by Claire Adams
“I trust you,” Declan said as he got up and went straight over to Maryanne.
I quickly dialed Jessica’s number. I needed her to help focus me.
“He looks so handsome in his tuxedo, Jessica. Literally like he’s straight out of a GQ shoot. He cut his beard really short, trimmed it up all handsome. I can’t take it. I can hardly breathe when he’s around.”
“Who is this?” Jessica teased.
“Jessica! This is serious. I can’t be thinking about him this way. He’s my boss. I need this job. Plus, I’ve complained for the last year that my old boss was a jerk for hitting on me. How much of a hypocrite does it make me that I want this guy to actually flirt with me…no, I don’t want that.”
“Emmi, you need to calm down. You are there for work, nothing more. Just keep yourself focused on getting work done, and you’ll be fine.”
“Yes, work. And we are doing a great job. Maybe if I do help him get more donations, he will see that my opinion is actually useful. There are a lot of areas I’ve tried to offer my opinion in the office, and I don’t think he even hears me.”
“Yep, keep it professional, or…well, let’s just keep it professional.”
“What, Jessica? What were you going to say?”
“Nothing.”
I looked around to see where Declan was before I continued the conversation. Everyone around the table I was at was engrossed in their own conversations. They didn’t seem to notice, or care, that I was talking on my phone during dinner. I found Declan on the other side of the room, where he had grabbed a chair next to Maryanne, and they were absorbed in a conversation.
“What were you going to say? Tell me right now.”
“I was just thinking that I’ve never heard you actually talk about a guy with so much excitement. I’ve never heard you have so many good and bad emotions about a single man. It made me think that he might be someone you should explore more with. But then I remembered he works with your father, and that wouldn’t be a good idea. But you two can be friends. You’re not going to work there forever. No reason you can’t be friends.”
“Yeah, friends,” I said almost under my breath. “Okay, I better go. He’s walking back this way now.”
“Good luck.”
I hung up the phone and slipped it back into my bag as Declan sat down in his seat. His broad shoulders rubbed against mine since the seats were so close together. The pressure from his touch distracted me as I tried to stay focused on the rest of the evening ahead of us.
“How did it go?” I asked.
“Good. She had always avoided setting a goal because she didn’t want to have the staff be disappointed when they didn’t reach it. But I settled her in on the idea. I really love it; I’m sure it’s going to help out a lot.”
“Great,” I said stiffly as I ate the meal that was sitting in front of me.
Being focused on other people had made the first part of the evening easy for me, but as I sat there in such close proximity to Declan, my body felt awkward. I didn’t know what to say or do anymore, and instead, I reverted to being quiet.
For nearly 30 minutes, we made small talk and ate our meal. The close proximity of our bodies definitely shifted the way we were interacting with each other. My pulse quickened near him; I could hardly find the right words to say what I wanted to say. Everything was harder between us. We needed a distraction, an outside source that we could pool our energy toward. This wasn’t working at all.
“Should we dance?” Declan asked softly as he put his napkin on the table.
“Oh, I don’t know. We should probably keep working the crowd.”
“I think we should have some fun and relax a little. People will see us and maybe relax a little themselves. Come on, the dance floor is empty, and the band needs us.”
“Ha, well if you put it that way, I guess I will dance.”
His arm wrapped around me as he pulled me close to him on the dance floor. He wasn’t overtly flirting with me, but the look in his eyes was decidedly different than what I had seen from him before. There was a pull of sexual tension between us as our bodies moved with the music.
The strength in his arms was balanced out by a gentle touch and smooth movements from his feet. Declan had danced before; I could see that for sure. He looked so comfortable in his tuxedo and dancing. I did not feel nearly as comfortable.
My dress was heavy from the beads and sequins that were all over it. Although I had pinned the straps to my bra, I still felt like the whole dress might fall right off of me at any moment. But I did my best to look comfortable and relaxed as we made our way around the dance floor.
“I’m going to say this, and I mean it with all the respect a boss should have for his employee. You look amazing in that dress.”
“I’m not technically an employee. More like a friend who is helping you out,” I joked. “But thank you for the compliment.”
“Thank you for coming. I know this was a bit of a last-minute thing and I really appreciate it.”
“Of course. I love being involved in charity work and wish I had the time to do more of it.”
“With your MBA, you’d be an asset to any charity group. Have you ever considered working with one of those organizations for your job?”
“Hmm, not really,” I said as we continued to move around the dance floor. “I always assumed they paid hardly anything, and as much as I want to be one of those people who doesn’t need money, I’m not. I want a nice car, a decent house, and vacations; so I guess charity work probably isn’t for me.”
“Maybe not, but who knows? Perhaps there’s a large corporation who needs someone to run their philanthropy programs? Something like that might be just what you’re looking for.”
It was an interesting idea. I’d never even considered I might find a job in a non-profit sector or helping a corporation with their non-profit work. It was probably a very small niche of employment opportunities, but I liked the idea a lot.
“How much time until your speech?” I asked in an effort to take the attention off of me and put it back onto Declan.
“Soon. I think Maryanne is going up any minute now.”
“Do you need to run through your speech first?”
“No, I’ll be alright. I actually enjoy doing this sort of stuff,” Declan said as he leaned in closer to me.
My body tightened up as his touch became more intimate. His voice became lower as he got close to my ear so I could hear what he was saying over the music in the room. My heart thumped out of my chest with excitement.
“Should we sit down and get you some water before it’s time for you to talk?” I said as I pulled away and walked quickly toward our table.
I didn’t wait for him. I didn’t look back to make sure he was behind me. All I could think about was getting back to my seat and drinking some of my ice water to cool off the heat that was rushing through my body.
Just as we sat down, Maryanne started to talk on the main stage. She discussed the organization and their accomplishments over the past year. She thanked all the donors for their generous giving and announced that they set their goal for five million dollars for this event.
It was an ambitious goal, but from the look of the high-end members of the audience, they didn’t seem phased at all by the number. In fact, it hadn’t even caused a flinch of a reaction from the people sitting at our table.
“How much does she normally raise at this event?”
“Two million or so. I suggested she make her goal four million, but she insisted on five. Said she was going big or going home,” Declan said with a chuckle.
“She certainly is going big.”
“It’s manageable though. These are millionaires and billionaires in the audience. I know they have the spare change.”
“Make sure you do a call to action while you’re up there.”
“What do you mean?” Declan asked as we heard Maryanne getting ready to introduce him.
“Ask them to get thei
r checkbooks out. Ask for the donations. This is a charity event; they came here to give money. Don’t skirt around the issue. Ask for the money.”
“And now, without further ado, I’d like to introduce Declan McMillan,” Maryanne said as the crowd erupted in applause.
He pulled my hand up to his lips and kissed it before walking up to the stage. It seemed to be a fake act of chivalry, but the touch of his lips on my hand still sent chills through my body. I had not been expecting the action, but I played it off nicely with a smile and nod as I noticed everyone looking at the two of us.
“Wow, thank you all for the welcome. Can I have you join me at my office for that sort of greeting every morning?” he said with a laugh, and the audience gave in and laughed with him.
He looked effortless as he spoke to the crowd about the charity and why it was important to him. Declan gave a story about his first visit to one of the homes and how amazing all the couples were for taking on such a bold job. His words rolled off his tongue as if he’d practiced them for days, but I knew he had not.
“Now, let’s get to the checkbook part. You know I’m one of those people who doesn’t mind writing a check for a good cause. I suspect a lot of you are like me. You want your money to help people. You want to put it to work. Well, here is your chance. Can I have you all pull out your checkbooks, please?” he said as he waited for the crowd to oblige him.
Most of the people laughed and didn’t take him seriously at first. It wasn’t until he stayed quiet and looked around the crowd that they realized he was serious. This was exactly what the crowd needed.
“I want you all to close your eyes and think about that goal Maryanne announced earlier. Five million dollars. It’s a big number, no doubt. But then think about other areas of your life where you’ve spent that much money. Did it give hundreds of children stability in their lives? Did that five million dollars change the direction of a child’s future? I know for me that answer is a resounding no.”
Declan grabbed the microphone and walked over toward me. He stood behind me as he continued on with his speech.
“Last year I donated $100,000. I don’t tell you this because I want you all to donate the same amount. We have our own lives; we have other charities that are important to us. I know, I know. But I’m giving more this year. I’m giving a quarter of a million dollars,” Declan said as he pulled out his checkbook and handed it to me. “Could you start filling that out for me?”
“Of course,” I said calmly, although my hand was literally shaking as I pulled a pen out of my clutch and thought about how to write out a check that large.
Never had I written such a large amount of money out on anything. I had to think about the number of zeros to put in the box. I had to plan out how small I’d need to write the words ‘two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.’ It was so nerve-wracking.
“Now take a minute and think about what you gave last year. Can you give more? Can you double your donation? Can you triple it? Start writing those checks, everyone. Think about Maryanne and all the good they do here at the Boys and Girls Home, then write those damn checks!”
Declan had gotten the crowd all excited, and I saw many of them smiling as they pulled out their pens and started to fill in their checks. Who knew if the amounts they were giving would be larger than previous years? But I thought he had been very eloquent and I hoped he was successful in his bid for higher donations.
He handed the microphone to another man and then sat down and signed his name to the check I’d just filled out for him. His hand was shaking, too.
“You did great.”
“That was much harder than just reading a speech and telling them to give a lot. Asking so specifically made me feel very vulnerable.”
“Yep, but it makes them connect more to you. You did it. You definitely got them to give more, I just know it.”
“I need a drink. Want me to get you anything?” Declan asked as he jumped back up and out of his chair.
“I’ll go with you,” I said and joined him on the short walk to the bar.
There was no need for me to stay sitting alone at the table. I was tired of sitting already and a drink sounded like just the right cure for my growing nerves.
“Sorry about the hand kiss, I was caught up in the moment.”
“It’s okay.”
We ordered our drinks and found a standing table in the back of the room as we listened to the other speeches of the evening. No one else even mentioned the fundraising goal, and no one asked for the participants to get their checkbooks out. It was a little disappointing, until Maryanne took the stage again.
“I think it’s about time we let this band play some more music,” Maryanne started. “But first I have to tell you how amazing you all are. From our calculations, we are almost to our goal. Only one million dollars away. That’s chump change, right?” She laughed, and the humor seemed to hit a good note with the crowd. “We are going to continue taking donations at the back table; I’ve got Marco there with me. He wants to be an accountant and plans to go to UCLA in the fall. Come visit him, encourage him, and give him your donations. Now let’s have some fun and listen to our amazing band.”
Maryanne was smart to bring Marco into the conversation. Just having him there was enough to get people up from their tables and back to give a donation directly to Marco. Some of the people had already written a check; I’d seen them do it while Declan was talking. Now they were writing another one. I had a good feeling about the money they were going to receive. The charity had already brought in well over what they had in previous years.
Declan reached his hand out and touched mine. He was gentle, kind and weirdly it didn’t seem sexual at all.
“Thank you again. Your advice brought in at least a million more dollars than ever before, and I bet she will meet her goal by the end of the night.”
“That would be awesome,” I said as I looked down at his muscular arm and his hand as it sat on top of mine. “I’m exhausted. Are all these events this tiring?”
“Yeah, I think it’s the emotion of it all. Pretty exhausting. We can get going if you’d like?”
“I don’t want to be a party pooper. We can stay if you’d like.”
“I’m tired too. Look at these bags under my eyes.”
There were no bags under his eyes. Declan looked amazingly rested and relaxed for a man who worked as hard as he did. But I was ready to go; I’d worked hard with him that night and the evening before. Sleep was the only thing I could think about.
“I’m ready to go when you are.”
“Then let me take you home,” Declan said as he held his arm out for me to grab onto. “I have a fantastic vehicle waiting to drive us.”
It took us nearly an hour to get out of the building. Everyone kept coming up to Declan to say they loved his speech and couldn’t wait to visit one of his and my father’s new resorts. I wished my father had been there to hear all the praise for his work. He was really proud of what he was doing with Declan, and it showed in how hard he put his energy into the projects.
Just as we reached the door and were about to leave, Mrs. Braxton caught up with us. She had a bit more pep in her step than she had before.
“Thank you for introducing me to Miles. He’s a very kind man. I’m going to visit him out in Texas, and I offered to help him get his facility up and running.”
“Wow, Mrs. Braxton, that’s amazing,” I said as I hugged her.
“He is a nice man,” Declan said with a wink.
“Oh, stop. I’m an old widow; I don’t notice things like that,” she said as her face flushed red.
“You’re never too old to share your life with someone,” I added. “You two seem to have a lot in common.”
“Okay, I see how the two of you are. You’re double-teaming me,” she laughed. “I just wanted to say thank you, and I’ll keep you up to date on the progress. I’m very excited to have the opportunity to help with this.”
“That’s
fantastic. I can’t wait to hear all about it,” Declan said as he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.
We climbed into the waiting black sedan and were sitting in front of my building within 20 minutes. The conversation was casual and comfortable on the ride home, not at all awkward like I had thought it was going to be.
“I’m going to walk her up. I’ll be right back,” Declan said to the driver.
“There’s no need, but I know you’re not going to take no for an answer.”
“That is correct.”
“I had fun tonight. Thanks for having me, and thanks for the conversation about careers. I used to think I wanted to be a big executive or something like that, but I really do enjoy helping people.”
“You’re not in a hurry, are you?”
“No, I’ve got working with you to keep me busy for the time being.”
“I’m really glad you are working with me. Your father was right: you are amazing.”
“Thanks, but I think he is a little biased.”
“I want you to know how much I appreciate you coming to help out, though. I know I’m not the easiest of guys to work for. You were probably out drinking last night because of all the stress I’ve caused.”
I shrugged in agreement as I smiled at Declan. He was exactly right.
“I’m getting used to things. I think there was just so much going on in those first few days.”
“Well, I’m also a bit of a jerk sometimes,” he laughed as we entered the elevator up to Jessica’s apartment.
“Whaaaat?” I said dramatically. “You? No way.”
We both laughed, and it broke the tension of being alone with him in the elevator. As the doors opened and we walked toward the apartment though, the tension seemed to grow. The awkward sexual tension that I’d been denying all night long was right there between us.
His hand moved away from my arm, and I watched as Declan took a step away from me. It was as if he felt the tension too and was trying to put distance between us for his own peace of mind.