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MICHAEL STAYED AROUND for the rest of the weekend. They had sex again, several more times, and Olivia made a mental note that she would need to replace the condoms. The box was now looking decidedly emptier than it had before.
When Sunday morning rolled around, she didn’t want him to leave. But Tammy would be back soon, and she wanted to avoid having to introduce them. They’d end up meeting eventually, but she’d rather not do it when Tammy was back from another binge-partying weekend and in a foul mood, which she was bound to be. Tamsin never liked the come-downs. Besides, Liv wanted to keep Michael all to herself for the moment. Her friends would overanalyse everything, and she didn’t want anyone to try to bring her down from her own personal little high.
Her flatmate wouldn’t be back until the evening, however, so Liv figured they might as well enjoy what was left of the weekend. They ordered pizza in and hung out on the couch. Liv’s heart was full to bursting. After the positively mundane start to the Saturday, things had gone decidedly in her favour.
Within thirty minutes, the door buzzed, and Liv jumped out of Michael’s arms. “I’ll get it.”
She hit the buzzer to let the delivery guy up then opened the door to wait. She’d already paid by card when she’d ordered, so she didn’t need to worry about the cash. The lift door slid open, and a man stepped out. He was holding a basket in both hands, so she wasn’t able to see his face initially, but as he turned towards the door, confusion rippled through her.
“Tony?”
It was bizarre seeing her boss here. She almost didn’t recognise him out of context. He wasn’t wearing one of the badly fitted suits he normally wore to the office, but instead was in dark blue jeans and a striped shirt. His hair looked different as well, as though he’d used even more product than normal, and as he stepped closer, she got a whiff of aftershave. Had he stopped by here on his way to a date?
“Olivia, hello.” His cheeks had flared pink, but he took a step closer. His gaze darted around, not quite landing anywhere. “I hope it’s all right me stopping by. I’d been worried about you being ill, and I just wanted to bring you this.”
She cast her gaze to the basket he thrust towards her. Cellophane covered the top, a white ribbon tied to the handle. Beneath the cellophane were bunches of grapes, piles of shiny red apples, the dimpled skin of oranges, and the hairy coats of kiwi fruit.
Liv blinked in surprise. “What is all this?”
He pushed the basket into her hands and cleared his throat. “Like I said, I knew you were sick, and I thought you might appreciate these.”
Guilt swept through her, but with it came awkwardness. “I don’t know what to say. I mean, thanks, but I only picked up a bug. It wasn’t as though I was in hospital or anything.” She felt horrible that he’d gone to so much effort when she’d basically lied to him about being sick. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been ill, but not in the way she’d told him.
Movement came from behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Michael standing in the doorway. He was bare-chested and stood with his elbow pressed against the doorframe in a casual stance that left nothing to the imagination. Without a doubt, he was letting the other man know he was the one who belonged here.
“Everything okay, Livvy?” Michael asked.
Her cheeks heated, now sandwiched between her boss and the guy she’d been screwing all weekend. “Err ... Yes, of course. Tony is my boss, and he was just dropping this off to me.”
Michael’s eyebrows lifted. “Did you win a raffle or something? Couldn’t it have waited until tomorrow morning?”
Fear that Michael would mention something about them being out together the night before she’d called in sick caught her in its clutches. Sharp nails of panic clawed through her, and she desperately wanted these two men to be apart.
She threw a nervous smile at Michael, willing him with her eyes to back away. “Why don’t you wait inside and listen out for the delivery guy? He might be trying my mobile phone if he can’t find this address.”
“Oh, right, sure.” A frown marked his brow, but he did as she said and turned and went back into the flat.
She turned back to Tony. “This was really sweet of you, Tony, but I really do have to get back.”
“Of course. You have company.” He shook his head. “Stupid of me.”
“No, not at all. Like I said, it was really thoughtful. Maybe I’ll bring this into the office tomorrow to share around.” She forced a smile. “They will make a change to all those biscuits and cakes we’re normally stuffing ourselves with.”
He was already backing away, and the fist that had clutched at her stomach since she’d first realised who was here released its grip.
“You’ll be coming in tomorrow?” he asked, not meeting her eye.
“Absolutely. I’m all better now.” She kept the smile glued to her face, but it felt like a mask.
“Good, good,” he muttered, his head down, hunching into his shoulders. “See you tomorrow, then.”
He didn’t even look at her as he disappeared back inside the lift and the door slid shut behind him.
Liv exhaled a sigh of relief, and her whole body sagged. That had been weird. And awkward. And now it was going to be awkward when she went in to work tomorrow, too. She looked down at the fruit basket she had clutched to her chest. What the hell had he been thinking?
With another sigh, she turned and went back into the flat. Michael was sitting on the couch, his fist balled and his knuckles pressed to his lips as he held in a smirk.
She lifted her eyebrows at him in warning. “Don’t you dare.”
He snorted out the laughter he’d been holding back. “I’m sorry. But what the hell was that all about? A fruit basket?”
She set it down on the coffee table and covered her face with both hands. “I know! Oh, my God. That was so fucking weird.”
“He’s definitely got a thing for you.”
“No, he hasn’t! That was just his way of being nice. He doesn’t have many friends or anything.”
The smirk was back. “Yeah, wonder why?”
She picked up a cushion from the chair and lobbed it at him. “Stop it. He’s not a bad guy. He’s just socially awkward.”
“What was that he said about you being sick?”
“Oh, it was nothing. I felt a bit hung-over after our date, so I pulled a sicky. I’m feeling super bad about it now, though.”
Michael laughed, deep from his chest. “I bet you are.”
She allowed herself to be pulled into his arms, pressing herself up against his naked chest. He reached across her to where she’d placed the fruit basket on the table and pulled off the cellophane. He plucked a shiny red apple out of the basket and took a massive bite, crunching in her ear.
“Hey, I said I was going to take those to work tomorrow,” she protested, pretending to grab the apple back again.
He held it out of reach, forcing her to clamber over him. “They’re not going to miss one apple.”
The doorbell rang again.
“Let’s hope it’s the takeaway this time.” He laughed.
“Yeah, I hope so.”
Liv didn’t like surprises.