She lifted a brow. “I don’t believe you.”
“I like the dresses on you. I wanted the robe off of you.”
4
Piper froze with her cup halfway to her mouth. She stared at him. She set her cup down. “Oliver, that was very…”
He just waited for her to fill the blank in.
“Sexy.”
He looked mildly amused. “You sound surprised.”
“I think I am.”
“I can be sexy.”
He could? Really? She found him sexy, but it had always seemed unintentional. She was attracted to things that she wasn’t sure he was even aware he did. Like how he egged Dax on. How he said things just to get Grant to roll his eyes. The times he asked Aiden for advice just so Aiden could feel that he was leading the way. The “troubles” he’d had that he needed Cam to intervene in.
And his big plans and ideas—even when he was asking her to find out how much it would cost to rent or buy an actual circus tent—and the way he laughed and the way he appeared with Dax for their fans even though he didn’t enjoy the spotlight.
And a million other things.
Josie returned with Ollie’s muffins, setting the bag on the table. “I look forward to seeing more of you, Ollie,” she said with a grin.
He sighed. “Until I can get this new assistant trained.”
“Or you could keep coming in after that,” Josie said. “We give special secret treats to our friends. But they have to come in in person.”
Ollie gave her a little grin. “Like the special cupcakes you make for Grant?”
Josie blushed and Piper laughed. Everyone knew about the X-rated cupcakes Josie had made for Grant months ago. She’d even turned it into an off-menu specialty item in her side baking business. But she blushed every time someone mentioned them.
“Yeah, something like that,” she said.
“That’s all you had to say, Josie,” Ollie said with a smirk.
“Okay. So… great.” She smiled, then hustled away from the table.
“Yeah,” Piper said.
He looked over at her.
“I know you can be sexy,” she told him. He was very sexy when he didn’t mean to be. Like when he said things he knew would make Josie blush. He didn’t mean that to be sexy. Josie was very much one of his best friends’ girl. But Ollie teased her because she was a friend and yes, Piper found that sexy.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“Yeah. I just haven’t ever experienced you doing it with me. Directly anyway. Like the robe comment.”
The corner of his mouth curled up. “Have I done it indirectly?”
“Every day,” she said honestly.
They sat just looking at one another for several seconds.
“I miss you,” he finally said.
That surprised her even more than the compliment on her dress and the comment about her robe.
She nodded. “I’m very hard to get over.”
“And I’m mad at you.”
“You’re caffeine deprived.”
“For that.” He nodded. “And because I haven’t written a fucking word in a week.”
“That’s my fault?”
“Entirely.”
“That’s ridiculous. You wrote for four years before you even met me.”
“And it took me twice as long then and it was easier to write this stuff before there was such a big world with so many plots and characters.” He scowled at her. “I can’t find my character files.”
She sighed. He could never find his character files and he never would. Even when they were in the folder in the center of his computer’s desktop and labeled CHARACTER FILES.
“It took you twice as long as it does now?” she asked, shaking her head in disbelief. Ollie was not a fast writer.
“Yes. No one made me sit at my desk and I had no reward for getting shit done.”
She fought a smile. She had implemented the writing sprints and reward system after reading about other writers doing it on Twitter. He had to write without doing anything else or getting up for twenty to thirty minutes. Then he got a five to ten minute break. And each time he got to his daily work goal, he got a reward. It was often food. He loved her cooking. But sometimes it was a game of Ping-Pong with Dax—if he hadn’t managed to convince her he needed one during his breaks for his “creative process”—or a gab session with Cam. Again, if he hadn’t taken a detour for one of those during his ten-minute breaks that often turned into forty-five minutes if she wasn’t on top of him. And yes, she called them gab sessions. The two men were gossipy as hell and could go on and on about the stupidest things.
“The office is distracting too,” he said. “The new girl doesn’t respect my need for Norah.”
“So turn Norah on for yourself,” Piper said.
Ollie couldn’t work with any noise, except Norah Jones. Piper found Norah relaxing, herself, and one night when they’d been working late and she’d had Norah playing, Ollie had claimed to get more done than he had all week. They’d experimented and found Norah was magic for his concentration.
“I did.” He looked grumpy. “It didn’t work.”
“Maybe you need her greatest hits album.”
“I need you.”
He said it flatly. It didn’t sound sweet or like a compliment, for sure, but Piper’s breath still caught. “Ollie—”
He suddenly shifted to sit forward. “I need to work with you around. So you need to get over me. But for now, here I am.”
“Here you are?” she repeated.
“Yes. To work.” He reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a little notebook and a pen.
“What do you mean?” She watched him open the notebook and uncap the pen.
“I’m going to have to come to wherever you are to get any work done, I guess,” he said. “Until you’re over me.” He narrowed his eyes. “How’s that going? Are you there yet?”
She had to fight another smile. When she’d agreed that she would go back to work for Fluke if she got over Ollie, she hadn’t been lying. If she wasn’t in love with him, it would be easy to work there. She missed it already. But she wasn’t expecting to get over him. Ever.
“Nope. Sorry. Still love you.”
He sighed, very put-upon by the news.
“That’s annoying, Piper.”
It certainly was.
“And what if I don’t want you to just follow me around?” she asked. “What if that will make it harder to get over you?”
He frowned. “I guess I can go sit at another table and hope that being near you is enough.”
She shook her head. “You don’t actually think just being in the same general vicinity as me is what helps you write.” That was stupid. He was just pissed that he wasn’t getting his way and shaken that she’d finally walked out and dumped his world upside down when all of them worked so hard to keep his world so steady and easy.
“Look, I’ve been sitting at the same desk, listening to Norah, trying to write the same scene for the past week and can’t. The only change is you. And the coffee.”