“Absolutely.” I pull a business card out and hand it to her. I had them printed a few days ago along with my portfolio, right before my meeting with Malcolm. I’m happy that they’re coming in handy now, too. “Call me tomorrow and let’s talk some more.”
Kayla looks over her mom’s shoulder at the business card. Her eyes brighten. “You used the name I told you!”
I smile. “I wasn’t lying when I said it was a good idea.”
“Can I get one, too?” Another woman skips up to me and holds out her hand for a business card. “I’m not getting married,” she says as she takes a card from me. “But I run a nonprofit mostly by myself and I could use some help putting together events. Do you do that?”
“I do,” I tell her.
“How about a car show?” asks a guy who approaches behind Marie and the other woman. “Can you do something like that?”
“I can do any kind of event you need.” I hand him a business card, then look around as a small group forms around me. They all start telling me about what kind of events they need set up, and before I know it, I’m handing out the last of the business cards I brought with me.
Oliver waits for the people around me to leave before he approaches. “Someone’s extra popular this evening.”
“I think I just got a bunch of new customers,” I tell him. “Which is good, because I don’t think I can continue to work with Malcolm.”
He raises an eyebrow. “The chocolate crepes were that bad, huh?”
I laugh. Now that the room is mostly empty, we both head toward the exit. “I didn’t like the way he treated his employees. That, and I couldn’t get past his fancy sports car in the parking lot. Who does that at a charity?”
We reach my car. “It does seem a little tone deaf,” he agrees.
“Not to mention he asked me out, then immediately pretended he didn’t when I rejected him.”
I can’t help but notice Oliver’s smile gets a little wider when I say this. “Why did you reject him? Doesn’t every girl want to date a guy with a fancy sports car?”
I roll my eyes. “I guess I prefer real noses.”
His eyes go wide with pretend excitement. “I have a real nose!”
I clasp my hands together over my heart. “Wow. I guess you’re perfect for me.”
“Come on,” he says, elbowing me. “Let’s get dinner.”
“I can’t,” I tell him. “I’m meeting up with Tina.”
It’s been a while since she and I have gone over her plans. I have a new idea that I want to pitch to her.
“Oh. Cool. I guess I’ll see you at the next practice then,” he says.
“Or the next time I need to rush over to your house because I accidentally lied to Tina about where I am.”
“Whichever comes first,” he says.
He takes a step closer, and before I know what he’s doing, his chest is pressed against mine and his arms are wrapped around me. I can feel his muscles through his shirt. When I breathe in, I can smell his cologne, or maybe it’s his bodywash. Whatever it is, it smells good. It smells like him.
When he pulls back, he takes a lock of my hair with him and brings it up to his nose. “You smell good,” he says.
“Okay, weirdo,” I say with a laugh, even though I was just thinking the same thing about him. I pull my hair away from him and run my fingers through it to smooth my curls out. His eyes dip down, watching my fingers. My gaze lands on his mouth. I think about the way his lips feel against mine. I find myself wishing that I could feel his kiss without it being a show for our friends. I need to put a stop to these thoughts. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. This is Oliver, of all people. I know we have a truce, but deep down, we still can’t stand each other… right?
“I have to go,” I tell him.
“Have fun,” he says. He takes a step back so that I can get into my car. He waits for me to pull out of the parking lot before he gets in his truck.
I meet Tina at a little Indian restaurant a few blocks away. It’s in the basement of a brownstone building downtown.
“How did it go tonight?” she asks once we both have our plates in front of us.
