Page 34 of Undeniable

My eyes went wide, a pit forming in my stomach.Oh shit.

“This program was your idea?” I asked, feeling even more awful for dissing it.

“Yes.” Her voice was quiet.

“God, I’m an ass.”

“You mean Coleman was an ass,” she teased, referring to my imaginary evil twin. She was too nice. Letting me off too easy.

“Yeah. Right. Coleman was an ass,” I said, feeling marginally better about the fact that she was joking about it. My tone was more solemn when I spoke again. “I’m so sorry, Olivia. I’m sure you put a lot of thought and consideration into the program. I never should have attacked it.”

“It’s… Yeah, your initial response was disappointing, but I understand why now. And besides, this program was intended to help soldiers, not frustrate them. So, if you have any thoughts on how to improve it, I’d love to hear them.”

Wow. Seriously? Could she be more gracious?

I’d attacked her program, insulted her, and while she’d stood up to me, she’d done it with her head held high. And now, she was asking for my opinion. I admired the hell out of her—for seeking constructive criticism, for striving for improvement.

“You are a good person, Olivia…” I trailed off, realizing I didn’t know her last name. “What’s your last name?” I whispered.

She laughed. “You aren’t going to use this information to stalk me online, are you?”

“Sweetheart, you forget who you’re talking to. If I wanted to stalk you, I already have more than enough information to go on.” I shook my head. “Wow, that sounded creepy. And I promise not to stalk you online or otherwise.”

I respected her too much to invade her privacy like that. Besides, I was more interested in hearing about this woman from her own lips.

“Ditto,” she said. “And my last name is Hayes.”

“Olivia Hayes,” I said, smiling. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Connor James.” The way she said my name had my cock jerking to attention. He wanted to meet her too.

Fuck.I dragged a hand over my scalp.I am so screwed.

We were silent for a moment, but it wasn’t for lack of conversation. And it wasn’t awkward like I’d feared either. In fact, I was happy to stay on the phone, just knowing she was there.

“So…” I finally said. “Tell me about yourself.”

She snorted. “I’m sorry.” She laughed.

“Yeah. That was pretty bad.”

“Just a tad—” She really started laughing then. “Tad.”

I couldn’t help smiling, though.

“I’m sorry.” She took a breath. “Okay.” She seemed to calm down. “What do you want to know?”

Everything.

“Ever done anything…crazy?” I asked, though I was more interested in her bedroom adventures than the ones outside it.

What was it about this woman? How could I be so attracted to someone I’d never met, never even seen? It was absurd.

“Well…I did start talking to this guy on the phone I met over the internet.” I could hear the smile in her voice, and I fought back my own.

“How’s that going for you?” I tried to strike a relaxed tone despite being eager to hear her response.

“Pretty good, so far.”