Page 77 of Deception

Those things, however, weren’t her biggest concerns.

All she could think about was Jason. The fact he was here. The fact he’d ridden into town like Prince Charming and saved her. The fact he was in her hotel room right now.

She almost felt shy as she sent him a tentative smile. She hadn’t ever been called shy. Sometimes quiet. Sometimes introverted. But never shy.

He sat on the couch. He didn’t have his phone in his hand or a computer on his lap.

His expression seemed to show he’d simply been waiting for her to emerge, like nothing else mattered.

Olive lowered herself a respectable distance away. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He reached for her, gently pushing away some strands of hair as he examined the cut on her neck. “We should probably put something on that.”

“It looks like you just so happen to have a first aid kit.”

His cheek twitched as if he wanted to smile but couldn’t. “Never leave home without one.”

“Funny, in the years I’ve known you, I never saw you as a Boy Scout.”

“I wasn’t. But, of course, my fatherwasa doctor.” He offered a half shrug.

“He’s not anymore?” Olive hadn’t thought to ask the question earlier. Mostly because she figured his father would want nothing to do with Olive after her own father had scammed the family out of twenty thousand dollars.

“I thought I told you. After my mom passed, since all the kids were out of the house, Dad decided to take a job doing home health down in Florida. Said he needed a change.”

“I see.”

“He seems to like it. He’s even been seeing someone—a woman named Trish—and he acts really happy.”

“I’m glad.”

Jason began to dab some ointment on her wound. Olive ignored the sting.

“I know Chelsea still lives here. How about your other siblings?” Jason had two sisters and two brothers, all adopted.

“Dominic still lives here also. He owns a storage facility on the outskirts of town. When he’s not managing that, he runs a lawncare business as well.”

“Good for him.” Olive turned her gaze away from him when she realized how close he was. Close enough that she could see golden flecks in his eyes. That she could smell his woodsy cologne. That she could easily reach forward and touch the day’s growth on his cheeks.

All. Bad. Ideas. Bad, bad ideas.

“My other siblings moved away,” Jason continued. “I guess you could say there are limited job opportunities around here.”

“I guess.” Her voice sounded strained as she said the words.

Though it was good to hear updates on his family, Olive also knew she was just wasting time . . . delaying the inevitable conversation.

Jason dabbed the last bit of ointment on her throat. “Let’s let it air out before we put a bandage on it.”

“Sounds good.”

He picked up a clear bag filled with ice. “In the meantime, I grabbed this from the machine down the hall. You might want to put it on your cheek. I also grabbed a towel from the housekeeping cart to wrap around it.”

“Thank you.” Olive lifted the ice and put it to her cheek.

She’d envisioned the possibility that she and Jason would see each other again sometime. But never in a million years had she imagined their meeting would be like this.

As she glanced at him, she knew they had a more serious conversation that needed to take place.