Suspicious Minds (Fate #3) by Elizabeth Reyes

given
how that first night went down.
    As unnerving as it’d been each time he’d run into her since, he
still couldn’t decide if he should be thankful for his luck or cursing it.
Despite the angst he’d felt with every encounter, each time he’d also felt the
incredible urge to just confront his feelings. Yet each time he’d also felt the
resistance from her. Granted he’d been rude, but he had good reason to be.
    Lorenzo had seen her a few more times since the night at Vince’s.
Adding to his growing curiosity of her, his irritation also grew. Of course,
her being so friendly with Rosie was now the biggest reason why his luck, good
or bad, had continued.
    Sprinkles of curiosity were laced with annoyance. When Rosie and
Olivia had stopped by the firing range last week so Rosie could drop off
burgers from a restaurant they’d gone to lunch at, a place Olivia had highly
recommended for their famous burgers, Lorenzo had been privy to an exchange
between Rosie and Olivia. It was just after one of the married instructors
known for being an outrageous flirt had tried to sweet talk Olivia. Lorenzo had
been pleasantly surprised, not to mention relieved, to hear she’d shot him down
cold. That is until he heard the tail end of her conversation with Rosie after
the fact.
    “It’s a good thing you didn’t bother giving that jerk your name,”
Rosie had said just as Lorenzo had approached them. “I wouldn’t have either, not
my real name anyway.”
    “Yep,” Olivia had agreed with a smirk. “Jerks only ever deserve
no names or fake names.”
    Their eyes had once again locked when she’d said it, with a
strange smile he couldn’t quite make out. The fact that she immediately mentioned
needing to leave because it was her day off and she had plans was surprisingly
irksome.
    That’s when Lorenzo had decided enough with the ambiguity .
Obviously neither of them wanted to share about their night of indiscretion, but
they were no longer strangers anymore. There was no need for the continued
unspoken awkwardness. He’d never been one to play games, and while it was unfair
to say she was doing so, because she’d done nothing to deserve that
accusation, whatever it was that was happening, she was winning hands down. Damn
it!
    No more wondering. No more bullshitting himself that he wasn’t
interested in getting to know just a little more about this girl. This might be
a huge mistake, and he had no idea what he would say or do, but his mind was
made up. The first chance he got he was taking matters into his own hands.
    ~*~
    Olivia
    This wasn’t happening again. Olivia insisted she wasn’t
a glutton for punishment. Just a week after yet another disappointing run-in
with Lorenzo, Rose had insisted repaying Olivia for taking her out to lunch, a
lunch that was supposed to have been a safe way to hang out with Rose without
the danger of running into Lorenzo again. That had been happening way too often,
always with the same outcome: Lorenzo laying on the indifferent act way too
thickly.
    Today Rose invited Olivia over for one of her home-cooked meals.
Olivia had agreed but only because she resented feeling forced to cut off her
friendship with Rose and because Rose had told her that Vince worked all day
and wasn’t coming home until the evening, so that meant no risk of Lorenzo
being there. With her having Mondays off, this might replace their girls’ night
with girls’ mornings or afternoons. Already she and Rose were also doing a lot
of talking on the phone.
    Another reason she agreed to lunch today was because Rose’s
sister was the head chef at one of the Moreno’s restaurants, one of the most prominent
restaurants in La Jolla. Rose said she’d learned a lot from her sister over the
years and promised to make something extra special for her for lunch.
    The moment she entered Rose’s house, Olivia could smell evidence
that her friend hadn’t lied about making her something delicious. Whatever it
was, it smelled