Suspicious Minds (Fate #3) (9 page)

“That night,” he said, staring straight ahead. “You said you didn’t
usually do that.”

“I don’t,” she said immediately and with conviction. “It was the
first and
only
time I’ve ever done something like that.”

“I believe you,” he said, surprising Olivia. “You said you
needed
to that night. Why was that?”

Olivia stared ahead now too, remembering his utter disinterest
that night. He’d stared at her in that profound way but hadn’t asked why. She
wondered why he wanted to know now.

“Several reasons,” she said, refusing to look at him. “I’d gotten
some . . .
unpleasant
news that week. I needed to get out, something I
hadn’t done in a while.”

“Who do you live with?”

Now she turned to him. Not that his previous questions didn’t
also come as a surprise, but this one came totally out of left field. Still his
expression remained rigid, and he finally turned to look at her when they came
to a stop.

“I saw a photo of you and a guy at your place as I walked out.”

“Any photos at my place are of my siblings and me,” she
explained. “I have three brothers and a sister. We all live at that house. I
just happened to have the place to myself that weekend. But that doesn’t happen
often. That was another reason I decided to do what I did that night.”

He stared at her the same way he’d done so often that night. She
could hardly stand it but couldn’t bring herself to turn away, so she didn’t
and waited instead for his next question.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, stunning her. “I hope you know that.
And before we get back to my brother’s place and I have to continue to pretend
I’m not
ridiculously
attracted to you, I just want you to know that my
running out that night the way I did had nothing to do with any lack of
attraction or interest in you. Because Jesus”—he shook his head, glancing back
at the road, and took a deep breath—“I have no idea how you feel about me, but—”

“I’m ridiculously attracted to you too,” she blurted as her heart
pounded erratically.

They came to another stop and he turned to her again. “I hadn’t
made any attempts to get in touch with you because I’ve been fighting what I’m
feeling for you. Hell, I started fighting it that night.”

“Why
?
”

He frowned, shaking his head, and then turned back to the road
when he started driving again. “The last relationship I had ended badly.
Really
badly,” he explained. “I was over her almost immediately. I just haven’t
had any desire to get into anything serious again.”

She was almost afraid to ask, but she had to know. He could’ve
just flirted with her on this trip to the market, which was what she thought
might happen—playfully bring up the suggestion of them having another
incredible night together. Instead, here he was explaining himself. But she
cautioned her already-too-excited heart that this could just be his way of
apologizing for not wanting anything more with her. It was beginning to sound
like that anyway. So she had to ask before her heart began misinterpreting
things.

“So why are you telling me this now?”

They were at a stop again, but he didn’t turn to her this time.
Instead, he stared straight ahead, and she watched him so closely she could see
his jaw working.

“I think I’ve changed my mind,” he said, making her insides go
wild, and he finally turned to her. Instantly, she was caught in those eyes
again. “That is, of course, if you’re interested in anything like that with me.
We wouldn’t have to jump ahead just because we’ve already done more. We could
take it slow.”

His eyes practically pleaded. Olivia would’ve never expected
something like this from him this fast, but she was beyond excited, so she
smiled.

“I’m stunned,” she said, bringing her hand to her chest. “But a
good stunned.”

“I’m terrified,” he admitted, bringing his eyes back to the road.

His vulnerability only made him that much more perfect to Olivia.
For weeks, she’d thought him smug and justifiably so. Rose was right. He was
more than just the perfect package. So for him to admit this, show her this
side of him, the side that was as scared as she felt, had her nearly choked up
all of a sudden.

They turned into the supermarket parking lot, and he got out
without saying another word. He walked around the car to where she’d already begun
to climb out and took her hand. The moment she was standing right in front of
him he brought her hand to his chest where she could feel how hard his heart
pounded and left it there. Then he brought his hand behind her neck just under
her hair and stared deeply into her eyes.

“I don’t know what it is about you,” he whispered as his eyes
lowered down to her lips and he licked his own. “I may as well admit it now
since I’ve already said too much. It’s insane, but I’m already crazy about you.”
He leaned his forehead against hers, still gazing into her eyes, then closed
his for a moment. “The only reason I hadn’t given into the temptation to
contact you is because I can already feel it. If I do this, I’m falling hard
and—”

“It’s exactly what I was thinking, Lorenzo,” she said as her heart
rate spiked yet again.

She explained quickly the exact thoughts she’d had about getting
out of any more “Monday Night Football” games after today as he stared at her. “I
don’t understand it either, but I knew being around you and your being as unresponsive
as you’ve been so far would have been torture.”

“But I swear to you the only reason I’ve been this way was
because I really didn’t think I’d want to get into anything serious again. At
least not for a few years.”

Olivia gulped, wondering if she’d jumped the gun and allowed her
heart to get excited for nothing because this was beginning to feel as if he
might be going back to apologizing about not wanting anything serious. She
needed to slow her heart down before it got ahead of itself. Regardless of how
this turned out, she wouldn’t tell him just yet—or probably ever—but it also
sounded as if he were saying he’d never felt anything like this.

She wished she could say in all honesty that she hadn’t either,
but it was what scared her most. She remembered the power she allowed Jay to
have over her for too long, and this felt eerily similar. One look in those
eyes and she felt dangerously rapt. It was frightening, and as much as her head
reasoned it wasn’t exactly how she once felt about Jay, it was too close.

He leaned his forehead against hers again, closing his eyes. “I
can tell myself all I want that I can do it, but I already know I can’t,” he
said, and Olivia’s stomach took a nose dive as he pulled away to look her in
the eyes. He
was
apologizing; then he added in a whisper. “Even if I
tried, there’s no way I can stay away from you now.”

Olivia froze. Words—even any coherent thoughts—escaped her
completely until she was finally able to pull herself together. With a
terrified gulp, she whispered the words that even through her fear she wasn’t
able hold back. “I don’t want you to.”

The intense way he’d been staring at her softened a bit, and a
slow smile spread across his face. “Well, then, I guess you’re stuck with me
now.” He leaned in, and Olivia’s entire body readied itself to feel those
magical lips on hers. He suddenly stopped as if something just hit him and
pulled away, the hardened intensity in his eyes back once again. “This does
mean you’re not seeing anyone else, right? Or have any ex-boyfriends still hung
up on you that I’d have to deal with?”

Olivia shook her head, still unable to believe this was
happening. “No one,” she managed to say.

“And you’re sure about that?” he asked, his brows pinching a
little more severely as he pressed his lips together.

“Yes.” She nodded, fisting the fabric of his shirt against his
chest, feeling his heart continue to pound furiously.

He stared into her eyes, almost as if he were searching for
something, and then spoke again. “Look. I know you’re probably gonna think it’s
way too early to be having this conversation, but this is something I feel emphatic
about. I have to be honest with you now
before
you agree to anything
with me. I
will not
deal with any other guys in your life. It’s the one
reason why I’d sworn off serious relationships. I know I can’t—I
won’t
be able to—handle anything like that. It’s my biggest regret and where I think
I went wrong with my ex—trusting her to continue having a relationship with hers.
And I know that’s bullshit for anyone else that comes along now because it’s
not your fault. I also know for a lot of girls that might be a deal breaker.
Way too much to ask for.” He shrugged with a frown. “Rightfully so maybe, but no
other women are in my life, and they won’t be as long as I’m with you, so I don’t
think it’s too much to ask. I
won’t
compromise when it comes to this. I’ve
been burned once before, and it’s not something I care to live through ever again.
So if that’s not something you can agree to, then it’s best that we know now
before moving forward.”

Olivia gulped, staring into those potent eyes. “My ex and I have
been broken up for almost two years. We did keep in touch for a while, but now
we’re not even speaking, and he lives in Dallas. So I can assure you I don’t
have a relationship with him at all. Getting this grooming business going has
consumed the last two years of my life. I haven’t even made any close friends
with girls much less with guys. It’s why when I hit it off with Rose I latched
on to her friendship like I did. Agreeing to no other guys in my life won’t be
a sacrifice for me. Trust me.”

He smiled, leaning in finally, and kissed her softly. “I want to,’
he whispered against her lips then kissed her as he did that first night, draining
what little strength that remained in her legs.

She wrapped her arms around his neck partly for support and
partly so he’d never stop. After a few long amazing minutes of Lorenzo
devouring her mouth, he finally pulled away and smiled. “Man, are Rosie and
Vince in for a surprise”—he laughed—“because I’ll keep our first time together
a secret if you prefer, but no way am I keeping my hands or lips off you now.”
He leaned in and kissed her again with a groan before pulling away again. “You
better think up a story to tell them because they’re gonna know about this as
soon as we get back, and they’ll probably think this is weird as shit.”

“I’ll just tell them that after spending some time alone with you
it was impossible to fight the incredible attraction I felt for you.” Olivia
smiled, still unable to look away from those beautiful eyes, but she didn’t
even try now. “That after just a few minutes alone with you in such close
proximity I had no choice but to give into the unexplainable pull—and now I’m
hooked.”

His eyes practically sparkled as they lit up. “Maybe I should
tell them that because in my case it wouldn’t be a made-up story. It’d be the God’s
honest truth. That’s exactly what happened.”

Her heart doubled over as he leaned in and kissed her again.
Never in a million years when she agreed to meet Rose for lunch did she imagine
the day turning out like this.

~~~

To say Rose and Vince were surprised to see Lorenzo and
Olivia return holding hands was a laughable understatement. Rose’s mouth
literally dropped; then her brows pinched suspiciously as if the two were
playing a joke on them.

Vince’s brow had gone up too, and everyone was quiet for too long
until he finally broke the silence in the room. “What the hell?”

Lorenzo laughed, giving them the speech about being so incredibly
attracted to Olivia after just a few minutes alone with her and how instantly
he’d been hooked. As expected, Rose and Vince still stared at them, their faces
full of disbelief.

Olivia had no choice but to just fess up. “We’d actually had a .
. . romantic encounter over two months ago before I had any idea he was related
to my cousin’s friends. But things didn’t go anywhere, and I hadn’t even seen
him until I was over at Sal’s over a month ago to groom his puppies and Lorenzo
happened to be there.” She turned to Rose, feeling guilty for not having told
her sooner. At the same time she gave her a pleading look and prayed she’d get
that she didn’t want any elaborating on the intimate details she’d shared. “He’s
who I told you about, but since I knew he was part of the Moreno clan, I wasn’t
sure how well you knew him, so I left out his name. And since I didn’t know you
were married to a Moreno yourself, I had no idea you’d know him
this
well.”

Lorenzo squeezed her hand, taking over the explanation. “I hadn’t
been able to get her off my mind since,” he said, smiling as he glanced back at
her. “Then suddenly she seemed to be everywhere. So tonight when I got the
chance to be alone with her”—he lifted and dropped a shoulder—“I told her so
and”—he lifted their attached hands then brought them behind her back and
pulled her to him—“we’re gonna give this a shot.”

To Olivia’s surprise, although in hindsight she wasn’t sure now
why she’d been surprised, instead of Rose being upset at all, she squealed in
delight. Olivia should’ve known she’d be happy about it. The girl got out about
as much as Olivia did, and now she and her husband had an instant couple they
both got along with so well.

Lorenzo made it sound like such a casual thing. They were
giving
this a shot.
But what that meant exactly Olivia had no idea. Given the
seriousness of their talk in the supermarket parking lot and casualness about
this now, she wasn’t sure what to expect. Would they just do the “Monday Night Football”
thing to begin with? He did say they’d take things slowly.

The one thing he’d made absolutely unequivocal was how he felt
about other guys in her life, specifically any exes. Remembering what Rose had
said about him being such a hard ass about this, a tiny part of her whispered
she should mention Elton. But another more stubborn part argued that her
relationship with Elton was nothing more than business. She’d never once had
any involvement with him in any other way, nor had she ever felt remotely
attracted to him or even considered him a
friend
. Like her brothers,
Lorenzo didn’t need to know about the subtle hints Elton still dropped every
now and again. She had no intention of ever taking him up on them, so it didn’t
matter what the delusional guy thought might happen.