Page 50 of Call My Bluff
Back out, Campbell, she seemed to say.I dare you.
“Sure, I’d love to,” he heard himself answer.
Wait . . . what?!
He had a moment of panic, a fleeting second where he wondered what had possessed him to say such a thing, but then, it faded, and he realized he was actually curious to see what kind of people had created the woman standing in front of him. He’d never met a date’s parents before. Girls in high school hadn’t taken him home because they knew he lived in the projects and, while he was great for a good time now and then, he wasn’t the kind of catch you brought home to daddy. In college, he’d simply never gotten that far with anyone. There was a piece of him—a small piece—that wanted to prove he could do it, that he was worthy.
And if not for her, then who?
“You... you’d love to?” she repeated, almost like she couldn’t believe her ears.
“Yeah. It sounds like fun,” Noah confirmed, and a flicker of something odd crossed Olivia’s face. She’d clearly expected himto draw the line at meeting her parents, but he hadn’t, and now she was scrambling.
Well, youdidsay you were going all-in, that small voice reminded him, and he let himself smile as Olivia spun away.
There was no turning back now.
Olivia leaned acrossthe pockmarked wooden table and snagged one of Noah’s french fries from the red plastic basket in front of him. It was the fourth or fifth one she’d stolen after making a big deal of not wanting any for herself, and she was waiting for his complacency to break.
Because ithadto break, right?
He’d watched her purse and waited patiently while she’d wasted his time in the changing room. He hadn’t batted an eye when she’d asked him to bring her outfits in new sizes or colors. He’d even agreed to meet her family this weekend!
Yeah, what are you going to do about that?a voice asked, and Olivia had to admit she was drawing a blank. This whole time she’d always figured that if she couldn’t shake Noah before her mom’s birthday party, then inviting him home would be the line in the sand. Surely he wouldn’t cross it just to spend the weekend playacting in front of a bunch of people he’d never met?
Surelyshewouldn’t let him?
You didn’t have to ask, you know, the voice reminded her.If you didn’t want to take him, you could have just let him forget.
Olivia silently rebuked herself. That ship had sailed now, and she was going to have to ride it.
Somehow.
Noah reached up to scratch the back of his neck, and Olivia saw a sepia-toned tattoo peek from beneath the edge of his sleeve. She’d noticed it a few times before but hadn’t felt comfortable asking about it. But now... now she wanted to know. She reached across the table and took hold of his wrist before pulling his arm closer to her.
“What is this?” she asked. She pushed the fabric higher before tracing her fingertip over the twists and turns of the complicated design inked into his skin. A rash of goose bumps rushed across his wrist and up toward his elbow, but he didn’t pull away.
“It’s a birthmark,” he said.
She stared at him skeptically, one eyebrow raised. “A birthmark?” she repeated. “That looks like a sailor’s knot?”
“Yes. I come from a long line of seafaring men.”
“And you were born with it?”
“How else does one get a birthmark?”
She pursed her lips, and he smirked at her—obviously aware of the frustration he was causing. “No, really,” she insisted.
She saw him glance from side to side and then twist to look behind their booth. When he turned back to her, he leaned across the tabletop and beckoned for her to do the same. “Alright, I’ll tell you, but you have to keep it a secret,” he said when they met in the middle.
Olivia’s curiosity spiked to dangerous levels, but she eyed him with suspicion. “Okay...”
He looked to either side again, then looked down and pointed to where her fingers still rested on his arm. “It’s a brand. I got it when I joined the mafia.”
Olivia jolted away and released his arm, shaking her head at her own gullibility. “Noah Campbell!” she exclaimed. “You are full of it.”
He laughed and settled back in his seat. Then he crossed his arms over his chest and stretched his legs out beneath the table—which Olivia knew because one of them was suddenly pressed against hers from the knee down.
