Page 17 of Trust

“There’s no way I can never mind the word spell.” Seeing her fingers twist together let him know she was nervous—a condition he would’ve sworn she was immune to.

Olivia let out a gust of air. “If you must know, it would be more of a plan of seduction than a spell, per se.” She flapped her hands in front of her face. “Don’t make me say more.”

He leaned in, taking her hands. “The truth will set you free.”

“I doubt it.”

He pressed their joined hands against his chest. “You gotta tell me what you’re cooking up in that twisty mind, Liv.”

She tilted her head. “But do I, though?”

Sucked into the vortex of her smile, he found himself ready to make a dozen promises he likely wouldn’t be able to keep. “About that spell…”

Pulling her hands away, she folded them in her lap. “We both know I have a crush, so I might’ve entertained a few ideas of how to make myself less objectionable…to you.”

“You’re not objectionable.” He snorted. “You’re the exact opposite.”

“Really?”

“Of course. You’re sexy as hell, smart, kind, and…”

“Annoying?”

“A little. But not in a bad way.”

Olivia raised an eyebrow. “Because there’s a good side to annoying?”

“Apparently,” he replied quietly. Leaning back on his hands, he looked across the yard and didn’t know what he could say that wouldn’t be cheesy. He’d never had a ton of game when it came to women, and now that he was a scarred vet with more than one mental health issue, he had even less.

But he had to come up with something because having an incredible woman confess to a crush was as close as he’d come to a miracle in a long time. “Liv, it’s just that…”

“You’re not into relationships and don’t want to make our neighbor thing awkward by having a delicious, dirty tryst and would just like to be friends?”

Of all the words that came out of her mouth, the only three that stuck were delicious, dirty, and tryst. A hive of killer hornets buzzed in his head, and all he could visualize was him and Liv doing filthy things to one another…again and again. Tryst his ass. He’d need a good long while to slake his need for the woman whose knee was touching his.

“Turkey with brie or roast beef and arugula?”

“What?” he asked as he lifted his eyes and tried to untangle the lustful thoughts twisting his brain into a knot.

Olivia held up two sandwiches. “Which one would you like?”

“Whatever you don’t want.”

“I like them both, so you choose.”

He took the sandwich in her right hand, knowing he owed her some kind of response. Leaving her words without acknowledgment was cowardly, and that was one thing he wasn’t. “Liv, about what you said earlier…”

“Let’s just leave it be.” She handed him a bottle of iced tea. “Friends. That’s what we’ll be.”

“Okay. That’ll probably be best.” He popped the top off the cold drink and wished that he were in a better place. Because if he were, there would be no stopping him from sweeping Olivia off her pretty feet. “You didn’t have to make all this food.”

“Of course I did. You and your brother freed the Ferris wheel this morning, and feeding you is the least I can do.”

Before he could respond, he heard a phone chirp and watched Olivia slide hers out of the basket and read something with a smile. “Good news?”

“My sister confirmed I can bring Bella to book club.” Unwrapping her sandwich, she plucked out a piece of brie. “Which, for the record, is very generous because my sweet dog hasn’t had the best manners when we’ve been to the bookstore.”

“Does your sister own the one in town?”

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