Leah’s mom suffered from Early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease and had requested to be put in a care facility so Leah wouldn’t have the burden of caring for her. Olivia knew how hard that decision was for her, but with Carol’s condition worsening, it had been the right call to make.
Olivia put a hand on her shoulder. “She’s in good hands, and I’ll visit again soon.” She liked to stop by at least once or twice while Leah traveled for her flight attendant job. “How long are you and Mitch in town this time?” she asked.
“Until Saturday, so we got a fairly good break this time.” Leah met her eyes. “Thank you so much for looking out for my mom. You’ll never know how much it means.”
“She’s like family to me,” Olivia said. “You can count on me for anything, anytime.”
Mitch finished his turn bowling and came over to join them. “Hey, Liv.” He smiled and gave her a quick hug. “It’s good to see you.”
“Good to see you too, Captain.” She winked, grateful Leah had broken her ‘no dating pilots’ rule for Mitch. He was so sweet to her, and was exactly the support she needed in her life now that her mom was slipping away.
Mitch shook hands with Trent, and after Olivia greeted Connor and Jade, she and Trent sat down in the next lane over to put their shoes on.
“Do you guys want to share our lane?” Jade offered.
“That’s okay,” Olivia answered, “you’ve already started. Plus, six is a lot for one lane. We’ll just take this one to share with Drew, Piper, and Savannah. They should be here soon.”
Connor looked past her. “I think that’s them walking through the door now,” he said, nodding toward the entrance.
Olivia turned and her heart skidded in her chest. Piper and Drew walked through the door—with Savannah and Nolan behind them. Nolan wore a black hooded leather jacket over a gray t-shirt and a nice pair of jeans. He looked hot: wanting to impress a date hot. Savannah was gorgeous as always, with her raven hair shining under the lights and a cute outfit Olivia hadn’t seen before. Her stomach turned. They made a striking couple. When Nolan met her gaze she quickly looked away.
“Since the rest of the group is here, we can probably start the game,” Trent said, entering their names into the old-school scoring machine.
“Maybe we should wait to see who wants to go in which lane.” Olivia cast another quick glance at the others who were walking toward the shoe rental counter. “I didn’t know Savannah was bringing a date, so we’ll have to see who wants to go where.”
“Good point.” Trent sat down beside her, draping his arm across her shoulders. “You’ve seemed kind of different today. Is everything all right?”
“Different?” She turned to face him. “What do you mean?” Her heart raced, afraid she already knew the answer.
He shrugged. “Just off somewhere else. Is it the new job?”
Her shoulders relaxed. “Yes. I think that has a lot to do with it.” It had everything to do with it, but not in the way he was thinking. A wave of guilt washed over her. Maybe it was a good thing Savannah and Nolan were here on a date. Maybe watching them together would cure her ridiculous fixation on her boss.
Trent gave her a peck on the cheek. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, babe. You’ll do awesome.”
She met his eyes, touched by his vote of confidence. “Thanks. I hope you’re right.”
He smiled and then pulled out his phone, checking his favorite social media site. And just like that, the moment fell flat. Olivia tried not to let her disappointment show. “I’m going to go get a ball,” she said, moving out from under his arm to stand. “Want to come with me?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in just a sec,” Trent said, still looking at his phone.
She nodded, swallowing back loneliness like a bitter pill. It was surprising he’d taken a break from his phone long enough to notice that she was acting different today—maybe he was great at multi-tasking. She smirked at her own sarcasm, searching through a rack of bowling balls to find one that was a good fit.
“Which one are you gonna go for?” Nolan asked, suddenly at her side.
Olivia’s heart climbed into her throat and she blinked, forcing herself not to look at him. “I’m not sure. Would it be lame if I picked out a kid’s ball?” she asked, only half-teasing. She was a little nervous to get a heavy ball in case she lost control and dropped it.
“Here, let me see your hand,” Nolan said, stepping closer—close enough that she could smell the leather of his jacket mingled with his tantalizing cologne.
Ugh, he smelled good. Olivia reluctantly turned to face him. “My hand?” she repeated.
He nodded. “It will help me figure out what size ball you need.” He met her eyes briefly before gently taking her hand.
Olivia couldn’t breathe. Her lungs squeezed together at the electric pulse running through her fingers where he touched them.
Nolan’s head bent down to inspect her hand. “Your fingers are pretty small,” he said, lifting his eyes to meet hers. One corner of his mouth tugged up. “A kid’s ball might not be a bad idea.”
“Hey, Liv,” Savannah said brightly, coming to join them. Her blue eyes flicked to their hands. “Looking for a ball?”
Olivia’s face burned and she pulled her hand from Nolan’s. “Yeah, um . . . Nolan was just helping me figure out what size would work best.” She touched the side of her neck, turning to the rack of balls to hide her telltale blush. Why was her face determined to betray her?
“Huh,” Savannah said with a hint of amusement in her voice. “What size do you think I need, Nolan?”
Olivia glanced out of the corner of her eye to see Savannah hold her hand out to Nolan. He smiled and took her hand, inspecting it the way he had Olivia’s. She’d been an idiot to get so flustered. He was just being helpful, as he always was. Touching her hand hadn’t meant anything. She hurried and grabbed the first lightweight ball she saw and walked back to the lane, passing Trent as she went.
“Is that a kid’s ball?” he asked, his brows pulling together.
She lifted her chin. “Don’t knock it, okay? I haven’t been bowling for years and I don’t trust myself with anything bigger.”
He held up his hands, his mouth pulling down as he tried not to smile. “It’s fine. I just wanted to make sure you knew it was a kid’s ball.”
“I knew.” She blew out a breath, feeling her irritation cool as she lifted a shoulder. “Sorry. I guess I’m a little off today.”
He nodded and stepped closer, lowering his voice. “It doesn’t help that your new boss is here. Do you want to go somewhere else? We can go back to my place and watch a movie or something.”
Olivia shook her head. Maybe if he’d offered something other than watching a movie, she would have considered. Maybe it was the event planner in her bursting with ideas, but why couldn’t he come up with something—anything—a bit more creative? “It’s fine,” she said. “I think bowling will be fun once I find my groove.”
The teasing look returned as he glanced at her bowling ball again. “Well, at the very least, it will be entertaining.”
She playfully smacked his shoulder. “Hey! I’m going to show you and get a whole bunch of strikes with this ball.”
He laughed. “I’m sure you will, babe.”
Nolan and Savannah approached, with Nolan carrying his and Savannah’s bowling balls. He nodded at Trent, though it seemed a bit stiff. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Trent nodded back before turning to Savannah. “It’s good to see that you take some time off to play once in a while.”
She smiled and held up her hands. “Who says I won’t be working?” She turned to Olivia. “I want to share a lane with you guys so you can show me those pictures you took.”
Olivia hesitated, glancing at Nolan before looking back at Savannah. “Are you sure you don’t want to share with Drew and Piper? I feel bad leaving them out.”
She shook her head. “They’re cool with it. Besides, no one can stand to be
around those two lovebirds for long. They’re so oblivious to the rest of the world, it’s a shame we can’t push the wedding up sooner,” she teased.
“I know what you mean.” Olivia rolled her eyes and smiled. She loved that her brother had found his soulmate, but he and Piper were definitely in la-la land half the time. The same could be said for the other two couples with them, so maybe teaming up with Nolan and Savannah was the safest bet. She felt Nolan watching her, but when she looked over, he glanced away.
Her heart pounded. She’d come here tonight hoping to forget about him, but apparently that wasn’t in the cards. “Okay, let’s share the lane,” she said, trying to sound enthusiastic. The truth was, a part of her wanted to share the lane with Nolan . . . and that was the problem. “Trent already entered our info, so you guys can put yours in too, and then we’ll start.”
“Sounds good.” Nolan briefly met her eyes before moving toward the lane.
“I’ll go pick my ball and be right back,” Trent said, heading the other direction.
Savannah beamed and took Olivia’s arm, leaning in close. “Doesn’t Nolan look hot tonight? I’m so glad he agreed to come with me.”
Olivia’s throat went dry. “You asked him out?” She desperately wanted to be happy for her friend—and she was—but the petty part of her was glad Savannah had been the one to ask.
She nodded. “You’re lucky you get to work with such a handsome guy every day.”
Olivia’s eyes cut to hers. Did Savannah suspect her feelings and was fishing for a response? That wouldn’t be like her; she was much too blunt. Olivia’s mouth opened, but she was at a loss for what to say.
Savannah gave her a teasing look and dropped her arm, straightening. “So how was the tour of the resort? I’m dying to hear all about it,” she said as they walked to their lane where Nolan was entering their names.
“Do you want some kind of nickname in here?” he asked Savannah.
“Sure. Put me in as ‘Pin Crusher.’
He laughed. “You got it.”
Olivia brushed at a pretend piece of lint on her sleeve. Savannah was competitive and no doubt a good bowler. She set her kid ball on the rack and took a seat. Savannah sat next to her.
“Back to the tour,” she said. “What did you think? Can I see the pictures?”
“Sure.” Olivia slid her phone from her back pocket and pulled up the photo gallery. “I took a bunch, trying to capture as many different angles as I could, but there’s really nothing like seeing it in person. You should go and check it out soon.”
“Definitely.” Savannah reached for the phone, eagerly swiping through the pictures. “Wow, this place is amazing. Look at all of those windows!” she exclaimed.
“I know.” Liv smiled, happy to see Savannah so giddy about the venue. “It’s a gorgeous setting for a wedding, and there’s an outdoor area for those who’d prefer to have the ceremony outside. The resort is an ideal location; I think you’ll have lots of happy clients here.”
“You can say that again,” Savannah agreed. “There’s even a gazebo?” she squealed, still swiping through the pictures.
Nolan took the seat beside Savannah and gave Olivia an amused look. “It sounds like she’s happy with it,” he said.
“I think you’re right.” Olivia smiled back, but when his eyes held hers a second longer, she turned away. What was he doing? He couldn’t look at her like that. Didn’t he realize how much his gaze unnerved her?
“Everybody ready?” Trent appeared with his bowling ball.
“I think we’re all set up, man,” Nolan said, “and it looks like you go first,” he added with the slightest hint of disapproval in his voice.
Olivia hadn’t noticed that Trent had put his name first. Not that it mattered, but Nolan had put Savannah’s before his. Ever the gentleman.
“Okay then, watch how it’s done,” Trent said, theatrically making his way to the approach area. He stood with the ball balanced, eyeing the pins before taking a few strides and sending the ball swiftly down the lane. A loud crack sounded as all ten pins knocked down. “Yes!” He did a victory fist pump as everyone cheered.
Olivia gave him a high five as he came to take a seat. “Nice job,” she said.
“Thanks, babe.” He grinned. “You’re up. Go get ’em.”
She grimaced. “Okay.” She was keenly aware of Nolan watching and wished he and Savannah had shared a game with Drew and Piper instead. She took a deep breath, deciding to shake off the pressure of following after Trent’s impressive strike.
“You’ve got this, Liv,” Savannah encouraged.
“Thanks.” She smiled at her friend before her gaze skimmed Nolan’s. His hazel eyes were warm as he nodded at her. Her stomach fluttered, but she ignored the reaction as she went to get her ball, testing its weight in her hand as she stepped onto the lane. You can do this, she told herself. No big deal. She inhaled, took a few steps and swung the ball. It flew forward with good momentum—straight into the gutter.
Oops. She covered her face with her hands and turned to peek through her fingers at her friends.
Savannah laughed and shook her head. “That was just a practice run, Liv. You’ll get the next one,” she called.
Nolan nodded. “Totally.”
Olivia dropped her hands and smiled sheepishly. “Thanks, guys.”
Trent tilted his head as if analyzing her. He jumped up when she grabbed her ball from the ball return. “Here, babe, I think I know what the problem is.”
Please, no. She silently pleaded with her eyes for him to take his seat, but he missed the signal, coming to stand behind her with his arm under hers, coaching her as if she was a child.
“You twisted your arm last time, which sent the ball to the gutter,” he said. “If you keep your focus on the pins and your arm straight, like this—” He took her arm and swung it straight. “—you’ll hit your mark.”
Olivia’s face burned, but she knew he was only trying to help. “Okay. Thanks for the tip.”
He nodded. “That’s what I’m here for, babe.”
Chapter 10
Nolan’s brow wrinkled as he watched Trent coaching Olivia on her bowling form. The guy had clearly missed her signals: the blushing and stiff way she held her shoulders. Was he totally clueless? Nolan grit his teeth and looked away, his stomach souring.
“Something wrong?” Savannah asked beside him.
He turned, smoothing his frustration into a smile. “Nope. Why?”
Her lip twitched. “Nothing. It just seemed like you were annoyed with Trent’s coaching.” Her eyes danced as if she held a secret joke.
Nolan shifted. “Not annoyed,” he glanced to where Trent stood, watching Olivia as she threw the next ball, “but Olivia’s a capable girl. I think she can figure it out on her own.”
Savannah pursed her lips and nodded as they watched to see how Olivia’s ball fared. It struck down three pins, and everyone cheered. Olivia laughed and gave a little bow, her face bright with amusement.
Nolan grinned, but it faded as Trent took Olivia in his arms and kissed her square on the mouth. Watching them kiss was like a punch in the gut, knocking the wind from his lungs. A sick kind of jealousy burned the back of his throat.
Olivia pulled away from Trent with a hesitant smile as he led her back to her seat. She met Nolan’s eyes briefly before turning to talk to Jade in the next lane over.
Nolan felt eyes on him and turned to see Savannah watching him. He swallowed. How long had she been watching? The upturn in her lips said it was long enough to guess at his feelings. He felt his neck flush, desperate for a distraction. He rubbed his hands down his thighs. “Looks like it’s your turn, Pin Crusher.”
Her smile deepened. “Watch how it’s done, boys,” she said to him and Trent, since Olivia was still talking to Jade. She stood and went to retrieve her ball, wasting no time getting into her stance and sending the ball smoothly down the lane to knock down all ten pins.
Nolan clapped along wit
h the others, laughing as Savannah did a small victory dance back to her seat. “Wow, you don’t mess around, do you?” he said.
She shrugged, pretending to dust off her shoulders. “Let’s see if you can beat that,” she challenged.
Out of the corner of his eye, Nolan saw Olivia watching their exchange while pretending not to. Suddenly, the petty part of him wanted to make her jealous the way she and Trent were making him crazy. He gave Savannah a rakish smile. “Challenge accepted,” he said, standing to get his ball.
“Uh oh, watch out, guys,” Connor called from the next lane over. “Nolan’s the one to beat in this game. He’s undefeated in our family, which is why I didn’t want to play against him.”
Nolan smirked. “You’re just trying to throw off my game by talking me up like this.”
Connor lifted his hands. “Trust me, if I thought that worked, I would have tried it years ago.”
Nolan smiled and turned to focus on the pins. Truthfully, he was a good bowler, and he wanted to impress Olivia. He held the ball, finding his aim before sending it down the lane with his signature spin. The ball crashed into the pins, sending them flying in all directions. He heard the cheers behind him and turned to look at Savannah, pretending to blow smoke off of a gun. She laughed and he moved to his seat, forcing himself not to look at Olivia as he passed, but it took great effort.
Savannah nodded as he sat down. “Nicely done. You’re clearly someone who doesn’t back away from a challenge,” she said, nudging his shoulder as her eyes flicked to Olivia and back to him.
Nolan’s mind raced. Thankfully Olivia had her back turned so she hadn’t noticed the obvious glance. “Uh . . . yeah,” he said, arching an eyebrow at Savannah to explain.
She smiled widely. “Lucky for you, I like a good challenge too.” She winked and took out her phone, typing something. “I find the best way to face a challenge is with a good strategy though.”
Nolan’s heart thudded in his chest. Savannah knew he was falling for Olivia, that much was obvious. She didn’t seem bothered by it either. He glanced at Olivia’s back as she watched Trent bowl. His phone dinged with a text and he read the message. It was from Savannah. He looked up at her in question and she held a finger to her lips, gesturing for him to read it.
Falling for You: Clean Contemporary Romance (A Pine Ridge Romance Book 3) Page 6
