“I wish I could take all the credit,” Olivia gently countered, moving to one of the circular tables on the edge of the dance floor. “But I’m not doing anything at all.”
“Oh, please, take credit where it’s due.” She placed the wineglass on the table. “You are turning my son’s world upside down.”
Olivia glanced out, suddenly wishing her feet would run her the hell out of there. It was so easy to forget the thousand questions she still didn’t have answers to when Noah was with her…touching her. Without him there, coldness seeped into her bones.
“I’m sorry. I’ve made you uncomfortable,” Audra said with a laugh.
“Oh, no, it’s fine, really,” Olivia said, albeit awkwardly.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s a rare thing in this world that can bring a strong man to his knees.” Audra placed a hand on Olivia’s forearm, but the warmth of her touch couldn’t touch the cold raging alongside the blood in her veins. “The fact that you’ve done that tells me all I need to know about you.” She gestured to Noah standing with a group of men. “Noah was born into politics. The need to serve the public is ingrained in him.” She turned to Olivia and added with a soft smile, “But this type of life is not possible without the love of a woman to keep the light trickling in on those dark days.”
Olivia froze in front of all the truth his mother laid at Olivia’s feet. How easy it would be to lose herself in all this happiness…in him. In all this perfection that seemed to be right there, ready for her to grab it.
And yet…when Noah glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled, Olivia cringed at the assault on her heart. She wanted to let go with him, but she had believed in perfection once. And perfection had lied.
* * *
—
When they arrived back at Noah’s penthouse a couple of hours later, he noticed something different about Olivia when she turned to him in the living room. Something softer crossed her expression. Something that he’d also seen after his necessary mingling. “Did you enjoy tonight?” he asked, trying to identify the change in her.
“How could you not enjoy yourself there?” She smiled, taking a seat on his couch and stretching out her legs. “But I gotta say, I liked seeing you in that element. You’re different there, surrounded by that group of people.”
He approached and took a seat on his coffee table. “Different how?”
She gave a little shrug and lifted her foot to rub the arch, obviously sore from being stuffed into her heels. “People listen to you when you talk. It’s an amazing thing. To hold power like that. They respect you.”
He gently nudged her hand away and took over the massage. “It’s taken years to earn that respect.” But that wasn’t what was causing this sudden softness in her. He felt that truth coming off in her waves. “Did you enjoy your time with my mother?”
“Yeah, she’s really nice.” She moaned as he dug his fingers into the sore spots and leaned her head against the back of the couch. She stared at him deeply, obviously reconciling something on her mind. “Are we going to talk about us and what we’re doing here?” she finally asked.
His fingers halted on her foot. “Are you ready to talk about us?” While he had taken her tonight to see if she could fit in his world, he did not want to rush her.
“I think it’s getting to the point where we need to talk, don’t you?”
“All right.” He released her foot and took up the other. He waited for her moan while he rubbed the arch before he added, “Then let’s talk.”
She heaved a long sigh, those pretty eyes attentive on him. “I don’t really know when this happened. This wasn’t supposed to be a serious thing at all between us, and now I’m feeling like I’m having a serious conversation.”
“We don’t need to have a serious conversation.” He rubbed her toes. “What we’re doing feels good. There’s no need to change anything or make this more than it needs to be right now.” He paused as she frowned, and that brought out his next question. “Does this no longer feel good to you?”
“It feels amazing,” she said. “I feel happier than I’ve felt in a really long time, if I’m being honest.”
“Then what exactly is the problem?”
She pulled her foot away and sat up. The look in her expression was distant when she answered him. “Is what we have real?”
He leaned forward and placed his hands on her thighs. “What makes you think it’s not real?”
“Because these past few days have been amazing. Truly everything I think I thought I wanted and so much more. But in the real world, can we really work? Is that something we want? Will this thing between us end when we said it would? Or are we going to start dating?”
The fact that she didn’t hesitate in any of her questions told him this had been on her mind. His brows drew together, fighting against thinking about everything she asked. Because he was well aware of the obstacles between them. The same obstacles he’d had with Colette. Olivia would want things from him he couldn’t offer. A boyfriend that always picked her over his career.
And this was where the problem lay. She could fit perfectly into his world under certain conditions. Conditions that Colette had also wanted. Noah could not change those things. But staring into her eyes, he saw a difference between her and Colette. He had been able to let Colette go. He did not want to do that with Olivia.
Instead of answering, fearing that he did not have the words to explain how he felt, he leaned in and sealed his mouth across hers. He did not want this to end between them. Maybe it was all a fantasy, but he liked the fantasy. He wanted this between them to last for as long as it could.
When she moaned and melted into his kiss, he told her the truth. His truth. “I’m here, Olivia, it’s real.” He refused to think about all the little interstices of being with her. Because he liked how this all felt now. Being with Olivia was easy. “Does this feel real?” he asked, trailing his fingers through her hair and marking the beginning of their playtime.