Page 19 of Reckless Intentions
The thought of Brody holding her in his big strong arms popped into Olivia’s head, but she quashed it quick. She really would have to be careful about the amount she drank, otherwise she could end up making a terrible fool of herself.
“What would you like to eat?” The waiter stood by their table, notepad and pen in hand.
“After you,” said Brody.
Olivia scanned the menu. There were way too many delicious dishes to choose from. After a moment, she looked up and stared directly into Brody’s olive-green eyes. “You did such a good job with the wine, why don’t you order for me?” It was a deliberate challenge.
His mouth curved into a smile. “We’ll have the Iberian ham and Padron peppers to start, and then the seafood grill.” Olivia noticed he didn’t even look at the menu. “Thank you.”
“Very good choices, sir.” The waiter headed towards the kitchen, shouting out the orders to the chefs as he went.
The ease at which Brody had ordered had Olivia’s mind whirring. How many other women had he brought there? Had he ordered his usual? Did the waiter already know what he wanted?
Brody reached across the able and topped up her glass. She gratefully took a small sip, then another larger one.
“Aren’t you bored being out here on your own?” he asked. “I mean, when you’re not checking up on me, of course.”
“I’m not checking up on you!” Olivia drew circles on the tablecloth with the tip of her finger, not daring to look up and meet his eyes. “I could ask you the same question. What else do you do except work?”And shag a soon-to-be-married woman.
He avoided answering. “Don’t you have friends out here? I thought you said you’d been here before with Caro, when she was working out here.”
“You mean Mariella? Yes. She lives in Puerto Pollensa with her boyfriend.” She pulled a face. “I guess I’m not ready to be a third wheel yet.”
“Ah, I see. So, it’s home alone with a bottle of wine and Netflix?”
“Hey, who’s checking up on who here?”
A grin broke across Brody’s face and he was about to speak, when the waiter appeared with their starter. The two plates looked mouth-watering. The cured ham was thinly sliced and artfully arranged, and the peppers were sprinkled with coarse sea salt. Olivia knew that the peppers would—mostly—be mild, only one of two of the portions would be extremely hot. She selected one and popped it into her mouth, savouring the taste. Brody followed suit. However, he picked one of the hot ones and instantly regretted it. Olivia laughed as he fanned his mouth and reached for his glass of water.
“I’m funny, am I?” His eyes twinkled at her.
She smiled back. “I’m just glad it wasn’t me that got the hot one.”
“I definitely got the hot one.” His gaze raked over her body and a flush crept over her that didn’t have anything to do with the peppers.
Unable to handle the scrutiny of his stare, she looked away and reached for her glass. The cool wine lowered her temperature a little.
They ate in companionable silence but Olivia’s appetite waned the more she drank. She didn’t know how she was going to do justice to the seafood grill. When it arrived, her eyes widened. There were Norwegian lobsters, razor clams, huge tiger prawns, clams and mussels, plus a bowl of bread to mop up the sauce.
“Oh my God, it’s huge!”
“I get that a lot.” Brody quirked an eyebrow at her.
For a moment, she didn’t know where to put herself. Brody had been openly throwing out flirty comments and whether it was the wine, the heat or the fact she was horny, she translated that as him being interested.
Or maybe he was trying to keep her sweet, so she didn’t go back to Caro with bad reports.
Ugh. The sensible Olivia kicked in. Of course, he wasn’t interested. He had a job to do and so did she. She reached for her glass again and found it empty, as was the bottle in the ice bucket. How had they drunk that much already?
“I’ll get some more.” Brody waved the vessel at the waiter and within seconds a fresh one appeared.
Olivia poured herself half a glass, determined to keep her wits about her. As they ate, Brody regaled her with stories of the other men who worked on the site, and jobs he’d done in different places across the island and back in the UK. The more he told her, the more she realised she had misjudged him. Far from being the typical fly-by-night builder she’d had him pegged as, he was more strategic and had a modest empire.
“I didn’t know you’d worked on the Cerise redesign,” she said, naming a boutique hotel in North Ridge.
“That’s how I met Caro originally. Word of mouth put us together, and I ended up working on The Indigo Lounge opening. Given that it hasn’t been open all that long, I was surprised when she said she wanted to remodel, but I’m not one to turn down a job.”
Olivia knew that if she carried on drinking she’d have a hard time turning Brody down. If he made a move. And that was a big if.
