A Heart to Trust, A.L. Brooks [speed reading book TXT] 📗

find Jenny stood close by with a large, takeout coffee cup in her hand. Her hair, a festive red on one side, was perfectly spiked and fluffed. It looked, even Olivia conceded, amazing. And for once, Jenny did not wear her usual jeans and layers of T-shirts. Today’s outfit of tight-fitting gray pants and a red Oxford shirt with the top two buttons undone looked delicious.

Oh my.

“Hi,” Olivia managed to say, while the majority of her brain focused on quelling her libido. This early in the morning? God help me.

“I’m not sure I’m actually awake.” Jenny raised her cup. “I’m hoping this will help.” Then she slapped her forehead. “Sorry, I didn’t even think, I could have brought you one too and—”

“It’s fine.” Olivia smiled, careful not to make it too wide or too friendly. “I had one on the way.”

“Oh, okay.” Jenny wilted.

Olivia inwardly winced. I did that, and I’m not proud of it. Not at all. “So,” she said, a little brighter. “Are you excited about today?”

Jenny gave her a wary look, as if unsure of this sudden change in energy. “Yeah, I am. I mean, it’ll be hard work, but I’ve done some big sports events before, so I kind of know what to expect.” Jenny’s gray eyes, as smoky as ever, locked with Olivia’s.

“Good. Me too. I mean, not sports events, but I’ve done some big theater work and I think this will be similar. In terms of the energy required, not the actual work. Although that might also be similar.” Olivia clamped her mouth shut in an attempt to cut off the verbal diarrhea. What the hell? It was those damn eyes, she knew. Every time she forgot herself for even a moment and let herself be pulled in by them, her brain short-circuited.

“Are you okay?”

Olivia willed her face not to break out in a blush. “Not awake yet. Brain not fully functioning.”

“Uh-huh,” Jenny said, far too knowingly. Then she finally released Olivia from her gaze and motioned toward the event rooms. “Shall we?”

Olivia dumbly nodded and traipsed after her.

Six hours later, Olivia was well and truly awake and her brain was completely focused on her work. All thoughts of Jenny and her smoky eyes and all-round gorgeousness had been thankfully shunted to the back of her brain.

Maxwell was out back working with the technical teams; Olivia had seen him running around carrying crates, lighting rigs, and other equipment. Each time he’d had a huge grin on his face, and she was pleased—she knew overall the project wasn’t his sort of thing, but it seemed the physical activity involved on the day suited him.

Chrissy seemed to spend most of her time glued to Derek’s side, being at his beck and call. While it made Olivia’s teeth grind to witness such sucking up, at least it kept Chrissy out of her way. Chrissy’s main responsibility was ensuring the catering teams had all the help they needed later on, so Olivia only hoped Chrissy could unglue herself from Derek when the time came.

Jenny’s current task was to assist with the setup of the greenroom and dressing rooms, and she also seemed to be spending a lot of her time jogging from one place to another with boxes in her arms.

Olivia had deliberately not allowed her brain to dwell on how stirring it was to see Jenny’s arms or legs in action. She’d managed to grab a quick lunch of a sandwich and an apple and was now out on a coffee run for five of the senior members of the production team. She finally reached the front of the queue in Starbucks a block away from the Excelsior and placed her order. As she waited for the drinks to be made, her phone buzzed in her pocket with an incoming call.

“Olivia, it’s Derek. How long are you going to be?”

“About ten minutes.”

“And can she go straight into the sound run-through?”

“What?”

Derek sighed loudly. “Katherine. Is she ready to go straight to—?”

“Katherine?” Olivia frowned. “Sorry, Derek, what are you talking about? Katherine’s not due in for another hour.”

“No, she isn’t; she’s due to be here in ten minutes. That’s what’s on the master schedule.” He sounded more annoyed than she cared to think about.

“Derek, I honestly don’t know what you mean.” Her heart thudded. “I double-checked this morning, and her arrival time was two o’clock. I don’t know about any change or—”

“You told Chrissy the sound manager wanted Katherine in a little earlier to have more time to go through sound checks.” His voice was an angry snarl. “I updated the schedule and I assumed you would do your job properly and make sure our host was on time, given she was your idea in the first place. Are you telling me you forgot what the sound manager said?”

Olivia’s stomach rolled even as her blood boiled. Chrissy. That bitch. Olivia sucked in a long, slow breath, knowing there was no way she could fight this right now. But later…

“Derek, I’m so sorry, I think there may have been a misunderstanding between myself and Chrissy.” It was the closest she was willing to go in criticizing Chrissy; Derek had a hair trigger today and she didn’t want to give him any excuse to fire her on the spot. She put every ounce of sugar she possessed into her next words. “But I will get Katherine here as soon as I can, okay?”

“You’d better.” He hung up.

Olivia immediately dialed Katherine’s number.

“Hello, darling. How are you? I’m so excited! Is—”

“Katherine, I’m so sorry to interrupt,” Olivia said as gently as she could. “But there’s been a last-minute change in schedule and I’m wondering if there’s any way you could come in a little earlier?”

There was a slight pause. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem. How much earlier would you like me?”

Olivia winced. “Now?”

Katherine took so long to reply Olivia thought the line had gone dead. “Now?”

“I’m so, so sorry. It seems there was a miscommunication and—”

“Olivia, dear, it’s quite