Gregory's eyes were never off of her. They went into the dress shop off of the strip of high-end stores lining Palm Avenue. He hadn't even given her a reason to stop into the shop, but as soon as they were in he was charming the tight-lipped saleswoman. Even when she was explaining the finer points of the differences between silks from Europe and the Orient, Gregory's attention was only half on her.
Olivia tried to act naturally, but she had entirely forgotten how to act in this situation. Whenever she spent more the a few moments looking at a dress or a pair of shoes, Gregory was there, questioning the color, fingering the fabric at the hemline or asking her to hold it up to her face so he could see if he liked the neck.
He had no small knowledge of the dressmaker's craft. Gregory had taken up the habit of dressing her for all formal occasions they attended in the most lavish creation he could find. As frustrating as it was, she had always looked beautiful. Bette had even taken to joking that Gregory would do her hair himself as long as Olivia was the beautiful creature he wanted on his arm through a party.
Olivia had grown accustomed to his stern ways of managing her. She hadn't thought it a serious habit until he asked her opinion and she froze, staring at both him and the saleslady as if they had both suddenly turned blue. Her non-opinions had been carefully calculated to annoy Gregory as little as possible, and now that he cared, she was lost. She was lost whenever he ran his hand comfortingly across her back.
While they discussed unique creations with the dressmaker his hand had become entangled in her hair. When he freed it with a sly grin he had kissed her cheek and again commented that he liked it down. He liked the freedom it represented as her hair ran wavy down across her neck. By the time Gregory and the saleswoman were discussing the fine points of a silk gown he wanted to import from somewhere across the Pacific Ocean, she was almost trembling every time he touched her. She couldn't help it. No conscious amount of control could compete with the sheer intoxicant of his complete focus on her.
When he wrote the initial down payment for her gown, she found her hand tucked in the back pocket of his jeans. She hadn't meant for it to be there. Olivia had intended to stay as far away from intimacy as possible, but her body was starting to have other ideas. The soft chocolate of the polo shirt he was wearing wasn't helping in the slightest. Whenever he was near, which seemed to be a constant occurrence, the fabric of his shirt carried the hint of his cologne.
This level of continual flirtation was worse then being drunk. The uncompromising chemistry between them was raging at full force and Olivia was suffering from a very low tolerance. Even Del at his most charming had nothing on the new sensitivity that infected every nerve of her body.
Her heart was fluttering in her chest when Gregory decided they needed to stop for lunch. He made another two appointments with the saleswoman. Olivia's dress would be in next week for fittings and she wasn't sure if she could even describe what it looked like. Gregory led her out of the air conditioning into the sunshine and she sighed in relief. "Grenadine's?" He ventured cheerfully. "We can't have you passing out from hunger. It's nearly one o'clock already."
Olivia found her voice as she eyed his less then formal attire. "I'm not sure if Grenadine's would approve of the informal you."
Gregory burst into a good-natured chuckle. She couldn't even catch the steel in his eyes as he smiled at her. "All right Liv, something a little less formal it is. Come on."
With his fingers entwined in hers like a happy child's, Gregory led her out of the prestigious Palm Avenue District. They crossed Ocean Avenue and descended to the Harbor market district. The buildings grew taller and the elegant street lamps a little more utilitarian. Gregory finally stopped his journey in front of a hole-in-the-wall café run by a short fisherman with a life's history of lines across his face. "Best kippers in town."
Before she could really reply, or question his choice in lunch. He took them inside and seated her in the bright red wooden chair across the table from his own. As Olivia settled the purse in her lap, a bent old woman brought glasses of water and asked them to order.
"We'll just need a minute," Gregory explained as he noticed Olivia's confused expression. "The menu's above the grill window. I suggest the buttered snapper."
"I'm don't care what you get, as long as it comes quickly." As the old woman returned their way Gregory took the initiative and ordered. Olivia searched her purse for her datebook in order to write down the fittings before she forgot. She looked up in amazement as both Gregory and the old woman lapsed into an easy banter in German. She often bore the brunt of his teasing for her knowledge of French and Spanish, and she had heard his tales of the language lessons required for his special expertise in international litigation, but he never used his skills around her.
Their elderly waitress laughed at Gregory's joke and patted him on the head as she headed back to the kitchen. Olivia shook her head in amazement. "What have you done with my husband?"
"It was time to get rid of him." He answered with a faint smile as he reached across the table to take her hand. "He wasn't what you needed."
She pulled back on her hand subconsciously, even her body unsure if she wanted to trust him. "What do I need Gregory?"
His face broke into a knowing smile. "What's that line you like?" He rested his head on his chin a moment and then affected a southern accent. "You need to be kissed, and often, by someone who knows how."
Olivia's blush was immediate. "I hope you don't consider our relationship as tragic as the film."
"I think they had a choice. They could stay together, no matter how painful it was and work towards the future." That cold fire of his eyes burned through the few feet between them. "Or they could give up and walk away, leaving both of them empty forever."
"Empty?" She echoed softly, ignoring the plate of food that had been set between them.
Gregory's fingers traced the fine bones of the back of her hand. "Sometimes fate intends for two people to be together, even when the all the odds seemed stacked against them."
Olivia stared down at the basket of bread, but he tilted her chin back up to look at her. "Not everything can be written into the stars Gregory. Sometimes love is just two foolish people who haven't learned that all they have left is pain."
He pulled her even closer, standing up in his chair to make their faces just centimeters apart. "I'd change the universe for you Liv." She closed her eyes tightly against the flood of emotion, and Gregory kissed her cheek just to the right of her lips.
And he would, Olivia thought to herself as she tried to ignore the urge to turn her head to meet his lips. He sat back, but brought her hand up so he could continue to kiss some part of her. She took a forced breath to calm herself. "We're not talking about the "Gone with the Wind" anymore are we?"
He kissed the soft skin on the inside of her wrist, and left a tingling sensation to run up her arm as he released it. "Maybe we never were." He picked up a piece of bread and started to butter it nonchalantly.
"I can't do this." Olivia protested weakly as she rubbed at her wrist.
Feigning confusion, Gregory held the piece of bread he had just taken a bite out of across the table to her. "It's really quite simple. You open your mouth and let your teeth come together. Finish the bread and you can move on to the fish." He gestured to the smoked salmon and took in the smell. "It is really is quite excellent here."
"Gregory-" She protested again, losing some of her indignation to the teasing smile on his face.
He brought the bread back to his plate and set it down. "I would like to have lunch with you. If lunch is all we can have between us now, I will be content with that." Gregory's eyes were so fixed on hers they were almost painful.
Olivia studied him for a long moment before responding softly. "I believe you about lunch."
Gregory chuckled dryly before becoming serious once more. "But you can't tell me that's all we will ever have Olivia."
"What do we have?"
"Smoked salmon, bread, cheese, butter, kippers and coffee." He pointed to each one as he named it off.
She shook her head in exasperation as she decided to give up and start eating. "You know what I-" Olivia broke off as her knife hit the floor and bounced with a dull clink.
She leaned under the table and found no sign of it. When she popped back up again, she watched Gregory wipe it off on his napkin. "You don't have to do that."
He pointed the handle towards her and let her reclaim it. "I love you Olivia."
Her knife hit the floor once again, but this time she was too taken aback to reach for it. The rush of heat to her face was immediate and desperate to get away to collect herself, she stood up. "Excuse me."
Gregory watched the instantaneous flood of color to her face as she fled to the bathroom in the rear of the café and waited for her to be out of sight before he smiled. Patiently, he retrieved her knife, wiped it off again and set it next to her plate. He reached for the coffee pot and her cup. Without anyone to notice, he took a tiny paper packet out of his pocket and dumped it in the bottom of her cup. He added a small amount of coffee and stirred until all of the powder dissolved. He finished filling her cup, stirred it a few more times and took a tiny sip. Tasting nothing, he smiled and replaced her cup on the other side of the table.
Then he turned his attention towards the smoked salmon and waited.
Olivia shut the door and slammed the bolt into the lock. She leaned against the sink and tried to collect any amount of self control. Her heartbeat was painfully loud in her ears. "You love…" She echoed without hearing her own voice.
"You can't." She argued back, but she knew the futility of it. Gregory had snuck his way around her careful barriers yet again. She was completely vulnerable to him, and he knew it. He had to suspect the effect he had on her. How couldn't he know his own powers? But he seemed so sincere. No posturing, no demands, just-
"He loves you." She repeated to herself and posed it as a question to her own heart. "Do you…?"
She searched her expression in the mirror, but it only took a few seconds to realize what her answer was.
A few moments later Olivia was back at the table across from him, letting him put cream into the coffee he had poured for her.
"Are you all right?" He wondered politely as he handed her the cup.
She tried to keep a girlish grin for completely conquering her self control as he brushed her cheek with a caress. "I'm starting to remember what 'all right' feels like."
Gregory smiled in satisfaction, "Good, now try this salmon." He lifted a fork across towards her, "I'll see if I can dredge up those memories for you."
This time he needed no permission to kiss her as Olivia took the initiative.
When they finally returned home it was just after sunset. Gregory excused himself to return a phone call he had missed. "I'm afraid I can't afford to play hooky the entire day." He found her ear under her hair and teased it for a second with his teeth. "Even though I want to."
Olivia's heart was racing again as he left her to watch the sun slip behind the waves. It wasn't until the darkness lay all around her that it slowed to normal.
Gregory shut the door and turned his chair to face the wall before he sank into it to return his phone call. The long connection time was to be expected with an international phone call, but he had no patience for it tonight. He wanted to go back to the patio, to sneak up behind Olivia and devour her neck.
The gruff accent on the other end reminded him that Olivia's skin would have to wait, at least a little while. "Richards! Good of you to call me back."
"Anything for a friend as old as you Baxter."
That drew a laugh from the other end of the phone. "Need I remind you that our birthdays are only a week apart?"
"It was the longest week in history, or have you forgotten in your advancing years?" Gregory replied with deep sarcasm.
More chuckling was his reply. "Down to business I suppose then. Did you start the powder?"
"She didn't even know it was there. No taste at all, just as you promised."
"I didn't spend all those years in Pre-Med for nothing Richards," Dr. Roger Baxter assured him dryly. "Just because you couldn't tell your vena cava from your aorta doesn't mean that some of us don't know our way around the human body."
Gregory dove deeper into the banter. "Should I mention how many times around? Or leave that until you arrive?"
"In person is always more fun." Roger insisted. "It's no good to poke at you unless I can see your face when I hit a mark."
"Next week then?" Gregory asked easily.
"I wouldn't miss a Richards party for the bloody world. Just make sure Caitlin knows how much you disapprove of Ethan. She'll never go for him if you mention how much you like him."
"After my daughter's fallen to your son's charm and wit, I can begrudgingly start to let him impress me." Gregory agreed with a smile.
"Exactly that. Caitlin's worth twenty of the gold-diggers after him here." Roger replied with amusement, but after a pause he took on a more serious tone. "You have to wait until the third day. Watch for blurred vision or a slight fever, and just tell Olivia she must have come down with something. Then you can play doctor until she feels better."
Gregory ignored the innuendo. "But it will work?" He asked quietly.
"I'll give you better odds then beating me in a hand of baccarat." Baxter offered certainly.
Gregory chuckled, "Since I always win, I'll believe you."
"Can't argue with that can I?" Baxter admitted good-naturedly. "See you at the ball Richards?"
"Next Friday it is, bring your good tuxedo." Gregory started to hang up the phone, but Baxter stopped him.
"Wait, Richards, is that sister of Del's coming?"
Surprised, Gregory stopped for a moment. "Bette is Olivia's best friend, I'll make sure of it."
"Good, keep her close. I've been missing her smile." The line clicked off and Gregory hung up the phone.
For a few minutes he enjoyed the dark solitude of his study. Baxter was confident and Olivia was completely unsuspecting. Agreeing to help Caitlin find out how charming Roger's son Ethan could be would be worth it if it kept her away from the unsavory characters that usually took a liking to her. If Bette ended up part of the Roger's price, she wouldn't be an expensive addition. Roger could be quite charming when he wanted to be and Bette never did tire of a good fling. Maybe they would even end up being good for each other.
Not that it mattered anyway. In three days Olivia would be inescapably tied to him forever, and with her at his side again, everything else would fall within his grasp.