Between Desire and Denial: A Fake Dating Romance (Hardy Billionaires)

“Oh, he does know how to answer,” Kee mumbled into the phone as I pulled up into our driveway.

I sighed at Kee’s immediate whining. “I’m busy, woman. And I’m about to be home so I gotta say hi to Olive and—”

“I was just texting her. Why is she staying there so freaking long?”

“I offered her extra work while she finishes her thesis.” That was a good, plausible reason.

“What type of work?” Kee inquired, and that’s when I knew I was going to have to drop a little more information than I wanted to.

“She’s just acting close to me so these people here trust me a bit more.”

“How close?”

I relented and explained our fake dating idea.

“That’s … She didn’t even tell me! This is stupid.”

“Why?”

“Because … well … I don’t know. I’m not there! I just hope you’re being nice and not messing with my sweet friend, D.” She sighed and then continued, “And you better not try to hook up with her.”

“Olive’s a big girl. She can make her own decisions,” I told her as I tried to chuckle but winced instead. She was going to be real pissed when she found out. And she would.

I’d spent a whole week away, and instead of fizzling out, my feelings only grew for Olive. I wasn’t used to the intensity of them, to worrying about her, to wanting to be near her. Those feelings had become unavoidable, and I knew I was going to have to admit them to everyone soon enough.

“She’s also probably the most complicated woman you’ve been around for years. She’s embedded in our friend group and—”

“And we’ll cut your dick off if you hurt her,” Pink, Olive’s other friend, said in the background.

“That’s aggressive.” I rolled my eyes.

“I agree. But I really will rip your eyes out for looking at her wrong,” Kee threatened, and she never did that shit.

“What the hell? Why aren’t you warning Olive off? I’m your best friend.”

“I have three best friends. You, Pink, and Olive. Olive’s the most vulnerable right now. Especially when it comes to men. Rufford hurt her.” Kee sighed, like she knew more. “Her father practically abandoned her when her mother was sick. You know that, right? She thought she found a man in Rufford who would never make her feel that way again, and then he did the freaking same. Such a douche. And he’s probably still trying to screw with her. Has he been calling?”

Damn it. Had he? “I don’t know.” But I was going to figure it out. I made a mental note to ask.

“She needs to forget him, but she needs to be careful who she’s hooking up with. I’m worried about her.”

“Don’t be. I got her. She’s fine,” I reassured her, though not solely for Kee’s benefit. I knew I had Olive and that I’d never let her get hurt in the same way again. “Gotta go. Call me when you need me.”

“Never if, always when,” she grumbled and hung up.

I hurried to get out of my car, on a mission now to see the woman I’d been thinking about for a week.

When I walked in, she stood in my living room, her hair pulled back with a few curls cascading down around her face and a little O shaping her mouth in surprise. She looked surprised to see me.

Immediately, I regretted my decision to leave at all. Sure, going to check on investments for our HEAT empire in person was always helpful, but mostly, my brothers had a decent handle on the hospitality aspect. Maybe I should have stayed here and made sure Olive got used to me being around.

Then again, I visited Declan, saw the next gen, and found myself watching how my older brother had found joy in his family, and I found joy in that family too.

The little one ran the show with my sister-in-law and my brother, but they smiled at every single thing that kid did. I did too. Would I be the same way with a kid?

Would Olive?

My mind ran away with the idea, and I got lost in how I’d dote on them both, on how she’d be scared but I’d ease her worry and keep her safe from the disappointment she’d experienced with men before. I’d be able to show her how good of a family man I could be.

Olive cleared her throat and snapped her pouty mouth shut before waving me in. “Oh, Darling D, didn’t know you’d be home today.” She said it sweetly, but I knew what it meant. I hadn’t communicated with her in the way she wanted. “Anyway, Lucille is going over the magazine with me.” She tilted her head toward Lucille. I hadn’t even noticed the older woman standing at the table, smiling with hearts in her eyes at us both. “You need anything to drink, or are you hungry?”

A drink? For her fucking boyfriend who hadn’t seen her in a week? “You think I want a drink?” I lifted a brow. She shook her head slightly as if warning me off. She walked to the kitchen, but I was following her and watching how she jumped to take care of me immediately.

I pulled her away from the fridge she’d just opened, wrapped an arm around her waist, and bent to taste those lips. Her teeth slid over her bottom lip before her body melted against me and her gaze dipped. I took that mouth like it was mine, like I’d been starved for it, like I was never going to come up for air. I didn’t want to.

I loved how her arms automatically went around my neck, how her mouth opened for me as I slid my tongue against the seam of it. She didn’t stop or hesitate. Maybe she couldn’t. Maybe she needed me just as badly as I missed her.

I knew I had to pull away to keep it PG, but I let out a low sound of disapproval as I did, and my eyes didn’t leave hers as I said, “Missed you, Ms. Monroe. So much that I might drag you with me next time.” I touched that pink flower in her hair while I considered how I was going to cull the feelings coursing through me. I wasn’t going to scare her off.

“Well, you’ll have a little one to text that friend of yours about sooner rather than later with this kind of love,” Lucille said, and Olive jumped back from me like she’d forgotten Lucille was still in the house.

“What’s this you’re talking about?” I tilted my head and glanced at Lucille, who had tears in her eyes like a doting grandma. I swear, she was the happiest woman around Olive. It showed me that Olive had roots here even if she didn’t want to.

“Olive’s friend Kee told her to wrap it up if she didn’t want kids. I saw the text.” Lucille laughed and waved off her meddling. “Guess that friend doesn’t know you’re already trying.”

Olive quickly shook her head, “Oh, Lucille, we’re—”

I undid my suit jacket, hung it on one of the dining room chairs, and cut off Olive because I was about to really consider it. “I’m ready for one that looks just like Olive right now.”

Lucille chuckled and packed up her things faster than I’d thought she could move. “Well, don’t let me keep you. I’m so happy you both found each other. This is so exciting, Olive. This is what you should write about. How Paradise Grove will be perfect for the next generation.”

“I don’t think—”

“Yeah.” I rocked back on my heels, looking her up and down. “How perfect it’s going to be walking down the street with me, chasing around our little minion.”

Lucille squealed and waved goodbye, leaving us standing in the living room looking at each other.

“Dimitri Hardy,” Olive started with her pretty brown eyes narrowed on me. “Stop with the family talk.”

“I won’t. I saw my nephew this weekend with Declan.”

“Oh, well, that’s nice.”

She went to the dining room table to straighten papers, cleaning up to busy herself, but I wanted her full attention. “It is nice.” I put myself between her and the papers, took her wrist, and pulled her close instead of having her fiddle with something else. “Made me want a damn kid more than I ever have before.”

“Well, I’m sure there’s a lot of women who would—”

“Only one woman I can picture having my kids.”

“You’re getting a look in your eye. Is this how you get when you want to take some ridiculous risk, Dimitri? Because I’m not the one to do it with.”

“You agreed to this.”

“Don’t unleash your risk-taking, adrenaline-seeking behavior on me right when you get home.” She started to comb loose tendrils of her hair back into a bun, like she did when she got nervous.

Her anxiety caused something in my chest to burn. I wanted to dig until I found the root of her worry and find a way to ease it. So, I asked her the question I really wanted to know and that she’d avoided the first time we talked about. “You told me the first day we were here that you don’t like the idea of a family. Now I want to know, is that why you don’t want kids?”

“Please stop.” Her breath came faster. “You need to focus on making Paradise Grove like you. That’s all we’re doing here. Okay? That is it. I haven’t talked to you in a week. You can’t just come home with outrageous plans all of a sudden. We’re friends helping one another out.”

“I made it to the level of friendship now?” I smiled and took a step back. I’d drop the idea for now. Solidifying myself in her life was a win for today. I’d work on the rest.

“You proud of that?” She finally smirked and I saw how she instantly relaxed.

I just kept going so that she’d forget being nervous, forget anything that was in the past that might have hurt her. “Next, I’ll be boyfriend, Olive. Then, I’ll be baby daddy.”

She shook her head. “Friends. That is it. Put me in your friend zone and lock me up in there, okay?”

There was no way I’d do that. “Fine. For now.”

“Good. I’ll kiss you in public for the benefit of this stupid agreement we have,” she clarified with a hand on her hip. “That’s it.”

“Fuck that. I’m kissing you everywhere, Olive,” I growled and yanked her body to mine before I devoured her.