Return to You

you've
lapped up a big bowl of cream."
    "Or something." Olivia's grin widened.
    Eve leaned across the counter. "You want the first
degree with your latte or before?"
    "How about I sit over there"—Olivia pointed to a
small table in the corner—"and you bring over the latte and I'll
fill you in."
    "Deal. Give me juicy details and I'll throw in a
pastry."
    Olivia laughed. "You drive a hard bargain."
    Eve was over at the table in record time with
Olivia's drink and scone. She faced a chair toward the door, to
keep an eye out for customers Olivia assumed, and sat down. "Okay,
I'm ready."
    Olivia hid her grin behind her drink, making a
pretense of leisurely sipping it just to drive her friend
crazy.
    Eve exhaled in frustration. "Okay, fine. I can
probably guess what happened anyway."
    "Go ahead."
    Eve folded her arms across her chest and pursed her
lips. "You and Michael obviously spent last night together. By the
look in your eyes, I'd say you did more than just talk."
    Olivia popped a piece of scone in her mouth.
    "If I had to guess, I'd say last night wasn't the
first time since he's been back."
    She grinned. "Maybe."
    "So did you tell him?"
    "Tell him what?"
    "Don't play dumb." Eve rolled her eyes. "Did you
clear the past between you two?"
    She groaned. First her grandmother and now Eve.
    "I'll take that to mean no."
    "It's not important."
    "Yes, it is as long as it still haunts you."
    "It's not haunting me." Not much anymore, in any
case.
    Eve arched her eyebrows.
    "It's not." She'd stopped holding Michael
responsible for her miscarriage—there was no reason to dredge it
all up. Besides, Michael cared about his career, not a baby he
never wanted.
    Eve sighed. "Just be careful, okay?"
    "I can read the writing on the wall. He's going back
to LA in a few weeks. I know this." She shrugged. "It doesn't mean
I can't have fun in the meantime."
    "You don't want more?"
    "I can't want more."
    "Olivia, sometimes the heart doesn't listen to
logic." Her friend squeezed her hand and went to serve a
customer.
    Leaving Olivia alone. She took another sip of her
latte, trying not to think about a past she couldn't change and
wishes that were never going to come true.

Chapter Twenty-three
     
     
    Michael tapped his fingers on his thigh and stared
out the front window of Grounds for Thought. Down the street,
Olivia was in her store, playing with sexy underwear.
    Okay, so he didn't know that for a fact, but he bet
that's what she was doing. He could see her setting out the little
bits of lace, smoothing out silky panties...
    "Michael."
    "Yeah?" Maybe he should go over there and help her
break into one of those jars of chocolate sauce. Chocolate tasted
killer on Olivia.
    "Michael."
    Fingers snapped next to his ear and he jumped.
Scowling, he looked across the table at Parker, who frowned
mildly.
    "This is highly unlike you, Michael."
    No kidding. But he couldn't seem to help it. He
combed his hair back with his fingers. "I'm just a little
tired."
    Parker's frown deepened. "Trouble on the set?"
    Only if you called a horny actress who threw herself
at you at every turn trouble. Not to mention a director who
couldn't keep his mind off his high school sweetheart. "Nothing I
can't handle."
    "I can't stress how important it is for you to bring
this project in on time—"
    "Yeah, yeah. I know." His whole future hinged on
it.
    The only glitch was the sooner he wrapped up the
movie, the sooner he'd get to go back to LA. Which meant the sooner
he'd have to leave Olivia again.
    He harbored no delusions about the future. It wasn't
in the cards for him and Olivia to be together. But—damn it—he'd
like to enjoy as much of her as he possibly could.
    "You're not yourself, Michael," Parker said.
    "I don't know what you mean."
    "I've never seen you this distracted. If you don't
think you can finish this project—"
    "You'd love that, wouldn't you? You'd get to keep
your claws deep in me?" A light flipped on in his head. "That's why
we're here, isn't it?"
    "Here?"
    "Quit the act, Parker. You're setting me up to fail.
I knew there was a reason we had to shoot up here. You're using
Olivia as a distraction." As the implication of that hit him, he
felt something inside him seethe. "What kind of man are you that
you use your own daughter as bait?"
    Parker didn't even bat an eye. "I think once you
calm down you'll be able to see reason."
    "Fuck reason. I know I'm right."
Michael lowered his voice, conscious of the stares they were
attracting. He leaned