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

mouth went dry at the image once more. Yeah, right, Olivia, blame a bloody suit. She scowled. The only problem last night was you and your lack of self-control. You only have yourself to blame if this all goes wrong now, this late in the game.

She straightened in her chair and drank the remainder of her juice. Sitting here wallowing in self-pity wasn’t going to achieve anything. First, she needed to take Barnaby out for his lunchtime walk—Mr. Cousins had visitors today. Then she needed to tell Broderick. He was away in Florida for the final races of the season. He wouldn’t answer a call, not that she would think to interrupt him in race mode anyway. But she’d send him an email, which he would read tomorrow night or Monday morning, and at least he’d have some idea of what might befall them.

God, what a mess.

Olivia’s stomach churned as she stepped out of the elevator into the C&V offices on Monday morning. She was early, hoping to assess how Jenny seemed as she arrived and whether Chrissy wore a cat-that-got-the-cream look as she came in. She marched over to her desk and unpacked her bag. Then she sat, ready to face her fate.

Derek walked in a few minutes later and waved hello. “Have a good time on Friday? I’m sorry I didn’t get to talk to you much. You know how it is, so many people to make time for.”

“No problem. And yes, I had a lovely time, thank you.” Chalk up one more lie to the scoreboard. Besides, she was quite sure he’d spent most of his evening with Chrissy, and Olivia was fairly certain she knew what was going on there. She wondered if Derek’s wife knew. Once more her stomach rolled, this time in anger at what Chrissy might be playing at—probably was playing at—and how Derek seemed game to let her. Ugh.

Derek disappeared into his office and shut the door.

Next to arrive was Chrissy. She muttered, “Good morning,” before heading to the coffee station.

Okay, so that didn’t seem to suggest she had any inkling of what had happened Friday night. There was certainly no evidence of gloating, which she would have expected if Chrissy had known. Dare I believe?

When Jenny arrived, she looked tired and withdrawn. She barely glanced at Olivia before easing into her chair and setting up for the day.

“Good morning.” Olivia’s heart thudded.

Jenny looked up. “Morning.” Her eyes met Olivia’s. “Did you have a nice weekend?”

“Yes, thank you.” Olivia’s voice croaked. “And you?”

“It was good.” Jenny turned back to her screen and scrolled her mouse.

Olivia exhaled. She had to know. Once and for all.

Chrissy walked away from the coffee station and made a beeline for Jenny’s desk.

Come on, quickly, while you’re still alone. “Jenny?”

Jenny looked up again and a flicker of annoyance crossed her features.

“Could I talk to you for a moment? Perhaps over coffee?” Olivia kept her voice calm even as her insides churned.

Jenny quirked one eyebrow, hesitated, then pushed away from her desk and stood. “Sure.”

They walked past a bemused Chrissy to the coffee station.

Before Jenny reached for a cup, Olivia cleared her throat. “Are you okay?”

Jenny stared at her. “I’m fine. Why?”

“You look a little tired.”

Jenny looked away. “Didn’t sleep so good this weekend.” She grabbed a cup and placed it on the machine. She pressed the requisite button for straight black, then crossed her arms.

“I just wanted to apologize again for—”

Jenny held up a hand. “It’s all forgotten. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you.” Olivia swallowed. “Look, I hate to ask, but you won’t share this with anyone else, will you?”

Jenny’s eyes clouded. “No, Olivia, I won’t. I’m not that kind of person.” She lifted her cup and without another word walked away.

Olivia sighed. Well, that could have been worse, I suppose. Equally, it could have been a lot better. She risked a glance at Jenny, who was almost back at her desk. If only things weren’t the way they are.

Chapter 16

Jenny was thankful the last two weeks of September were busy. Work was always a good distraction for her from whatever else was going on in her life. Especially this work. The NFL season was underway, and her work on the preseason segment around the Jets and Giants had segued nicely into C&Vs involvement with a special documentary on the charity work of NFL stars behind the scenes. She’d been asked to work as an all-round runner on a couple of days’ shooting at a zoo then spent a day helping out at a photo shoot. She loved the variety in her job, and she had to begrudgingly admit that had increased since she’d been moved over to C&V.

She also loved the fact that all this running around, plus the work she did back in the office, allowed her to keep her thoughts—mostly—away from Olivia. Although that was more difficult to achieve when their days in the office crossed. Whenever their gazes met, there was a difference to it compared to pre-party times. It was warmer, softer, not so confrontational. Jenny couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing. They were supposed to forget the night of the party, after all. And she was still supposed to remember to not trust Olivia.

Looking up from her screen, needing to stretch after an hour of solidly tapping away at her keyboard, she caught Olivia observing her.

Olivia jolted and looked away. She bit her bottom lip in that way that Jenny found ridiculously distracting.

Jenny grabbed a handful of M&Ms from her dispenser and surreptitiously stared at Olivia as she munched each one.

Olivia looked really good today. Hell, Olivia looked good every day, but today was something else. The bright-blue shirt, with two or three buttons undone, created a V of pale skin at the top of her chest, and it had short sleeves that showed off Olivia’s slender arms. Arms holding hints of muscle in all the right places.

Jenny had always been a sucker for toned arms, and