While Mac greeted Dunkin, Gen’s attention had shifted to Oliver in time to watch him come near again. She had stiffened when he sidled up to her, his hand warm on her exposed flesh and his voice just as provoking. It had taken every shred of self control she could muster to keep from demanding more of his attention or that they step away to<i>talk</i>right then. But instead she had watched him retreat to the kitchen and when she looked back to her friend, Mac had the biggest shit-eating grin while she called out an answer to Oliver’s offer for beer, “Can’t say no to a free beer.”<br/><br/>And as soon as Oliver had stepped into the kitchen, Mac was closing the distance between her and Gen, her expression still owlish while her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, “And you can’t say no to him. Holy shit, Genevieve.”<br/><br/>“Stop acting like some doe-eyed virgin in front of him,” Genevieve snapped at her friend, but led the way into Oliver’s living room anyway, “You’re catering to his already too large ego.”<br/><br/>“I doubt anything about that man is too large,” Dunkin was hot on Mac’s heels while she sighed appreciatively and joined Gen on the couch.<br/><br/>“Oliver is off limits,” Gen announced primly, sitting and curling her legs under her so her bare feet were tucked away and warm. She reached up to smooth the ponytail keeping her wayward curls in place, “To both of us.”<br/><br/>“Yeah, we’ll see how long that lasts,” Mac snorted, sitting beside her friend and absently scratching Dunkin behind the ears when he sat down at her feet, “There’s tension between you two. A loooot of tension. It’d take hours to get rid of it, I bet. Maybe even days.” She dramatically wiggled her eyebrows before leaning forward with a knowing grin, “Think of it, Gen.<i>Days.</i>”<br/><br/>Sighing, Genevieve glanced toward the kitchen to make sure Oliver wasn’t coming before she allowed some of the guilt she’d been feeling to become more apparent on her face. She leaned forward, making sure she had Mac’s full attention before reminding her softly, “He’s Nathan’s best friend, Mac. His<i>best</i>friend.”<br/><br/>She could tell Mac had something else to say, but Oliver stepping into the room and setting the beers down silenced her. She watched as Mac snagged the beer, appreciatively tipped it in her host’s direction, then took a sip of the chilly Texan beer. She started to explain to Mac why she had been called in to help them when Oliver asked if she had been filled in yet and Genevieve grimaced. They’d wasted their time alone talking about Oliver, so she had had no chance to prep Mac as to why she was there.<br/><br/>“She has told me nothing,” Mac said solemnly, watching the way Oliver was unable to keep his gaze away from Gen. Wasn’t that interesting?<br/><br/>“I was attacked by two men this morning and they—“<br/><br/>A sputter came from Mac as the beer she sipped lodged in her trachea, her hand rising up to try to catch any beer that might fall from her lips, “You were<i>attacked—</i>“<br/><br/>“It’s fine, I’m fine, Oliver saved me,” Gen answer hastily, glancing in his direction before moving on before Mac could make a big deal of anything, “Long story short, we found a USB with some encrypted files on it and we’d like to see if there’s anything useful—“<br/><br/>“Hold on!” Mac’s small, pale hand rose to sign for Genevieve to stop talking, her blue eyes shrewd behind her dark glasses, “Why would two men just attack you? What does the USB have to do with it?”<br/><br/>Sighing, Genevieve reached for the beer left for her, sending Oliver a reluctant look that said she didn’t want her friend to know anymore than necessary, “I found some questionable stuff of Nathan’s, so I asked Oliver to come check it out, but I didn’t give it all to him and—“<br/><br/>“So you’ve haven’t seen Oliver since the funeral?”<br/><br/>“No, what does—“<br/><br/>“And then you see him last night, and you’re attacked this morning?”<br/><br/>“I—Well, that’s correct, but—“ Gen didn’t get it, and frowned her confusion.<br/><br/>“That can't be coincidence, right?” Mac pushed a hand through her pale pink hair before pinning her gaze on Oliver, “Just what exactly are your intentions toward Gen? What are you trying to do?”