Chapter 74
661 Words
Olivia rubbed her eyes, feeling exhaustion start to creep up on her now. It had taken her a long time to fall asleep the night before, despite knowing that Dallas was just inside the front door on the sofa, and that he had alarms on all his windows. She just couldn’t shake the feeling of malicious eyes on her, and she had laid awake in the dark for hours, afraid to close her eyes.
When she did finally fall asleep, she dreamed that she was in her bathtub again, unable to move. In her dream, the door burst open and a man with a knife stood there, grinning at her. She’d woken up with a start, wondering how Dallas would react if she crawled onto the sofa next to him.
Would he take her in his arms and soothe her to sleep again? He was so hard to read sometimes, with those clear, hard blue eyes and crossed arms. He could be gentle and tender, but still… Liv thought that he may not want to blur the line between friend and sofa mate. Or, if she thought about it now, between friend and client.
She was his client, wasn’t she? He was certainly acting like it: she’d never seen Dallas’ professional side before now, and she was stunned and a bit taken aback at just how impersonal he was.
He’d always been so easy-going, with a jokey demeanor and a distinct lack of reverence for most things. But today, he was all crisp business and hard-assed, probing questions. Liv suddenly saw exactly how Dallas had built up one of the best and most-respected personal security firms in the country: he was in total control of an out-of-control situation, and that was a hard thing to accomplish.
Dallas glanced up from his laptop and really took in Olivia for the first time in hours. She looked worn out and almost teary, and he blinked at her vulnerability. He sighed and she looked at him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Just thinking that maybe you could use a break. We’ve been going over this stuff for almost four hours now.”
She nodded. “Yeah. That’d be good.”
“OK, then.” Dallas stood and stretched, his t-shirt pulling tight against the muscles on that huge chest. “I’ll cook us some lunch.”
“You’ll what?” she asked in utter shock.
“Yeah.” He grinned at her now, and she felt like she knew him again. “You still eat carbs, right, darlin’?”
She laughed out loud. “Only on Saturdays now.”
“Are you f*****g serious?” he asked.
“As a heart attack,” she informed him. “If I want to keep getting the bikini shoots for next summer's ad campaigns, I’d better not pad these thighs and butt too much.”
“Uh-huh,” he said. “Well, I don’t think it’d hurt you to put on a few pounds… you’ve been looking too thin lately.” His eyes narrowed. “I’m guessing it’s been the stress of Emma and the stalker. Yes?”
“Yes.”
“Thought so. OK, let’s see what I got in the kitchen. Come on, Olivia.” He held out his hand, helped her to her feet. “Good thing today is Saturday, huh? Otherwise I’d probably have to feed you an apple and a lettuce leaf.”
“Yeah, that was my lunch yesterday.”
“For real?”
“Almost.” She smiled at him, her brown eyes dancing. “I also had a glass of water.”
“Goddamn, girl,” Dallas said. “I’m gonna hold you down and force-feed you pasta, I swear to God.”
Her stomach jumped at the thought of being pinned under Dallas’ massive body; she thought she wouldn’t mind it in the slightest.
She swallowed hard, tried to get her heart rate back under control.
- Writer
