Page 43 of Call My Bluff
The automatic doors whooshed open, and she strode inside, head held high, with the world’s biggest smile on her face. “Oh, sweetheart!” she called, her voice loud and clear in the half-empty store. A dozen heads swung her way, but she stayed focused on her target, who hadn’t looked up from the display he was creating.
“Honey bug!” she called again. “There you are! I almost called the front desk!”
Noah finally turned as she came to a stop beside him, having evidently realized someone was talking to him. His brow furrowed in confusion, and he opened his mouth to respond, but she didn’t let him.
“You forgot your medicine, sweetie, so I brought it up to you. Oh! And another pair of briefs, just like you asked, though the silk may have gotten cold in the bag. Maybe that’ll help, though.”
There were a few audible snickers from nearby, and Olivia had to work to keep a straight face. She shoved the thermal pouch into Noah’s hands and barreled on, making sure he wouldn’t be able to get a word in edgewise. “Thespecial cream”—she whispered these words as loudly as she could—“is in the side pocket, just in case. I know how many burritos you had for lunch; those are gonna burn on the way out.”
Someone from behind the service desk hooted out loud, and Noah clamped his mouth shut as a visible flush climbed into his ears. Olivia patted the side of his face the way her grandmother used to do to her brothers. “Don’t be embarrassed, honey bug. Good colon health is very important!” She winked to drive the point home. “Toodle-oo!” she sang, and then she turned on her heel and waltzed back toward the door as if their enlightening little conversation were as normal as snowflakes in the winter.
A wave of laughter from Noah’s coworkers followed her through the doors, and when she’d crossed the lobby, she finally looked back and saw him clutching the thermal bag to his chest as three of his coworkers tried to take it from him—probably to find out whether or not there was really a pair of silk briefs inside.
They wouldn’t be disappointed—she’d picked a pair with pink Hawaiian flowers on every inch.
Noah glanced toward the doors as she backed through the second set, and she held her hands up in a heart shape against her chest. Noah narrowed his eyes, the only indication he’d seen her gesture at all, and Olivia threw her head back and laughed all the way to her car.
Game. Set. Match.
“I told youthis was a bad idea,” Jake said from his place at the kitchen table. “Olivia is a force to be reckoned with, and you, my friend, have woken the beast.”
Conner, on the other hand, said nothing. He was laughing too hard to speak.
Noah didn’t blame him. If the whole incident had happened to anyone else, he would have done the same thing—but, as it was, he’d been too busy fending off questions about his “colon health” all night to truly appreciate the evil genius of Olivia’s performance. “It isn’t over yet,” he replied. He turned and resumed pacing between the kitchen sink and the living room couch. “Noah Campbell doesn’t give up on a challenge. Noah Campbell is here to win! Noah Campbell—”
“—talks about himself in the third person,” Connerwheezed, having apparently collected himself enough to form intelligent words again.
Noah glared at him and kept talking. “—isalsoa force to be reckoned with, and that little minx hasn’t seen anything yet. It’s been fun and games until now, but the gloves are coming off. I’m gonna show her who she’s dealing with. I’m gonna—”
He stopped abruptly and stared at a pine knot on the bathroom door as an idea came together in his mind. “I’m gonna sweep her off her feet,” he finished, and he turned to see Jake scrutinizing him with a spoonful of cereal paused halfway to his mouth.
“Meaning?” his friend asked warily.
“Meaning I’m going full boyfriend mode. Do you know what day it is?”
“Sunday?”
“Sunday, February 12,” Noah answered, emphasizing each word in turn. “Do you know what that means?”
“That you can read a calendar?” Conner asked.
“No! It means February 14—akaValentine’s Day—is in forty-eight hours!”
Conner’s face went blank, as if he were truly concerned for his roommate’s sanity at this point. “Dude, Valentine’s Day is dangerous. This is when you hunker down! Grab a shift at work, avoid eye contact with women, curl into a ball and hope for the best.”
“No,” Noah said, a maniacal sort of laughter rising in his chest. “Valentine’sDay is perfect!”
“What are youdoing for Valentine’s Day?” Robin asked abruptly, and Olivia surfaced from her thoughts with a distracted sort of static buzzing around her ears.
“What?”
“I asked what you’re doing for Valentine’s Day,” Robin repeated. “You know, now that you have a boyfriend, or whatever you think he is.”
Valentine’s Day . . .
“I don’t know, when is it?” Olivia asked. Then she dipped one of her onion rings into a puddle of ketchup.
“Tuesday,” Robin answered.
