“Yep. If he’s not flying down to Nome, she’s flying up to Hope’s Point. Doogie is making a fortune on those two. Eventually they’re going to have to settle on a place, but Kate wants to take things a slowly. Daniels wants her locked down sooner rather than later, but he’s willing to give her the time she needs.”
Olivia snorted. “Locked down. You make it sound like he’s buying a car instead of dating a woman.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, here we go. Did I offend your feminine sensibilities? I just meant he would marry her tomorrow if he could.”
“That seems…fast.”
“Yeah, but I guess when you’re in love and shit, time is relative.”
“And are you?”
I looked at her again. Her head was turned away even though she’d asked the question.
“Am I in love?” That was a hell of a question.
“With Jenny.”
I should tell her the truth. That we were friends and nothing more. But I felt like it was information she didn’t need to have. What did it matter to her if I was or was not in love with Jenny? When I had told Olivia about Jenny the first time, Olivia had wished me luck. Completely unfazed by the idea of me going out with anyone else.
“Why do you want to know?”
She shifted in her seat. “I was just curious.”
“If I remember correctly you said you hoped she was everything I wanted her to be.”
“And is she?” she pressed.
“Jenny’s special. I’ll leave it at that.”
We drove for another mile before Olivia opened her mouth again.
“Special but not serious.”
“Jesus, Liv, give it a break already. I don’t go around asking you about your love life.”
Shit. Did Olivia have a love life?
“Like hell you don’t. You’re constantly accusing me of throwing myself at the guys at camp.”
“No, I’m accusing you of stirring them up with those damn tight skirts and high heels.”
“And we’re going to argue about this again,” she said with a deep sigh.
“No, we aren’t. I get it. You’re trying to make your point. And every man who works at the camp should be able to control himself and not lose his shit just because of what a woman wears. But reality is reality and if a man, who hasn’t been around a woman in a couple months, gets it into his head that you’re available, I’m afraid of you getting hurt. Can you at least understand that?”
“You’re afraid. Are you kidding me? I’m a female engineer. I’ve spent my entire adult life around men who typically don’t hang out around a lot of women. I come here every time knowing there is a risk. Think about that, Noah. Think about doing your job every day with the threat of sexual assault or rape hanging over your head.”
I snapped my teeth closed because she had a point.
“These are my choices,” she continued. “Leave Dyson, make myself look more like a man in the hope I will fool them, or be my damn self. The skirts I wear and the shoes I wear are business appropriate. Right now, we’re headed out to the rig, which means a boat trip, into a situation that could be potentially dangerous, so I’m dressed appropriately for that.”
I glared at her. “I’m not intentionally taking you into a dangerous situation.”
“I saidpotentially, and you can’t deny that there could be trouble because Iknowyou wouldn’t have calledmefor any other reason.”
“Do you have a damn boyfriend or not?” I asked frustrated entirely when she was right. “I think that’s how this all started.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “No. Work doesn’t really leave a lot of time for that sort of thing.”
