Olivia Graham was twenty-two when she started a whirlwind romance with charismatic Jakob overseas.
By age twenty-five, Liv was back home and checking off the widowed box on paperwork. With zero plans, Olivia and beloved dog Snuggles find themselves...
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Millimeter by millimeter, we close the gap between us. She brushes her lips against mine, and I snap back to reality.
"Shit," I curse, stepping back, and feeling dazed.
"Chris."
"Olivia, your brother would have my balls in a vice if he knew I was seconds away from whatever it is we were about to do."
"Who cares what he thinks?" She says.
"I do," I say, shaking my head, looking at her legs dangling—the ones I want to wrap around me before we go back to the bedroom.
"My god, you are gorgeous." I run my hands up her thighs to her hips and sigh deeply. "And so fucking hard to resist."
I rest my forehead against the side of her neck; all of the blood in my body has left my brain and headed south.
My work phone trills out from my pocket, and I pull back from the warmth of her body and accept the call, "Chris Rollins."
Sean Ryan blathers on as I stare into Olivia's eyes. She places her coffee cup on the counter, then softly smiles in return. That hot feeling in my stomach flares again, and I bite my lip and shake my head, turning away because she's too distracting.
I lean over the counter opposite her, grinning like a fool. "Yeah man, I agree with all of that. Are you in the middle of something at the second? There's something I want to talk to you about, but it would be better in person."
"You're not on today, right?"
"No, remember where we were that night for the Bowsher incident? That's where I am -- can you come here?"
"Why are you there?"
"Because Olivia is my friend and I need to install a security system here today."
She slides off the counter behind me, and she looks back at me once with a dazzling smile as she heads off to her bedroom.
"Something happened," I say lowly into the phone, "I don't want to alarm her."
"Yeah, I can come now."
We hang up, and I retrieve the clothes I keep in my car. I do a quick survey while I'm out for anything conspicuous.
Can't shake what happened last night.
I hurry back into her house to change into my black Holly PD t-shirt and gray sweatpants in her living room so I can hustle outside.
"Liv?" I call out to her.
"Yes?" She asks, sticking her head around the corner.
"I have to head outside for a minute, okay? But then let's get you out of the house for a few and get some breakfast and we'll run some errands."
She shakes her head, coming closer, "I can really take care of that on my own, Chris."
"I want to," I insist, moving hair behind her ear, and spreading my feet apart l to look into her eyes.
