hot syrup-covered pancakes and tried my best to forget all of that (especially Pancake City) as I watched Oliver eat while reading his paper, barely able to contain his smug smirk. He loved tormenting me with the unknown and being in control. I supposed I could put my reservations aside for a few hours if it meant making him as happy as he looked this morning.
When we finished eating, I rinsed our dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Oliver had gone to grab his jacket, and it made me wonder if I was dressed appropriately. The little shit still hadn’t given me the slightest hint as to where we were going.
“Hey, is my blouse and jeans okay for whatever it is you have planned?” I asked as he returned to the kitchen.
Oliver stroked his chin, eyeing me with his signature smirk.
“What? Do I need to change?”
He chuckled. “The pink heels should probably go. Maybe a pair of sneakers?”
I loved my heels, they matched my blouse, but he was right. What had I been thinking? Heels? Ugh. I laughed at myself. “Um, right. Good call. Be right back, and then we can go.” I headed to my room to change my shoes (that still matched my blouse, thank you very much!) and met him in the living room.
He escorted me out into the parking garage. I was relieved when he led me to his white convertible Porsche rather than his motorcycle. I let out a big breath as I climbed inside the passenger’s seat.
“Figured I wouldn’t scare you right off the bat today,” he said as he slid into the driver’s side. “We’ll start out slow and save the bike for another day.”
Thank God. Smushing my chest against his back and clinging to him for dear life was not the tone I wanted to set for the day. I buckled the belt across my shoulder and sat back, eagerly awaiting the big reveal for whatever he had planned.
I was surprised when Oliver finally pulled into a large parking lot somewhere I didn’t recognize. I followed him through the gates of a covered enclosure where men were posing with golf clubs on a vast green plot spread out in front of us.
“Golf?” My mouth dropped open as he stuck a key into one of the lockers and pulled out a bag of his own clubs. “You got me to agree to absolutely anything in the world, and you brought me to play…golf?”
“Yep! Disappointed?”
“Not at all!” I was so relieved I’d not be staring down the side of a cliff he expected me to jump off of or some cave I was supposed to go dangling down into on a rope, that I couldn’t help myself. I stood on my tiptoes, hugged him, and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for not forcing me into anything too extreme.” I could feel the blush on my cheeks from my accidental kiss.
Holy crap! I hadn’t meant to kiss him, but his unshaven skin sent a thrill of desire straight to my panties. It made me wonder what his stubble would feel like between my legs. Oh, heavens… I had to squeeze my thighs together to ease the throbbing sensations growing more and more intense by the second. So much for relaxing. God, Elaine. Get a grip! You can think of this in your bedroom later! Not at a golf course while you’re standing in front of Oliver!
“See. I told you that you can trust me.” He was surprised to say the least. “Ever played?”
He started walking toward two of the stations in a row of other men. I had to run to catch up to him. “No, I’ve never played. I didn’t know that you did, either.”
Oliver stopped at a small green square with a couple of feet of netting on either side of it. An identical empty spot sat right next to that one.
“You know I do a little bit of everything. Keeps things from getting boring. Anyway, golf is a good buffer for entertaining potential clients in my line of work.”
I stood there, watching cluelessly as he pulled out a golf ball and placed it on the tee in front of him. Like a pro, he swung his strong, muscular arms back before hurtling them forward again, sending the little white ball bouncing somewhere off in the distance—almost too far away to see.
He nodded between me and the empty spot next to him. “Go on. Give it a try.”
I sucked in a deep