One Night with the Boss (11 page)

“Can’t complain. Jeff was here over the holidays.”

Brady had been friends with Jeff Gibson in high school. “How does he like Seattle?”

“A lot of rain, but he’s adjusting. Got a good job with Amazon. Proposed to his girl on New Year’s Eve. We like her a lot. ’Bout time those two took the plunge.”

“That’s great.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe Jeff’s getting married. The next time you talk to him, please give him my congratulations.”

“Will do.” The older man studied him and smiled. “You must hear this all the time, but you look just like your dad.”

“I consider that a compliment, sir.” There was a soft reverence in Brady’s voice.

“Good. I meant it that way. He was a good man, good friend.” The older man looked at Olivia. “And what’s this I hear about you leaving town, young lady?”

“I know, right?” The sudden switch in conversational gears made her feel as if she had whiplash. “A job opportunity came my way in California and I couldn’t pass it up.”

Mr. Gibson nudged Brady. “You didn’t make her an offer she couldn’t refuse?”

“The Golden State has more perks than I could compete with,” he answered.

“Seems like I heard that. A man?” Blue eyes twinkled. “Is it serious?”

“Could be.” If Leonard existed. Olivia found it hard not to squirm while fibbing to this good-natured man.

“I’m glad for you,” he said. “But I sure do wish you didn’t have to move away.”

“You and me both,” Brady said, giving Olivia a funny look.

“Your folks will miss you.”

“And I’ll miss them. But you do what you have to.” She shrugged and decided it was time to do what they came here for. “So, it’s time for the annual O’Keefe Technology weekend bash and we came to shop.”

“Excellent. I guess you know your way around.” During the conversation he’d been glancing at customers browsing the aisles. “If you’ll excuse me, I see someone who needs help.”

“Thanks, Mr. G.” Olivia looked to the left and right, getting her bearings. “Let’s start with the tablets. Everyone likes those and they always want the latest version.”

“Okay.”

There was something in Brady’s voice that Olivia couldn’t define. But he seemed a little down and that surprised her. This stuff was right up his alley and he should be quivering with excitement. Then she checked herself. Monitoring his mood wasn’t in her job description.

She turned to the long display table and they slowly walked along it, browsing the current devices, comparing features and price. After a spirited discussion, agreement was reached about which one to purchase and how many. She wrote down the pertinent numbers and later when the list was complete, she’d grab one of the salespeople and make his day.

When she looked up, Brady was still holding the tablet of choice and he had an odd expression on his face, equal parts distant and sad.

She knew ignoring it would be wise, but she simply couldn’t. “Okay, talk to me.”

He looked up and met her gaze. “About?”

“What’s bugging you?” She recognized the look on his face, the one he got when he planned to tell her she was imagining things. It would save time if she told him not to bother. “Don’t waste your breath. I think we already established I know you pretty well. There’s something on your mind and you might feel better talking about it.”

“Probably not.”

“Try me,” she insisted.

There was a moment’s hesitation, then he sighed and the resistance seemed to drain out of him. “I was thinking about my dad.”

“Because of what Mr. Gibson said.” It wasn’t a question.

“Partly,” he admitted. “But mostly I was remembering. He would have loved this stuff.”

“So that’s where you got it,” she said. “Your dad had the geek gene.”

“Yeah.” His smile was a little sad. “He’s the one who encouraged my interest in technology. If it was up to my mom, we’d be using a hammer and chisel on a rock.”

She laughed. “Computer averse, is she?”

“More like dead set against.” He shook his head ruefully. “She’s scared of it. If anyone touches her TV remote control and starts pushing buttons, she freaks.”

“Even you?”

“Especially me.” His grin was wicked and fleeting. “There’s hell to pay because she swears nothing works after I’m finished. She gets it just the way she wants it and everyone had better keep their mitts off or suffer the consequences. Dad would eat this up.”

The words, tone and regretful expression tugged at Olivia’s heart. “You still miss him, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” He set the tablet down.

“Family was important to him.” Olivia remembered that awful day. Her parents were deeply shocked and saddened when Kevin O’Keefe, their neighbor and friend, had a sudden massive heart attack and died. It was the first time she’d seen her mother cry. “He was a good man.”

Brady nodded. “When he changed jobs to stop traveling so much for work I’d just started middle school and played baseball and soccer. He came to all my games. Every one. No matter how badly we lost, he found something good about the way I played and the team as a whole.”

“He was a wonderful dad. It’s good he was around more so you could spend that time with him.”

“Was it?”

“Of course.” She was surprised that he’d question it. Time with loved ones was precious. “Why?”

“I don’t know. If he’d spent less time at home, he wouldn’t have been so much a part of my life. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so hard when he was gone.”

Olivia had never heard him talk like this. He was always the brilliant, charming, teasing, intense and hardworking founder and president of O’Keefe Technology. She’d never realized how hard he took the personal loss, how profoundly hurt he still was.

She started to say something when she heard her name. Turning, she recognized Rebecca Johnson, a local real estate broker they’d worked with to buy a piece of land for Brady’s corporate offices.

There was no way to ignore the woman who joined them. “Rebecca, I would say it’s a small world, but this is Blackwater Lake.”

“No kidding.” The attractive, fortyish blonde laughed. “Is that why you’re leaving us for sun, sand and a mysterious man?”

Dear God, here we go again,
she thought. “It’s a job opportunity.”

The other woman tsked at Brady. “You couldn’t do anything to keep her here?”

“I tried my best.” He folded his arms over his chest. “She’s determined.”

“I guess so. You’ll visit often, I hope.”

“Definitely.” Olivia got the feeling Rebecca had a time crunch and was glad of it.

“Good. I have to run and pick up my daughter from the library. Take care, you two.”

When they were alone again, Brady grinned at her. “It’s nice to know some things don’t change.”

“No matter how much we wish they would.”

“California is big and impersonal. There’s something endearing about a small town where people have a way of making everything their business. You’re too stubborn to admit it, Liv, but you’re going to miss it.”

The only thing she would admit, and only to herself, was that she would miss him. Terribly.

“California will be an adventure,” she said.

“Right.”

“And before that, I’m taking some time off. A long vacation somewhere warm.”

But she wondered if anywhere Brady wasn’t could possibly feel warm.

Chapter Eleven

“T
hese sketches are very impressive.” Brady looked up at Alex McKnight.

The building contractor, who also happened to be his friend, had brought in some drawings for the O’Keefe Technology corporate office his architect fiancée, Ellie Hart, had done. Alex was working on a job in the area and agreed to stop by to show Brady the ideas. He was glad for the distraction. Several days had passed since he and Olivia had gone to the local electronics store, and ever since Brady had been thinking about his dad.

Alex was sitting in a chair on the other side of the desk, carefully gauging Brady’s reaction. “Ellie wanted me to remind you that nothing is carved in stone yet. Walls, plumbing, anything can be moved, added or subtracted.”

“Understood.” Brady glanced down at the rendering of the impressive building, paved parking lot surrounded by trees and Blackwater Lake in the distance. At the street entrance there was a sign announcing O’Keefe Technology.

“This feels like a big threshold, the brink of something very important.”

Brady wished his father were here to share this moment. His mother often told him that his dad was watching, that he could see his success and was proud. But that never made him feel better. It never filled up the hole in his life where his father had been. He couldn’t see the pride on Kevin O’Keefe’s face, couldn’t hear, “Attaboy. Great job.”

He still remembered a certain tone in his dad’s deep, booming voice, the one he used when Brady had caught a ball against the right-field fence, or scored a soccer goal. He’d meant what he told Olivia. A part of him regretted getting so close to his father because if he hadn’t, losing him wouldn’t still hurt.

“A building definitely makes a statement,” Alex agreed.

Brady nodded thoughtfully. “It’s tangible proof that a pretty successful web hosting, web designing company is really a conglomerate. When I make news, and I will, a picture of my building will come on the screen. The viewing public will equate that structure with my company and it needs to be exciting and inspiring.”

Alex grinned. “You sound like Ellie. She’d be the first to agree with you about that.”

“No wonder she’s so good at what she does.” Brady studied the drawing. “Okay. I want to do some research—architectural stuff. It’s important to get the outside right, then work on the office space.”

“Absolutely. We need to incorporate the two visions for efficiency, functionality and ambience.”

“I want to live with this.” Brady held up the drawing. “Run it by Olivia—”

Damn. She’d be gone soon and would miss the expansion. That seemed wrong on so many levels. He couldn’t imagine doing this on his own. Actually, that wasn’t true. He couldn’t imagine doing it without
her.

“Something wrong, Brady? Where is Olivia?”

“At lunch.” He met the other man’s gaze. “I want her opinion on what you’ve given me.”

“If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them. Ellie was really bummed about not being here for the meeting, but she has a doctor’s appointment.” Excitement, pride and something resembling fear sparked in the other man’s eyes. “We’re getting down to the wire. The baby’s due in about four weeks.”

“Wow. You don’t look like you’re freaking out yet.”

“I am on the inside,” he admitted. “And I’ve been through this once before. At least the birth part.”

Brady knew his friend had been married before, to a woman who had lied to him about the paternity of the child she’d been carrying. Soon after the baby was born she left him for the man who’d fathered said child. That had to have been really tough.

Brady also knew his friend had grieved over the son he’d believed was his and had been alone for a long time after his wife left. Suddenly he was curious about what had made Alex decide to take another chance.

“You’re a lucky man.” He leaned back in his chair and looked at his friend. “Ellie is a special lady.”

“That she is.”

“When are you two getting married?”

“After the baby is born. Probably some time this summer.”

“Any particular reason you’re waiting?” Cold feet? Brady wondered. Time to make sure it wasn’t a mistake?

“I asked Ellie to marry me right after she found out she was pregnant and would have done it then and there.”

“And?”

“She turned me down.”

Brady figured if he asked Olivia she would know all the particulars of Alex and Ellie’s romance. All the women in Blackwater Lake probably knew what had gone down. He didn’t have a clue and counted on his assistant to keep him in the know on local news.

“Why did she say no?” he asked his friend.

“Said she didn’t want duty to be motivation for marriage. And I shouldn’t feel any obligation. That she could take care of herself and the baby.”

“I take it that didn’t go over well with you?”

Alex grinned now, but he probably hadn’t at the time. “She really ticked me off, but it gets better.”

“Oh?”

“She went back to Texas without telling me. So I followed her. Of course.”

“Right.” He waited for more and when it wasn’t forthcoming he asked, “Why?”

“At the time I told myself it was all about my child. I wasn’t going to let her keep me away from him.”

“Him? It’s a boy?”

“Figure of speech. We don’t know yet.” He shrugged. “Ellie wants to be surprised, so we’re waiting.”

“So you chased her down because of the baby. At the time, you said. Meaning there was more to it?”

“Yeah.” Alex rested his elbows on his knees. “Her folks helped me see that I loved her. She felt the same way about me, but I had to back off and let her figure that out.”

“Since the two of you are engaged, I guess she did?”

“Yeah. She came back to Blackwater Lake and the third time I proposed, she said yes.” Alex looked pretty pleased about that. In fact, this was the happiest he’d looked in a very long time.

“So why are you waiting to get married?”

“We decided it would be best to do it after the baby’s born. She wants her family to be here. And the Harts of Texas are some high-powered businessmen. They need a little lead time, according to her.” Alex shrugged. “Just between you and me, I think they’d drop everything to be here whenever their little sister gets married.”

“How is she feeling?” Brady decided he needed to explain that question. “My sister had some issues toward the end of her pregnancy. She had to stay off her feet.”

“I remember.” His friend leaned back in his chair. “You did double duty and filled in for her a lot at the ice-cream parlor.”

“Right.” He could never have done that if Olivia hadn’t been here to keep things running smoothly with his business.

“And everything worked out. How old is Danielle now?”

An image of his niece with chocolate ice cream all over her face popped into his mind and he couldn’t help smiling. “She’s a little over a year. Cute as can be.”

“Spoken like a proud uncle.” Alex nodded. “Makes a guy wonder why you don’t have any kids yet.”

The question made him think about what Maggie had said. That he was getting to that age where people were questioning why he wasn’t married. If he was honest about why he wouldn’t let anyone close, he’d get the talk about taking a chance.

“Because I haven’t met anyone like Ellie yet.”

“She is definitely one of a kind. I’m grateful every day that I found her first. She’s doing fine, by the way. Thank God,” he added. “Says she’s big as the buildings she designs.”

“Good. I’m glad all is well.” He pointed at his friend. “I better get a wedding invitation.”

“Top of the list, buddy.” A question slid into his eyes. “I heard that Olivia is taking a job in California.”

“Yeah. She gave her notice right after the first of the year, but I managed to convince her to stay until the company retreat is over.”

“As I recall, that’s coming up pretty soon, no?”

Brady nodded. “Two weeks.”

“Good executive assistants are hard to find.”

“Preaching to the choir, my friend. Fortunately Olivia found me a replacement.”

“California is really different.” Alex’s dark eyes narrowed. “It’s where I started my business, and I still have a branch of the company there. Olivia’s a Blackwater Lake girl.”

“I’m aware of that.” He couldn’t remember a time when Olivia wasn’t here and didn’t want to think about how it would be after she left.

“Have you tried to talk her out of it?”

“Of course.” And as her departure date inched closer, he was feeling just a little north of desperate. “She’s determined to go, but it’s not over until it’s over.”

“Well, good luck with that.” Alex stood. “I have to get back to the job site.”

“Thanks for bringing the preliminary sketches by. I’ll be in touch.”

“Sounds good.”

Brady walked his friend to the front door then watched Alex climb in his black truck with the McKnight Construction logo on the door. The man had gone to California and come back because Blackwater Lake was a good place to live. Wouldn’t Brady be doing Olivia a favor if he saved her the inconvenience of finding all that out the hard way?

He’d been helpless when he’d lost his father. But he could do something about losing Olivia. He knew she was lying about Leonard. If he could just get her to admit it, that might be the key to getting her to stay.

The first step was kissing her again. If she kissed him back the way she did last time, he could poke holes in her story. And he was willing to kiss her again if that’s what it would take to get through to her. Hell, he was more than willing. It had taken every ounce of determination he had not to kiss her good-night when he’d taken her home after dinner.

Now the clock was ticking. It was crunch time. If he was going to do this, he had to pick up the pace, and there was no time like the present.

* * *

Olivia returned from lunch and parked her car in the driveway, then got out.

Getting ready for work that morning she’d decided on jeans, then tucked them into boots lined with a fur-like material—very expensive and exceedingly warm. With snow still on the ground from a storm the day before, it had seemed like a good day to go more casual than usual, and she appreciated Brady’s informal dress code. She was going to miss it. Hunching her shoulders against the frigid temperature, she walked around the car toward the front steps.

“It’s about time you got back.” Brady’s voice startled her; she hadn’t seen him on the porch. He stood there with his arms folded across his chest.

She stopped and looked at him. “Why? Is there a crisis?”

“No.” He walked down to meet her. “I just like it better when you’re at your desk.”

“So you’re a beck-and-call kind of boss.”

“Something like that.” There was a funny look in his eyes. This was definitely out of character and there was a significant vibe that he was up to no good.

“Why are you out here?”

“What’s wrong with standing on my own front porch?” he countered.

“It’s just not like you. You barely pull your nose out of the computer to eat, so standing here when it’s freezing outside seems a little weird.”

“Wow, let me bask in the respectful tone,” he said wryly. “One man’s weird could be another man’s turning over a new leaf.”

“This is you we’re talking about, so that’s not likely.” The frigid air was starting to penetrate her clothes. “And if you don’t get out of the cold soon, you’re going to get sick.”

“Being cold doesn’t make you sick. Viruses do.” He breathed deeply of the cold, crisp, clear air. Beside them was a gently rolling area that in summer would be lush green grass. Right now there was a thick covering of white. “It’s a beautiful day.”

“It’s twenty-two degrees,” she reminded him.

“The sky has never been so blue. The sun has never shone so bright.”

“Now you’re waxing poetic. This level of weird is starting to scare me.”

“Liv,” he said, his tone dripping with sympathy, “you have to stop and smell the roses.”

“I can’t. Flowers have enough sense not to come out until spring.”

“It’s an expression.”

“Right. You’re trying to tell me that all of a sudden you like being outside and one with nature.”

“Something like that.” There was a whole lot of wicked in his eyes that made this explanation suspect.

“Well, I’m freezing.” She walked past him and climbed the first step toward the porch and front door. “Knock yourself out, nature boy.”

“I’m sorry, what did you just call me?” There was laughter more than anything else in his voice.

“You heard me. I have work to do—”

And that’s when something that felt a lot like a snowball hit her in the back, right near her collar so that the coldness slid down inside her sweater, leaving a wet trail. A shiver raced over her spine and escalated the spirit of revenge into he’s-going-down mode.

“That was a cheap shot and completely unworthy of you.” She dropped her purse by the front door and turned to face him.

“What can I say? I’m a cheap guy.” Completely unrepentant, he had the audacity to grin. “But personally I think it was awesome and finally all that high-school baseball paid off.”

“It was underhanded.” She marched down the steps and stood a few feet away from him. “You are dead, mister.”

She bent down and scooped up a handful of snow and hurled the icy projectile at him. It was infuriating when he ducked and the mass sailed by, leaving him unscathed.

Even more infuriating, he laughed. “You’re going to have to do better than that.”

He grabbed up some snow and threw it in her direction, hitting her in the face. She tried again and he dodged again. Now she was really getting ticked and figured the best way to nail him was getting in close. They circled each other, watching for a move, a sign of weakness. Their shoes crunched on the snow and their breath made white clouds between them.

Brady’s foot slipped, but he caught himself and didn’t go down. Still, it gave her an opening. She bent and took a fistful of snow and pitched it in his direction, catching him squarely in the chest.

“Lucky shot,” he taunted.

“Skill and determination, my friend.” She pumped her arm in triumph. “I played softball in high school and college.”