Page 28 of The Edge of Falling

"I was what?" she said, interrupting him again. She looked over at me. "I tell you, in my day, gentlemen did not assume to—"

The elevator dinged again, and I stepped back, grateful when an older man and a young girl walked into the elevator.

“Hi, Oliver," he said. "Mrs. Jewel." He nodded.

The little girl waved at Oliver and made a face at Mrs. Jewel. She looked over at me curiously and then walked up to me. “Hi, I’m Maddie.”

“Hi, Maddie. I'm Rosalie. Nice to meet you."

"That's my granddad."

"Hi." I nodded at him.

"Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm Richard. So Oliver, you going to any Red Sox games anytime soon?"

Oliver started laughing. "You know I'm not a Red Sox fan, Rich."

Rich started laughing. "I'm still trying to convert you."

Mrs. Jewel just stood there clutching her dog and glaring at everyone. Well, wasn't she a nice treat to have in the same building? However, I did wonder about what she'd said. Was it true? Did Oliver really have a different woman every week? And if he did, was he going to be bringing them over to the apartment? All of a sudden, I felt uneasy and unsure. I mean, it was one thing for me to hook up with him and walk away from him. It was another thing for me to hook up with him, and then him be happy that I was walking away.

I didn't think he'd been celibate. He was a gorgeous, virile man, but I didn't realize he was such a player. I chewed on my lower lip. Thoughts were scrambling in my brain, and all of a sudden, I wasn't sure I was making the right decision.

The elevator dinged again. "This is our stop, Rosalie," Oliver said. "You first. Mrs. Jewel."

"Hmm," she responded and walked out with her dog.

I watched Oliver and Rich give each other a look, and I smiled at Maddie.

"It was nice meeting you. I hope you have a fun evening."

"Oh, I will. My granddad's taking me to Shake Shack so I can get a burger and fries." She licked her lips. "Yummy, yummy. My mommy doesn't know that because she doesn't let me get burgers and fries, but..."

"Let's keep it a secret, Maddie," Richard said with a little laugh. "Kids, they'll get you in trouble all the time," he said.

I looked over at Oliver, and he nodded and smiled. "That is true."

Oliver held his arm out and gestured for me to leave the elevator first. I walked into the lobby, and he followed me. I felt his hand on the small of my back.

"So," I said, looking up at him, "is it true?"

"Is what true?" he asked, his eyes innocent as we headed toward the front of the building.

"Do you have a different woman every week? Are you a player?"

"Oh, Rosalie. Wouldn't you like to know?" His eyes were twinkling at me, and I glared at him. He was going to play that game, was he? I wasn't going to let him get the better of me.

"Not really," I said, smiling. "I don't care how many women you have. As far as I'm concerned, you could have a billion women because I'm about to have a million men."

Chapter9

Oliver

I almost felt bad that Rosalie had the wrong impression about our upcoming evening together. I'd figured out fairly quickly that she'd thought that this was going to be some sort of romantic evening or date. I hadn't wanted to dissuade her, though now I was starting to feel a little bit guilty. We were only five minutes away from the hotel, and I wasn't quite sure how she was going to react when we walked into a work function. She was about to meet all of the partners at my law firm and several of the associates I worked with. Not exactly the same thing as going to a romantic dinner.

I wasn't sure what she thought was going to happen after that. But given the way she was dressed, well, I shifted in the back of the taxi. Fuck, I was hard already. I looked at her thighs that were glistening in the artificial light that was shining through the window. She looked over at me and gave me an impish smile.

"So there was one thing I wanted to tell you, Oliver." She chewed on her lower lip, and all I wanted to do was kiss her.

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