Sigh, things were already complicated. “I don’t think you’ve earned that right yet, Grey.”
“Then spend some time around me. Come out tonight. Not as my date, but just to hang around… feel me out.”
Feel him out… with my hands? Tongue?Jesus, my thoughts were leading me astray.“I can’t make promises.”
“I won’t ask you to.”
“If I go, will you keep this between the two of us? Not even Jet can know.” My mouth ran along and I said the words before I caught myself. Shit. And. Double shit.
“Done.”
“Good.” I was making a deal with the devil. Okay, maybe that comparison was a little extreme, but I was going to get burnt. I just hoped that I could play him at his own game and come out breathing.
He stood up, looking down on me. “Oh, and one more thing, no more bathing suits for you. Not tonight anyway.”
The barbeque was going to be here and everyone was going to use the pool. “Why’s that?”
The end of his lips lifted, making my stomach somersault. “I don’t want to be distracted.”
Oh.
“I’ll come by and get you for our non-date tonight.” He bent over and leaned against my face. “Dress…for me.”
My face contorted. “I don’t understand.”
“Wear something with me in mind, Pooh.” He looked at me for a good minute before leaving, walking away without looking back.
When the door closed, I didn’t let out my breath until I heard the loud click of the latch securely shut. “Oh my freaking shit! What did I get myself into?” I wondered out loud.
CHAPTER10
Grey
It had beentwo hours since I asked Olivia that question, and even though one hundred and twenty minutes had past, I was still reeling from the moment. What propelled me to ask her was something I had been internally arguing with myself all morning. It was why I left because I needed to think. And when I got back and found the house all clean, I was more inclined to get to know the woman who hadn’t left my thoughts since the moment I saw her again back from her trip in Australia.
One would think that with all of her bitchiness, she was uncaring and lazy, thinking that the world revolved around her, but time and time again, she would prove me wrong. She loved her mom; on several occasions, I heard her tell her exactly that before she left for school. Same with her father, too; whenever he called and I got to hear the end of their cheery conversation when I was around the house. Picturing her as a bitch through the years, it was quite refreshing to be proven wrong. That Olivia was, after all, a caring person, a woman who was willing to help without anything in return.
When I saw her stuffing her mouth with popcorn and watchingSweet Home Alabamawith intense concentration, I knew I had to do something. I could fight anything, but my attraction to her was too powerful for me to keep going on this pretense.
Taking a step in, asking her out, could only lead to something bad because, let’s face it, she and I had always never met eye-to-eye. Even with all that, though, my gut was telling me to keep on going. That maybe, just maybe, things wouldn’t be such a nightmare. Things were complicated already. If Brett decided to marry Laura, then shit would be over between us. However, if they won’t, there was still that possibility between us.
With all these obstacles, I was hoping that things would be okay. I mean, after all this consuming chemistry we shared, there had got to be something amazing to be shared between us, wasn’t there?
The barbeque was set up for six, but I was ready at five, checking out the time for the tenth time. I shouldn’t be worried… neither should I be anxious, but here I was, agitated with sweaty palms.
“Jesus, Grey, it’s only a girl. Don’t sweat it,” I muttered to myself before finally releasing a sigh as I stood up and strode over to the fridge for a bottle of beer.
Olivia was a girl, but not just any other girl. She was a girl I hated and yet couldn’t keep my eyes off almost my entire life. She was a girl who had the power to get me so keyed up that I couldn’t think straight. Yeah, she was a girl all right… a special twisted kind especially formulated to fuck me over.
Knowing that, here I was, crazy excited at the idea that I might get to have her around for a lot more. It was a roadway to disaster, and no matter how this turned out, I’d rather have fun on my way there.
Even though it was early still, I walked out of my place and strolled towards the main house. My heart was beating so loudly, I could literally feel it ringing in my ears. I hadn’t felt this alive in a long time. Apart from racing, Olivia was the only woman who could get my heart beating.
Once I was inside, the house was eerily quiet. I had always used the back stairs to get upstairs, but today, I went through the main hall and chose one of the two-curved marbled stairways. Turning a sharp left, I eyed the last door at the end of the hallway. From here, I could hear music. When I got closer, I realized that she was listening toSomebody Told Meby The Killers. That seriously made me smile and smirk at the same time.
Knocking softly, I waited for a second and when I didn’t hear her, I gradually opened the door. This was a ballsy move, but I just wanted to see her and hoped that maybe we could… talk?
When I heard the shower running, I let out a sigh and told myself to back off and wait for her downstairs. Looking around for the last time before leaving her space, I was surprised that her room wasn’t at all flowery and pink. In fact, it was very comfy… rustic-like. The last time I was here, I didn’t really look around because—one, it was dark and I mostly hung around in the bathroom, and two, my thoughts were focused on scoring a kiss and maybe something more, other than noticing what her room looked like.