“Prepare yourself for the best food and view on the island,” Ollie said as he held open the front door of a restaurant called Blue Banana.
He’d picked me up at my hotel room at eight o’clock on the dot.
He’d forgone flip-flops and cargo shorts for a nice pair of jeans and a perfectly fitted collared shirt.
Hell, he’d even ordered a sleek black town car to escort us there, you guys.
Ollie had gone all out.
And, well, dressed in my favorite black dress and the sexiest pair of gold stilettos I owned, it appeared I’d done the exact same thing.
All of those things combined, I couldn’t stop wondering what the dinner meant.
Was it a date?
It sure as hell was feeling like one…
The instant we stepped through the doors, the hostess acknowledged Ollie by name and led us directly to a table that sat outside on the restaurant’s terrace and overlooked the water.
[sighs dreamily]
The place was gorgeous.
And even a bit swanky.
Twinkle lights covered the awning and the lush landscape surrounded the outside edges of the restaurant like a cozy nest.
Tealight candles sat on the table.
And the soft, tranquil sounds of the ocean provided the perfect ambiance.
The water. The terrace. The view. It was stunning, and dare I say, romantic?
Like, it was a date kind of romantic…
The hostess set our soft leather-framed menus on the table, and Ollie stepped forward to pull out my chair and help me into my seat.
He sat down across from me, and before I could stop myself, I blurted out the one and only question that was rolling through my mind.
“Is this a date?”
I couldn’t help myself. I just had to know.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise, but a smile quickly followed. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. “Do you want it to be a date?”
I flashed a knowing look. “I asked you first.”
He shrugged. “Well, I don’t usually date—”
“I figured that much.”
“You didn’t let me finish.” His brown eyes flashed with amusement. “Yes, I don’t usually date, but if I did date, I’d definitely date you.”
I’d definitely date you.
I had the urge to blush and roll my eyes at the same time.
It was a swoony fucking line, no doubt about it, but it was also exactly that, a line.
Was I supposed to feel faint and just pretend he didn’t dodge the question?
I even asked him as much.
Ollie’s response? He chuckled and handed my menu to me.
But eventually, he said, “How about this? We enjoy this dinner, and maybe by the end of it, we can both decide whether or not we want to count it as a date.”
I searched his eyes for any signs of bullshit, but all I found was steadiness and honesty and assurance. It only felt right to agree with him.
“So amenable, little fire. I’m shocked.”
“What did you think I was going to do?” I asked on a surprised laugh. “Argue with you until you gave me a real answer?”
“That wouldn’t be too far out of line with what I usually receive from you.”
“I’m not that stubborn,” I retorted with a little pout, and he smirked.
“Yeah, you are, but I like that you keep me on my toes.”
[laughs softly]
Yeah, you guys. Apparently, I kept him on his toes…
Talk about a shock.
To me, it felt reversed. I never knew what to expect with him.
And over those past few weeks, even though I’d pegged him as the biggest jerk I’d ever met, his actions hadn’t met those assumptions.
Teaching me how to swim.
Taking care of me when I was sick.
Helping Braden overcome his fear.
They’d been the opposite of what I’d initially assumed.
[short pause]
When a server dressed in black slacks, a white button-up shirt, and a bow tie stopped by our table to take our orders, I’d ordered a glass of rosé and a French Polynesian-inspired meal with rice and pineapples and chicken. And Ollie had requested a typical guy meal of steak and potatoes and a beer.
“So, what happened out there today?” I asked once the server took our menus and left the table.
“What do you mean?”
“With Braden Blanks.”
“Oh,” he said, and his mouth formed a little O of surprise. “Well, I reckon he just needed a kind kick in the arse to get his board wet.”
A kind kick in the arse? That was putting it mildly.
Ollie had done more than just that.
He’d gone into the ocean nearly fully clothed.
“What did you say to him?”
He shrugged and sat back in his seat a little. “I just told him what I would’ve wanted to hear when I was a scared nineteen-year-old bloke trying to make a name for myself.”
I grinned at that. “The famous Ollie Arsen was once a scared nineteen-year-old?”
“You surprised?” he asked, and I nodded.
Of course, I was surprised. I had yet to see him as anything but cocky and confident and so damn self-assured he should start a YouTube series on self-esteem.
“Well, I know it might come as a surprise, but I wasn’t always this perfect specimen of a bloke. I had my moments when I started getting heavy into the circuit. Been scared shitless more times than I can count. Fucked up royally during a few competitions in the beginning.”
Oliver Arsen scared? I almost couldn’t fathom it.
Still can’t, in fact.
He was, hands down, the most self-possessed, enigmatic man I’d ever met.
But I kept those details to myself…
Our conversation flowed like the glass of rosé the server had poured.
I asked him about his surfing career, and he told me he’d gotten into the sport when he was ten years old. It was a bit of a conundrum how the Arsen family was basically a rugby dynasty, yet Ollie never once felt obligated to join in on the tradition.
He called himself the black sheep of his family, and I laughed and told him I’d heard Allie use those exact words before.
“Really?”
“Yeah,” I responded. “And, I have to admit, it’s a bit crazy that the black sheep of the family has several surfing championships under his belt and runs a multimillion-dollar surfboard company.”
He took a sip of his beer. “I reckon that’s a little hard to wrap your head around, yeah?”
“For sure.”
“Well, I’m not always the best at keeping in contact with my family. It pisses them off a bit.”
“I can relate,” I said and took a sip of my wine. It was cool and fruity on my tongue, and I savored the taste with a soft smack of my lips. “My sister Hazel isn’t the happiest with me right now.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “I keep forgetting to call her while I’m on this assignment. Luckily, my dad and my other sister, Willow, are a little more understanding of the situation.”
“It’s not easy when every time you turn around, you’re on another long-distance flight to another country.”
“Also, the whole time zone thing,” I added. “Every time I think about calling home, I realize it’s like three in the morning there.”
“I’d like to say it gets easier, but it doesn’t.”
I laughed. “Thanks for the reassurance.”
“But, hey, at least we’re headed to California tomorrow, yeah? You’ll be back in your home territory.”
I nodded at that. “I already plan to stay in New York for a few days before I head to France for the last events in the competition.”
“I’m going to stop there as well to see how my sis is faring.”
“Really?” I asked. “I’m sure she’ll be thankful for that.”
“I can’t believe my baby sis is going to have a baby.”
“She’s going to be an amazing mom.”
“That she will be.” His responding smile was glorious, filled with love and adoration and nothing but happiness for Allie. “Luckiest little boy on the planet.”
“Boy?” I asked and shook my head. “No way, she’s definitely having a little girl.”
Ollie smirked. “Sorry to break it to you, but Arsen woman have historically had a majority of strappingly handsome boys.”
“First of all, she had Allie. Producing a girl has been proven possible,” I retorted. “And secondly, I think your mom gave you too many compliments as a child.”
He chuckled at that. “Some days, yes. But other days when I was a wild teen constantly stirring up trouble? She was a bloody hard-ass. The woman didn’t miss a beat.”
“She sounds pretty amazing.”
“That she is,” he agreed, and his expression turned soft. “What was your mother like?”
His question caught me off guard, but it also warmed my heart. It felt like it’d been so long since I’d been able to talk about my mother to someone else. Since I’d been able to share all the things I loved about her.
“She was perfect,” I said. “Kind, caring, and everything you’d want your mother to be.”
“Do you miss her?”
“Every day.” I nodded. “I guess I miss her most when I’m doing things that we used to do together. Like shopping for vintage designer shoes and clothes or finding new coffee shops in the city.”
Ollie didn’t respond. Instead, he just sat there quietly and listened to everything I said.
“Some days, I’m just desperate to pick up the phone and hear her voice,” I said quietly and looked out toward the water for a long moment. “But I can’t do that. All I can do is savor the memories I have of her.”
“Obviously, I didn’t know your mum, but I’m certain she’d be proud of you. Not only for all of the things that you’ve accomplished in your career, but also, just who you are as a person.”
I met his warm gaze. “You think so?”
He nodded. “I know so.”
[sighs and pauses]
I don’t know, guys…
When I look back on that dinner, on that night, I know something changed inside of me.
As I sat there across from Ollie, staring into the eyes of a man who kept throwing me off guard with each facet of his personality he revealed to me, I knew, even if I could have been anywhere in the world right then, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.
I would’ve still chosen there. With Ollie.
Hell, I’d probably still choose it.
[another sigh]
The rest of the dinner continued in the same manner.
Good food and fantastic conversation with a man I couldn’t ever seem to get enough of.
We talked about anything and everything.
More about our families.
More about my mom.
More about surfing and journalism.
We talked about our likes and dislikes and what our everyday lives were like.
And by the time we’d left the restaurant and headed back for the hotel, it was nearing midnight and the long work hours were starting to catch up with me.
A yawn escaped my lips as we stood side by side in the elevator.
Ollie smirked. “Tired?”
“It’s been a long few days.” I yawned again and then giggled. “I’m not looking forward to the eight-a.m. flight to California tomorrow.”
He chuckled softly. “Me either.”
“You’re flying out tomorrow too?”
“Yep,” he said as the elevator doors opened to my floor. “We’re on the same flight.”
My heart perked up at those words.
We walked toward my hotel room, and when I reached room 803, I stopped just outside the door.
“Well, thanks for dinner,” I said quietly and had to stare down at my gold stilettos for a brief moment to swallow back the nerves that had drifted up from my belly into my throat.
I had no idea why I was nervous, but fuck, I was nervous.
Hesitantly, I lifted my gaze to meet his, and a slow smile spread across his full lips.
“You okay, little fire?” he asked and I nodded, but when I realized I’d reached nod number six, I abruptly stopped my head’s momentum.
God, I was being so weird.
“Of course,” I said. “Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“You look a little flushed,” he said and lifted his fingers to brush gently across my cheek. “Right here.”
If anything, it made me blush harder.
“I guess I’m a little warm.”
I wasn’t warm, though. I was nervous and thinking about the fact that our dinner was the best date I’d ever had in my whole life, yet I didn’t even know if it was actually a date.
I was thinking about him.
And his eyes.
And his smile.
And those fucking pillow lips of his.
He grinned at my words, and I felt like his brown eyes saw too damn much.
I had to avert my own eyes just to gain some semblance of relief.
“You know,” he started, and I lifted my gaze to his again. “I think I’m about to accidentally kiss you.”
“Huh?” I asked, and my heart started to pound like a kick drum inside my chest.
He was going to kiss me?
Good God, I wanted him to kiss me…
“Yeah, I think that’s exactly what’s about to happen.” He stepped closer and cupped my face with his strong hands. “I’m sure you can understand,” he whispered against my lips as he moved his mouth sheer inches from mine. “Sometimes, accidents just happen, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I whispered back and let myself get lost in the depths of his brown eyes. “Sometimes they do.”
I didn’t even know what I was saying, but every cell inside my body was all but shouting for him to press his mouth to mine.
Ollie’s gaze flitted between my eyes and my parted mouth, and with the slightest hint of a smile cresting his lips, he leaned forward and gently kissed me.
Our kiss started out slow, a tender, hesitant exploration of one other.
But then it grew deeper, and a tiny moan escaped my throat when his tongue slipped past my teeth and danced with mine.
I’d only kissed him twice, but good God, was I a fan.
Those perfect pillow lips of his knew exactly how to move and how to encourage me further. Those lips were the bait and I was the fish, and it didn’t take long until I was hooked.
He pushed his hand into my hair, and he massaged my scalp with his fingers as he continued to explore my mouth.
[sighs dreamily]
Fuck, it felt good, you guys.
I felt that kiss to my damn toes.
And my mind? Well, it started to fantasize about pulling him into my hotel room and doing all sorts of dirty things that would definitely not have occurred by accident.
But eventually, Ollie slowly ended the kiss. He pressed one long, soft embrace to my lips leaving a tingling sensation that lingered long after he’d stepped back and disconnected our mouths.
“There’s something to be said for accidental kisses.”
I was too damn dazed to respond, so I just nodded.
“I’ll see you in the morning?” he asked, and I nodded again.
Apparently, nods were my new form of communication.
“Six sound good to you?”
“Six?” I asked. “What’s happening at six?”
“I’ll come to your room and help you with your bags.”
Wait…what?
He was coming to my room to help me with my bags in the morning?
Who was this guy, and what did he do with the annoying man I’d met at the Sydney airport?
Your guess is as good as mine…
“Oh and, Lucky?”
“Yeah?”
“My vote is that this was a date.” He smiled and then leaned forward to press a soft kiss to my cheek. “Good night, little fire.”
[sighs]
It was a date.
And it was the best date I’d ever been on.
After we said good night.
After I most likely stared at his retreating back in the hallway for thirty seconds too long.
And after I finally made my way into my hotel room.
I knew staying away from Ollie probably wasn’t an option.
But ever getting enough of him?
Now that was something I wasn’t sure was possible.