Bring the Heat by Margot Radcliffe (13 ebook reader .txt) 📕

in one, so I’m telling you that I’m all for it. Let’s be in one. If, of course, that is also amenable to you.”

Molly felt her eyes go round as she stared first into his face and then down at their joined hands. “Um, what?”

Oliver laughed. “Are you okay, Molly?”

“Oliver, we’ve barely spent any time together over the last seven years, I just got unengaged, we live completely separate lives, and you want to have a relationship?”

“Well, technically, I wanted to have a conversation about your hang-up about my money to make sure the way was clear so that we could have a shot at a relationship in the future, but since you pressed the issue of my terminology instead, then yes, the answer is I’d like to be in a relationship with you. Again, Molly, because I’ll remind you that we aren’t strangers.”

“So you don’t want to be in a relationship?” Christ, she knew she was making an ass out of herself, but some weird sort of hope was blooming in her chest and she wasn’t sure how to handle it.

He just raised a golden eyebrow at her bumbling.

“Why didn’t you tell me how wealthy you were when we dated the first time?” And the fact that he hadn’t had made her feel as if he hadn’t bothered trying to make her understand or let her be a part of it because he’d known she didn’t belong there.

Annoyance crept into his gaze. “I didn’t think it mattered.”

And, of course, it didn’t—not in changing the way she felt about him as a person—but Molly dealt in boots to the ground (or in space) reality. Their lives weren’t meant to mingle as they were on completely different planets and his omissions only proved it.

“It doesn’t, Oliver, but I don’t like feeling as if the things I have aren’t good enough for you, because I’ve worked really hard for them. You just dropped three hundred dollars on a golf cart ride. The last time I spent three hundred dollars at once was for tires on my car. We’re not living in the same space—you have to understand that.”

“I do understand that, Molly, which is why I want to talk about it. What can I do to make you comfortable with it? Because I’m not letting you go, Molly, not if you feel the same way about me as I do about you. So how does this work? You know how to make things work, so help me out here. Let’s communicate about these issues now, create a solid foundation and then figure out the rest, okay?”

Molly’s eyes closed and she took a deep, calming breath. Oliver made sense, but she felt like she was on the precipice of something she no longer had control over. As if agreeing to date him would be a step into something unknown and from which there was no way back.

“Honestly, I don’t know, Oliver,” she finally said because it was the truth. “I’m not even good at relationships, clearly, so I’m not really the authority, but I know myself enough to know that I like being on the yacht with you, but the rest of your life scares the living shit out of me. After we get off Chance and real life starts again, can you seriously see me at some society party? I’d stick out like a sore thumb and I have no interest in wasting my time that way.”

Oliver gripped her hands. “I’m done with that shit, Molly. That’s why I left.”

Molly pursed her lips because she doubted that was true. Oliver was a good person and he’d defied his parents once, but eventually he’d have to be a part of their lives.

So she just went with the truth because that’s who she was, too. “I want to be with you, Oliver. How about the first step is that we keep talking about this and hopefully eventually we’ll come up with a solution? Not all problems are solved overnight.”

A corner of Oliver’s mouth kicked up in wry amusement. “So what you’re saying is that I’m a big problem for you?”

Molly laughed and ran a hand up his ridged thigh to where he was growing hard in his pants. “Yeah, but I doubt you’re one I can’t solve.”

CHAPTER NINE

OLIVER LET MOLLY pay for their dinner because after their conversation in the limo he felt a little invincible. He’d put himself and his feelings out there and she hadn’t run screaming in the other direction. She hadn’t picked up a bat and immediately played ball, but she hadn’t completely been put off by the idea of a relationship, which was further than they’d been just a couple days ago.

He also felt like he might have a shot on the job front as well. He’d seen the spark of interest in her eyes as she contemplated how she would design an engine and hoped he could find a way around her thinking she’d be working for him instead of with him, which is what he truly intended to do. He wanted Molly as a partner, period.

Based on his progress, he was already figuring out what it would take for him to move his personal office to Denver, where she was. If she remained firm on the job, he still wanted to be in her life. And he actually liked Denver a lot, so living there would be great. Though he’d live anywhere as long as he was with Molly. For a guy who wasn’t big into entanglements or personal relationships, the way he felt about her was surprisingly not scary at all. Adjusting his life to be a part of hers felt like the most natural thing in the world. If he could find a way to make it more permanent and protect her from whatever his parents would do once they found out about her, he’d feel better about it. But she was safe for now even if the inevitable reality of his life threatened