Page 59 of Stone Coast

I rolled my eyes.

Olivia took another sip of her cosmopolitan and swallowed it down. She ordered another round from the bartender. With a wink and a smile, we had more drinks, lickety-split. All Olivia had to do was bat her eyelashes. Just about every man she met was instantly smitten—the bartender included. He wasn’t a bad-looking guy—6’2”, well built, nice teeth. If he played his cards right, he might get more than a tip from Olivia this evening.

"Do I seem different?” I asked.

"Well, yes, obviously.”

"How so?”

"You're a little more reserved.”

I almost spit out my drink. “Reserved? You call this reserved?”

"Unsure. But that's to be expected. You always kept your cards close to your chest. But now you seem cautious.”

"Did you ever get the sense that I was hiding something?”

“No. I don’t think so.” She leaned in and asked with penetrating eyes, “Were you hiding something?”

"How would I know?”

Olivia laughed. “You’ve always been pretty ballsy.”

“Ballsy?”

"I mean, you're my hero. You never took shit off anybody. So it doesn't surprise me that you killed a home intruder and tried to stop a liquor store robbery.” She smiled. "Do you remember how we met?”

I shook my head.

"A douchebag was hitting on me at Sand Bar. He started groping me, and you stepped in and threatened to kick his ass. The guy was 6’3”, 240 pounds. You didn't back down. He looked at you like you were crazy. But he walked away. You and I have been best friends ever since. I said, I gotta hang out with this girl. Anybody who’s willing to throw down in a bar to help a stranger has got to be a good person.”

"What do you really know about me?”

Olivia thought about it and sighed. "Well, I don't think you're a serial killer. You're sweet, funny, gorgeous…”

I blushed with modesty. "Did I ever talk about my past?”

"You told me that your parents died when you were a child, and you were bounced around foster homes for a while. I know that you work in IT. You’ve been dating Grayson for about a year and a half now. You thought he was the one. At least, that's what you told me.”

I frowned, still not able to connect with any emotions about Grayson whatsoever.

"Sorry. I understand if it's too soon to talk about that.”

"Did I mention anything to you about his affair?”

Olivia shook her head. "He seemed like the perfect guy.” Her lips scrunched. “Guess you never can tell.”

"So you never had any indication?”

"I'm as blindsided as you are. And I like to think I have good sense about that kind of thing. Lord knows I've been with my fair share of cheaters. You’d think I could spot them a mile away.”

A familiar face entered the bar.

I crouched behind Olivia, trying to make myself small. “Oh, great,” I groaned.

29

Olivia glanced over her shoulder to the door. “You know him?”