Oliver (Project Arma Book 7)

“It’s busy.”

Busy was probably an understatement. Tori almost had to yell to be heard over the noise of the people and music. There was barely any space to move in the full bar.

“This is only my second time here. It was just as busy then too. I hear the place is popular.”

Yeah, Tori could tell.

She trailed behind Maya as they moved deeper into the bar. The place had booths along opposite walls, a huge dance floor in the middle, as well as bar tables scattered around the space.

Oliver and Bodie had arrived with them, entering first. They headed toward the booth where more of their teammates sat.

Maya came to a stop beside a high circular table with two other women standing around it. One of them Tori recognized as Quinn; the other, she hadn’t seen before. She had stunning red hair and a huge smile.

Quinn leaned across the table. “Where’s your drink?”

“We decided to find you first,” Maya said.

The redheaded woman shook her head before looking at Quinn. “Their priorities are clearly out of whack.”

“I need a fresh drink anyway,” Quinn said before grabbing Maya’s arm. She looked to Tori. “What’s your drink?”

“Whiskey sour, please.”

The words were out of her mouth before she had a chance to think about them. Okay. Well, her subconscious knew her drink.

“Great.”

Quinn yanked Maya toward the bar, leaving Tori with the gorgeous redhead. She chuckled. Maya was going to the bar whether she wanted to or not.

The woman smiled at Tori. “I’m Lexie, by the way. Or as some of the group now refer to me, baby mama.”

“I’m Tori. Where’s your little one tonight?”

“Shylah and Eden are babysitting so Mom and Dad can have a night off. Not sure how long I’ll be able to keep calling him a baby though, he keeps getting bigger.” An almost sad look crossed her face. “Asher’s the dad. He’s over there with the guys. Not sure if you’ve met the hunky specimen of a man?”

“I have.” And he was quite hunky. All the guys were. But none of them commanded Tori’s attention like Oliver.

“I know what you’re thinking. They’re all good-looking. Heck, they could star in a ‘shirtless men’ calendar. It would sell everywhere. The guys would become millionaires.” She lifted her glass to her lips. “Not that they need the money.”

She mumbled the last part before taking a sip.

“Because of their business?”

Now that she thought about it, Oliver’s home was very big and new. It had to be expensive.

Lexie nodded. “Mm.”

Was it Tori, or was there something strange about the way she’d answered? Noncommittally.

Evie came to stand beside Lexie. “Hey, guys.”

Lexie threw her arms around the other woman in a bear hug. “My favorite bride-to-be. How are the wedding plans coming?”

Evie grinned as they separated. “Good. Now that we have a location and a date, we can finally lock in other stuff.”

Tori offered the woman a smile when she looked her way. “You’re getting married?”

Evie nodded, excitement reflecting in her green eyes. “To Luca. Rocket, to the guys.”

“Because he’s fast,” Lexie explained, shouting across the table.

Tori was almost certain they were all fast. “Do you know why they call Oliver ‘Ax’?”

The women looked at each other before shaking their heads. Guess that was one Tori would need to figure out on her own.

Maya and Quinn returned with the drinks and the women began to chat. Tori found herself immersed in the conversation. The women were friendly and welcoming and made her feel comfortable without even trying. They were also entertaining. Quinn, in particular, was keeping the group laughing with her crazy stories.

Tori tried not to search out Oliver, but it was just about impossible. He was sitting in a booth not far away with five of the guys. She swore she could feel his gaze on her every so often. It was searing. The one time her gaze had clashed with his, her heart had jackhammered in her chest.

She’d had to look away.

Quinn had loaned her a short red dress for the night. It was tight, showing off every curve. She’d pulled her hair up, exposing her bare shoulders. When Tori had stepped downstairs earlier, Oliver’s eyes had slid over her outfit. She could have sworn she saw them darken.

Tori’s abdomen had immediately heated. She’d itched to close the distance between them. Seal her lips to his. She needed to grow some more courage first.

What would have happened if she’d done what she wanted? Would he have kissed her back?

“Let’s dance.”

Quinn was pulling Maya out onto the dance floor before the words had left her mouth. Maya immediately reached back, snagging Tori’s wrist. She barely had time to put her glass on the table. Then she was dancing with her new friends. Letting her body move to the up-tempo music and temporarily forgetting about everything that had been weighing on her.

The crowd was thick, and bodies were hot against her, but she found herself getting lost to the beat.

When strong hands grabbed her waist, a smile touched Tori’s lips. Had Oliver been watching and decided to join her? She stepped back into him.

The smile slipped. Her body stilled. The man wasn’t tall enough to be Oliver. His chest not as toned.

Tori turned around. The stranger’s hands remained on her hips. He smiled down at her, his eyes glazed over. Drunk.

Tori pressed her hands to his chest, attempting to push him away, but he didn’t budge. In fact, he pulled her closer. His alcohol-infused breath brushing across her face.

“Please take your hands off me,” Tori said firmly.

The guy chuckled. “Come on, babe. Dance with me. I’ve been watching you for a while. No other guy seems to have claimed you.”

Claimed her?

When his groin rubbed against her, she was moments from kneeing him between the legs. Then a hard, hot body pressed against her back.

There was no mistaking the man this time.

“She’s with me. Let her go before I break your wrists, asshole.” Oliver’s voice sounded of barely contained rage. It was a tone she hadn’t heard him use up until now.

She snuck a peek up at him, and sure enough, he looked as angry as he sounded.

The guy’s hands remained on her waist for another second. She felt Oliver tense. Then her hips were released, the man’s grip quickly replaced by Oliver’s large, warm hands.

The guy raised his hands in surrender, stepping back. “Didn’t know, buddy.”

“Next time a woman says no, you step away. Got it?”

Fear flashed across the guy’s face. He nodded vigorously as he took another step back. Then he was gone.

Tori turned around. “Thank you. But I had it handled, you know. The guy was a second away from a pair of bruised balls.”

Oliver’s gaze remained fixed over her head for a beat. Then he was looking down at her. The intensity still there but the anger easing. “Are you okay?”

She placed her hands on his chest. “I told you, I had it handled.”

Instead of dropping his hands from her waist, he snaked them around her back, pulling her close. Unlike the last guy’s touch, Oliver’s felt intimate, making heat hum through her bloodstream.

“Broken bones probably make a bigger impression than bruised balls.”

Tori rolled her eyes but couldn’t help smiling. “You wouldn’t really have broken his wrists.”

Oliver remained silent.

Tori studied him, frowning. He wasn’t serious…was he?

He looked like he was. Deadly serious.

Swallowing, she diverted her gaze back to his chest. They started to rock slowly to the music. It was at complete odds with the up-tempo song. Yet there wasn’t a single part of her that wanted to change anything.

His mouth lowered to her ear. “You’re killing me in that dress.”

Her skin tingled in awareness. “Would it be a good death?”

“The best.” He nuzzled her hair. “You smell good too. It’s making me want things I shouldn’t.”

Like her? She wanted to ask if it would be so bad for him to have her. But indecision rendered her silent. Tori didn’t know how long this version of Oliver would last. The relaxed Oliver. The Oliver who didn’t hesitate to touch her and whisper sweet things into her ear. So she rested her head on his chest and enjoyed it. Enjoyed the feel of his hands on her waist. His heart beating under her ear.

She didn’t know how long they’d been swaying before he broke the silence. “You do things to me that no one has done before.”

She sucked in a quick breath. That was good, right?

Nibbling her bottom lip, she wanted to ask him something. Something she was pretty sure she knew the answer to but needed confirmation.

“Did we…have sex? That Saturday night?”

She was kind of hoping she was wrong. That she wasn’t the kind of person who slept with a man the day she’d met him.

Casual sex…that’s what it was called, right?

She felt the tiniest bit of tightening in his body. “Yes. We did.”

Tori tried not to react to his words. She’d basically known as much. But still, a part of her was disappointed that she was the kind of person to do that.

She also didn’t understand how she didn’t remember. How had she been intimate with him, yet didn’t have a single recollection of the man?

“I wish I could remember.” She spoke her thoughts out loud.

“You will.”

“We didn’t make any plans to see each other again? After?”

Another question she knew the answer to. Still, she wanted to hear him say it. “We didn’t. We swapped contact details though.”

At least they’d done that much.

For the first time in a while, she looked up. Fixed her eyes on his intense green ones.

Did he know about Adrien’s abilities? His extra strength and speed? If he did, he hadn’t said anything. But then, neither had she.

“Has Wyatt found out anything about me?”

Like who the heck I am?

“No.”

She nodded. Swallowed her disappointment. “I’m nervous.”

His brows pulled together. “About not remembering everything? You will—”

“No. About remembering and not liking who I am.”

Oliver stopped swaying. For a moment, he seemed to hesitate over his words. The hesitation hurt. “It’ll be okay.”

It’ll be okay. Not “you’ll like who you are” or “you have nothing to worry about”.

Oliver couldn’t say that…because he had the same concerns.

Tori slid her hand up his shoulder to the back of his neck. Her eyes dipped, almost not wanting to see what was in his. “Whatever happened in the past, whoever I was, there’s one thing I am sure about. I couldn’t have faked this.”

This being them. Their chemistry. Connection.

When Oliver remained silent, she risked a peek at his face. She saw heat in his eyes. Then, to her surprise, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers.

The music, the people, everything that Tori had found so loud earlier, softened.

His lips moved against hers, causing her belly to do a little flop. She swayed into him, enjoying the melding of their mouths. The hypnotic passion the kiss ignited.

His tongue gently nudged her lips apart. A sigh tried to escape but got caught in her throat as they tasted each other.

Tori gripped him tighter, wishing she could stay right here, kissing this man forever.

“I can’t stop wanting you,” Oliver whispered when their lips separated.

She sucked in quick breaths. “I feel it too.”

He pressed his temple to hers.

Tori was close to touching her lips to his again. But he stepped back. Disappointment dropped like a weight in her gut. Oliver scrubbed a hand over his face.

Was he frustrated? Annoyed that he was attracted to her?

Tori stepped out of his embrace, his arms immediately dropping. “I’m just going to go to the bathroom.” She thought it might hurt less if she broke the connection first.

It didn’t.

Turning, Tori negotiated her way through the crowd.

Stupid. For a second, she actually forgot that the guy didn’t trust her. Forgot that he saw her differently than she saw him.

Madly blinking the tears from her eyes, she was halfway across the room when something caught her attention. Or more accurately, someone.

She could only see the back of their hair, but it was familiar. So damn familiar that Tori changed direction. Increased her pace. She pushed through the crowd, all the while working hard to keep the woman in sight.

When the lady with the big blond curls stepped outside, Tori didn’t think. She just followed. Needing to know whether it was someone she knew.

Samantha.

The voice was a whisper in her head. The feeling of connection and friendship she’d had with the woman strong in her heart.

Tori pushed outside. The woman was already across the parking lot. Her heels clicking against the concrete.

“Hey!” Tori called out to her, but she was too far away to hear.

She had to know. Tori ran, sprinting forward. “Samantha?”

Finally, the woman turned.

It wasn’t her. Tori didn’t even know what her friend looked like, but it wasn’t like this woman.

Tori stopped in her tracks.

Then she heard her name shouted from the bar entrance a moment before she heard the squealing of tires.

A body collided with hers, sending her to the ground. She expected to scrape against the pavement. She expected pain.

She didn’t feel any of that. She landed on a heated body.

Looking down, she saw Oliver below her.

“Oliver?” It couldn’t be. His voice had been so far away moments ago.

“What the hell are you doing out here? And why are you stopping in front of moving cars?”

“I thought I saw someone familiar.”

Oliver stood, pulling her to her feet with him. He wrapped a protective arm around her. “Where did he go?”

“She. She went that way.” Tori pointed in the far distance. There was no one there. “I saw her blond curls and thought it was my friend. Then I saw her face and realized it wasn’t her.”

God, now she just felt stupid. Lots of women had long blond curls.

“Samantha.”

Tori’s gaze shot up to look at Oliver. “You know her?”

Please say yes. God, please let me have told you at least one thing I can use.

“Not really. You mentioned you had a friend named Samantha who had blond curls. It was in reference to wishing you had her hair.”

The hope fizzled out in her. “At least I’m remembering more.”

“You are.” He rubbed her arm with his hand. “The breeze out here is cold. Let’s get back inside.”

She didn’t miss how he scanned the area as they headed back into the bar.

Usually, when he touched her, she could only focus on that. On the heat he ignited inside her. This time, she was too busy thinking about how quickly he’d moved across the parking lot.

She gave him one more look before they re-entered the bar. Maybe he had secrets too.