Instead, they were back in Dallas and any of those hot, sweet feelings had been put aside in the name of practicality.
“In fact,” Oliver went on, “we should have a new rule—the moment we feel distracted, we have to turn off the oven before anything else happens.”
Anything else? Did he mean wild, crazily satisfying sex, or did he mean an actual, full-fledged fire breaking out? Because it would’ve been tragic enough burning down Red Oak. It would be horrific to set fire to a high-rise building that housed hundreds of other people.
Good heavens, what would the press do to her then?
But that was the moment when Oliver tugged on her hand and suddenly his lips were skimming over the delicate skin of her wrists. “Or maybe you should just turn the oven off the moment I walk in the door. Just to be sure,” he murmured and even though it’d been a long day, heat still flooded her body.
“Oh. Okay. Good plan.” Renee knew she should say something grateful or appreciative. But there was a lump in her throat that made breathing, much less talking, difficult.
With a final nip at her skin, Oliver lowered her hand and laced his fingers with hers. “I can’t promise that things won’t get even crazier and there are certain realities we can’t overlook. But I want you to be comfortable. If there’s something you want to try, somewhere you want to go—tell me. I’ll do my best to make it happen. Because I want you to be happy, Renee.”
She took a long, slow breath. It wouldn’t do to burst into heaving sobs at that, even though it was one of the most beautiful things anyone had ever said to her. She was going to blame the hormones for all of this tearfulness.
On the other hand...what had that meant, if there was something she wanted to try? Were they talking about baking or...
Surely he wasn’t talking about her fantasies. They were already making excellent headway on them. The knight in shining armor riding to her rescue? Yeah, that alone covered a lot of territory.
But before she could come up with any sort of reasonable response, she was saved by Oliver withdrawing his hand and turning into an underground garage. “We’re here.”
As he entered the access code and parked in his assigned spot, Renee felt old doubts creeping in. Oliver was being wonderful—there was no question about that. In fact, before he had come upstairs to tell her she was coming back to Dallas with him tonight and her baking lessons were being postponed because she wasn’t safe at Red Oak Hill anymore—before all of that, she had been having the most wonderful day she could remember.
And it wasn’t just the cookies.
She could not remember the last time she’d had a conversation with anyone that didn’t involve the phrase “You should...” in one way or another.
Because everyone had an opinion. Of course her lawyers were going to say that—she was going into debt for their legal advice. But her parents? Her brother? Her husband? Her friends? It was for the best. Wasn’t that what they all said? No one had said it louder than her mother. Her suggestions were thinly veiled orders she expected to be followed.
When was the last time anyone had asked her what she wanted? Promised to make it happen? When was the last time anyone had gone this far out of the way for her?
When was the last time someone had done something as simple as make her laugh? Because she couldn’t remember laughing as hard as she had at the sight of Oliver, butt naked, jumping out of the water while a pair of perturbed swans made menacing noises. For as long as she lived, she would never forget the sound of Oliver’s laughter when he’d landed on his butt in the pond. And there’d been that moment when she’d thought he was furious that she’d nearly ruined everything—and instead he’d been teasing her.
Cookie monster, indeed.
She’d stood up for herself. She’d laughed so hard she’d got a stitch in her side. She’d come out on top—literally, she’d come on top of him. When was the last time she’d enjoyed sex so much?
Today had been magical. She hadn’t climaxed like that in so long that she had almost forgotten what it was like. And then, instead of telling her she was getting fat, Lucille had told her that she had a glow about her. That she would get better at cookies if she kept practicing.
She hoped that, one day, she’d get back out to Red Oak Hill. Back out to that place out of time where she could be free, even if it were just another short visit.
Carrying her bag, Oliver led her toward a private elevator that required a key code to open. “The security here is good. The lobby is open, but all of the elevators are coded and guards are on duty twenty-four hours a day. No one should be able to slip in.”
She nodded as the doors closed behind them. This was important information—necessary, she was sure. But she didn’t want to hear about safety and privacy because that was a constant reminder that she was the pregnant Preston Pyramid Princess and her family had hurt people and, even if she wasn’t responsible, she was still at fault.
Her stomach lurched as the elevator began to climb. It’d been easy this evening to forget that simple truth that Oliver was risking not just his home but his reputation and his entire business by protecting her. It wasn’t ruined cookies that drove Oliver out of his ranch house tonight. It was her.
Now he was bringing her here? This was a terrible idea. Why couldn’t he see that she was a risk to him?
But he couldn’t. “I’ll request that you not leave the building without me. I know you
