“He started it,” the guy said before stepping back into line.
“So, no marriage?” Clipboard lady confirmed, noting something on her form. “Just a visit. No songs?”
“Absolutely not.”
I narrowed my eyes at Oliver. “You are a horrible human being.”
“Fine. Have him sing his whole fucking repertoire for her. How’s that?” Oliver tugged out his wallet and shoved a truly shocking amount of bills at the woman. “Consider the extra your tip.”
Her eyes bugged out behind her turquoise specs. “Why, I can’t—George! We have a rush couple!”
Leather dude turned around to growl again. “Oh, hell no. Hawaii Five-O is not cutting the line.”
Oliver glanced down at his shirt as if he’d forgotten his attire and sighed. “We can wait. What else could we possibly have to do on a fine day in Vegas?”
“Well, thank you. Thank you very much.” She moved on to the new couples that had joined the line behind us.
“We need to talk,” Oliver said, voice low. “We can do it here if you insist, but we need to.”
I crossed my arms. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“Fine. I’ll do the talking.”
I waited.
“The day we talked in the diner break room, Ally sprang the following-you-to-Vegas idea on me. She’s pregnant. Did you expect me to say no and condemn her to a weekend of worrying? She loves you, whether or not you wish she’d mind her own business. If it’s any consolation, I usually wish the same. But not over this.”
I started to argue. It was our typical way. Then I really heard what he’d said.
“Why not?”
He glanced off in the distance before finally meeting my eyes. “This wee
kend has been incredible.”
The blatant honesty in his statement rocked me off my feet. There was a lot I didn’t know in this life, but one thing I could spot was a liar. At least that was what I told myself.
He wasn’t lying. He meant it.
“If I’d missed out on a minute of it…” He raked a hand over his surprisingly disordered hair. He’d even kept his scruff under duress, simply because I’d asked him to. “Well, let’s just say I owe my sister-in-law a debt of gratitude.” He paused. “My brother, however, deserves a knee in the nuts, which I will be all too happy to deliver.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “He said your prime operating time was nighttime.”
“Oh, did he now? Not much different than what he said last night.”
Frowning, I hooked my fingers in the pocket of his shirt and made him look at me. “Is that why you got all moody after he called last night?”
“I did not get all moody.”
“You sure did. I thought it was Celine again.”
“I actually enjoyed Celine. Most of it.”
“Celine too?” Leather Overalls shook his head in disgust. “You have some serious issues, dude.”
Oliver ignored him and lowered his voice to speak for my ears only. “No, he nicely informed me that you were too innocent for me, and not to make it personal if something happened between us.”
“Oh my God, that asshole. I never liked him. I disliked him almost as much as I disliked you.”