Oliver Read Online Free PDF Page B

tropical print did little to brighten his gray complexion. Oliver had been too focused on Merideth to notice before, and the light in his room had been too dim for him to spot details. Nothing got past kitchen lights. Lucas looked like death warmed over.
    “I’ll talk with you tomorrow after I review the information,” Oliver told Blake. He tapped the device in his ear, ending the call, and then put the Bluetooth in his pocket. “Still light on your feet, I see,” he told Lucas.
    “You were preoccupied. Get what you need?”
    “Almost.”
    “I expect you to share the information.”
    “Without question.” After all, Lucas had a stake in this too. Merideth would be avenged.
    Oliver grabbed the platter and returned to the stove to plate the food. He busied himself, adding a garnish of cherry tomatoes around the perimeter of the pasta, then followed up with freshly grated Parmesan cheese over the top.
    “A sandwich would have been fine.” Lucas leaned back as Oliver put place settings out for the two of them.
    Cooking had been an excuse to keep his mind occupied, his senses in order. A way to pull in the control for which he was so infamous.
    Oliver shrugged one shoulder. “No bread.”
    There was a beat of silence, followed by Lucas’s full-body laughter. Oliver smiled. He’d admittedly missed the sound.
    “Here”—he slid the platter before Lucas—“dig in. I’d offer garlic bread, but…” He shrugged again.
    “All this and no bread.”
    Lucas howled all the more. Laughed until he cried. Until Oliver was fairly certain the laughter had died, and those were real tears Lucas flicked from the corners of his eyes. Oliver didn’t draw attention to it.
    Oliver jerked his chin toward the bar tucked in the far corner of the main area. “Since you made yourself comfortable earlier, you already know where the bar is. Help yourself.”
    Lucas pulled in a hard breath and pushed away from the counter.
    “And what would Merideth like?” Oliver asked to his back.
    Lucas paused to look over his shoulder, not making eye contact. “I gave up trying to figure that out a long time ago.”
    A telling statement if ever there was one.
    Oliver turned to the wine chiller. “You didn’t mention the house was unsecured.”
    Ice clinked into a glass. “Much better for you to think I was still at the top of my game than for you to learn you’d neglected something so important.”
    Touché . “And are you at the top of your game?” He selected a Viognier, cradling the bottle while he waited for Lucas’s response.
    “Depends on which game we’re talking about.”
    “With regard to your presence here, only one matters, doesn’t it?” Oliver stood, damning the telltale cracking in his knees.
    “Well…you already know the answer to that one, don’t you?”
    Oliver glanced his way. Lucas’s back was to him, his shoulders tight, spine rigid. “I do.”
    Lucas downed his drink and poured another. “I’ll follow your lead on this.”
    “Yes, you will.” He stabbed the corkscrew into the cork.
    There was no question about that. Lucas seemed as defeated as Merideth. Oliver couldn’t help one without the other. Hell, he wasn’t sure he should help either of them. His conscience wouldn’t let him turn away, though. Oliver could live with that. The problem was protecting his heart in the process.
    Lucas put the bottle of Scotch back in the bar.
    “Come eat before the food gets cold.” He said the words gently to offset the sting of his previous statement. To show he cared. Because as much as he didn’t want to, Oliver still cared.
    As before, the tension seeped from Lucas’s shoulders. Turning, he gave a mock toast to the lady coming down the stairs before Lucas returned to his perch at the counter.
    Merideth took the steps slowly, as if each one was an effort. She wore a pale green robe with a hint of white lace at the V-neck. Her wet auburn hair was in a loose braid. Tendrils curled around her face, defying her