“Cole?” Chloe asked, cutting her off. “Even his name is sexy! Are you going to see him again? You have to see him again, Liv. He could be the one!”
“No, I really don’t, and he is definitely not the one.”
Was Chloe seriously trying to marry her off to some random bar guy after one night? The sex had been good, but it hadn’t been that good. Or maybe it had been. Either way, it didn’t matter, since she’d never see him again.
“Please don’t tell me you didn’t get his number.”
“Okay, I won’t.”
“Liv! Have I taught you nothing?” Chloe whined. “Seriously, I can’t believe I’m hearing this.”
“Sorry to disappoint you,” she said, unable to believe her ineptitude at dating was Chloe’s biggest problem. “What can I say? I suck at life.”
Chloe grumbled something unintelligible under her breath. “You know, I was really hoping you were going to turn over a new leaf.”
“The kind where I have indiscriminate sex with total strangers?” Olivia asked, laughing in spite of herself.
“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Chloe conceded. “Any sex would be a step in the right direction.”
“I’ll tell you what. We can revisit the topic of my love life when I get that partnership. Until then, dating just isn’t a priority.”
Chapter Five
Olivia nursed her coffee and sifted through emails. Her meeting with Pritchard was just minutes away, and she was too nervous to manage much else that morning. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and imagined her name on the door beside Jonathan’s.
Pritchard, Masterson, & Associates
All of her hard work was about to pay off, proving once and for all she belonged in this world, and not upstate with her parents and their antiquated views on women. She was going to get partner, and nobody could say it had been for any other reason than that she was damn good at her job.
Her work load, which was already out of control, was likely to get even heavier. That meant no more wild nights or one-night stands. Even if Cole had given her the best orgasms of her life. Problem was, she couldn’t stop thinking about him, wondering if she’d made a mistake sneaking out. Which was exactly why she needed to get back on track and put her focus one hundred percent on her work.
A message popped up on her screen, alerting her it was two minutes to ten. Time to meet with Pritchard. It was now or never.
She rose from the desk and smoothed her black pencil skirt, hoping Pritchard wouldn’t see through to her nerves. She doubted ‘prone to panic attacks’ was a quality he was seeking in his new partner, the individual he would groom to lead his company when he retired in a few years. Olivia straightened her back and strode down the hall with confidence. She was relieved when Pritchard’s admin Gabby waved her right in.
No waiting. That had to be a good sign.
She passed through the open door, pausing when she realized Pritchard already had someone in his office. Odd, he hadn’t mentioned anyone joining them. The hairs on the back of her neck began to bristle as Pritchard looked her way. His face lit up when he saw Olivia and she found herself smiling in return.
Jonathan could be a bit self-involved at times, but after five years of mentoring, she’d come to think of him as a father figure. Although, truth be told, he was nothing like her own father, who was just as likely to be found tinkering with his tractor as he was picking apples in the orchard. No, Pritchard was nothing like that at all.
A city dweller at heart, Pritchard wore overpriced suits, had a trophy wife half his age, and maintained an overbooked social calendar. He kept his white hair clipped short and his fingernails manicured, and played squash every Monday.
Every Monday except this one.
“I apologize for the interruption,” Olivia offered. “Gabby said to come right in. I didn’t realize you were in a meeting.”
“It’s fine,” Pritchard returned, motioning her forward from behind his heavy cherry desk. Behind him, an expansive wall of windows revealed storm clouds rolling into the city. Although she didn’t care much for the clouds, she would have killed for those windows in her own office. With any luck, she’d have a new office with an equally breathtaking view by the end of the meeting. “Come on in. We were just talking about you.”
“All good things I—”
She stopped dead in her tracks as the man sitting across from Pritchard turned in his chair, revealing his face. Dark gray eyes fell on her, registering the same overwhelming sense of shock that rocked her to the core. In that instant, the oxygen was sucked from the room.
Olivia couldn’t breathe.
She couldn’t think.
Couldn’t move.
She blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.
The scene before her remained unchanged.