by Breah Elise
Sneaking out of his room as quietly as humanly possible and down the hall to her own room, Olivia didn’t even stop for a moment. As soon as she closed her bedroom door, she yanked the robe from her body and dressed quickly, throwing all of her belongings haphazardly into her suitcase. With a quick scan of the room, she exited and ran down the stairs, hoping to escape without running into anyone.
She stopped briefly in the kitchen and scribbled a note saying that she decided to get an early start back home and thanked everyone for a great weekend.
Oh, god…would Daniel see that and think that she was speaking directly to him? Crumpling up the note, she leaned on the granite counter top and laid her head on her hands and forced herself to think fast.
“Olivia?”
Sure, now it was David. She stood upright and faced him. “Hey, David,” she said casually, hoping he didn’t sense her complete distress. In all of her rushing around and trying to make a fast escape, she had forgotten that David was always up early to go running. He stood before her in shorts and a tank top, glistening with sweat and made her feel…nothing.
What the…?
“You’re up early this morning,” he said with a smile as he turned and reached into the refrigerator for some juice. After pouring himself a glass he looked just beyond Olivia and saw her suitcase. “Are you leaving already?”
Nervously, Olivia licked at her dry lips while she tried to think of a believable reason for her early departure. “Um, yes. I got an early call from Tina about some work that needs to be done today at the shop and so I thought I’d hit the road early to avoid the weekend traffic and get back to help her.”
That sounded plausible, didn’t it?
David walked toward her. His brown hair was wild from his run and his six foot frame towered a good six inches above her. He smiled and Olivia waited for that now-familiar fluttering of her heart, but it didn’t come. That was strange, wasn’t it?
“I’m not going to say goodbye because we are going to stay in touch, right?” he asked.
“Of course,” she stammered, anxious to get the hell out of Dodge. Before she could turn and grab her luggage, David pulled her into his embrace. Twenty-four hours ago, this would have meant the world to her. Now it made her feel sick. She gave him a brief hug and stepped away from him.
“Please tell everyone that I said goodbye and that I had a great time this weekend. I’ll be around this week to help Anna out and I promise to let you know when the big grand opening is, okay?” Hell, she couldn’t even look at him as she collected her things. If David found her behavior to be odd, he said nothing.
“Take care of yourself, Liv,” he said with sincerity. “I know that doing this catering thing with Tina has always been a dream of yours, but if you ever want your old job back, just say the word.”
Olivia laughed. “Please, within a week you’ll forget all about me.” She straightened and looked at him, finally, one last time. How could she have gone to the wrong room? She should be basking in the afterglow with him this morning, not running out in shame after having sex with the wrong man!
“That will never happen, Liv. You’re the best and no one will ever replace you.”
Great, more words that would have meant the world to her if she hadn’t screwed things up so royally last night. Unable to help herself, Olivia turned to leave and then turned back around to face David. She had to find out why it was Daniel in that bedroom and not David.
“I, um, I noticed Daniel going into your room last night. Everything okay?” There, that was a tactful way to ask, wasn’t it?
“Oh,” he said, looking somewhat bashful as he averted his gaze. “We, um, switched rooms last night. I had…company and wanted the top room.” Daniel’s bedroom was on the top floor of the house and took up the entire floor. There was an amazing 360 view of the island, a perfect scene for seduction.
Dammit.
“Oh,” she said quietly, her embarrassment growing more and more by the second. Luckily he did switch rooms otherwise she would have been in for an even greater shock than she’d already had! Threesome’s were so definitely not her thing. Part of Olivia wanted to know who it was that he’d shared a bed with last night, and part of her urged her way out the door with promises to see each other later in the week and to keep in touch.
She was inches from a clean getaway when he approached her one last time beside her car and hugged her close. “Thanks for always being so great, Liv,” he whispered, and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll see you soon.”
Not likely. Her only saving grace at this low point in her life was that the Slade brothers were both going to be tied up in court and meetings all week long and the chance of seeing either of them was close to nil. She’d take the week to power train Anna and make sure that she was done by Friday.
Climbing into her car with a sigh of relief, Olivia gunned the engine and sped off, not taking a chance on looking back.
Daniel watched her exit from the bedroom window, hands clenched at his side. While her leaving saved them an awkward encounter with an audience, he knew that their time together was far from over.
****
“How could you do this to me?” Olivia screamed into her phone at her still-sleepy best friend.
“Hmm…what? Liv? What happened?”
With her words matching the speed of her car racing on the highway, Olivia recounted the events of the previous night and this morning, all of which brought Tina to full alertness.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Tina began. “You mean to tell me that you slept with Daniel? Daniel, the brother that you hate? Why would you do that?”
Olivia had to stifle a scream. “Trust me, I didn’t do it intentionally! It was dark; I didn’t even think that there was a possibility of it not being David! I mean, for more than three years the man has functioned like clock-work. Very reliable; never varies from his routine.”
“And you wanted to sleep with this man, why?” Tina asked with genuine confusion.
“So not the point! What am I going to do now? You know that Daniel hates me just as much as I hate him and you just know that he is going to go to David and blab all about last night and all the dirty, stupid things we did and I’m going to come off looking like some…whore or something!”
“Well…”
“Oh, shut up! How could you let me do this?” Olivia cried.
Tina cut her off. “I didn’t let you do anything, Liv! All I did was encourage you to do something that you really wanted to do. I had no idea that it could have gotten this twisted up. Only you, my dear Olivia, could take something as simple as sleeping with the man that you’re attracted to and mess it up!”
Sighing, Olivia knew that her friend was right. “We need to do some damage control, Tee. How am I supposed to go into the office this week and face them both?”
“You don’t work for them anymore. Problem solved.”
“You’re forgetting that I promised to come in this week to help Anna with the transition.”
“So? Say that you changed your mind. Say that we had issues here with the new business and that you can’t spare the time. I mean, it’s not like they can force you to go in.”
“I know, I know,” Olivia agreed, “but that’s not fair to Anna. It took David a little longer to find someone suitable and I gave my word that I would help out.”
Tina huffed with frustration. “How about thinking about you for a change? Why don’t you put your needs first for once?”
“That’s what got me into this crazy mess!” Olivia reminded her. “Look, just be thinking of how I’m supposed to walk through the doors of that office tomorrow with an ounce of dignity and I will talk to you when I get home, okay?”
“Okay, but Liv?”
“Yeah?”
“Just one more thing.”
Olivia sighed. “What?”
“The dirty things that you said you did with Daniel?”
“What about them?”
Tina chuckle
d. “How dirty?”
Olivia couldn’t help but chuckle back. “You know all of the things that I said I would never do with any man?”
“Yeah?”
“I did them all.”
Tina nearly choked. “Really?” she squeaked.
Though her friend couldn’t see it, Olivia nodded. “Twice.”
Shutting her cell off, Olivia tried to force her mind from the memories of last night. She shifted uncomfortably in the driver’s seat.
Daniel.
Of all of the people in the world that she could have stumbled into bed with, why, oh why, did it have to be him? The man was insufferable! A snarky, condescending jackass. No matter how she dressed, he had a comment about it. ‘Isn’t that skirt a little too tight? Or What are you trying to do, look like someone’s spinster aunt?’ There was no pleasing the man and it made her crazy!
Then there were his snide comments about her work. ‘It took you long enough. Do you only use the cheap stationary?’ He was absolutely impossible to please. Well, her mind wandered for jus the briefest of moments to last night. She seemed to please him just fine then.
Which brought an alarming thought forward – Olivia had clearly stated who she was from the get-go last night. Daniel had known all along whom he was sleeping with and that she thought he was David. Why would he do that? Was he that sick that he got a kick out of humiliating her on this level, too? A shudder of disgust ran down her spine.
Damn him. Damn him for being such a jerk. And damn him for being the most incredible lover she’d ever had. Oh, this just kept getting more and more twisted and complicated by the minute. Even in the best scenario, she could never face him again, let alone have a repeat performance of last night. She was too humiliated. She must have seemed like such a desperate and pathetic excuse of a human being for throwing herself at the wrong person. Did he laugh at her? Was he mocking her the entire time they were making love?
Making love? Hardly. Realizing now that Daniel had knowingly kept her in the dark and had used her repeatedly throughout the night just angered her. Olivia swore that if she ever did have the misfortune of seeing Daniel face to face ever again that she would most definitely give him a piece of her mind.
The best thing for her to do was to just focus on the drive home and to force all thoughts of Daniel and last night from her mind. Olivia flipped on the radio and turned up the volume. Luckily there to suit her mood were the angry vocals of Kelly Clarkson vowing Never Again.
“Right there with you, sister.”
Chapter Three
Olivia was in stealth mode. By Wednesday, she had managed to avoid seeing either of the Slade brothers and was nearly giddy with the thought that with only two days left of her commitment to them and the company, she would be able to walk away with a somewhat clean conscience.
It was four o’clock and she was gathering up her belongings when her cell phone rang. Tina’s face showed up on the screen. “Hey, what’s up?”
“We have a crisis,” Tina said, her voice laced with panic.
“Okay, take a deep breath and tell me what’s going on.”
“We have that cocktail party tonight, remember?”
Olivia did. “And?”
“We had a server call in sick. I really don’t want to go in there short staffed, Liv! This is our first official event and I don’t want to look unprofessional!” she cried.
“Okay, okay, calm down. What do you need me to do?”
“Will you be a server?”
She was afraid of this. Olivia had loved the idea of having this business with Tina but had hoped to sort of stay behind the scenes in the management area. Her silence must have spoken volumes because Tina finally spoke back up.
“I know that you said that you didn’t want to do this sort of thing but I’m already going to be there working the party and we could really use the extra hands. Please, Liv! This business if fifty percent yours and…”
“Alright,” Olivia sighed. “Of course I’m going to do it. What do I need to wear?”
“Black skirt, white button-down shirt, black heels.”
Sounded simple enough, Olivia thought. “Fine. I’ll have to go home and change but I’ll meet you at six at the shop, okay?”
Tossing her phone into her bag, Olivia turned and faced Anna. “Everything okay?” she asked.
Olivia relayed the conversation she just had and then gave a sad smile. “I’m sorry to have to bail on you like this but I’ve got to go and find the right clothes to wear for this party so that I blend in with the rest of the staff.”
“No worries, Olivia. You have been a great help. And really, if you have a late night tonight, don’t feel obligated to come in tomorrow. I think I want to try a day on my own.”
“Are you sure?”
“You’re only a phone call away, right?” Anna asked with a smile of her own.
“Thanks for understanding.” Olivia stopped and looked around to make sure that she wasn’t forgetting anything. “Okay, I’m going to run and please call me tomorrow if you need anything.” With a quick wave, she ran to the elevator and pushed the down button and waited, pulling her phone out to send a quick text to Tina asking her if she had an extra pair of black heels that she could borrow.
With the ding of arrival, the doors opened and Olivia distractedly walked into the elevator and right into the solid wall of a male chest. She looked up and was about to apologize when she realized it was Daniel. A million thoughts ran through her mind and all of them had to do with the feel of his body pressed up against hers. Her mouth moved to say something but no sound came out.
“Done for the day already?” he asked, his tone just as curt as it always was.
Olivia cleared her throat and forced herself to speak. “As a matter of fact, I am. Anna is settling in perfectly and I’ve got a cocktail party to get to.” She did her best to put some distance between them but Daniel seemed in no hurry to get away. Olivia reached around him to push the button for the main level. “I really need to go,” she said weakly, hating the way her body was humming with this close contact.
Daniel’s eyes skimmed her from head to toe, seemingly caressing her. He smiled inwardly when he noticed her nipples hardening under his intense gaze. So she wasn’t as immune to him as she’d like him to believe. Interesting. Taking a hesitant step back, he placed his hand on the elevator doors as they were beginning to close to stop them. “Have a good night, Olivia,” he said, his voice deep and seductive.
He stepped out of the elevator but stood and stared intently at her as the doors closed. With a wicked smile on his face, he wasn’t sure if Olivia knew it just yet but she was most definitely going to be seeing a lot more of him.
Soon.
****
The party was in full swing and Olivia felt exhausted. It was ten o’clock on a Wednesday night for crying out loud, weren’t these people ready to call it a day? She sure as hell was! She did a quick scan of the room and slipped away into the butler’s pantry to catch her breath.
Her feet ached, her back ached and all she wanted to do was go home and tear her bra off and relax. She sighed wearily knowing that wasn’t going to happen any time soon and rested her hands on the granite counter top in front of her. It took only a second for her to realize someone had come in behind her. She straightened quickly and turned with a smile on her face to ask the guest what they needed and froze.
No.
It was impossible.
Why was he here?
“Daniel?” she asked wearily. “What are you doing here?”
“The Taylor’s are good friends of mine and I hadn’t planned on stopping in but it was on my way home and so I thought, why not?”
Olivia plastered a polite smile on her face and simply nodded. “That was nice of you. Now if you’ll excuse me…”
Daniel blocked the door. “When you said you had a cocktail party tonight, I assumed you meant one that you were a guest at, not the hired help.”
S
he almost smacked him. That snarky, condescending tone always brought out that reaction from her. “Yes, well, being that my new business is catering occasions such as this, I’ll be attending many a party in this capacity. Again, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to the guests.”
He wasn’t going to be swayed. “Everyone’s fine and having a good time. The food was wonderful.” He moved an inch closer and smiled as Olivia had her back up against the cabinets. “You left so early on Sunday that we never did have a chance to…talk.”
Olivia paled. He wanted to talk about their night together? Now? Which is exactly what she said to him. “I really don’t think this is the time or the place for that discussion, Daniel. Clearly you realize that what happened was all a big mistake. I would appreciate it if we just let it be and never discussed it again.”
“We haven’t discussed it even once,” he said silkily, reaching out to brush a stray lock of hair away from her face, his gaze heated on hers. “I want to discuss it. I want to discuss it in great detail.” With every word, he leaned in that much closer to Olivia until she was clearly holding her breath.
If there was one thing Olivia didn’t like, it was being mocked and that was clearly what Daniel was doing right now. He thought he was so smart trapping her in here with him and doing his best to intimidate her. Well it was time to put him in his place.
“Really?” she asked. “You want to discuss Saturday night in great detail?” Daniel lifted his head and her eyes locked on his. “You want to hear about how I thought you were your brother? How I thought it was your brother I was having sex with? That in that darkened room, it was David’s face that I was picturing? Is that what you wanted to discuss?” She folded her arms across her chest and stared defiantly at him.
“Olivia,” he warned.
“Or maybe you want to discuss how when I realized that it wasn’t David in bed with me that I ran out of the house as soon as I could?”
Daniel’s swift intake of breath told Olivia that she had hit her mark. She had seen Daniel in various stages of anger and irritation and knew that he was fuming with rage right now. “Was there anything else?” she asked triumphantly as she moved to get around him.
