Chapter 82
1042 Words
He walked around the outside of the entire house, checking that all the cameras were working again, taking in any small detail that may or may not be important. He looked through the fence to the woods next to her house. He didn’t like that they were so close and so thick, but he knew that Selena and Griff would be checking them often, and Dallas had installed an extra camera on one of the trees. He felt a bit better about the situation, but not terrific.
He went inside and said goodnight to Mark and Sully. Olivia was in the kitchen opening containers of something that smelled delicious. She turned and smiled at him.
“I didn’t feel like cooking, so I ordered in. You like Indian food?”
His stomach growled. She laughed.
“I’ll take that as a yes, then?”
“Oh, yeah,” Dallas said. “Big fan of Indian cuisine over here.”
“Good,” she said. “You want to get yourself settled in your bedroom and get cleaned up a bit? I’ll set the table.”
“Olivia, you don’t have to entertain or feed me,” he said, remembering too late that this was a job and not a date. “I can just go to the guest room and work.”
She looked at him. “You want to go work?”
He shuffled. “Well. No. I’d rather have the Indian food.”
“So, do that, Dallas.” Her eyes were warm. “I know that you’re working now. I do. I get that you’re on the clock and on alert… but you still need to eat. Right?”
“Yeah.”
“Just like I’ll feed Griff and Selena breakfast in the morning… at least fresh coffee if they won’t take anything else.” She shrugged. “It’s just courtesy, Dallas. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try to take care of all of you, even just a little bit.”
He studied her, and knew that she was telling him the truth. She may be rich as hell now, but she hadn’t been raised that way. He knew that she was uncomfortable with having all of them in her space like this, and no way she was going to ignore them, or treat them like they were ‘little people’ hired to do a job. She was thankful and appreciative of their help, and one way Olivia showed this was by feeding and watering people. He’d have to mention to the others that refusing what Olivia was offering would be hurtful to her: she genuinely liked giving things to others.
“OK, message received, loud and clear.” He picked up his bags again. “I’ll take this stuff to the room I’ll be staying in.”
“Everything’s ready,” she said. “I made the bed and put towels in the bathroom. Anything else you need, let me know.”
“Thanks. I’ll be back out in three minutes.”
Dallas went down the hallway to the bedrooms and flicked on the light in the guest room. He looked around, liking the space: it was warm and welcoming, and had nothing ‘guest’ about it. He’d be happy if this was his normal sleeping space.
He decided to unpack later, but he wanted to at least change out of his white dress shirt. He peeled it off and looked through his bag to find a t-shirt.
Olivia suddenly appeared in the doorway. “Dallas, I thought you might –” She stopped dead as he turned around and she took in his naked, tattooed chest. “Oh, God. I’m sorry.”
“It’s OK,” he said. “What is it?”
“I – I – uh. I wanted to ask if you’d like cardamom tea with your dinner.” She was trying to look anywhere but at his amazing body, and she felt her face flush. He was so f*****g gorgeous, and he took her breath away. He was large and toned, his muscles bigger than she’d thought, his broad chest covered with dark hair. Yeah, Dallas looked good in tight t-shirts, but undressed, he was a whole different level of hot. She had the sudden and insane vision of herself kissing him, pressed up tight against that body, and her knees went weak under her.
“Yeah, sure,” he said. “That sounds great, actually. Thanks.”
Liv nodded and turned away from him. As she walked back to the kitchen, she bit her lip, trying to not imagine that body sleeping in the bed in the next room. Or standing naked in the guest room shower, water running over those large, curved planes. God, even his stomach had been hard, pure muscle. She’d give anything to run her fingertips over him, just once.
Dallas got dressed again, splashed water on his face. He came out a few minutes later to find that Olivia had started to dish out some of the food. She had regained command of herself now, and she was able to look calm. The fact that he was fully clothed again also helped.
They sat down and started to eat. He watched her for a few seconds, taking her in. She looked much better now, and he guessed that she was happy to be home, despite it all. He took a sip of tea.
“So, how are you doing, hon?” he asked.
She glanced up. “Better, I think. But I do have one thing I need to talk to you about.”
“OK. I’m listening.”
She took a gulp of wine. “It’s about you investigating my friends.”
Dallas leaned back. “Yeah, I know we need to talk about Jenny.”
Liv was so startled that she dropped her fork. It landed on her plate with a clang. She stared at him, absolutely astounded. “How did you know that I was worried about her specifically?”
He looked at her for a long moment. “We can talk openly, right? And if we do, nothing we say has to leave this room. Agreed?”
She nodded.
- Writer
