CHAPTER THREE
An hour later we were all still chatting; for a minor miracle, Olivia had even managed to get Jules to open up a bit. “Guys.” We all turned to look at the door; Katie was there, looking a little concerned. “Time’s up.”
“No, it isn’t!” Mark jumped up. “If our interview sessions are over, then we’re free, right? So we can decide how we want to spend the rest of the day.”
“I’m down to keep talking,” Dan said.
“Me too,” I agreed. “We could always head to Lost Weekend, see if they’ve opened up yet.”
“What time is it?” Olivia looked at the watch on her wrist at Jules’s question.
“It’s just after four,” she said. “They should be open. Barely.”
“Then let’s head over there. Katie—is the van still in the back?” We’d somehow managed to hold onto the huge van we’d used for our last tour of the state before Alex had had his little “adventure.”
“It’s still back there,” Katie replied with a shrug. “I can’t promise it still works.”
“So, let’s all pile into the van and make North drive since he’s the default DD anyway,” Mark suggested.
“I can follow you over,” Olivia said, closing the notebook she’d taken out somewhere along the way; I’d barely even noticed, everything had flowed so naturally.
“You could come with in the van,” Dan pointed out. “We’d drop you off here to get your car after.” Olivia half-shrugged.
“I need to get to work on the article at some point tonight,” she said.
“Oh fine.” Jules stood up.
“I need to grab Mary if we’re going out,” Alex said. I rolled my eyes to myself silently. I should have known he’d want to pick up his girlfriend—and Mary was a pretty good time. But there was that little part of me that couldn’t help resenting the fact that Alex almost never felt like going out without his girlfriend.
“So, you go get Mary, and meet us there,” Jules said with a shrug. “Let’s hit the road.”
“I’ll walk you to your car,” I told Olivia as Dan and Mark practically scampered out of the control room, shoving each other to try and get outside to be able to call shotgun first.
“You’re not going to try for shotgun?” Olivia asked me with a quick up-and-down look. I snorted.
“I never get shotgun. I’ve given up on it.” I shrugged. “Besides, there’s lots of room in the back of the van without the gear in it.” Olivia bit her bottom lip, carefully winding up the cords to the microphones and shoving them into her bag. Fuck, do women even know how it looks when they do that? A fast, hot jolt shot through me, and in my head I could see what she’d look like if she was riding me, taking me deep.
“Okay,” Olivia said finally. She combed her fingers through her short, soft-looking hair and looked around. “You can walk me out to my car if you want.”
“Don’t sound so enthusiastic,” I told her, gesturing for her to go through the door first. “I might start thinking you’re into me.” Olivia laughed.
“Have you ever met a woman who doesn’t immediately want to fall into your big blue eyes and hear you whisper sweet nothings in her ear?” She raised a dark eyebrow. I grinned.
“Not often,” I replied. “But I do enjoy a challenge.” Olivia rolled her eyes and shook her head, though she didn’t try to get away from me or even put any distance between us as we walked through the winding hallways leading out to the parking lot behind the studio.
“I’m not actually a challenge,” Olivia said, looking up at me through her eyelashes. “I’m just not interested in being another number on someone’s scorecard.”
“I’m offended by that,” I said, bringing one hand up to my chest as if my heart had been crushed. “I don’t keep a scorecard; that would require keeping count.” Olivia snorted.
“So, what you’re saying is that you’ve lost count,” she said. “Not exactly a winning endorsement of yourself there, Nick.”
“Hey—I’m just being honest with you,” I said, holding my hands up and widening my eyes. “I would hope you would value my honesty.”
“Valuing your honesty doesn’t mean I’m going to sleep with you,” Olivia told me sweetly. She stopped, and I realized we were next to an old, beat-up Ford Focus. “Here’s my car!” Olivia turned to face me fully and I got the full advantage of her tight tee shirt. My hands practically itched to cup her full, heavy tits; for a fraction of a second, they might have actually twitched at my sides.
“You’re not going to bail just because I hit on you, right?” I crossed my arms over my chest to resist the urge to try and make a move; it wasn’t the right time—that was for damn sure. Olivia laughed out loud, the sound almost glittery, her eyes shining with amusement.
“Trust me, that little bit of flirting was not enough to keep me from hanging out with the rest of you. There is a reason I started working with a music magazine as soon as I could get my degree finished.”
“What’s that?” Olivia shrugged, digging her keys out of her bag.
“I like musicians,” she said. “Always fun, usually interesting, and you generally know where the best parties are.” I chuckled.
“Fair enough. See you at the bar.” I leaned in and Olivia stiffened—just slightly. I resisted the urge to laugh again as I kissed one cheek and then the other before immediately turning to get to the van where everyone else but Alex was waiting for me.