Page 7 of Devil in the Details

Olive

F or the next twenty minutes, we ate our meal and did small talk.

We didn’t discuss anything personal, and I wondered if he was conscious of that fact like I was.

We mainly talked about how we liked living in the city, how our food was, that Michael and David really seemed to like each other, and I realized Pope was a pretty down-to-earth guy.

This blind date was actually turning out to be pretty incredible, but I didn’t feel any vibes coming from him, none that gave me the impression he was into me the way I was into him.

And honestly, that kind of sucked, because I was really liking him.

“Can I be honest?”

I was mid-bite, nearly finished with my burger, when he spoke. He was done with his meal, was working on his second beer, and had his focus trained on me when I glanced up at him.

“I prefer honesty over bullshit,” I said after I swallowed. Of course, if I weren’t feeling pretty damn loose right now from the drinks, I probably would have had a better filter, especially on a first date.

He grinned. “I like that you don’t mince your words. It’s refreshing, especially when I deal daily with people having their noses up my ass and spouting off their bullshit.”

I laughed softly. “I wouldn’t know anything about people kissing my ass, but I definitely know all about the bullshit part.” I shrugged. We hadn’t really talked about personal stuff, but I still felt like I knew Pope. It was a little unnerving, but I also kind of liked it.

“Count yourself lucky,” he said seriously. He glanced down at his glass. I followed his line of vision to where his hand rested on the base of his glass.

“So what did you want to be honest with me about?” I could only imagine how this would go, how he’d tell me this was nice but he wasn’t looking for anything serious.

“When David brought up the whole blind date thing, the only reason I agreed was because he asked—well, pestered me about it really. I wasn’t interested in finding anyone. I wasn’t interested in dating in general.”

And here it was. Might as well be honest with him too. But not before I finished off this beer and ordered something else to soften the blow.

“I get it.” This kind of sucked, if I were being honest. “When Michael set this up, I wasn’t looking forward to it.

My life is so.... hectic right now that getting involved with anyone but myself is kind of a disaster waiting to happen.

” I shrugged, looked for the waitress, and signaled her over when she was done with the table she was helping.

I looked back at Pope. He watched me like he... knew me. And although I was being honest about not wanting a relationship, I was having such a great time that I actually would’ve loved to spend more time with him, even if my life was legit a wreck right now.

“I get it. Believe me.”

Silence filled the space between us, as if we both knew being in a relationship wasn’t really what we wanted at the moment.

Although I didn’t admit I’d like to see him again, that I was having a great time and almost questioning whether I actually did want a relationship right now.

Because that would be stupid. That would be insane.

He cleared his throat and shifted a little bit, bringing his glass to his mouth and taking a long drink. He was milking the hell out of it, whereas I was sucking them down like I was in the Mojave Desert dying of thirst.

“So what do you do?” Here we go. Time to be honest and tell him that I was unemployed, because I’d gotten fired and had been turned down at two interviews in the same day.

“Well, I’m actually in-between jobs right now, but by trade I’m an administrative assistant.” That sounded way fancier than saying personal assistant or secretary.

He gave me a genuinely warm smile, and I brought the glass to my mouth and finished off my beer. Where was the damn waitress? I needed a refill STAT.

“Administrative assistant... that takes some patience.”

“You’re telling me,” I mumbled under my breath. “What about you?”

“I’m a CFO.”

“CFO? Sounds important,” I said honestly.

He chuckled deeply. “Chief financial officer. I manage and oversee my company’s investment portfolio, as well as many other things that fall under the finance umbrella.”

Yeah. He was important at his business.

“But honestly, a lot of the time, it’s just a bunch of people kissing ass, because they think it’s going to help them in the long run.”

I nodded, understanding fully. “So you’re into numbers?” The look he gave me told me he was.

“Yeah, ever since I was little. I’m pretty good at them, so I figured I might as well make a career out of it.”

“Makes sense.” I smiled and felt my cheeks heat, which had a little to do with how I felt toward Pope, and a lot to do with me drinking.

“So where do you work? I assume the financial district. Michael didn’t say much of anything before the blind date, to be honest. I got your first name and that was it. ”

He chuckled. “Yeah, same thing I got from David. I do work in the financial district. The clothes give it away?”

I shrugged and smiled. “A little.”

He opened his mouth, presumably to tell me where he worked, but the waitress showed up just in that moment.

Thank God. I needed another drink, because I was starting to feel antsy.

It wasn’t a bad kind of nervousness, but the kind you felt when you were having a really good time with a really attractive guy.

“Can I get another beer?” I pushed over my empty glass and looked at Pope. I was hoping he’d get another one as well so I didn’t feel like such a lush.

He lifted his glass and nodded. “Another one, please.”

For the next hour, we talked about anything and everything, although I was pretty closed off on the personal side of things, as was he.

And I liked it that way. I knew getting to know someone and what made them tick was pretty important on a first date, but I wasn’t about to admit I’d been fired or any of the other stuff that followed.

And I wasn’t going to let those shitty happenstances ruin the good time I was having. I hadn’t had one of these in a while and it was... nice.

I was on my fourth beer when I realized I needed to put a stop to it. I was starting to feel drunk. With the numerous beers on top of the numerous heavily spiked shakes, I was feeling really tipsy.

I probably should’ve been smart enough to stop two beers ago and switched it up to some water, but I had a feeling I wasn’t going to see Pope again, and I was having a good time.

And the fact that I wasn’t embarrassing myself yet made me decide I might as well just keep the party going.

Pope

It wasn’t my place to tell her to slow down, that she was drinking her weight in booze. I didn’t need her to tell me whatever was bothering her was heavy. But her smiles and laughs were genuine, and I liked hearing them. I liked the way they made me feel.

The truth was I hadn’t even wanted to go on this blind date. This wasn’t my scene. Dating was a here and there kind of situation, a “when I had time for it” thing.

But when David had brought it up to me, pestered me if I were being honest, I gave in and decided it couldn’t be that bad. One night. A few hours. It wasn’t like I didn’t need to let loose. The work I did day in and day out could drain you to the marrow.

I didn’t know what I’d been expecting in my date, but it wasn’t the woman sitting in front of me.

Olive was funny and witty, her snarkiness a turn-on. She was gorgeous, with a mane of dark hair that curled at the ends and eyes so blue I idly wondered if the color was real.

Going on this blind date, I had no intentions of seeing her again.

I agreed to come for the sake of my brother, but shit, I wanted to see Olive again.

I wanted to get to know her, to know what she liked and disliked, what her strengths and weaknesses were.

I wanted to know a lot of things about her.

In fact, the short time I’d been in her company, I couldn’t stop wondering what she looked like naked. .. how she sounded when she came.

My thoughts turned fucking obscene and filthy pretty damn quickly. It made me feel a little bit ashamed I was letting them go there, but not ashamed enough to try and stop them.

She pushed her empty beer glass aside and exhaled slowly. Her cheeks were red, her eyes glossy.

She was drunk.

“I should’ve stopped three beers ago,” she said, and there was a slight slur in her voice.

“You’re letting loose. I get it. Believe me.”

She smiled slowly, and I knew for a fact that she didn’t realize how fucking hot she looked when she did it.

I wanted to tell her too, wanted to invite her back to my place. But she was drunk, and no fucking way was I going there. No fucking way would I even contemplate taking advantage of her. She deserved better. And I wanted her fully with it when I asked her out for a second date.

Which I planned on doing.

And I wanted her fucking sober when I finally had her... which I would.

I’d already decided that. No matter what, this wouldn’t be the only time I saw Olive.