Passion in the Heart (3 page)

She strolled onto the sidewalk before Melanie. “Are you putting an ad in the paper? I’m sure you’ll get plenty of responses with that last bit.”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea. Maybe I will.”

“Let me know how it works out for you.” Gwen paused at the entrance to their building and opened the door.

“It’s worth a shot.”

Melanie passed her and headed for the elevators in the center of the building. The gray interior, solid floors and fake plants were typical of many high-rise buildings. Businessmen and women strode by, carrying briefcases or pulling a small piece of luggage. The aroma of coffee lingered from the shop in the lobby.

“Did you meet the new attorney?” Melanie asked as Gwen came to a stop next to her.

“No. James told me he was in court. I’ve been busy trying to get through my email messages.”

The ding of an elevator gathered their attention. After two men and three women exited, Gwen and Melanie entered. Gwen pressed the button for the twelfth floor.

“Are you missing any of those lovers yet?” Melanie asked with a playful smile.

“I am. They all were wonderful to spend time with. I sent them messages over the weekend. I’d like to keep in touch. Maybe one day I’ll get to meet them again. Who knows?”

The elevator delivered them to their destination and the doors parted.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Melanie said as they walked onto the floor. “And if they ever come to visit the Midwest, maybe they’ll stop by your place. You definitely need to keep in touch with that guy who works at the club.” They stopped at the entrance to the law firm. Melanie opened the door. “I still want his information if you don’t mind sharing.”

Gwen entered the firm. She passed the receptionist, then paused in the middle of the walkway. Rows of cubicles stretched the length of the floor. Sunlight spilled in from the windows along the back wall. Melanie came to a halt next to her.

“I’ll send it to you. Let’s go out for lunch later in the week,” Gwen said.

“Thursday is good for me. I’ll stop by this afternoon sometime.”

“Sounds good. See ya then.”

Gwen headed down the walkway in the opposite direction from Melanie. They worked with different teams with attorneys, paralegals and other staff. Since they’d been with the company for such a long time, they’d acquired a long list of skills and abilities that made them perfect managers for the large firm. But they still didn’t have their own offices. The detail didn’t bother Gwen since she enjoyed working with everyone and helping them.

She rounded the corner and entered her wide cubicle. The one photo on her desk showed a happy moment with her daughters when they’d visited the fair. A stack of papers filled a basket. Files filled a box on the floor. Sighing, she sat in her chair. She had a lot of work to do to get caught up from her trip.

Time passed quickly as she read the last of her emails and listened to voice messages. Mid-afternoon, she emptied the box of files onto her desk. She opened the first one and started reading the notes.

“Gwen,” James said.

She twisted in her rolling seat and found the paralegal standing at the end of her cubicle wall. He was lanky with short brown hair and glasses. As usual, he wore a white button down and beige trousers.

“Hi, James. What can I do for you?”

“Travis is in his office. Do you want to meet him now?”

She stood. “Sure. I’d love to.”

She followed James toward the row of offices. Each side of the floor had a conference and copier room for employees. The copying machine made a swishing sound as they passed by. When they reached the once vacant office, James stopped and knocked on the open door.

The man behind the desk stood. Melanie had described him well. Broad shoulders and a flat torso hinted at a muscular frame. He had dark trimmed hair and a clean-shaven face. He’d dressed similar to most attorneys, a pressed white shirt, tie and black pants. His jacket hung on a rack in the corner. A briefcase lay on the credenza behind his desk.

“I’d like you to meet Gwen. She’s our go-to manager,” James said as he entered the room.

Gwen followed James to the desk. She extended her arm. “Gwenevere Stratten. Welcome to the company. Call me Gwen.”

He shook her hand. “Travis Gunderson. A pleasure to meet you finally. I heard you were on a long vacation.”

“Yes. I hadn’t taken one and with my daughters living on their own, I decided to travel in Europe. I was surprised to hear management had filled this position. It had been vacant for nearly six months.”

“If you don’t need me for anything, I’m going to get back to work. I’m sure you two have a lot to discuss,” James said as he looked from Gwen to Travis.

“I’m fine,” Travis said.

“I’m good. Thanks, James,” Gwen said.

The young man left, leaving her alone with Travis.

“Please, have a seat.” Travis gestured to one of the two chairs facing his desk.

“I heard you started four weeks ago,” Gwen said as she sat. “Have you settled in? I hope the paralegals have been keeping you up to speed and sharing information on the processes with you.”

Travis reclaimed his seat behind the desk. “I haven’t spoken to them much because I’ve been reading up on all the procedures. James has been very helpful while you were out. He said you were a good manager, one of the best in the company.”

“Well, I like to help and make sure everyone can do their job so the attorneys can do theirs. You need to win cases. Therefore, the staff need to have all the ducks lined up properly, so to say. If you look good, then we all do.”

“I appreciate that. I’m sure we’ll get along fine.” He threaded his fingers together on his desk and smiled. “So you have two grown daughters. If you don’t mind me saying this, you don’t look old enough.”

A touch of heat rose to her cheeks. “I was one of those people who married and started a family right after college. I also divorced early, so I’ve been a single mom for a long time. Now that my girls are in college and out of the house, I’m more free to do things.”

“Like travel,” he said.

“It was a dream of mine.”

“Did you enjoy it?”

She smiled. “It was wonderful. I had the best time ever.” She glanced to the one photo sitting on his desk near his monitor. The photo showed Travis with a young boy and girl. “Are those your children in the photo?”

He turned his head to look at it. “Oh, no. No. They belong to my brother. I’m not married. I love his kids and they’re great, but I enjoy my independence.”

“I can certainly relate to that. I value my freedom and if opportunities come up… Well, it’s good to take them.”

“Absolutely.” He gave her a crooked grin. “Maybe we could have lunch sometime and talk more.”

“Sure. I’m free except for Thursday.”

“Is tomorrow too soon?”

“No. Tomorrow is fine. Let me know what time works best for you. I’m flexible with my schedule.” She stood. “If you don’t mind, I need to get back to work.”

He stood. “I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on.”

“You wouldn’t believe all the emails I had to scan through. It was crazy.” She moved around the chair. “If you need anything or have questions, let me know. I’ll send you my phone number in case you need it off hours or an emergency arises. Management likes for staff to communicate any absences to the team manager.”

“No problem. I’ll send you my number, too, in case you ever need to reach me.”

“Great. Nice meeting you, Travis. I’ll see you around.”

“Pleasure was mine.”

She headed for the exit and had an odd feeling he was watching her. When she reached the door, she paused and glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, his gaze was on her—well, the lower part of her body. He shifted his attention to his monitor.

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?” Gwen asked.

He slowly lifted his head. “Would you happen to know of an inexpensive gym around here?”

“A gym?”

“Yeah, I like to work out. I actually relocated here six weeks ago from Arizona. I’ve been jogging but I really need to join a gym. I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you have shapely legs. The kind a runner would have. I thought you might know of a decent place.”

“Oh. Yes. I jog. Did jog. It’s been a while. The trip.” Damn it, what was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she talk normally? So he stared at her legs. Why would that bother her?

“Do you work out?” he asked.

“I mostly jog. I hate running in the heat and cold.”

“I see.”

“I go to the fitness center a block from here. It’s on the seventeenth floor. It’s about thirty-five dollars a month. I can send you the details in an email.”

“I’d like that.” He gave her a warm smile.

“I’ve been thinking of talking to one of the trainers there. I could tone a few areas. I’d hate to become flabby at my age.” For the love of god, what was wrong with her? One minute she couldn’t get a good sentence out. Now, she was blabbering about fatty tissue.

“If it’s any consolation, you look nice and healthy.”

Her cheeks warmed. “Thank you. I’ll send you the information.”

She turned and walked out of his office with her pulse beating faster than normal. The compliment surprised her. Maybe she was wrong but it seemed as if he wanted to use some other adjective instead of healthy. Was he trying to flirt with her?

She returned to her desk and sat. Before she could send him her phone number and the information on the gym, she received a message from him with his cell data. She responded to his email promptly.

“Hey, Gwen, care to take a break?” Melanie strolled into her cubicle.

“No thanks. I’m trying to get a few things done before it’s time to leave.” She hit the ‘send’ button on her keyboard, then twisted to face her friend.

Melanie crossed her arms and leaned her butt on the desk. “Did you meet the new attorney?”

“I did a few minutes ago. Nice guy. I thought he was married since he has a picture sitting on his desk with himself and two kids. He said they were his brothers and he’s single. He also said he’d like to have lunch tomorrow.”

“Really? He’s single and he asked you to go to lunch?”

She nodded. “And he complimented my legs.”

Melanie stood and dropped her arms. “What? He flirted with you?”

“He said they looked like a runner’s. He asked for information about a gym. He said he moved here from Arizona and he’d like to work out. I told him about mine. That’s all.”

“That’s all? Honey, he’s said more to you then he has to anyone here. That man is interested in you.”

“No way. He’s new. He’s looking for a good place to work out.”

“And a good lay.”

Gwen shook her head. The man knew little about her. Why would he have an interest in her? Men typically didn’t bother to look her way, except the ones she’d met during her vacation.

“I have work to do. We can talk later.”

“Plan on it.”

As Melanie left, Gwen twisted to face her monitor. She had two hours left and she hoped to clear out a few files before leaving. She jotted Travis’ number on a small piece of paper then dove into the file she’d left open on her desk.

Over two hours later, she found herself with half the stack she’d started with and few staff remaining on the floor. She locked the remaining files in her cabinet then left the office. As she drove home, she thought about Travis. If he were interested in her outside of work, which she doubted, what would she do? He was single and so was she. Should she go out with him if he asked? She’d already agreed to lunch. She shook the crazy idea from her mind. The man was new in town. So what, he hadn’t opened up to the staff yet. Maybe he needed more time to become comfortable with them.

Gwen hit the button to open her garage as she approached her house. While the door lifted, she spotted a black vehicle parked on one side of her driveway. The model looked unfamiliar to her. Slowing the car with her foot on the brake, she steered onto the concrete path leading to her house. She stopped when a man exited the dark sedan. He wore jeans and a business jacket. Sunglasses hid his eyes. He smiled and her heart started racing. He wasn’t some stranger, but a charming billionaire she’d had hot sex with on a plane thousands of miles in the air. Damn, he looked sexier than ever as he approached her.

Chapter Three

Gwen shifted the car into park and hit the button to lower the window. Phillip smiled as he approached her side of the car.

“Excuse me, miss. I’m looking for a Gwenevere Stratten.” He drove his hands into his pockets as he came to a stop next to her door. “I believe she’s the owner of this property.”

“Yes, this is her house. She should be home soon. Would you like to wait inside for her?”

Curled lips on one side revealed his contentment. “I’d love to wait inside for her to come.”

A bubble of laughter burst from Gwen. “Of course.” She changed the gear from the parked position. “Follow me.”

Her heart continued to rapidly beat as she inched the car in the garage. She couldn’t believe he’d flown to visit so quickly. Her night was going to be a hundred times better now that he’d arrived as compared to staying at home alone and eating soup. She’d hoped to make it to the gym to start her work out program again. She no longer needed to worry about going to the fitness center. She’d get her exercise with Phillip.

She exited the car with her purse and keys in hand. As she walked toward the house, she heard the slam of a door. She glanced over her shoulder and found Phillip heading in her direction carrying a duffle bag in one hand and a square shaped bag in his other. As if her heart wasn’t pumping fast enough, it accelerated again.
Is he planning to stay a few days? Why would he bring a bag?
She unlocked the door then pushed it open.

“Please, come in,” Gwen said as she moved to the side.

He walked into her home smiling. The entry way was small with the laundry room behind Gwen, opposite the kitchen. A half-bathroom was at the end of the passage. Phillip took a few steps, then turned the corner and entered into the kitchen.

Gwen hit the button to seal the garage before she shut the door and locked it.