Return to You

sank in.
    "I can't believe you didn't suspect
something was up. You were always the first to imagine complex
plots when we were kids."
    "But I've learned that things are usually
simpler than they seem." He ran his hand through his hair.
    "Not this time. Even your mom was involved."
She pulled out a pack from the basket. "Sally's chocolate chip
cookies."
    "That can't be true. She warned me to stay
away from you. Let me see." He took the bag of cookies and
sniffed.
    Olivia smirked. "Believe me now?"
    "Damn."
    "Sucks, doesn't it?" She grabbed a blanket,
arranged it on the floor with one hand, and dropped the food basket
on it before sitting next to it.
    "What are you doing?"
    "I'm eating."
    "Right now?"
    She shrugged and pulled out a sandwich. "I'm
starving and it doesn't look like we're going to be let out of here
any time soon. Want half? It's turkey and avocado."
    He flashed back to the first grade when he
lost his lunch in a bet against River Sheridan and Olivia offered
him half of hers, much in the same way.
    Only then it was peanut butter and jelly and
she wore a cookie monster T-shirt with bell-bottom jeans instead of
pants with thong panties underneath.
    He plopped down next to Olivia and took what
she offered. "Thanks."
    They ate in silence. Olivia mostly avoided
his gaze, but he couldn't take his eyes off her.
    Oh man, he was in trouble.
     
     

Chapter Seventeen
     
     
    Why was he staring at her like that? Did she
have avocado all over her face? Olivia surreptitiously wiped her
mouth with a cloth napkin she found in the basket.
    No, he still watched her.
    Refusing to let it unnerve her, she finished
her half of the sandwich, pulled out a cookie, and rummaged through
the rest of the basket while she nibbled on it.
    At least Gran had stocked them up in style.
There was an assortment of fruit, several more sandwiches, and some
pastries. At the bottom were champagne flutes.
    "Why not?" She picked up the wine bottle.
Knowing this was her dad's contribution, did that mean Lainie
bought it? The thought that Lainie could be a part of this and not
say anything bugged her. A lot.
    "Treat would approve," she said to distract
herself as she peeled the foil off the top.
    "Who's Treat?" Michael asked sharply, taking
the bottle from her hands.
    "A friend."
    "Does Lurch know?" He popped the cork like
he did it all the time.
    "Stop calling him Lurch. His name is Rick."
She shouldn't feel this inane smugness at his jealousy.
    "I can't believe Rick would approve of his
woman entertaining other men."
    She really should tell him Treat was Eve's
husband, but her shoulder devil prodded her into silence. "I'm my
own woman, and Rick knows that." She pulled out the champagne
flutes that were, of course, in the basket as well. "Though he
might make an exception for you."
    Michael grunted. "I'm not other men."
    No, he wasn't. And—God help her—that was the
problem.
    He poured champagne into the glasses she
held out. As he took one from her, his hand brushed hers. She
cursed the goose bumps that rose on her arms. She was tempted to
take a swig to calm down but then remembered the last time she used
wine as an anesthetic and set her glass on the floor after a chaste
sip.
    "That's it?"
    "Maybe later."
    He shrugged. "Suit yourself."
    She watched the muscular column of his neck
as he swallowed and her mouth went dry. She crawled to the shelf.
There had to be some bottled water somewhere.
    "When do you think they're going to let us
out of here?"
    She looked up. If she didn't know better,
she'd swear there was a touch of desperation in his voice. She must
have imagined it. In the dim light of the lantern he looked exactly
like what he was—a confident, virile, successful man.
    Olivia frowned. "Why are you here?"
    He glanced at her like she'd lost her mind.
He drew it out slowly, like she was having a hard time
understanding the concept. "To make a movie."
    She rolled her eyes. "I know that. I mean,
why Mill Valley?"
    "You've asked this before."
    "And I think it's time you gave me a
straight answer."
    "You think I haven't?"
    "You always hated Mill Valley. I thought
you'd cut off your nuts before you'd come back here."
    "You're right." He chuckled softly. His
laugh touched her deep inside where she hadn't been touched in a
long, long time. He smiled ruefully. He lifted his knee and rested
his arm in it. "I wouldn't have come back on my own volition."
    "Well?"
    He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Your father cut me a deal. If I made