I turned at the sound of the distinctly British accent I knew belonged to Oliver. “A bit? Just a bit?”
“All right, a lot of it. This is a terrible idea.”
“I’m going to get a drink,” Piper said, waving her number card between us. “You want anything?”
I shook my head. I’d had more than enough, thank you very much.
Oliver did the same. When she’d disappeared, he leaned into me and said, “How do you feel about pretending we’ve paired off and getting out of this shit?”
“You do realize that if we do that, everyone is going to think this is legit?”
“Who’s to say it isn’t?”
“How much have you had to drink?”
Laughing, he guided me toward the bar and, with a quick flash of his card, managed to secure us quick service from a bartender I didn’t recognize. He quickly ordered two drinks, sveltely naming the type of wine I’d been drinking.
“Have you been keeping an eye on me?” I teased.
“Saylor is very loud,” he replied, leaning in a little too close.
Hooey.
There was something about that voice in that accent being that close that was doing things to me.
Things it had no business doing.
This was why I didn’t drink.
I took the glass of wine I was offered, regretting it instantly, and slipped off to a small table that was empty. Oliver followed me and pulled his chair in close to mine so we could talk without screaming at each other.
“I thought you didn’t want anyone to think this is legit,” he said, leaning in as he raised his beer bottle to his lips.
“I don’t, but if we go back to the group now, Holley will drag us back to the speed dating,” I replied. My shoulder brushed up against his. Some wisps of hair had escaped my ponytail, and I reached up to push them behind my ear, accidentally brushing his jaw in the process.
I swallowed. “I’m sorry. I was just—”
“It’s fine.” He smiled at me, and I realized just how close his face was.
I cleared my throat and leaned back a little. This was a very, very bad idea.
Capital letters Bad Idea, actually.
“So Leo’s with his dad.”
Ah, good. Comfortable subject. “Yep, until Monday morning. I’ll pick him up from school, then he’s doing the same thing next weekend while he’s here for work.”
“Seems like a nice enough guy. Very into the training,” Oliver said slowly.
“Well, nice enough is relative.”
“Bad breakup?”
“If you can call him cheating on me six months before our wedding a bad breakup, sure.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
I shrugged. “It’s fine. Turns out the woman he cheated on me isn’t the biggest fan of his son and it’s taken him four years to realize it, so they finally broke up.”
“How can anyone not be a fan of Leo? He’s one of the best kids I know.”
I blushed. “Yeah, well, you don’t have to pick up his socks.”
He laughed. “Does Leo know she doesn’t like him?”
“Leo can’t stand her,” I replied. “He calls her the Wicked Witch of Miami. They never really spoke as I put my foot down and didn’t let her be around whenever they saw each other. It wasn’t much of an issue after his work transferred him to Florida a few months ago as they only video called, but apparently two weekends in a row with his son was too much for her.”
“Ouch. Must suck for Leo not seeing his dad.”
I shrugged again. It was my default action when talking about Christopher. “It’s a decision he made. He could have turned the job down, but he didn’t. It’s fine. Leo’s happier in White Peak than he was living in a city, and we have our family here now, so it’s better for us. It’s not like Chris is a bad dad, either. He pays more than he’s supposed to, he doesn’t hesitate to get Leo stuff when I can’t afford it, and they talk almost every day.”
“That’s good. Does your mum live near?”
I shook my head. “As a rule, she tries to avoid my grandmother as much as possible. She’s kind of eccentric.”
Which reminded me I’d promised Grandma Rosie I’d visit this weekend.
That was always fun.
“Your mum or your grandma?”
“Huh?”
“Eccentric. Your mum or your grandma?” he asked, swigging his beer.
“My grandmother. Have you ever visited the senior home? They’re one more animal away from starting a small hobby farm.”
“I have heard about the ducks.”
“Just the ducks? Not the chickens that look like cotton wool balls?”
His brows drew together. “Chickens that look like cotton wool balls?”
“Fluffy pom pom things,” I muttered. “Cute, but stupid as hell.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I laughed, pressing my hand to my chest. “Lucky you. Have you seen your family since you moved here?”
He hesitated. “Once. I went home for my grandfather’s funeral. My parents keep saying they’re coming to visit but never do, so I’ve given up inviting them.”
“I’m sorry. For both. It must be hard with the time difference, too.”
“We Skype once a week, but that’s about it. My sister has three kids so they’re usually busy hanging out with her. Meanwhile, I’m lucky to get a text back.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah. It’s part of the reason I’m considering going home. It’s hard to be alone, you know?”
I smiled sadly. “Yeah, I know.”
“What are you doing?” Holley came bursting over. “You can’t just bounce on me like that!”
Oliver blinked at her. “We swapped cards.”
“You swapped cards so you didn’t have to speed date anymore!” She pointed her finger at us both angrily. “That’s not how this works.”
“It looks to be working just fine,” I replied as the round ended and two couples split off. “Although you’re running out of people.”
“That’s why I need you two back out there!”
My phone buzzed in my purse. The only reason I could feel it was because it was on my lap and my phone must have fallen to the bottom of the pit. I held up a finger to Holley and dug it out, grinning when I saw Chris’ name.
“No can do,” I said, getting up. “Leo’s calling. Sorry!”
“Oliver?”
I disappeared before I could hear his response to take the call to wish Leo goodnight.
And thank God for that.
***
I woke the next morning with a thankfully minor hangover that was quickly solved by throwing two ibuprofen down my throat, a hot shower, and leftover pizza from my post-night out snack.
After a quick call with Leo where he told me all about his plans for the day, which included pizza for dinner and a hike with his dad, I got in the car and headed for the retirement home.
It’d been one whole week since I’d last visited Grandma, and boy was she making sure I knew it. I was fed up of the texts, so I was getting this out of the way.