Page 16 of The Playboy's Most Unexpected Baby

“Buy drinks for pretty girls? Sure. Why else does a man go to a bar?”

“So when I called you a rich playboy, I wasn’t exactly missing the mark by miles.”

“Not exactly,” Charlie agreed, grinning in a way that let Olivia know the label didn’t bother him. Maybe he even wore it with a bit of pride.

I need to be careful around him.

There was no doubt that Charlie was attractive. What was more, he was charming. Olivia couldn't help feeling drawn in by him whenever they spent time together — to know him was exciting, and to be a part of his world — a part of his life — made her feel special.

But she wasn’t special. She needed to remember that. This thing between the two of them — it wasn’t real. It didn’t mean anything. It was just an arrangement to help him sell his house, and when it was over, they’d go their separate ways. He would bring other women to this strange, exclusive Italian place, and he wouldn’t even be thinking about the fact that he had once been here with Olivia. This night was special and out of the ordinary for her, but for him it was standard. He had handed over his credit card without a second thought. He probably came here all the time.

This was what she wanted. She had only gotten into this because she had known it was temporary.

But she needed to make sure she remembered that. She had to guard her emotions.

“Okay,” she said. “So that’s the story. We met at a bar while I was at a conference.”

“And what then?”

“What do you mean?”

“We didn’t just meet at a bar and waltz down the aisle. What happened next?”

“Oh, God, I don’t know,” Olivia said. “I guess we probably spent the rest of the time I was in Boston together. We got close in a hurry, and we exchanged contact information when I left. We started traveling to see each other whenever we could, me going up to Boston or you coming here. We agreed not to tell our friends or family until we were sure of how serious we were, but secretly, we both felt like it was turning into something. And then we got the news about your aunt’s will, we talked about it, and even though it felt sort of crazy, we decided to take the plunge.”

Charlie stared at her. “That’s quite a tale.”

“You don’t like it? We can come up with something else.”

“I like it fine,” he said. “I guess I’m just surprised you were able to come up with something so quickly, that’s all. That’s pretty impressive.”

“I don’t know. It’s just a story,” she said. “It’s not like it’s based on anything.”

“You must have had that in your mind for a while, though.”

“Not really. I just figure, if I met someone I liked at a bar, that’s probably the way things would go,” Olivia said.

“You think so? You mean, you’d want things to get serious quickly like that?”

“I wouldn’t have married someone I’d just met a few weeks ago, no.”

“But the rest of it. The rest of the story. You would have done all that?”

Olivia was confused. “The rest of it is just normal dating stuff,” she said. “Meeting someone, exchanging phone numbers, and seeing each other again. That’s what anyone would do if they met someone they were interested in.”

“Maybe.” Charlie said dubiously.

“You wouldn’t?”

“I don’t know that I’d give out my phone number, no.”

Olivia shrugged. “I guess I don’t see that as such a big deal,” she said. “If I like someone enough that I’d want to see them again, I have to give them a way to get in touch with me. That only makes sense.”

Charlie took a sip of his wine and said nothing.

He really is a player.The thought of giving someone his number, of connecting with someone multiple times, was foreign to him. Olivia felt even more determined to keep her distance from this man to whom she was married. He didn’t seem like someone who ought to be trusted with anybody’s heart.

“Do you think the story is good?” she pressed him.

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