At that, he broke eye contact with her, but she couldn’t stop staring, watching his face as he smiled at the audience, almost everyone in it riveted on Andrew.
“Tonight, I hope you’ll enjoy some of that magic, here in this special North Pole that the Myerberg Foundation has worked so hard to create for all of us. And more importantly, I hope that each of you will take home a little of that magic for yourself, to effect your own transformation by hearing the want we have expressed tonight, and taking action in giving. I am honored to have been invited to speak with all of you tonight, and from the bottom of my heart, thank you for listening.”
He gave a little bow, and the room erupted in applause. Jon walked forward to shake his hand, and the two shuffled off to the side a bit to take photos and give short interviews to the press. Music began to play, Christmas carols filtering softly into the room, and soon the clink of silverware and glasses being moved around joined the sound of the music.
But Meredith barely heard any of it over the sound of Andrew’s words being repeated, over and over in her mind. Silence is not action…go out and ask…not enough just to ask it of yourself…take home a little of that magic for yourself…
Yes, her thoughts replied. Yes, I’ll take it.
Chapter Eight
“Thanks again for coming with me tonight.”
They were in the car, being driven to Meredith’s apartment. Andrew had insisted on seeing her home instead of taking his leave at the entrance, which would have been much more practical. They’d gone uptown from the gala to drop her off, while he lived downtown.
And yet she couldn’t manage to let it really bother her. They were sprawled in the backseat, falling into the leather, hands nearly touching on the cushion between them, and the outside world seemed impossibly far away.
“I had a wonderful time,” she sighed, enjoying the profound relief of being off her feet.
“Really?” He turned to face her, bringing his body that much closer to hers, his eyes gleaming as they passed under a streetlight.
“Really. The people I met were friendly and the ballroom was so, so lovely and your speech—” She sat up and twisted, too, narrowing the space between them even more. “Are you leaving Harbor to start this new company that you talked about?”
He lifted one hand as though to place it on her arm, to reassure her, but must have thought better of it, because it sort of froze in midair, hovering over her elbow. Without even thinking, she brought her hand up and threaded her fingers through his just as the car slowed in front of her apartment building.
“Meredith—” he began.
But before he could say something like, We have to keep this professional or I’ve always adored you for your work, but as a woman? Ha! No way, she drew on her ever-expanding courage and asked, “Would you like to come up?”
***
Was she asking him what he thought she was asking him?
Andrew stared for a moment, trying to process what she meant by the invitation.
“I mean, of course you don’t have to. I just—I’d like to hear more about this new thing you’re doing, but I know it’s late and you probably have other things to do, and I’ve already inconvenienced you enough…”
Don’t take away that magic she gained today. That incredible confidence. It turned him on. Turned him inside out.
“Yes. I’d love to come up.”
The driver opened the door then, and Andrew got out first, turning to help Meredith from the car.
“I’ll be seeing Ms. Klaus safely inside, Jim, and will take a taxi back to the office later. Thank you for your service this evening.”
The driver tipped his hat at both of them. “Good night. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” Meredith said, smiling, before leading the way up to her apartment.
They’d just gotten in the elevator when Andrew spoke again. “I’m not leaving Harbor. Jon and I talked about it and we both felt that it would make more sense if we found someone else to run North Star Industries.”
It was the first time he’d told anyone the name, and her reaction was everything he could have hoped for. Her face lit up with delight. “North Star? You’re really going all out with your Santa CEO nickname,” she giggled.
He grinned. “That was Jon’s idea, actually. He wanted to play up my nickname while making sure that the theme for the gala would match the spirit of the name, so that it would remind people that Myerberg was a part of it, too.”
The elevator stopped, and he gestured for her to precede him while he held the door open. “He’s a really nice, down-to-earth kind of guy,” she said softly. It was a few minutes past eleven at night, and her floor was completely quiet. He followed her in silence to a glossy white door and waited while she unlocked it. They stepped inside before he spoke again.
“Jon thought the same of you, you know. Except he added ‘smart, charming, and breathtakingly beautiful.’”