Page 8 of Accidental Theirs (Alpha Billionaire Daddies #6)

Chapter Eight

DOMINIC

I look down at my phone. I’m a pathetic clown.

Thirteen sent text messages, all on read.

Twelve voice mails left, until her voicemail was full.

I groan and press the heels of my hands into my eyes until I see stars.

I slowly drop them and wish I hadn’t given up booze for the week after overdoing it the other night when I saw Olivia for the first time in too long.

I pinch the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger, trying to head off a headache.

I haven’t been eating enough. Sleeping enough. I’ve been a fucking mess, honestly.

It didn’t hit me right after I broke it off. It was delayed and hit me like a freight train a few weeks later. So, I changed my life. I worked hard to get where I am, but if I can’t get her to even talk to me...

I know she spends most of her days at Carter Holdings. I don’t have a good excuse to go there but, so be it.

It’s around four when I walk into Carter Holdings and meet Roland at the desk .

“Not you again,” he groans, and I draw in a deep breath.

“I’m here on business.”

“Liar.” He gives me a small smile, though, and I can tell he’s not as irritated as he seems. “She’s had a long day. Let me go and introduce you, see if she’ll see you.”

I nod tightly. It’s the best I can hope for, really.

He disappears into her big office and hushed whispers come through the door. Nothing I can make out, unfortunately.

I rub my palms on my slacks, waiting.

Roland exits the office and nods at me, and I sigh, walking into her office without knocking.

“What are you doing here, Dominic?” She stands up. “I was just leaving.”

“I’ll walk you out.”

She stands there, staring at me with her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

I just give her my best smile, and she sighs, grabbing her laptop bag and purse and walking past me out of the office.

I follow closely behind, not sure what to say now that I have her attention.

“You didn’t bring your car?”

She shrugs. “I live right across the street. Seems pointless to drive to work.”

She struggles a little with her laptop bag, and I take it from her.

She huffs but doesn’t protest.

I expect her to make small talk as we walk, but nothing. She keeps her mouth shut.

“I’m sorry that I keep showing up. It’s just that... I want to talk to you.”

“If it's about getting back together, you can hang it up.” She pauses, looking at me with narrowed eyes. “And that is what it’s about, right? ”

“Not... exactly.”

She snorts and unlocks her door with the key, leaving the door open as she goes inside as if expecting me to follow.

Her apartment is even messier than I’d expected, clothes everywhere, cat hair all over the furniture.

“I know, I know,” she fusses, trying to clean up. “I’m worse than Ford.”

I chuckle.

I roomed with her brother, Ford, back in college, and they’re both two of the messiest people I’ve ever met. At least with Olivia, you can blame it on working too much.

What excuse does Ford have?

I put down her laptop bag. “I just wanted to have a conversation.”

She turns, crossing her arms over her chest. “Then talk.”

I stare at her, at a loss for words for a moment.

Then I sigh. “I still love you.”

She turns her gaze away, a bitter chuckle coming from the back of her throat. “I wish that mattered.”

“It does matter, Liv…”

She holds up her hands. “You know it’s a long shot.”

“Of course, I do, but?—”

“But nothing, Dominic! I’ve got too much going on right now to let you back into my life.”

I tilt my head. “You mean the merger?”

“Of course, I mean the merger. Everything is topsy turvy, and I don’t know which way is up.”

I take a couple of steps closer. “I wouldn’t lie to you, Liv. The merger is something Titan is behind one hundred percent.”

She bites at her lip. “And you know that for a fact?”

I nod. “I’m high enough at Titan that I get all the important documents.”

She blinks. “Are you... proud? Of work? ”

“Is that so surprising?”

“Coming from you? Yeah.”

“I told you I changed.”

“Maybe you have.”

My heart soars.

Does this mean she’s going to accept me back into her life?

“It doesn’t matter,” she says quickly, and my hopes are dashed. “What matters right now is Carter Holdings.”

“The merger?—”

Olivia paces around the living room. “I don’t want to talk about the merger. It stresses me out. And you wanting to get back together? Stresses me out.”

My shoulders slump. “I don’t want to stress you out.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

I groan. “It really wasn’t my intention to put more on your plate, Liv. I’m on your side.”

“Are you? Seems weird, since we’ve barely talked in years.”

“And whose fault is that? You wouldn’t answer my calls.”

She glares at me. “You left me! You broke me, Dom. So, you don’t get a say in how I put myself back together.”

I hold out my hands, my heart dropping to my toes.

“You’re right. I’ll go.”

She grabs my wrist as I turn away. “You don’t have to go. I didn’t ask you to go.”

“You want me to stay?” My heart does a little backflip.

“Want is a strong word,” she mumbles, and then plops down on the couch. “I just don’t want to be alone.”

“Then you don’t have to be. What do you have in the fridge? You need help?”

She doesn’t even open her eyes. “Two eggs and maybe some mayonnaise.”

“Yum,” I drawl, and she bursts out laughing.

It feels good, making her laugh, sitting down next to her on the couch. It’s something to hold on to when I’m alone at night.

She sighs. “I can order pizza.”

“I’ll do it. Pepperoni and mushroom, right?”

She smiles, still with her eyes closed. She looks exhausted.

“You remember.”

“I remember everything.”

She opens her eyes, finally lifting her head to look at me.

“You’re really determined about this whole thing.”

“About what? About you?”

“Yeah.”

I snort. “Of course, I am. You don’t let a beautiful, wonderful woman like you slip through your fingers without a little determination to get her back.”

“You weren’t determined about much, before.”

“I wasn’t.” I draw her legs into my lap, and she doesn’t protest.

I rub at the arch of her foot, and she moans, arching her back and sending a shiver of pleasure down my spine.

“So, why are you now?” She sounds sleepy but still determined.

I chuckle. “Figured out what I lost.”

“You didn’t lose me. You left me.”

“I know. It was a mistake.”

“Why was it a mistake?”

“Because I’m miserable without you.” I rub her foot harder, and she wiggles in my grasp.

“Tickles.”

I grin wickedly and tickle her some more until she nearly kicks me in the face.

“If I’d kicked you, you’d have deserved it.”

I laugh. “Maybe so.”

I keep rubbing her feet until she shifts again, lying on her side to watch television .

“The merger,” she starts, her words slurred with exhaustion. “It’ll be okay?”

“It’ll be okay.”

I’m telling the truth. As far as I know, Titan is completely on board with everything going on.

I’m a bit surprised that Olivia agreed to the terms, given that they’ll have a majority on the board, but she did the right thing.

It’ll keep Carter Holdings from going under. I’m sure she knows that. She knows everything that goes on at Carter Holdings.

“If you’re lying to me, Dom?—”

“I don’t lie to you.” It’s true. Everything I’d told her when I left had been true... at the time.

She hums and after a few moments, she falls asleep on the couch, clearly not having slept well. The bags under her pale green eyes give her away.

I watch whatever dumb reality show she has on in the background for a couple of hours before getting restless. I get up, order a couple of pizzas, and by the time they arrive, Olivia has woken up from her nap.

She sits up, rubbing at her eyes. “You’re still here?”

“You asked me to stay.”

She blinks. “I guess I did.” She sniffs the air. “I smell pizza.”

“I got nasty mushrooms just for you.”

“How dare you tarnish mushrooms’ good name?”

I chuckle and place a couple of plates down, giving her two slices of the pepperoni and mushroom while I eat a regular cheese.

She digs in, eating well, and I can’t help but feel a little pride.

She asked me to stay. She’s letting me take care of her. That’s a lot for someone like Olivia .

“What changed your mind?” she asks, and I turn, frowning with my mouth full.

“About what?”

“About me. You seemed pretty sure when you broke things off.”

“I was an idiot.”

She snorts. “Fair enough, but seriously. I’m curious. What changed?”

“My whole life, I’ve never met anyone that I needed so badly. I didn’t even realize it until you were gone. I thought about you every day. Wondered how you were, worried you were with someone else.”

“That’s what you get,” she mumbles, but she doesn’t sound vicious or mean. In fact, she seems almost curious as she looks up at me.

“Didn’t say I didn’t deserve it.”

“And now, what? You just want things to go back to the way they were?”

I shake my head fiercely. “No. Nothing like that. I want us to start over. I want to be a better man from the beginning, not when it’s too late.”

“And if I don’t want to start over again?”

“I’ll wait until you’re ready.”

“What if I’m never ready?”

I grit my teeth. “That’s a possibility I’m prepared for. But I’m not going to let you go easily, Liv. Not again.”

“If we start over, we start over as friends.”

I look at her, frowning. “Friends?”

She nods. “My mother always said I should be friends with my lovers first, and I never believed her. But now that she’s gone, I think I’m going to take her advice.”

“So, we can be friends and lovers?” I ask hopefully, and she shakes her head, smiling.

“Nothing like that. Just friends. ”

“Just friends.”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” She sounds almost proud of herself, and I can’t help but chuckle.

“You’ve got me right where you want me, don’t you?”

“Maybe.”

She’s grinning, and I haven’t seen her smile like this in so long.

I want to kiss her so badly, but I know this isn’t the right time. She’s not ready.

We’re friends.

“Okay, then.” I stick out my hands. “Friends.”

She shakes it enthusiastically. “Friends.”

“Do friends get to eat your ice cream?”

“One bowl.”

“I’ll take it.”

I get up and make us a couple of bowls, bringing one back to her, and she grins wider, digging in when I hand her the bowl.

I stay for another hour, helping clean up a bit and ushering her to her bedroom.

“What if I asked you to stay the night?”

I freeze in the doorway, conflicted. “What?”

She giggles. “Don’t look so scared. I’m not going to ask you to stay.”

Well, shit. I was hoping she would.

Baby steps.

“I’m just tucking you in and going home.”

“You’re not even tempted?” She shifts on the bed where she’s crawled on top of the covers.

Her pajama shorts ride up and show a hint of her curved ass.

I groan. “Of course, I’m tempted. But you want to be friends. Just friends.”

“Just friends.” She puts her head down on the pillow .

I walk out and flip the light off before turning back when she calls my name.

“I’m glad we’re friends,” she says quietly, and I give her a smile before shutting the door and drawing in a deep breath.

It’s not that I’m not grateful that things are progressing, but being just friends with Olivia Carter will be one of the hardest things I’ll ever do.