Page 17 of Under Control
“I don’t want to dateanybodyright now. That’s the point.”
Kelsey made a sound that translated tohmm, maybe I don’t believe you.“You met him. You liked him. You saw him again. You agreed to have dinner with him. And you kissed him, on the sidewalk in the rain, no less. You’re thinking about him instead of focusing today. I’m pretty sure youdowant to date him.”
“And you just proved my point.” Olivia stood and stretched her back. “Thinking about Derek has killed my focus this morning andthat’swhy I don’t want to date anybody. In a few years, I’ll be able to step back a little and have the time and attention to give to a relationship.”
“I know you, Olivia. By the time you’re ready to step back, your potential dates will not only have ex-wives and children, but grandchildren, too.”
“You’re exaggerating badly, but it doesn’t matter. When I do have a family, I don’t want to feel torn between them and my company.” If you piled too much on, things started sliding and everything could crumble. “I’m going to see if we have anything for lunch and then prep for my afternoon meeting. No more dating talk. I need to focus.”
“I’m having a yogurt in about twenty minutes, when I finish this, so I’m all set.” Kelsey swiveled back to her screen and Olivia grabbed her phone and walked to the kitchen. There wouldn’t be many lunch options, since she usually grabbed something on the run if she had time between meetings and Kelsey seemed to live on Greek yogurt and protein bars. Luckily, there was always extra yogurt since her assistant liked a variety on hand. Only having mango when you were in the mood for strawberry was a tragedy, apparently. There were three blueberries, so she grabbed one and pulled back the top.
Then her phone buzzed and she couldn’t deny the way her pulse quickened when she saw Derek’s name on the screen. Her attraction to the man wasn’t going to be scheduled in a neat little box in her planner.
Sheshouldlet it go to voicemail and eat her yogurt so she could get ready for an afternoon of follow-up visits, but she couldn’t resist him and picked up the phone and said hello.
“Oh...” He paused for a few seconds. “Hi.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I am, a little.”
She laughed. “But you called me.”
“I did, but I wasn’t expecting you to answer at this time of day.”
“A potential client managed to double-book himself and even though he clearly needs some help with his scheduling organization, I’m the one he rescheduled. What’s up?”
He chuckled. “I spent half the morning rehearsing the voicemail message I was going to leave and had no backup plan for if you actually picked up.”
Her stomach clenched when the obvious reason for him deliberately calling at a time he didn’t anticipate her answering flashed through her mind. He just wanted to leave a quick message telling her he’d had a good time and enjoyed their kiss, but that he had a lot on his plate and wasn’t looking for a relationship right now. But he hoped she’d still pop into Kincaid’s for the fundraiser to support the cause.
The disappointment was an almost physical ache, but it was for the best, so she’d make it easy for him. “I’d hate for all that prep time to be wasted, so pretend I didn’t answer and tell me the message.Beep.”
“Hey, Olivia, it’s Derek. I just wanted to tell you I had a great time last night—it was the best night I’ve had in a long time, actually—and I can’t wait to see you at Kincaid’s, so I really do hope you’ll come.” There was a brief pause, and then a low chuckle. “That was it, so I guess this is where I’d hang up.”
“Don’t,” she said quickly, but then she had no idea what to say next. She was still processing the fact he hadn’t been taking the easy way out in dialing things back before he saw her in person again. “I...I had a good time, too.”
“Does your cancellation leave enough time for lunch?”
She wanted to say yes—shereallywanted to say yes—but if she factored in the time it would take them to meet somewhere, it didn’t. They’d barely have time to chug a coffee, never mind eat anything. And she’d be off her game all afternoon because Derek had that effect on her. Especially if he kissed her again.
And she really wanted him to kiss her again.
“I can’t today. Or at all this week,” she said honestly. “My schedule’s pretty booked and I didn’t...”
I didn’t see you coming.
She didn’t say the words out loud, but she felt them deep inside. She’d built a good, solid life and career with careful planning and execution and then Derek Gilman had come out of nowhere. And she still didn’t know what to do about that.
“I figured as much,” he said, “but I’ll repeat the part about how much I hope you’ll make it to Kincaid’s Saturday night.”
“I’ll be there,” she said, wincing as she made the statement without leaving any wiggle room for getting her priorities back in order and changing her mind.
“Good. I can’t wait to see you again.”
The way his voice lowered as he said the words made her body sizzle with anticipation and her hand tightened around the phone. It was all too easy to imagine that voice in the dark, his breath hot against her ear as he told her all the naughty things he wanted to do to her.
“Olivia?”
