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

the weather, and holy hell was it hard to concentrate when those legs walked by.

On the other hand, all that was a good reason why it was great Jenny was out of the office. Given they were still keeping this to themselves, it would have totally given the game away if Jenny had sat drooling at her desk all week.

The other side effect of the time away from the office was Jenny had been too distracted running all over the city to spend any time thinking about her job future. Or Olivia’s job future. The call with Adrienne had stayed on her mind, but it had been easy to ignore it when she was so busy. As had the conversation with Olivia about her applying for the production manager role. If she does get it, I’ll have to find another job if I want to continue seeing her. She snorted. As if that was in any doubt. Once again, a change would be forced on Jenny, one she’d have to work fast to sort out. So maybe Adrienne is right. Maybe I should take control of the situation. Own it.

She sighed. The idea filled her with trepidation. Why can’t things just stay the way they are? She just wanted time to see how she and Olivia could be. Things were going so well, she didn’t want to rock the boat.

She and Olivia, as an item, were so good. Each time they met, they’d find somewhere far from the office—usually at a quiet bar or diner, or sometimes they’d stay in Olivia’s apartment. Last Saturday had been the best—they’d spent the entire day together, taking in an exhibition at the Guggenheim, then lunch in Soho, then drinks back at Olivia’s. Drinks that had led to more kissing, more holding and caressing, more wearing down of Jenny’s self-imposed no-sex-until-I’m-really-sure mandate.

She had only just resisted, but she also wondered what held her back. Three weeks and many dates gave lots of opportunities to observe Olivia, to listen to her, to make sure she was who she said she was. And absolutely nothing she’d done had led Jenny to believe she wasn’t the real deal.

So, why are you still waiting to take that final step? Wanting Olivia was not the problem; she was so damn sexy it was ridiculous. The thought of finally touching her, naked and hot beneath Jenny, made her breathless with desire.

So, what’s stopping you?

She finished dressing and grabbed her coat and scarf, that last thought swirling around her brain.

Then she exhaled and shoved that thought, and thoughts of career moves and jobs, far from her mind. She had more immediate things to worry about: in a little over fifteen minutes, Olivia would meet Tamara, Roz, and Carl for the first time.

Jenny had been flipping between excited and terrified all morning. What if her friends didn’t like Olivia?

“You okay?” Carl asked as she walked into the living room.

“Yeah, why?”

“You look a little wild around the eyes.”

“All good.” She didn’t look at him as she answered. She pulled on the coat and wrapped the scarf around her neck. Then she tugged on her boots before grabbing her purse. “Okay, I’m going to meet her at the subway. See you there.”

The walk to the subway gave her a few more minutes to ponder her situation, both in regard to making that final move to intimacy with Olivia and in talking to her about her job quandary. She trusted Olivia now, didn’t she? Jenny searched inside herself for the answer, thinking of all the ways they interacted.

At work, Olivia was the epitome of professionalism, yet she always made time to thank people for anything they’d done and to praise others when she was impressed.

Outside of work, she was a total sweetheart and far softer than Jenny would ever have guessed. She cried at sappy movies and any TV commercial involving puppies. She gave money to every homeless person she passed, and twice she’d stopped them on their way to her place to buy soup for the older homeless woman who had taken up residence in the doorway of an abandoned furniture store two blocks away.

Olivia respected Jenny’s need to go Dutch on every date, though she clearly had access to more money than Jenny. Although, it wasn’t as much as Jenny had first thought, and her stance on that meant Jenny respected her even more. Apparently, Broderick had offered to pay her an allowance as part of their agreement and she’d turned him down. Yes, she lived rent-free, but in everything else she paid her own way and used the money she would have spent on rent to save for her own place one day. And the prenup she’d signed made it perfectly clear she’d walk away with nothing extra if she and Broderick divorced—the family lawyer had been strongly coached by Katherine in that regard. Olivia was happy with that. She was as independent as Jenny and determined to make her own way, using her own skills and knowledge.

She’s done everything to show me who she is. And I like everything I see. I never would have imagined we’d fit, but somehow, we do. And the thought of seeing Olivia again in a few minutes had Jenny’s nerves tingling in the best of ways. This is what I wanted to feel again. All of this.

When Olivia appeared at the top of the subway steps, her smile wide and her eyes shining, Jenny’s heart and stomach competed for who could flip over the quickest. Wow, I am so gone on this woman. She stepped forward, pulled Olivia into her arms, and held her tightly.

“Hey.” Olivia’s voice was muffled in the swathes of Jenny’s scarf. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I missed you.” She was nervous saying the words out loud; for all the time they’d spent together, such endearments had not yet been shared.

“Oh.” Olivia’s voice cracked even on that one simple word. “I’ve missed you too.” She squeezed Jenny a little tighter. “This week was