Page 45 of Suits and Spark Plugs

“Yep. What about you?” Scott asked him.

“I co-own a marketing firm in Springfield with my father.”

Scott nodded and then looked to Kelly and me. “I already know you two ladies work here at the diner. Have you been here long?”

“I’ve been here for five years now, and Liv has been here for two.”

“Olivia’s going to college, though,” Blaine inserted. “She’s not going to be here forever. Isn’t that right, babe?”

All eyes turned to me. “I, uh, yes. I’m still in the early part of the program, so I’ll be here for a few more years, assuming Jake is willing to keep me around.”

“Of course, he is. You’re one of our best waitresses. The customers love Liv.”

Kelly reached over to pat my hand.

“She’s easy to love,” Blaine said.

“I don’t know what I’d do without her,” Kelly added.

“If I have anything to say about it, you may find out sooner than later.” Blaine turned to me with a secret smile.

Scott’s smile broadened. “Sounds like congratulations will be in order soon.”

I coughed and shook my head. “Oh, no. We’ve only been dating for a few months.”

Blaine chuckled good-naturedly. “I meant that there are better employment options in Springfield that would better suit someone like Olivia. A side bonus is she’d be closer to me. Don’t you agree?” he looked to me with shining eyes.

This time, the name bugged me, and I knew it was time to mention it. “Please, you should call me Liv.” I patted his hand.

“Olivia is such a beautiful name, though,” he said softly.

“It’s just that no one calls me that, so, you know.” I shrugged and when he didn’t say anything else I pressed on. “I didn’t know you wanted me to move to Springfield.”

“It would make it a lot easier for us to see each other.”

“Liv has dreams. She’s driven and independent,” Kelly said. Her eyes sparked in defense of me, which warmed my heart. “When she’s ready to move, she will.”

I hadn’t felt attacked by Blaine’s statement, but before I could say so, Blaine replied with, “I know all about Olivia doing things on her time.” His tone was teasing, only it didn’t feel playful and left me feeling strange. I hadn’t heard that particular tone from him before.

I tried to redirect. “It would be nice to see each other more, but my family is here and...”

“Not much of a family, though, am I right?” Blaine interrupted, keeping his tone light, but the words cut. Granted, his dinner with my family had been pretty awful, but he didn’t actually know them, and I spoke about them so infrequently that he couldn’t possibly understand the dynamic.

I forced a light laugh even as my stomach dropped. “This is fun, hearing all about me, but maybe we could change the topic to something different.”

It took a concerted effort from Kelly and Scott, but eventually conversation became less strained and we were able to enjoy ourselves. I liked Scott immediately. He was relaxed, witty, amiable, and had great manners. Kelly was beaming in a way I hadn’t seen for a while. In that moment I decided to stop questioning what Connor had done to help Kelly and instead be grateful that he’d worked some magic with her. It left the door open for a guy like Scott. A new kind of guy. I crossed my fingers under the table, hoping Kelly was starting a good thing.

Blaine helped me put on my coat when it was time to go, and after hugging Kelly goodbye we ducked our heads against the cold and hurried to his car.

I thought about not bringing up the things he’d said at dinner, but then I thought about how we’d been dating for four months now and this was the first time I’d heard that he disapproved of my family or my employment. It seemed like something that needed to be discussed. Decided, I dove right in.

“I didn’t know you thought my family was awful,” I said as Blaine pulled out of the parking lot.

He sighed. “I’m sorry, babe, this isn’t how I wanted the conversation to go. I’ve been wanting to discuss things with you, but the timing never seemed right. I shouldn’t have brought it up at dinner with other people around.”

“What have you been wanting to talk about?”

“I love you, Olivia.” He looked over at me with an expression of pure tenderness.

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