smile.
He shrugged. “Sounds absolutely boring. So what is it?”
She chewed on her bottom lip, distracting Jack with the way her white teeth moved over the pink flesh. “I love him.”
“You… love him? Oh, Jeez, Liv. You hardly know him.”
She ran a hand through her blonde hair. She’d had it chopped off, the day after leaving Tamir. A traumatic reaction to their separation, undoubtedly. She’d asked the hairdresser to cut it short all over, but perhaps understanding that Olivia would regret it, the stylist had refused, and instead sculpted it into a shoulder length style. It was wild about her pretty face, a complete contrast to the sleek royal styles her attendants had arranged each morning. She teased it with her fingers and focussed her gaze on Jack. He was slightly blurry around the edges, a sure fire sign that she should quit drinking.
She reached for another shot glass and cradled it in her palm. “I can’t explain it. There’s just something between us. Like I’d been waiting for him all my life. I totally understand how crazy that must seem to you, but it’s how I feel.”
He lifted a shot glass to his lips and tossed it back. “You’re right. It does sound crazy.”
She burst out laughing. She was definitely feeling very fuzzy around the edges. “And the sex was… amazing.”
“Meh. Sex is always amazing.”
“No,” she shook her head, and gripped his forearm. “It isn’t. Not like this.”