Page 74 of The Floral Arrangement

“Olivia is allergic to pineapple,” I said, pleased to show off my knowledge. I patted Olivia’s thigh.

“Thanks, babe,” Olivia smiled at me, placing her hand on my hand. She squeezed, sending a rush of warmth up my arm and into my chest.

My eyes dropped to her cheek. Now was as good a time as ever. I leaned in, pressing my lips to her smooth cheek. Mmm. I wanted to do that again. And again. But that would be too much, wouldn’t it?

“Olivia?” a woman’s voice broke the moment.

Olivia’s eyes widened. Oh god. What now? I twisted my head. A man and a woman weaved between the tables in our direction.

“Dave! Rach!” Olivia stood, her face flushed, and gave them both a hug.

Olivia turned back to the table. “This is my brother, Dave, and my sister-in-law, Rachel. They’re visiting from New Jersey this weekend. And this is Fred and Roz, of course.” Olivia’s cheeks turned an even darker shade of pink.

Dave’s brow furrowed, his eyes darting between me and Olivia.Oh shit. They don’t know.Had they seen me kiss Olivia on the cheek? Would Fred think it was odd if Olivia’s own brother didn’t know who I was? Should I pretend I already knew them?Fuck.My heart thumped loudly.

Fred and I rose to our feet. Fred reached out and shook their hands. In usual circumstances, I would shake someone’s hand when greeting them for the first time. But nothing about this was usual. I took a deep breath and went in for a hug instead, fighting the urge to say it was nice to meet them in case it set off alarm bells for Fred. “Hello.” That was safe, right?

“I thought you were having dinner with Mom and Dad tonight?” Olivia shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

“They offered to look after the twins so we could have a date night. We got here at 5:30 and we’re just leaving to save them from the nightmare that is bedtime.” Dave grimaced and turned to Fred and me. “We have six-year-old twins.”

Olivia laughed, but it sounded a little strained. “Well, good luck with that.”

Rachel’s gaze dropped to my arm and her eyes widened. Shit. My hand had made its way back to the small of Olivia’s back without me even noticing it.

Dave straightened the cuff of his sleeve. “We’ll let you enjoy your dinner. Assuming we survive tonight, we’ll see you Sunday, Liv.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Rachel said, smiling at me and Fred.

My eyes shot to Fred. If he’d registered Rachel’s comment suggesting we’d never met before, he showed no sign of it.Thank god.

We waved goodbye to Rachel and Dave and were taking our seats when a man cleared his throat. “Your first course, a black garlic and caviar macaron.”

The server placed a large plate with a tiny black macaron on it in front of me. Okay, if all the courses were this minuscule, perhaps we wouldn’t be here all night long.

I popped the macaron in my mouth, eyes widening as a kaleidoscope of flavors and textures exploded in my mouth. “Wow. That’s incredible.”

Fred leaned over and grabbed the bottle of champagne from the center of the table. “I thought it would be nice to do a toast to celebrate our new partnership.”

He refilled our half-empty glasses and then lifted his own glass high and cleared his throat.

“Over the past two weeks, Roz—and you too, Olivia—has made a very convincing business plan for my investment in Red Tractor Farm.”

Olivia placed her hand on my thigh and smiled at me.

“And while the facts and figures you presented have certainly been compelling and I’ve also been impressed by Red Tractor Farm’s commitment to sustainability, the deciding factor for me was always going to be you.” Fred fixed me with his gaze. “With this investment, we’re entering a long-term business relationship. Before I made my decision, I wanted to make sure all the key building blocks of a good relationship were there. Trust, communication, respect and shared values. From our friendship over the years, I thought they would be, and all our interactions over the past few weeks have confirmed that for me. I’m confident that, together, we will make Red Tractor Farm a success. So, I wanted to raise a glass and say cheers. To Red Tractor Farm and long-lasting relationships!”

“Cheers,” Olivia and I echoed, clinking our glasses

Guilt twinged in my chest as I sipped my glass of champagne. Trust, communication, respect and shared values. If Fred ever found out about Olivia and I… I squeezed Olivia’s hand.He won’t. We just need to get through another seven courses and then we’ll be safe.

We moved on to discussing Fred’s vacation plans as one mouthwatering course after another was delivered to our table. The tension in my shoulders dissipated.

As the server cleared the plates for the eighth and final course—a pistachio soufflé—Fred yawned and glanced at his watch. “I’m clearly getting old. It’s not even ten o’clock and I’m ready to hit the hay. But don’t feel you need to leave too. The night is still young.”

Olivia glanced at me, a questioning look in her eyes.

I nodded. “We might stay here and grab another drink. Thanks so much, Fred. I’ll definitely do everything I can to make your investment a success.”

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