“Melon?” he guessed at her drink.

“And vodka,” she murmured against the rim of the glass.

He was hoping it was just pussy-booze, like Midori, something that was lame that she liked that he would find unappealing about her.

But no.

She had to have the added vodka.

“There’s a new Ross,” she noted.

“Hmm…” he muttered noncommittally, being the reason why they’d employed a new Ross at the club and not about to explain that.

He reached to his whisky.

She turned to him again. “I’m surprised. I’ve been a member for years now and they’ve had no turnover in staff.”

He shrugged. “Shit happens.”

She looked to the scene in a way he knew she didn’t see it, murmuring, “I don’t like it.”

“The woman could have found a higher paying job, or she got married, or a hundred other things, Olivia. Your business is not hers, her business is not yours. It’s the way of the club.”

She nodded at the scene but said nothing.

“You wanna tell me why dinner with your mother lasted nearly four hours?” he asked.

“I was ambushed,” she replied.

He felt his neck start to itch.

Ambushed?

“Say again?” he pushed.

She looked to him. “I was ambushed. It was not dinner with my mother. It was dinner with my mother, one of her friends and her friend’s son.”

That was when Nick felt his jaw tense and his repeat of, “Say again,” was gritty.

“It was a fixup,” she explained offhandedly.

But the blazing streak of jealousy Nick experienced at her words was alarming.

And unhealthy.

And last, so severe and unexpected, he had no tools at hand to battle it in order to ignore it.

Completely oblivious to all of this, Olivia kept speaking.

“We all had dinner and he was under instruction to take that further, which meant I had to have drinks with him after. Mom and her friend left. He bought me a drink that unfortunately led to two which unfortunately led to him sharing rather openly he was interested in fucking me but also interested in taking me to dinner. In order not to earn the wrath of my mother, which I would incur if I did not give him the attention she thinks he deserves, I had no choice but to drink the drinks he bought and make plans for dinner. However, since I already have plans for intercourse, I refused that part of his invitation.”

Nick felt his jaw get tighter to a point a muscle danced in his cheek all the way up to his temple.

“You made a date with this guy?”

She shrugged and looked back to the scene. “This is new, Mother matchmaking. As with any motherly attention she turns my way, she’ll lose interest in it soon enough.”

“You made a date with this guy.”

This was a statement voiced in a way that her attention shifted swiftly back to him.

Her eyes moved over his face slowly before she whispered, “Yes, Sebring.”

He studied her for any signs he was the player getting played.

As was her norm, she gave him nothing.

“You date him, you do not fuck him,” he ordered.

She twisted her torso, turning fully to him. “Sebring—”

“You take me ungloved. You’ve never taken me gloved. You make a habit of that with all the men you fuck?”

Her shoulders straightened and her eyes darkened. “Absolutely not.”

“And I believe that…how? I fucked you against a wall and took you repeatedly for days, all without protection, all before you even said hi to me.”

“This is rather late timing to share your concerns,” she remarked.

“Answer my question,” he demanded.

“That is not a common occurrence.”

“Is it uncommon?”

Her soft voice was a strained snap when she replied, “It’s singularly unique.”

“I gotta believe that, Olivia.”

“I have to believe the same, Sebring.”

“Wasn’t me walked your way, beggin’ with my eyes for you to fuck me,” he pointed out.

He felt the searing fire which was indication she had a formidable temper she had not yet unleashed as she stood, announcing, “This is done.”

She bent to put her drink down and turned to her purse but he caught her before she grabbed it and had her in his lap before she could make a move to stop him.

She twisted at the waist, planting a hand in his chest and pushing hard.

“I said this is done,” she reiterated.

“What’s done?” he shot back. “You bein’ pissy I’m askin’ pertinent questions after you strut in here tellin’ me some guy wants to fuck you and you made a date with him while you’re fuckin’ me and doin’ it takin’ me ungloved? Or somethin’ else.”

“We’re done,” she retorted sharply.

Fuck!

He felt those words too many places, including his balls, his gut, spearing into his temples and burning around his heart.

He wanted that reaction to be about Hettie. He wanted it to be about his plan. He wanted it to be about vengeance.

But Olivia Shade never smiled, she fucked strangers in a way it was clear that was the only connection she’d allow herself and she had nasty scars on her back.

And Nick was drowning in all that.

So in order to control that too, Nick had to admit to himself it wasn’t just about Hettie, his plan or vengeance.