Page 58 of She's a Big Deal

“Uh-huh. Thought so.”

“You take yours black?”

“Yes.”

“Ah. Thought so too.” Or shot straight into her bloodstream via IV, probably… Olivia glanced at the laptop. “Have you been working?”

“They have way better Wi-Fi at the coffee place than here. I handled a couple of meetings and made a few key calls. We’re looking good.”

And the clock on the bedside table only read 07:22. Olivia groaned.

“Are you always this energetic in the morning?”

“Of course.” Grace blasted her another high-intensity smile. “That’s what mornings are for, aren’t they? I take it you’re more of a night owl?”

“Uhm… No, not really, but…”

Before Olivia could get her brain in gear, Grace came to sit on the side of the bed. She took off her thin leather gloves, rested her fingers on her cheek, and finally acknowledged the obvious. “Are these just special circumstances?”

“Special.” Olivia nodded, her cheek tingling nicely. “Yeah, you could say that. Grace…”

She pulled her down for a slow, soft kiss. Grace’s lips were cool and fresh from the outside, with just a hint of black coffee on her mouth. She tasted amazing. Olivia felt all that restless energy, the power that had been revving so high only a second before, go beautifully still and peaceful. Grace lingered into the kiss, then just rested with her forehead touching hers and her eyes closed.

“You are special,” she murmured.

Olivia ran her fingers gently through her hair. “So are you, Ms. Michaels.”

She found that ‘darling’ or ‘babe’ did not come to her in that instant. But she could infuse enough affection and intimacy into that, ‘Ms. Michaels’, both to satisfy herself and know that Grace would not be put off by it. Something told Olivia to take it slow and be careful with her today. That her lover might need a bit of time and space to process the amazing night they had shared.And me, too…No rush seemed like an all-around good idea at this point.

“I’m going to take a shower,” she announced.

“Okay. Here, this is for you.”

As well as organizing her business empire and finding her excellent coffee, Grace had also managed to buy a few essentials. Namely, toiletries and fresh underwear. Before first light, in a random town called Dodger, it was no small feat. She took care of things, obviously, which Olivia decided was another hugely attractive quality about her. Last but not least, she learned that Grace had reported the previous night’s threatening encounter to the local police.

“I was going to suggest we do that before we leave,” Olivia approved. “We got off lightly, but it might save another woman the same treatment.”

“Exactly.”

Grace did not follow her into the shower.Taking it slow, Olivia reminded herself. And it was fine. She wanted to drive, which was fine too, and no surprise. But Olivia did not expect her to launch into a series of 360-degree turns in the middle of the busy Motel parking lot. She made the Mustang’s engine roar, pulverized a bunch of snow, and had her literally shrieking with laughter.

“Next-level up from handbrake turns.”

“Phew! Next-level, yeah!”

Grace flashed her a penetrating look. ”I will teach you. If you want.”

It occurred to Olivia that this may be her way of telling her there would be another time. Her heart jolted at the thought, and it settled her a great deal.

“Okay.” She spoke in the same tone and added a promise of her own. “I’ll hold you to that.”

???

Grace barely stopped to eat and sleep over the next five days. The resort neededa lotof work,but she was limited in terms of time she wanted to spend.She flew in top business consultants, performed design assessments herself, and spent more time in her hologram tool than in the real world. She spoke personally to each member of staff on every level of the business and made hard recommendations to her siblings about keeping, hiring, and firing. Or rather, she discussed all these things with Chloe and Mark, who were on board with her ideas for modernization and appreciative of her philosophy regarding the restructuring.

“Is Jeremy not going to participate in this at all?” she asked, irritated.

“No.” Her sister sounded extremely sure. “To be honest, Grace, the only reason he added his signature to the contract is because Father told him to.”

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