A Heart to Trust A.L. Brooks (romantic story to read .txt) 📖

station. Careful. You’re being friendly. She pictured Broderick smirking at her. Okay, maybe her pretend-husband was right. Maybe there was something in this whole be-a-bit-nicer-to-the-colleagues thing.

She returned to their bank of desks and deposited Jenny’s coffee in the same spot it always stood just to the right of Jenny’s mouse, within easy reach whenever she concentrated on her screen.

Olivia blinked at the thought. How do I know that about her already?

“Thanks.” Jenny gave her a small smile.

“You’re welcome.”

“Hey, where’s mine?” Chrissy glared at Olivia as she sat back down.

Desperate to bite back with something scathing—but knowing it would only achieve more acrimony—Olivia gritted her teeth and stood once more. “Cappuccino, yes?” She took more than a little delight in seeing Chrissy’s mouth drop open.

“Okay, I am available if you need me for anything urgent. Otherwise, I’ll see you all on Monday,” Olivia said as she packed her laptop into her bag.

It had been a long morning—she’d come in especially early so she could get everything done before leaving at one. But it had also been a pretty successful morning, despite the snafu with the catering schedule. Hell, even Chrissy had seemed to warm to her after the coffee run.

“Um, Olivia?” Chrissy asked.

Olivia looked up just in time to see Chrissy and Jenny exchange a glance. “Yes?”

“Where are you going?”

Olivia looked first at Chrissy, then Jenny. “Home,” she said, reluctant to give away even that snippet of information. They’d shared coffee, sure, but what did they care what she did with her time off?

“But why?” Chrissy tilted her head. “Are you sick?”

Snorting softly, Olivia shook her head. “Do you even look at our team calendar, Chrissy? It’s my half-day vacation.” The words were out before she thought to temper her tone.

“I’m looking at it right now.” Chrissy’s voice was flat. “There’s no vacation in here.”

“She’s right,” Jenny piped up.

Olivia pinned Jenny with a piercing stare. Oh? You want to be Chrissy’s little lapdog now, is that it? It stung more than she wanted to admit; she had thought things were thawing between them since this morning. Clearly she was wrong. Damn her. And Chrissy. “I booked it three weeks ago and added it to the team calendar.” Olivia picked up her bag and slung the strap over her shoulder. “If it’s not there now, I expect someone managed to delete it.”

It was a cheap shot, she knew that. She marched away from the desks, gratified to hear the sounds of angry whispers trailing after her, even as a small part of her berated herself for stooping that low.

Riding down in the elevator alone, she let out a long breath and rolled her shoulders a couple times. This last month had been horrendous. Their team wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders, and the antagonism—especially between herself and Jenny—only made it worse. Olivia knew she didn’t help with the way she spoke sometimes, but the woman was so damn infuriating! One minute they were sharing a moment like this morning, the next Jenny was acting juvenile with that basketball game, or lapping up every word Chrissy spoke. In addition, everything external about her screamed airhead, layabout, lazy. But her work was, generally, faultless, and she seemed to have no qualms about putting in the necessary hours. Even more irritatingly, her dry and sharp sense of humor often left Olivia struggling not to laugh out loud. And those damn smoky eyes, whenever they locked with hers…

She arrived home some fifteen minutes later—living in the Flatiron district, so close to the office, was definitely a huge bonus. Although Broderick owned the apartment outright and Olivia therefore did not have to pay rent, she’d insisted on paying her way equally for everything else. They had a grocery fund, and the heating and utilities were in both their names. Everything else in her own bank account was savings for the future, for the time when she’d branch out on her own.

After showering, she dressed in an old pair of cotton shorts and a Les Misérables T-shirt, then walked to her living room and pulled a folder down from the shelf above her small desk. The checklist she needed was in the second compartment. With that plus a pen in hand, she walked to the apartment’s main room. This was Broderick’s room to hang out in when he was home, and it contained nothing that hinted Olivia lived here too.

She had an hour to get started before Broderick was due home. He’d come in fifth in his race in Virginia, and he and the team had headed back to their base in New Jersey for a few days to make plans for the next race. He was driving into New York now, and he hoped to be home in time to help her ‘re-couple’ the apartment.

Olivia huffed out a breath and looked around. This room was by far the easiest to start with and involved the least amount of furniture moving, so she may as well do this one on her own while she waited for Broderick. The boxes were all in the storage cupboard down the hall, and they lay at her feet ten minutes later.

“Music,” she muttered. “I need music.” Something to distract her mind, which insisted on replaying all the events of that morning and the last couple weeks.

She stepped over to the sound system, connected her phone to it, and chose one of her own playlists. Before long, Alicia Keys’ voice filled the room, and Olivia sang along as she worked. The shelves to the right of the large TV were cleared of half of Broderick’s racing trophies and model cars, and their place was taken with wedding photos. The holiday photos of the various trips she and Broderick had taken over the years were shuffled around a little. She smiled at the one of them underwater on one of their Honduras diving trips. That had been their best trip, by far.

A couple of souvenirs from back home slotted in between the