Trace + Olivia Series Boxed Set (4 page)

“You just keep on thinking that,” he brushed by me with a cocky grin.

Damn that grin and what it did to my insides.

I followed him outside and to the right of the rectangular building.

Handing me my keys, he informed me, “Your car will be fine in the garage. Luca will close and lock it when he leaves for lunch…if he leaves, that is.”

“Who’s Luca?” I asked, standing next to the passenger door of Trace’s sleek black sports car. It was definitely old, but well maintained. However, with my limited knowledge of car brands, I had no clue what it was.

“I’m sure your friend will introduce you to him,” he winked.

“Oh,” I gulped, remembering him calling out that name when we passed them.

Trace slid into his car and motioned me to get inside.

I took a deep breath, hoping that this was a good idea. I mean, I didn’t really know Trace, and I was getting into his car to go Lord knows where.

“You don’t have to look so scared,” he grinned when I slid inside, running my fingers over the buttery smooth leather seats.

“I’m not scared,” I scoffed. “Okay, maybe a little,” I admitted. “This isn’t something I normally do.”

“Eat lunch?” He quirked a brow, a smile tugging his lips up crookedly.

“Ha, ha,” I scrunched up nose. “No, what I mean is, I don’t normally get into the car of a guy I just met.”

He smiled again, the one that made panties drop everywhere. “But we didn’t
just
meet. If I recall, we met last night.”

“Why do I feel like I would never win an argument with you?” I grumbled.

“Because you wouldn’t,” he smirked, backing out. “I’m a Wentworth and we never lose an argument. It’s in our blood.”

I laughed at his comment. “Where are we going?” I asked, watching Pete’s Garage disappear behind us.

“To get lunch,” he answered, rubbing his stubbled jaw.

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks Einstein, but I knew that.”

“Just a little sandwich shop,” he shrugged. “Nothing fancy.”

We grew quiet and I let out a giggle.

“What?” Trace flicked his gaze to me.

“Do you think they’ve come up for air yet?” I asked, picturing the way Luca and Avery had been going at it when we left.

Trace chuckled. “Probably not. If anything…”

“What?” I questioned.

“They’re probably dirtying up the hood of his car,” he snorted.

“Oh! Ew!” I covered my eyes, trying to block out the mental image he’d conjured up.

Having a preacher for a father, talking about sex had been taboo in our house, making me a little squeamish on the topic. Even though I had lost my virginity at a party last year, it hadn’t been that great, and honestly it had happened so quick that I couldn’t quite remember it.

Trace chuckled. “You should see some of the dents in the hood.”

“Trace!” I squealed.

“Don’t hide your face,” he grabbed my left hand and tugged it down. Reluctantly, I let my right hand fall as well. “Your face is far too beautiful to hide,” his fingers skimmed over my chin before he gripped the steering wheel once more.

My cheeks flamed at his words and a fire shot through my belly, heading south.

Trace parked against the curb, and I climbed out of the car, avoiding his gaze.

How could he make me feel so fluttery inside when I had just met him?

He dug some change out of his pocket and put it in the parking meter.

I followed him inside the building like an obedient dog. He ordered his sandwich, and then looked over his shoulder at me, motioning me forward to order.

I shook my head, the braid bobbing against my shoulder. “Nice try.”

He glared at me, his green eyes darkening. “Olivia,” he said warningly, “order something to eat.”

“So demanding,” I grumbled, stepping forward and ordering the first thing I saw off the menu.

He leaned against the counter, handing his debit card to the woman working there.

“My mama raised me right,” he told me, “and that means you never let a lady pay for her own meal.”

“I think you already mentioned that,” I took one of the glasses of water the lady had placed on the counter.

“And apparently,” he grinned, slipping his wallet into his back pocket, “it didn’t get through your thick skull,” he tapped my forehead.

If he kept touching me, even if it was only silly little touches like this, I was going to melt into a puddle of goo.

He grabbed his own glass of water and we picked an empty table while we waited for our sandwiches to be made.

“I’ve been wondering something…” I paused, searching for the right words to ask my question.

“Ask away,” Trace grinned, tipping his chair back on two legs.

“Why did you stop to help me last night?” I bit my lip.

His smile widened. “Gentleman, remember?” He tapped his chest. “I wasn’t going to leave you on the side of the road, for anyone to stop, when I could help you.”

“Well, thank you,” I took a sip of water, wetting my suddenly dry mouth.

“It’s not a problem,” he shrugged, gripping his glass of water. His fingers were long and elegant, his arms sinewy.

I didn’t know what to say after that, so I chose to keep my mouth shut, before something embarrassing came out.

Our food was brought out, and my stomach rumbled to life. That Special K Bar Avery gave me hadn’t helped to satisfy my hunger.

“This is really good,” I commented, after swallowing my first bite.

“I thought you might like this place,” he took a massive bite of his own sandwich.

“It’s delicious,” I bit into the sandwich again, “and this place is really homey.” I glanced around the café.

“I don’t like to eat at the mainstream places,” Trace took a sip of water and my eyes followed the curve of his lips as they wrapped around the glass.

Oh, God. I was staring at his lips! What was wrong with me? I acted like I’d never been around the male species before! The one time I
needed
Avery and she ditched me! She was going to hear a rant from me later.

“They’re too overdone,” he finished, setting the glass back down.

I shook my head, forcing my eyes away from his full pouty lips.

“What’s overdone?” I asked. “Oh, right, mainstream restaurants,” I added. I
really
needed to stop looking at his lips, because I was getting flustered.

“You said you’re going to Shenandoah Universtity, right?” He asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

I nodded, tucking a piece of hair that had come loose from the braid, behind my ear.

“Are you a freshman?”

“Sophomore,” I answered. “Are you in school?” I asked. He didn’t look much older than me, but one never knew.

“Nah,” he let the napkin fall back to the table. “I was never big on school. Don’t get me wrong, I love to read, and history is cool, but I never liked it. I went to a technical school to work on cars, but that was easy for me since I had been around cars my whole life,” he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t like to study,” he added.

“Who does?” I smiled.

“True,” he grinned, and finished off the last bite of his sandwich.

I had only eaten half of mine and I was already stuffed.

“I can’t eat another bite,” I mumbled, pushing my plate away.

“I’ll get a box for you,” he hopped up from the table and headed towards the counter.

A moment later, he returned with a small box, handing it to me.

“Thanks for lunch,” I smiled gratefully, boxing the sandwich.

“It’s no problem,” he mumbled.

I tilted my head and studied him.

“What?” He squirmed under my gaze.

“You have a hard time saying you’re welcome, don’t you?”

He squirmed some more. “Maybe. It’s just…I don’t
expect
a thank you. When I do something, it’s because I want to, not because I want to be praised for it.”

“Hmm,” I mused.

“Are you sure you’re not a psych major?” He questioned.

“I’m sure,” I laughed. “I’m just observant. It comes from being shy.”

“Ah, I see,” he nodded.

I grabbed my purse and the to-go box before following him outside.

His car was low to the ground, and even though I was short, I felt like I had to perform contortions to get in there. I had no clue how Trace managed to duck his six-foot frame inside so easily.

“Am I going to see you again, after today?” Trace asked, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

“I don’t know,” I answered.

“I want to,” he confessed, looking at me through thick sooty lashes.

I swallowed. Trace wanted to see me? Trace, with his cocky smile, and those
lips
, wanted to see me, after today?

It didn’t seem possible.

I was plain old Olivia who no one ever noticed. I was a wallflower. A nobody.

But Trace noticed me.

In fact, he saw
me
.

“I’d like to see you, again,” I admitted.

That cocky grin graced his full lips. “Good.”

Trace parked his car in the same spot as it was before and we walked around to the front of the building. I was surprised to see that Luca and Avery weren’t still against the building. Maybe they
had
moved onto the hood his car. I really hoped they were done, if that was the case.

Luckily, they were sitting inside the small office that was attached to the garage, and all their clothes were in place.

“Avery!” I called, waving her over. “Let’s go!”

“Wait,” Trace grabbed my arm and a shiver skated up my spine. “What’s your number?”

I rattled off my cell phone number and he entered it into his phone. “I’ll call you,” he let go of my arm.

“Okay,” I smiled, hoping he would but believing deep down, that he wouldn’t.

Avery made her way out of the office, making sure to sway her hips in a tantalizing rhythm for Luca’s benefit.

I rolled my eyes at her and unlocked my Ford Focus.

“Thank you again,” I told Trace.

“It’s not a-”

“Problem, I know,” I interrupted him.

He grinned as I climbed into my car. Before I closed the door, I heard him say, “I’ll see you soon,” and my heart soared.

Avery got into the car, grinning like the Cheshire cat. I gave her a look to keep her mouth closed, as I backed out of the garage, praying I didn’t hit anything. It
would
be like me to get into an accident while I was still at the mechanics.

Luckily, I managed to get out of there without making a fool of myself, and poor Avery was about to jump out of her skin.

“How’d it go? Did you talk a lot?” She asked. “Or…not a lot?” She waggled her perfectly sculpted auburn colored brows.

“I think it went good,” I told her, but in my overactive girl brain I was already over analyzing everything. “We talked and he took me to lunch.”

“That sounds promising,” she fixed her lipstick in the mirror. “Did you get his number?”

“No, but he asked for mine,” I bit my lip, hard enough that it started bleeding.

Avery squealed, “This is good news! He asked for your number, which means he’s interested. Since you didn’t ask for his, you don’t seem desperate.”

“What if he doesn’t call?” I continued to nibble on my lip.

“Oh, he’ll call,” Avery smirked.

“How’d it go with Luca?” I asked, desperate to steer the conversation away from myself.

“Let me tell you, that man knows what he’s doing,” she fanned herself. “The things he can do with his tongue.
Wow
.”

“
Avery
,” I groaned.

“What? It didn’t go
that
far. Stop imagining dirty things, Olivia,” she laughed.

“Knowing you, I couldn’t imagine it dirty enough,” I eyed her.

“That’s very true,” she conceded. “Hopefully, I’ll be seeing much
more
of Luca, if you know what I mean.”

I wanted to bang my head against the steering wheel.

How Avery and I had ended up roommates and best friends was beyond me. We were so incredibly different. Sometimes, like now, I wanted to strangle the girl. But I couldn’t imagine not having her as a friend.

“And maybe you can see more of Trace,” she kicked off her heels and then brought her feet up to rest them on the dashboard, “and finally get laid so you’ll stop bitching all the time.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sometimes, I really think you’re a guy.”

“Hey, I have five brothers, so I practically have a dick,” she shrugged.

“It doesn’t mean you should act like you have one,” I reasoned.

“Touché,” she smirked, wiggling her red painted toes.

I parked my car in front of our dorm and grabbed my backpack out of the trunk. “I have to go,” I told her, slinging the heavy bag over my shoulder. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Later,” she called, heading in the opposite direction for her own class.

My phone vibrated in my back pocket with a text.

I pulled it out and smiled when I saw it was an unknown number.

Is it too soon to ask you out?

I don’t know.
I replied.

What if I said I want to see you tonight?

Are you desperate?
I asked.

No.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.
I wrote back.

I know. I just wanted to make you sweat a bit. ;)

You’re mean.

No, I’m a guy that you haven’t said yes to seeing again.

Yes.
I answered, hoping I didn’t come across as desperate.

But he had been the one to text me, not the other way around. Besides, I’d never dated before so I was completely clueless on how these things were supposed to work. Was it normal for a guy you’d just met to ask you out? I’d have to ask Avery later.

Tonight?
He asked.

I bit my lip. I was eager to say yes, but I knew that a mountain of homework was waiting for me tonight.

Friday night works better for me. How about the park?
I suggested, crossing my fingers that he wouldn’t cancel.

My phone sounded seconds later with his reply.
Sounds good. I’ll bring dinner. :)

I’m looking forward to it.

Me too.
He texted back.