Page 14 of Under Control
While her smile froze for a few seconds before she turned to rummage in the leather bag she’d hung on the back of the chair, Derek mentally face-palmed himself. He hadn’t even made it a minute before mentioning the ex-wife. Womenlovedthat shit.
Not that they were on a date, but still. It was a bad habit.
“How long have you been divorced?” She set the leather notebook she’d had in the elevator on the table in front of her, but didn’t open it yet.
“It’s been final almost a year.”
“Do you have children?”
It was a natural question to ask a guy who’d just told you he was divorced, but she looked stiff and awkward as she asked it, not making eye contact. “Two. Julia’s ten and Isaac is eight.”
Her smile was definitely forced. “One of each. That’s nice.”
Tamping down on the impulse to pull up photos of the kids on his phone, he decided to turn the conversation back to her. “How about you? A significant other in your life?”
“Nope. Not part of the life plan yet.”
He laughed. “I can actually see you not only having a life plan, but actually writing it down.”
Olivia put her hand on her notebook in what looked to him like a defensive gesture. “Of course I do. If you don’t write it down, it’s a thought, not a plan.”
She wasn’t joking. But before he could respond, the server showed up to take their beverage order. After glancing at the wine list, Olivia asked for a lemonade and he had to fight the urge to apologize to her for his choice of restaurants. Maybe the wine choices didn’t impress, but the food would.
He hoped. Maybe she was used to places that served those tiny portions of things nobody could pronounce with a fancy sauce smeared around the plate like a kid’s finger painting. This wasn’t that kind of place.
After a minute of reading the menu, instead of wrinkling her nose in disdain, she looked across the table at him with big eyes. “It’s like all of my favorite comfort foods in one list and everything sounds amazing. How am I supposed to choose?”
“I wish I could help you narrow it down, but everythingisamazing.”
“The drink choice was easy,” she said, looking back at her menu. “I have to call my mother later and I always make myself a calling-Mom cocktail, which I don’t want to put on top of wine. But I might need a few minutes with this menu.”
He chuckled, relief flooding through him. He didn’t drink wine, so he wasn’t sure why the fact she wasn’t a wine snob after all should be a big deal, but he was still glad she wasn’t. “Take your time. There’s no hurry.”
His favorite was the chicken parmesan, but he liked to save slurping up red sauce-coated pasta for at least the second or third date.
Dinner, he corrected himself. This wasn’t a date. The second or thirddinner.
When the server returned, he ordered the meatloaf dinner and Olivia, after making him and the server laugh at her indecision, went with the herbed stuffed chicken.
“A favorite of mine,” he said when they were alone again. “You won’t be disappointed.”
“I bet everything on that menu is your favorite.”
“I wouldn’t bet against you.” After taking a sip of his coffee, he leaned back in his chair. “So tell me, how did you get involved with Village Hearts?”
“I’ve wanted to be involved with a charity for some time, as they’re a great way to make professional connections while giving back to the community, but it’s a tight circle. I’ve had Kelsey, my assistant, keeping an eye out and when she heard about this one, it seemed like the right opportunity. How about you? I mean, I know firefighters are very supportive of charities, but how did you come to be with this one? Do you get assigned to them?”
“My son was born with a ventricular septal defect.”
She’d been lifting the lemonade glass to her mouth, but now she paused and set it down without taking a sip. “I’m sorry.”
He smiled. “Thanks, but he’s fine now. When he was born, though...it was rough. Amber and I were pretty much consumed by Isaac and being at the hospital and we didn’t have a lot of energy left to give Julia. Thanks to our families and Village Hearts, she got to keep being a happy two-year-old while we went through hell.”
Maybe it was a trick of the dim lighting, but it looked as if Olivia’s eyes were glistening. “You must think I’m awful, talking about professional networking when it’s obvious Village Hearts is deeply meaningful to you.”
“I don’t think you’re awful at all,” he said quickly because it was true, but also because he didn’t want her to cry. “And I don’t care why people support Village Hearts, just that they do. I asked Jess to be a part of the board, actually. It wasn’t because she had any personal connection to the charity, but because she’s freaking amazing with money. Growing and maximizing funds is wicked important when you’re as small as we are. And if you’re an expert in planning and working efficiently and whatnot, trust me. I want you.”
I want you.
