Olivia

I stretched on Monday morning, feeling rested and sated. Makeup sex really is the best.

Beside me, Xavier was still asleep. His breath was soft, but I could tell that he wasn’t even near waking.

Which was kind of nice. I wanted to lay here, to think about this weekend.

Not even Momma knew the depth of my crazy.

I felt like I was going insane. I couldn’t get all the thoughts out of my head. Not only thoughts that Xavier was lying to me, but that once again, I was wrong, wrong, wrong, and I couldn’t be trusted to tie my shoes, much less be in a relationship.

That I had been wrong about Royce, and he was still trying to screw me. What if I was wrong about Xavier? Or, worse, what if I wasn’t good enough for him? He needed someone strong, someone who could handle all the aspects of his life.

Given this weekend, I wasn’t sure that could ever be me.

But he’d asked me to try. And he’d said that he would make sure he did whatever he could to make it easier for me.

When had a man ever gone out of his way for me?

Royce certainly hadn’t.

Part of me felt reassured, and part of me was uneasy. This was new territory, and I wasn’t sure I could be comfortable.

My musing was interrupted when Xavier reached out and pulled me close to him.

“You’re so warm,” I said, wrapping my arms over the top of his.

“Mmmhmmm….you’re not warm enough,” he muttered.

“I do have to go to work,” I said, as he scooted closer.

“Right this minute?”

“Well, no.”

“It’s good to be the boss, isn’t it?”

I faced him, and he traced the line of my body from my cheek down to my thigh. “You are so lovely.”

“Even now?” I teased.

“Especially now.”

I kissed him and felt myself go up in flames. Every time I got close like this, any sort of rational anything went right out the window. It was probably naked, too.

“Why don’t you stay here with me this morning?”

“I can’t keep…taking…vacation,” I said, kissing him between words.

“Why not?”

“I’m not an artist who is expected to be all higgledy-piggledy with my schedule like you. I have to show up in the office. Or things start to get dicey.”

“Higgledy-piggledy? What the hell does that mean?” He started to laugh.

It felt so nice to hear someone laugh with me in this house. Not at me, or with someone on the phone, but with me.

“Crazy, all willy-nilly, cattywampus,” I said.

“I love the way you talk,” he nuzzled my neck. “And I have my own schedule to keep, Ms. Bossy Britches. I just work a lot, so that when I want to take time off, I can. Do you ever take a vacation?”

I opened my mouth to say, Yes, of course, when I realized it had been three years since I’d taken a vacation. Royce had…well, it didn’t matter what Royce did. As with most thing I was seeing, it was clear that Royce hadn’t been on my team for quite some time, a lot longer than I’d realized.

Would I ever get past the point where a new betrayal didn’t insert itself into my life on a regular basis? This seemed to be a daily thing.

“Uh, huh. That’s what I thought. You have to think about it. That means you haven’t taken enough. Take one with me.”

“Right now?”

“No, I have a lot to do, in spite of what you might think. I got to get this tour organized, and I have some new stuff I’m playing with…I don’t know, it might not be anything, but I need to work through with it. Let’s go away right before the tour. Then we can both have a break, and you can devote yourself to me because for the next four months, I won’t be able to see you much. Unless,” he stopped, thinking.

“Unless what?”

“Unless you come on tour with me?”

“The whole time?”

“Well, no. You can’t leave your business, can you? I’d have you the whole time, but I’m realistic, and know you can’t just toss life aside and indulge in my greedy bastard wants.” He grinned widely.

“How do you not have morning breath?” I blurted out. All I could smell was how warm and inviting he smelled. I figured mine was awful, but I couldn’t do anything about it. But his breath didn’t smell bad at all.

“Because I’m sweet through and through,” he came back swiftly. “One more reason for you to be with me.”

“The magical morning breath?” I started to giggle.

“You know it,” he kissed me fiercely.

I gave up at that point. I could be late to work.

Xavier

The smell from the bathroom filled the room. Whatever Olivia used in the shower, the smell came out and spread out across the bedroom with the steam. It was light and fruity. I liked it. I liked being here in her place, feeling her in every part of this room.

I knew that she had lived here with her ex, but he didn’t seem to be present. I mean, why would he? He’d moved out. But this place didn’t even have the memory of his flavor. The flavor of shit, I snickered.

I knew she struggled. I knew that it was going to be hard. But nothing—nothing—I’d seen so far had shown me that this was a waste of time.

It made me think about Tibby and Seth. How she said they just knew, and things went from zero to one hundred miles an hour in an instant. That’s how this was.

I knew. This was the right one.

Thinking about today, I decided I’d take her to lunch, and then I had to get back. I’d already been gone longer than I planned, originally thinking I would be home Sunday night.

I had to get shit done so that I could start planning where she and I would spend the week before I went on tour. Hopefully, she’d consider coming on tour with me on some stops. That would be fun. I’d miss her all the time she wasn’t with me, and I wasn’t kidding when I said I wouldn’t see her much. We scheduled the shit out of me when I went on tour because I went out every couple of years. I couldn’t get anything else done if I toured yearly.

The pilot answered on the second ring. “Hi, Xavier. You okay?”

“I am. Can we get back to New York today?”

“What time?”

“Say two p.m.? I have a lunch I need to go to, and then I’ll be ready to go,” I said. Well, I wouldn’t be ready to leave, but I did have to go.

“Yeah, that works. Brent called, and he needs us tomorrow, so that will give us time to run through things before his flight.”

“No one else has been calling you, have they?” I hoped not. Normally I wasn’t this schizophrenic with my travel. “And you have a pick-up in LA for Marcus and Kristine next week, right?”

“You’re all good. No one else has been put out,” Kirby, the pilot, knew what I was talking about. “And I have that flight scheduled.”

“Good. Make sure you get some good champagne for the flight, too. They just got married. Put it on my bill specifically.”

“Got it. See you this afternoon.”

I hung up as Olivia came out of the bathroom, in a robe with her hair in a towel. She was pink and smelled amazing.

“What’s up?”

“I am sadly arranging my ride home. I really do have to get back.”

“Of course you do. I understand.”

I held her face in my hands. “Do you? You’re really okay? I need you to be honest with me.”

She nodded. “I am. What time do you have to go?”

“My flight leaves at two.”

“I’ll take you to the airport,” she started drying her hair with the towel.

I loved that she felt comfortable enough to get ready in front of me. Even if it was just this little bit. Most of the women I dated only came out once they were totally done. This felt…nice.

“No need. I’ll get a car. You need to work, too, remember?” I teased. “But I am taking you to lunch. Where do you want to go?”

“I have a place if you like little local places.”

“Love ‘em.”

“Well, go get ready, and I’ll finish up. I’m hungry! It’s all this strenuous exercise.”

I laughed as I went into the bathroom and closed the door.

It smelled awesome in here, like Olivia.

Thank God I still had one clean change of clothes. I’d had a bag on the plane, planning to come and see her.

I stepped into the shower, enjoying the steam. This was an awesome shower, with two of those big square waterfall shower heads, and jets on the wall. It was extravagant, and I wondered if she’d designed it.

In spite of the amazing shower, I managed to get ready in a decent amount of time—it was hard to get out of the shower—and we headed out for lunch. Olivia drove.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s this little place called Hattie B’s. They do chicken, and their specialty is hot chicken.”

“What makes the hot chicken special?” I wasn’t sure if she was serious.

“You’ll see. I love it. It’s total comfort food.”

“I am all for comfort food.”

“I thought you might be,” Olivia grinned. “There shouldn’t be too bad of a line,” she added.

“There’s a line for lunch?”

“There can be. I always seem to go when there’s a line, but I’m not rushing into work, and you have time before you have to leave.”

“Good, because I want to plan something next weekend with you. Will you come up to New York?”

She considered. “I think I can. Can I get back to you? I want to double check at work.”

Now it was my turn to grin. “And with your momma?”

“You know it, Yankee.”

At that moment, I was hit, almost like being hit by a lightning bolt. Was this what it felt like to fall for someone?

I’d thought I’d loved other women, and I loved Tibby, and Bryant, and Seth—but this was different.

It was…amazing and scary all at once.

I’d known her all of three weeks.

She laughed, and I watched her, considering.

Yep. That’s where this was heading.

Scary as it was, I was completely okay with it.

Olivia

He loved Hattie B’s, as I knew he would. Even Momma did, and she was prim and proper at all times. Except when she cussed.

We laughed and talked as we ate with our fingers, sitting on the edge of a long picnic table. I could tell that other people recognized—or thought they did—him, but no one came over.

I did see a few cell phones come out, and people tried to be discreet, but I chose to ignore it. As he said, this was part of his life.

Because I was so engrossed in him, I didn’t pay attention to the other diners after that.

Which is why I nearly jumped out of my seat when she came over.

“Oh my God,” she breathed, flipping her long brown hair over her shoulder, her back to me.

I leaned away. I didn’t need stray hair all over me.

She was wearing a skirt and a jacket, obviously here on a lunch break. “You’re XTC!”

Xavier smiled and having seen his smiles, I could tell this was his public smile, although his manner was his normal Xavier way.

“I am.”

“Can I get your autograph?” She breathed, fishing in her bag for paper and pen. Her eyes never left him.

I understood it. He was gorgeous. And he looked happy. He was good looking no matter what, but him looking happy was irresistible.

It gave me a small, shy surge of pride to think I was part of the reason he was happy. I hoped I was.

“Sure, and then I need to get back to my lunch,” he met my eyes and smiled.

The girl didn’t even turn around. “Here,” she handed him a piece of paper and a pink pen.

It was hard not to roll my eyes. But I didn’t want to come off bitchy, so I restrained myself.

She bent over, and for heaven’s sakes, her ass was nearly in my lunch. I glared and reminded myself to be calm.

“Thank you!” She squealed as he handed her back the paper. “Are you visiting? I thought you lived in New York.”

“I do, but I’m with my friend,” Xavier gestured to me.

The girl looked over her shoulder at me, with a toss of her hair I noticed, and then promptly ignored me. “Well, I can give you a tour if you like. Nashville’s a—”

“No, thank you,” Xavier said firmly. “I’m all set in that department. Now if you’ll excuse me,” he looked over at me again and smiled, turning from her and letting her know the conversation was over.

She made a noise, but Xavier took my hand and ignored her even harder.

She flounced away, and I felt about ten feet tall.

“See? Not so bad. I can be polite, and put the pushy in their place.”

“You did that nicely,” I said. “But next time, since I assume there will be one, will you please put her in her place before she nearly sits in my lunch?”

He burst out laughing. I felt everyone, especially Autograph Girl and her friends, because of course, she had a group of friends with her, looking at us. I focused on Xavier holding my hand, and he kissed it.

“You’re so funny. I’ll keep that in mind with the get the fuck out of here nicely vibe I’m sending out.”

It was my turn to laugh.

He looked around. “You heading into your office?”

“I was planning on it. Why?”

“Can I hitch a ride with you? I’ll meet the car there, rather than here.”

“Sure,” I said.

As we left, he held my hand. I resisted the urge to wave to Autograph Girl.