“That sounds great, but I think we also need to get more donations that will appeal specifically to the people we want to bring in,” Jess said. “We need items that will give the white-collar people with expendable income an excuse to relax. A deep-sea fishing charter for a group of four. A day at one of the more exclusive spas. Gift certificates from restaurants where they live. We have a great assortment of affordable, practical things for our core community, but we need to reach out for donations outside of that circle if we want to maximize Olivia’s marketing plan.”
“I agree,” Derek said, and they all nodded. “At this point, I think everybody needs to email me your lists of donations to date. I’ll make a master list and then we can figure out where we have gaps.”
“A master list would help in planning the marketing, too,” Olivia added.
“We can touch base on that,” he said, looking directly at her.
She didn’t look away. “Definitely.”
Yes. Now he had a valid reason for contacting her.
After quick updates on the catering company handling the dinner and making a decision on the DJ for the dance, George decided to call it a night.
Usually Derek would take his time leaving, chatting and scoping out any leftover snacks, but he was betting Olivia was the kind of person who’d say a brisk goodbye and rush off to whatever was next on her agenda. Hanging around scavenging cookies probably didn’t jive with her productivity gig, and he wanted to talk to her. He wasn’t sure about what, but he’d spent the last week and a half or so regretting not having a way to contact her. Her showing up to volunteer for Village Hearts was some kind of a sign and he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.
He’d been right about her making a quick exit and after he gave Jess a quick wave—which got him a knowing look—he followed Olivia out of the boardroom. Once he was past the glass windows, he had to do almost a half-jog to get close enough to call her name without raising his voice.
“Hey, Olivia,” he said, and the click of her heels stopped as she turned back. “I’ll walk out with you, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all.” She waited until he was next to her and then resumed walking. “I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you, anyway.”
“Really?” He stepped forward to open the frosted glass door for her.
“I never thanked you for keeping me company in the elevator. I was so behind schedule that day that I just rushed off without saying a proper goodbye. Or a proper thank-you.”
He chuckled. “It was my pleasure to keep you company, even if I didn’t really have a say in the matter.”
He didn’t miss the way her cheeks blushed a little at the words my pleasure. “You didn’t have a say in being in the elevator with me, but you went out of your way to be good company. I probably would have panicked if you weren’t there to keep me calm.”
It was kind of his job, but he stopped himself from pointing that out. It would be a conversational dead end. “I enjoyed it, actually. It wouldn’t have broken my heart any if it had taken a little longer for the guys to get the door open.”
She gave him a sideways look, the corner of her mouth curved into a playful smile. “And here we are, about to tempt fate again.”
For a moment, he was confused, until he realized they were at the elevator. “Feeling lucky?”
“Either way, it’s a win.”
Derek wasn’t great at flirting, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out she wouldn’t mind being stuck in the elevator with him again and that was definitely a win.
Once they were in the elevator and the doors had slid closed, though, she looked nervous. She leaned against the back wall with her leather journal clutched to her chest. Her face was a little flushed and the deep breath she took was a little shaky.
“So what did you think of the Village Hearts crowd?” he asked, hoping to distract her in case she was having any kind of anxiety issues about being in elevators after getting stuck in one. He knew it happened.
“They all seem nice and they’re enthusiastic. I’m looking forward to working with everybody.”
“George can be a little tough to deal with at times, but he means well. I’m sorry about the football thing.”
“I probably should have just told him I’m not from Boston.”
“No shit? Sorry. I mean, really? You don’t have much of an accent. Where are you from?”
“Virginia, but I went to college here and decided to stay. That’s probably where I learned to match the team names with the sports.” She shrugged as the elevator came to a stop and the door opened. “And you don’t have to apologize for swearing. It doesn’t bother me.”
“Why didn’t you tell him?” He followed her into the main lobby of the building, aware that with every step they took, his window of opportunity was closing.
But he was second-guessing himself now. One, it didn’t seem right to hit on her the first time she showed up to help out with a charity that meant a lot to him. She’d already shown she had a lot to offer them and he didn’t want to scare her off. And secondly, while it might look like she was flirting, it was still hard for him to believe a woman like her would be interested in dating a guy like him.
“It’s probably stupid,” she said, “but I didn’t want him to know I wasn’t from Boston. I’m already new to the committee and I didn’t want to be an outsider, too. Not that it matters, really, but he seems like the kind of guy who’d hold it against me for no good reason.”
“I’d like to say you’re wrong because I’ve known George for years, but he can be a jerk sometimes. And he was kind of rude to you.”
“Thank you for jumping in.” She smiled, and the warmth in her eyes made him wish she’d smile all the time. “I wasn’t really sure what to say because I didn’t want to make a big thing out of it, but I also didn’t want to apologize for not being a sports fan.”
Derek couldn’t imagine not having sports in his life, but he damn well wouldn’t expect Olivia to be sorry about it.
“Ignore him when he’s like that. He’ll warm up to you.”
Once they’d walked out of the chill of the climate-controlled lobby into the steamy evening air, he saw by the way she turned that they’d parked in different directions. But she paused and looked at him. “My car’s this way.”
“I’m the other way, but I can walk you.”
“Thank you for the offer, but I can actually see it from here. I’ll be fine. I should give you my card, though, so you can contact me.” She opened her notebook and he saw a pocket with a small stack of business cards, but she pulled one from a separate pocket. She handed it to him and he saw that she’d handwritten a telephone number on it. “That’s my cell phone. I should warn you up front that I rarely answer calls, but I’ll respond to voicemail messages as soon as I can. The same with text messages if I’m with a client.”
He pulled out his wallet and tucked the card away. Later he’d put her number into his phone so he wouldn’t lose it. “If I’m on a call, the same warning applies to me, I guess.”
She laughed. “I don’t imagine answering a text is a high priority if you’re fighting a fire.”
“Nope. So don’t take it personally if I don’t respond right away.”
“I won’t if you don’t.” She took her time securing the elastic band around her notebook, and then she pressed her lips together for a few seconds before meeting his gaze again. “I try to be strict about not working after seven o’clock, so if you want to call and chat about something, any time after that’s a good time.”
His pulse jumped, but he tried to keep his expectations in check. He wasn’t sure if that was an invitation or if she was simply being practical. “I don’t want to interrupt your relaxing time with Village Hearts work.”
“I think I’m going to enjoy working with you all enough that it won’t be li
ke work at all. You can call me anytime, Derek.” She paused, and then gave him a smile that lit him up almost as much as it lit up her face. “You’ll just have a better chance of talking to me after seven.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” As if he could forget it. He was on the verge of asking her if she’d like to go somewhere and get a drink, but in the time he took second-guessing whether that would be too pushy at this point, a couple of other people walked out of the lobby and Olivia started moving away from him.
“I’ll talk to you soon?” she asked, lifting her hand.
“Definitely,” he said, and she gave him a smile before turning to walk away.
Derek allowed himself a few seconds of watching the sway of her hips and listening to the click of her heels on the sidewalk before he headed for his own car. That was when he realized he hadn’t given her his contact information, which meant he’d have to make the first move.
But he had her number and a good reason to reach out to her. It was enough for now.
Chapter Four
After a restless night, Olivia wasn’t her usual focused and driven self in the morning. She was even wishing she hadn’t given up caffeine her third year of college. Right now she could go for a coffee. Or a soda. Anything that would help wake her up and get her going.
She’d gone to bed at her normal time, but then she’d tossed and turned as she did her best not to think about Derek. Now that she’d not only seen him again, but would be seeing him on a fairly regular basis, her sexy firefighter wasn’t exactly a safe fantasy anymore.
It was a point driven home hard when they’d gotten in the elevator together after the Village Hearts meeting. Every dirty thing she’d imagined him doing to her in that first elevator ran through her mind like an X-rated highlight reel and all she could do was stand against the wall and clutch her notebook like it was a physical barrier between her and doing something stupid. She had to stop imagining them naked together if they were going to see each other often.
And she was a little cranky about that.
Maybe that’s why, when Kelsey let herself into the apartment and said good-morning to her, as she always did, Olivia pointed a half-joking but accusatory finger at her. “Did you know?”
Kelsey’s eyes widened at her unusual tone. “Did I know what?”
“Did you know Derek Gilman would be at the Village Hearts meeting last night?”
There was a long pause. “Remind me who Derek Gilman is?”
“The firefighter. From the elevator.”
The look on Kelsey’s face told her two things. One, she hadn’t known. And two, now that she did, Olivia was never going to hear the end of it. “Oh em gee, your firefighter is involved with Village Hearts?”
“He’s not my firefighter.” At least not when her eyes were open and she was fully dressed.
“He could be. Especially since you’ll be seeing him again. A lot.”
Olivia winced. “Don’t remind me.”
“Did he remember you?” When she nodded, Kelsey grinned. “So he’s probably been thinking about you and kicking himself for not getting the business card you should have given him.”
“I don’t think so. And so what if he remembered me? It’s only been like a week and a half since he saw me.”
“But think about how many people he sees in his line of work. I doubt he remembers every person he rescues. Did you talk to him?”
“Yeah.” She didn’t mention they’d ridden the elevator down together again because she didn’t want to give Kelsey any more ideas than she already had.
“And did you give him your business card this time?”
“I did. We’ll be working on a few things together, so it only made sense to give him a way to contact me.”
“Maybe I’ll get to meet him,” Kelsey said. “Since I’ll be helping with the promotional stuff.”
“I doubt that will be necessary.” Olivia could only imagine what would happen if Kelsey saw them together. She didn’t think her assistant-slash-friend would embarrass her in front of the guy, but Olivia would know what she was thinking and that would be enough to make her self-conscious.
When Kelsey took a sip of her coffee from the extraordinarily large travel mug she used, Olivia sighed and put her breakfast dishes in the dishwasher so they could get to work. She was aware that Kelsey was busy with her phone, but she didn’t think much of it until she gave her a look with eyebrows raised.
“He doesn’t say much on Facebook, but people tag him in pictures a lot. And you’re right, he’s definitely hot.”
“I’m not really comfortable with you invading his privacy like that.” And because she’d said it, she had to stay where she was instead of going to look over Kelsey’s shoulder at her phone screen.
Kelsey looked up at her and shrugged. “If he cares about people invading his privacy, he should make use of his privacy settings.”
“Good point.” She still didn’t move, though. “That’s kind of a gray area, isn’t it? Just because he doesn’t either understand or doesn’t care about privacy settings doesn’t mean I should creep on his profile.”
“You’re not. I am,” Kelsey said, using her finger to scroll down her screen. Then she glanced at the clock. “And technically I don’t start working for another three minutes, so you’re not paying me, either, if that was going to be your next argument against me looking at this photo of a sweaty, shirtless Derek playing football in somebody’s backyard.”
Okay, that got her moving. She ignored Kelsey’s laughter as she yanked her phone out of her hand.
And yes, a sweaty and shirtless Derek was worth the possible—but probably minor—violation of her own personal sense of ethics. Especially a shirtless Derek who was not only running with a football, but laughing as one of the guys who’d helped get her out of the elevator tried to grab him. She could tell that if there were a few more frames, they would show the guy missing him.
“Do you want me to save the photo and send it to your phone?”
“No.” That would definitely be creepy. She handed the phone back to Kelsey before she could succumb to any more temptation she’d feel guilty about later. “Did you finish editing the podcast?”
“Of course. Once you’ve reviewed it and it’s good to go, I’ll send it to Wes.”
The podcasts weren’t Olivia’s favorite part of her job, but her agent and Brynn had convinced her they were worth doing. They helped sustain interest in her first book, which focused on organization and working efficiently for college students, and helped generate interest in the book she was working on now, which was more business-focused. And Brynn did a lot of the heavy lifting. She’d designed the podcasts with something of a radio show format. She did the intro and asked questions that were sent in by listeners or via social media and then Olivia answered them, offering suggestions for solving problems under the planning and organization umbrella.
The bonus in Brynn being the host, so to speak, was that it kept Olivia positioned as the expert on the topic. She’d rolled her eyes the first time Brynn said it, but the number of subscribers kept growing and the questions kept coming, along with invitations to speak and to be quoted in industry publications. Kelsey did the editing because hers was a fresh ear and she enjoyed it.
Wes was the fourth member of the McGovern Consulting team and, like Brynn, was a part-time employee who worked remotely. He did the technical stuff, like maintaining the website and uploading the podcasts and—much less frequently—videos to her YouTube channel. Brynn maintained the face of their social media, but Wes was their behind-the-scenes guy. Olivia had managed the nuts and bolts of her online platform herself in the early days and she’d enjoyed it, but it hadn’t been long before it was more practical and cost-efficient for her to hire that work out.
Once she’d signed off on the podcast and done some other administrative tasks in
the office, Olivia left to take care of two follow-up meetings. She always went back two weeks after setting up a system to answer any questions and make sure they were using the system efficiently.
Kelsey left early because Olivia had scheduled several hours at the end of the day to work on her book and she preferred to be alone when she did. She considered the work she did to be very interactive—the clients’ workflow and personalities determined the best method for working more efficiently—so presenting information in a more generic format wasn’t easy. But her first book had been a bestseller and continued to sell well, and her agent felt this one would, too.
Once she’d closed her notebook and turned her laptop off, she ate a quick meal while flipping through the information she’d received from Village Hearts. Kelsey had printed the email and attachments for her, and some papers she set aside to look at later. But she scanned through the contact list.
She hadn’t gotten Derek’s number last night, even though they’d talked about how he didn’t respond when he was busy. Maybe he’d simply assumed he’d call first and she’d save it then. And once others had started leaving, she’d taken the opportunity to walk away before the standing there got awkward and she did something stupid, like kiss him goodnight.
Because, despite her certainty that dating wasn’t a priority right now, she’d wanted to.
There were no telephone numbers on the list, though. Olivia had been added to a shorter list at the top and then, after a divider, was a multipage list of names. She assumed those were all the volunteers who helped out in some capacity, and it annoyed her slightly that there were no descriptors attached. Just names and email addresses. It didn’t make sense to give contact information without any indication of what one would contact a person for.
One name on the second page caught her eye. Amber Gilman.
It wasn’t a common last name, so two of them involved with one charity probably meant there was a connection. Sister? Mother?
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