“Until you get there? So you can stay the night?”
“Like I said, I wasn’t sure if you’d have plans for after the game.”
He had to forcibly remind himself they were at a family hockey game. “Oh, I have plans.”
* * *
“What’s happening?” Even though Olivia had promised not to ask questions, she was confused by what was happening on the ice.
And she wasn’t getting any cues from the crowd. For the first time since the game started, it was quiet in the rink.
“Grant’s in trouble,” Isaac whispered.
She leaned her head close so she could whisper back. “In trouble for what? Did he break a rule?”
“That was a dirty hit.”
Carter leaned forward from the row behind them so his head was between theirs. “It’s a charity game, so they’re supposed to have fun and keep it clean.”
She nodded to show she got it now, and watched as Grant left the ice and disappeared through a set of doors. A few seconds later, Gavin left his seat, presumably to head to the locker room. Another player took Grant’s place, but it took a few minutes for the crowd to resume full volume after the game resumed.
Olivia fell back into the pattern of mimicking Isaac and Julia’s reactions, surprised to find herself enjoying the game far more than she’d expected to. Every few minutes, her gaze would meet Derek’s over the tops of his kids’ heads and he’d smile.
“We’re gonna win!” Isaac was practically bouncing in his seat as the clock ticked down, and she wondered how long it would take for the soda Derek had gone back for to work through Isaac’s system.
An hour and a half later, when she finally pulled her car in behind Derek’s in his driveway, she had her answer. She watched him open the back door and, while he didn’t carry Isaac, it was obvious the child had fallen asleep.
“They’re going to be fun at school tomorrow,” Derek said after sending the kids to brush their teeth and get ready for bed. “I should have thought about the fact I’m the one who has to get them up in the morning before I let them have soda.”
Olivia laughed, even though she was already turning the morning’s logistics over and over in her mind. Since she’d be doing the drive-home-of-shame in tonight’s clothes, she’d like to be up and out before it was time for Isaac and Julia to get up. She had no idea what time that was, but she was an early riser, so hopefully she could avoid any awkwardness.
After saying goodnight to the kids, she turned on the television and sat on the couch to wait while Derek went through the bedtime routine with them. And then she laughed when he flopped down beside her with an exaggerated air of exhaustion.
“No more soda for them,” he said.
“How many times have you said that?”
He chuckled and took her hand in his as he turned his head to look at her. “Every time I take them out and buy them soda. Did you have a good time tonight?”
“I did. I’m not sure I’ll ever really understand hockey, but it was fun. And Isaac and Julia obviously love it. He was so funny tonight.”
“They enjoyed having you there.” He tugged on her hand, pulling her closer. “I enjoyed having you there. And I’m enjoying having you here.”
She moved closer, then yelped as he lifted her and turned her so she was straddling his lap. Then she covered her mouth. “Don’t make me do that.”
“They’re probably already asleep.” He kissed her, his hands at her hips.
She’d let him kiss her, she thought. They were both fully clothed and it was just kissing.
But as he deepened the kiss, his tongue parting her lips, she moaned. He gripped her hips harder with his fingertips and she couldn’t stop herself from grinding against him.
His mouth left a hot trail of kisses down her throat before he gently bit the side of her neck. “Do you know what watching hockey does to guys?”
“I’m starting to see the appeal of the sport,” she said as his hands shifted to her breasts.
“I think it’s bedtime for you, too.”
She couldn’t stop herself from glancing over her shoulder at the bedroom doors. “Are you sure they’re asleep.”
“I’d bet on it.” He pinched her nipple through the fabric of her shirt and bra, and she pressed her lips together to keep from making a sound. “I changed the doorknob on my bedroom door so it has a lock because I’m an optimist, and we’ll leave the TV on to make you feel better.”
“You can’t do anything that makes me loud,” she whispered.
Derek laughed, and she put her finger over her lips to shush him. He took her wrist and brought her hand to his mouth. She sighed as he slowly drew that finger into his mouth, sucking gently.
She squirmed for a few seconds and then pushed off his lap. The options were to lock his door and try to behave or leave. And there was no way she was leaving right now.
They didn’t waste any time getting naked, but Olivia put her hand on his chest to stop him as he joined her in his bed.
“I mean it. If I start getting loud, you have to put a pillow over my face or something.”
“Suffocation’s not really my thing,” he said when he was done laughing at her again. “I think you need some distracting.”
And he was damn good at distracting her. It didn’t take long before the only thing she could focus on was the feel of his hands on her body, and his tongue gliding over her skin.
And her last thought as she drifted off to sleep was that she hoped she hadn’t actually left bite marks on the side of her hand. Or that they’d fade by morning.
Chapter Seventeen
Olivia’s phone rang just as she and Kelsey finished their end-of-the-week review. Since it would take a few minutes for her to gather her stuff to leave, Olivia took the phone into the living room and answered it.
And it was Amber’s voice on the other end of the line. “Olivia? It’s Amber. Do you have a minute?”
Thoughts flew through her mind. Was everybody okay? The kids? It was Friday and Derek was working. Was he okay? “Yeah, I have a minute. What’s up?”
“Actually, Julia wanted to talk to you about something, but you know she’s a little shy and she didn’t want to call you out of the blue. But I wasn’t sure when you’d see each other again, so I told her I’d call and break the ice for her.”
“Julia can call me anytime,” she told Amber. “And I have time now.”
“Great. Hold on a sec.”
After a moment, Julia was on the line. “Hi, Olivia.”
“Hi.”
“I hope you’re not busy, but thank you for talking to me.”
“You’re welcome. And I’m not too busy, so what’s going on?”
She hesitated so long, Olivia thought for a few seconds they’d been disconnected. “We have a school project thing and we’re supposed to bring somebody in to speak about the topic. It’s like show-and-tell, but with people.”
“That sounds fun. What’s the topic?”
“Helping others.”
“Well, your dad certainly helps others.”
“Yeah, but he goes to my school, like, every year. But Daddy said you help others be successful. And they gave us homework planners this year so I thought you could talk about how you help people use things like that and maybe even show us?”
Olivia was speechless for a minute. Julia wanted to take her to school for show-and-tell. It was a big deal and her eyes actually welled up, though she managed to blink away the unshed tears and not sniffle. “I think that sounds really great. When would this be scheduled to happen?”
She got up and crossed to her planner as she asked the question. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too soon because she had a busy couple of weeks ahead of her, but she’d figure it out. Not only was it another way to connect with Derek’s daughter, but it had been hard
for her to reach out, so Olivia wasn’t about to tell her no.
“My teacher said the date, but I don’t remember. It’s in the middle of October, though.”
She winced, because she couldn’t work with that. Blocking off the entire middle of a month for one appointment wasn’t going to happen. But flipping the page in her planner showed that she wasn’t booked up yet and could surely make it happen.
“I’d love to be a part of your project,” she said. “But can you do me a favor and on Monday, ask your teacher for the exact date and write it down so you’ll remember it for me?”
“Yes, I’ll put a note in my homework folder to remind me and I’ll write it on the note.”
“Perfect. It’s going to be fun.”
“Thank you, Olivia.”
“You’re welcome.”
When they’d hung up, Olivia took a sticky note from one of the leather pockets in her book and wrote a note about the project and the estimated mid-October date, which she stuck on the page.
“That sounded interesting,” Kelsey said, her bag slung over her shoulder.
Olivia caught her up, amused when her assistant also cringed at the vague date. “If I don’t hear from her Monday after school, I’ll email Amber and ask her to touch base with the teacher.”
“You have his ex-wife’s email address?”
“She still volunteers with Village Hearts, so it’s on the list they gave me.”
“I think it’s cool how you two get along.”
“Me, too.” Olivia closed her planner with a sigh. “It’s definitely different than any of the divorces in my family. And I’m glad, since I’m not sure I can handle a relationship with an ex like my mother in it.”
“You’ve seemed different since you started dating Derek. Happier, even when you’re a little stressed out by how things have changed.”
“I am happier. There are some issues, of course—there always are—and one of them is how my schedule sometimes feels like it was tossed in a blender without the lid on.”
Kelsey laughed, but her amusement faded quickly into an uncharacteristic seriousness. “You know, since you’ve been seeing Derek, I’ve picked up some more responsibility and helped out with follow-up and stuff.”
Olivia nodded, not surprised. It would have been about the time for the question of a raise even if nothing had changed in her personal life to put more weight on Kelsey’s shoulders. “You have, and I appreciate it.”
“I also know you’re a little behind on your book, which you could technically write anywhere.”
Olivia frowned, both because she didn’t like being reminded she was behind schedule with the manuscript and because that didn’t seem relevant to where she’d thought the conversation was heading.
“I’m not that far behind,” she said, hating the defensive tone in her voice. “And I chip away at it.”
“It wasn’t an accusation.” Kelsey blew out a breath and then gave her boss a nervous smile. “I’m just going to say it outright. I want to do more. I’m ready to do more, to the point you’re wasting my skills on tasks any decent office manager can do. It’s inefficient and fiscally irresponsible.”
Olivia made sure her expression gave nothing away. “You’re trying to push the buttons you know work on me.”
“Just hear me out. I can do follow-ups. I can work with smaller clients on the basic systems. I can troubleshoot. There are a lot of things you’re doing that I can take over without diluting or weakening your brand in any way. We could easily train an assistant to do most of my day-to-day things. Some of the work would still be mine and, combined with taking on some of your work, leaves me with a solid career path. And it leaves you more free hours to focus on the high-end and high-tech market. The big money. Or it leaves you more free hours to enjoy more time with Derek.”
She wasn’t wrong. Olivia knew Kelsey was capable of more than what she was given to do, and she trusted her knowledge and drive. Kelsey stepping up had always been part of the plan, but just not yet. “I’m not basing business decisions on my personal life.”
“It’s not that simple, though. You have to make room for him somewhere, and he can’t come after everything else on your to-do list.” She set her bag down and went to the fridge to grab a drink. “I’ve thought a lot about this lately.”
“I have been, too,” Olivia admitted. “I don’t want him to come after everything else, but I also can’t just let my responsibilities slide. I got here by making a solid plan and executing it. If I start wandering off the plan, it crumbles.”
Kelsey put the cap back on her drink and picked up her bag. “I just know it’s starting to weigh on you and I wanted to tell you that I’m ready to step up my role in your company so that when you’re thinking about it, you have that information.”
“Thank you.”
Kelsey was almost to the door when she stopped and turned back. “And you might want to consider that fighting to stick to your plan isn’t the right answer. It might be time to make a new plan.”
* * *
Derek kissed his kids goodbye, feeling a pang of regret as they ran past their mom into the house. It was Saturday and they should be with him.
But Olivia was coming over around dinnertime and there was no reason they couldn’t all hang out at his place—and they probably should be—but he’d had the uneasy feeling he and Olivia were losing traction and it was time they talk about some things.
He wanted more.
And he didn’t want to have that personal of a conversation in hushed voices with the kids asleep on the other side of their doors, so after spending the day with them, he’d asked them if they’d mind going home for the night. He’d pick them up again in the morning and do something fun. They didn’t really care which place they physically slept in, so the something fun bribe worked.
“They’re fine,” Amber said, probably reading the second thoughts all over his face.
“This is their time with me. I don’t get to see them as much when school starts, so I feel guilty about not taking every minute.”
“You are a part of every single day for them, whether they’re here or there. And what you’re doing is in their best interests, not just yours. You’ve looked happy these last couple of months, which makes me happy, but you also look tired. If she’s the one for you, it’s time to start looking forward at how it’s going to work before you burn yourself out trying to be there for everybody.”
When he’d called to ask about bringing them home, not wanting to break up any plans she and Jason might have made, he’d told her why.
“Yeah, it’s time for us to start looking forward.” And it made him nervous as hell.
He wasn’t any less nervous when Olivia showed up, looking delicious in leggings and a lightweight summer sweater that draped over her hips.
“Where are the kids?” she asked after he’d kissed her until his options were to stop or strip her naked in his kitchen. Since he knew they needed to talk, he stopped.
“I brought them back to their mom’s for the night.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I just thought it would be nice for us to have some time. To talk.”
She got very still. “Uh-oh.”
“There’s no uh-oh.” He hoped. “I just...wow. Somehow I’d pictured us having a nice quiet meal and then cuddling on the couch for this conversation.”
“We can try for that, but now I’ll probably be distracted by worrying about what’s on your mind.”
He nodded, because he understood. He should have known she’d ask about the kids and had a plan for what to say. Instead he’d told her the truth and now they were standing awkwardly in his kitchen.
“I’m in love with you, Olivia,” he said, ripping off the bandage. “I am in love with you and I need for us to talk about what our future looks like together.”
She sucked in a breath and tears shimmered in her eyes. “I’m in love with you, too. I have been for a while.”
Relief made his knees weak, and he laced his fingers through hers. If he loved her and she loved him, everything else could be figured out. Somehow.
“I want us to figure out how we’re going to work toward a future together,” he said, the words hard to force through the tightness in his throat. “You’ve become part of every aspect of my life. My kids like you. All of my friends like you. You’re a part of everything.”
“But being in the Back Bay also separates me.”
He nodded. “It’s hard. It’s one thing when we’re dating, but if we’re bringing our lives together, it’s going to get harder. The amount of time spent traveling cuts into work time and family time. I was surprised when Julia told me you’re going to go to her school because from where you are, that wrecks the day.”
“You were surprised I’m doing a favor for your daughter?”
Something in her tone set off warning bells in his head, but there was no backing out now. “A little, I guess. I know it was a hardship for you when she got sick, so... I don’t know.”
Her jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed. “A hardship? Derek, it wasn’t a hardship. It affected my schedule and that had to be dealt with, but it wasn’t a hardship. You’re making it sound like I was really put out and that you don’t think I’d be willing to do things for Isaac and Julia.”
He took a deep breath, determined to salvage this conversation. It was too important to him. “I hear you saying that, but I worry that you don’t really know how messy it can be and that it’ll be too much for you.”
“You still don’t trust me. And you don’t trust that I know what’s too much for me and what’s not.”
“It’s not just that. I’ll probably have the kids more when Amber has her baby. Especially the first couple of weeks so she doesn’t have to worry about getting them to and from school. My schedule makes that a little tough, but we’ll make it work.”
Under Control Page 20