Connections (4 page)

Olivia held her breath as he stepped closer.
 
He was so close that she could feel the warmth radiating off of him.
 
She felt his fingers grasp the delicate zipper of her dress and she had to bite her lip to keep from moaning as he slowly—ever so slowly—pulled it up the length of her back.

She felt flushed and overheated.
 
The feeling intensified when Alex lightly swept her hair off to the side so he could secure the zipper at the top of the dress.
 
Olivia shook when his fingers brushed her sensitive skin and when his breath fell hot on her neck.

Alex froze, his fingers still on the fastening.
 
But then he jerked away from her.
 
“Ready to go?” he asked lowly, his voice husky.

Olivia nodded, not trusting her voice while she attempted to regain her breath.
 
She retrieved a light cardigan from her closet quickly, her mind racing.
 
Alex held open her apartment door for her as she exited.
 
She caught a whiff of his scent—the one that made her weak in the knees—and she fought the urge to curl herself into his chest and just stay there for the remainder of the evening.

“Key?” Alex reminded her gently when she stood motionless facing the length of the hallway.

She started, “Oh, right!”
 
Feeling herself blush even more, she carefully withdrew the key from her purse and locked the door.

When she pulled back, Alex was smirking down at her, all of his previous hesitation long gone.
 
“Something on your mind, darling?”

She turned on her heel immediately and let him trail behind her.
 
Smug bastard.

A few moments later, he snuck up closer behind her and whispered, “You’re very beautiful, Liv.”

Melt.

Smug, wonderful bastard.

Alex glanced over at Olivia in the passenger seat of his car and tried to subtly adjust himself once again.
 
The last thing he needed was showing up with a hard on to his cousin’s engagement party.

He smiled humorlessly.
 
It was like when he met her parents for the first time.
 
Olivia just drove him crazy…in every way.

“So, where are we going exactly?” she asked softly, smoothing that damn sexy dress over her shapely thighs.
 
He averted his eyes when she noticed him watching.
 
Fuck
.
 
He felt like some horny teenager.
 
“I don’t think you ever mentioned where you grew up.”

He almost ran his hand through his hair, but stopped at the last moment when he remembered he’d be seeing his parents.
 
His father—and mother, for that matter—were always ones for appearance.

And they certainly wouldn’t want their only son turning up to their party with messy hair
, he thought bitterly.

Instead, he cleared his throat, glancing over his left shoulder as he merged onto the highway.
 
“My parents live in Napa, by Yountville.
 
Up in the hills.
 
We’ll probably be there in a half hour.”

“Yountville, huh?” Olivia asked casually, glancing out her window.
 
“So, it’ll be a pretty fancy party, then?”

Alex shrugged, “Why do you say that?”

“Nothing,” she stated.
 
“It’s just…that place is very…”

“Rich?” he offered with a teasing smile.

Olivia’s mouth quirked up around the edges and it made his heart pound a little faster.
 
She looked embarrassed.
 
“Well,
I
didn’t want to say that.
 
But since you did…” she trailed off, her smile growing.

Alex returned his eyes to the road, rubbing his chest in an attempt to make his heart slow down.
 
“I already told you my parents are pretty well off,” he reminded her, although he didn’t really want to talk about his parents…or their money.

Olivia must have picked up on his hesitance because she changed the subject.
 
“How’s Beth doing?”

Alex relaxed and grinned, thinking of the conversation he had with her yesterday when she’d been doped up on pain medication.
 
“Unhappy that her engagement party photos will show her with a sling and gauze wrapping.
 
But she’s still pretty out of it.
 
She only got released from the hospital yesterday.”

“Geeze,” Olivia muttered.
 
“They really should’ve moved the party back a couple weeks.”

“Derrick wanted to change the date, but my parents had already paid for and scheduled everything.”
 
Alex shrugged, “Beth is stubborn.
 
But Derrick made her promise that she’d take it easy.
 
In all likelihood, she’ll be sitting for most of it.”

Olivia turned in her seat to face him more fully but Alex kept his eyes firmly on the road.

“And are you okay with seeing your dad?” she asked.

That
question had Alex running a hand through his hair.
 
Damn
.
 
“I don’t know,” he said honestly.
 
“Yes and no.
 
I’m more worried that we’ll fight.
 
He always says these little digs and I blow up.”
 
Like the last time they’d seen one another.
 
And Alex sincerely doubted that the numerous months they’d been apart would change their attitude towards each other.
 
He looked over at Olivia and smiled, trying to ease the sudden tension in the car.
 
“But you’ll be there.
 
And you can distract me.”

“You’ll be fine, Alex,” Olivia said with confidence.
 
He wished he could be so sure.

The drive passed quickly as they comfortably chatted about the rest of their week.
 
But all too soon, they were pulling up to the road leading to Alex’s childhood home.

Alex hadn’t been home for quite some time and seeing it brought up both good and bad memories.
 
Soon, the house came into full view and he heard Olivia say, “Geeze, Alex, you weren’t kidding.”

He tried to see the house from her perspective and thought back to the moment when he’d first seen it.
 
It had seemed enormous to his seven year old self when they’d first moved in.
 
The cobble stone roundabout driveway curving around a marble fountain, the sweeping arches and columns of the front facade, the impeccable landscaping of his parents’ front yard now just seemed obscene.

But if he’d learned one thing in his youth, it was that appearances were everything in his parents’ world.
 
However, he’d been raised on that philosophy.
 
And to some extent, he wanted to impress them, shamefully enough.

Cars lined the driveway.
 
And as he slid in behind a sleek black Lexus, he was almost surprised his parents hadn’t hired a valet service.

He killed the engine and met Olivia on the other side of his car.
 
He watched with a frown as she clutched her cardigan around her tighter.
 
“Are you okay?”

She looked up at him with a small smile.
 
“I’m a little nervous.
 
I’m meeting a lot of your friends and family today.”

He linked their hands together, feeling his chest pull tighter at her words.
 
Her soft skin felt heavenly and warm.
 
“It’ll be fine, darling.
 
You’re only meeting a few people who I care about and they’ll all love you.”

He hadn’t meant to say the ‘l’ word, but she didn’t bring attention to it.
 
Instead, she let him lead her around the back of the house to where he figured his parents had everything set up.

He wasn’t wrong.
 
A huge white canopy tent protected a table decorated with soft colored petals and intricate golden center pieces.
 
The chairs had matching gold bows draped over the back.
 
A small band was off to the side, serenading the guests that had already arrived.
 
Catering staff expertly weaved in and out of the dancing or chatting guests, offering champagne flutes and hors d'oeuvres.

“Jesus,” Alex murmured, shaking his head.

Olivia squeezed his hand lightly and he glanced down to her.

“Are you sure this isn’t the wedding, Alex?” she asked, nervously playful.

He laughed, “Obviously they weren’t kidding when they said everything had already been paid for.”
 
Shaking his head again, he scanned the crowd, looking for his aunt and uncle.
 
He spotted them hovering near the center table under the canopy.
 
Beth was seated casually in one of the chairs next to them with Derrick close by her side.
 
“Come on, I see Beth.”

His aunt saw him first and he watched as she spotted Olivia next to him.
 
She gave a welcoming smile and reached out to kiss his cheek affectionately.
 
“There he is,” she exclaimed.

“Sorry, we were running a bit late,” he explained, pulling Olivia closer.

“There’s Livy,” Beth greeted loudly, smiling.
 
“I was so happy when Alex told me you two were dating!
 
That old witch never even let me try your cupcakes.”

Alex figured Beth was referring to his grandmother and Olivia seemed to reach the same conclusion because she smiled and said, “I’m glad she liked them so much.”

“Liv, this is my aunt Kathy and uncle Mike.
 
And this is Derrick, Beth’s fiancé,” he concluded, gesturing towards the man in question.
 
Olivia released his hand as they exchanged greetings and hugs, but she entwined her fingers with his once again afterwards.

“Don’t mind Beth, Livy,” Derrick said, smiling broadly as he gave Olivia a slow wink.
 
“She’s on meds and shouldn’t be held accountable for anything she says tonight.”

“Or ever,” Alex said, teasing.

Olivia nudged him in the ribs for his dig and, turning to Beth, she said, “Alex told me about the accident.
 
I hope you’ll recover quickly, especially with your wedding coming up.”

“Well, according to the doctors, it’ll be at least six to eight weeks,” Beth grumbled.
 
Then she smiled and glanced up at Derrick. “So, I’m sorry, my love, but you’ll have to bear being an unmarried man for another two months.”

“I think I can manage,” he replied with a wide grin.
 
“My other girlfriends will be pleased.”
 
Beth laughed, tossing back her hair.

His aunt Kathy turned to Olivia and inquired, “So, we never got the full story from Alex, but how long have the two of you been dating?”

Olivia’s hand tightened in his own for a brief second before she relaxed.
 
“Oh, um, well we met a little over a month ago.”
 
She glanced at him quickly, a small, hesitant smile on her expressive face.
 
“And a few days later, Alex took me out to dinner.”

“Very good, son,” uncle Mike boomed.
 
“Snatch up the good ones quickly.”
 
Olivia blushed lightly and her smile grew wider at his uncle’s compliment.

 
“I agree,” Alex said, stroking her palm lightly.
 
Her fingers curled into his hand in response.

But the light hearted mood was soon shattered when another voice sounded from behind, breaking into their conversation like a wrecking ball.

“Alexander, I didn’t expect you to come.”

Alex stiffened.
 
His arms and legs and torso went rigid with tension.
 
Olivia noticed his reaction and glanced quickly over her shoulder to see the intruder.
 
But he didn’t need to turn around to know that his father was wearing his trademark expression…a perfect mixture of disapproval and smugness.
 
The group quieted, not even Beth said a word, and their eyes seemed to turn to Alex.

Alex slowly pivoted on his heel, dropping Olivia’s hand in the process.
 
For some reason, he didn’t want to feel her skin against his.
 
He possessed the most irrational feeling that his grim thoughts would somehow travel down through his body and infect hers.

He stared at the man in front of him.
 
At first, he was surprised because before this moment, he had never thought of his father as old.
 
But he looked it now.
 
His hair was almost all gray; it was no longer just a speckling at his temple.
 
And his skin had started to wrinkle, more so than the last time Alex had laid eyes on him.
 
The lines around his mouth made his disapproval more pronounced.

With just a hint of derision in his tone, Alex replied, “It’s nice to see you too, father.”

Olivia glanced back and forth between the two men for a moment before she finally steadied her gaze on Alex’s father.

So this is him.

At first, Olivia thought she was looking at the older version of Alex.
 
She was dead on when she figured he must look more like his father, especially after she spotted his mother’s photograph tacked onto his refrigerator.

Unsurprisingly, his father was very handsome, with his angular nose and strong jawline.
 
His hair was gray, but it hadn’t lost its thickness, and he filled out his impeccable black suit with his wide shoulders.

No wonder Alex was gorgeous.
 
He’d hit the jackpot in the gene pool.

But the longer Olivia observed him, the more she noticed the cold man Alex described him as.
 
If Olivia thought that Alex was intimidating, this man was downright terrifying.
 
He had the look of a greedy businessman and Olivia easily pictured his infamous temper.
 
His hazel eyes—so much like Alex’s, yet so vastly different—were hard, as though they were carved from stone.
 
His mouth was drawn in a straight, grim line, almost as if it had been painted on his features.