“Not only is that ridiculous, but there’s no point.”
“Sex is the point, Olivia. You tell everybody how important for productivity it is to maintain a healthy physical and emotional balance in your life. And orgasms are an important part of both, so...”
“So I have plenty of orgasms, thank you very much.” Olivia put her feet back on the floor and reluctantly stood. “And I’m better at giving myself orgasms than any guy I’ve dated has been, sonotdating is actually more efficient.”
She expected Kelsey to laugh at her, but her friend actually looked sad. “But it’s lonely.”
“I’m too busy to be lonely.” It wasn’t quite true, but she’d gotten where she was by making a plan and sticking to it. In approximately five years, when she estimated she’d be able to ease up on the reins of McGovern Consulting, she’d be glad that the past version of her had focused on building her business so future her could find and maintain a healthy balance of work and family. “And speaking of being busy, let’s finish up so you can get home and I can find my yoga pants.”
“You know,” Kelsey said as she followed her to the office, “I won’t suddenly forget you’re my boss if I see you in yoga pants.”
“You already know that’s not going to happen unless we go to a yoga class together. And I don’t have the time or patience for that.”
Kelsey sighed, which made Olivia smile. When they were finished reviewing what they’d accomplished today and making a bullet-point list for the morning so they could hit the ground running, Kelsey would go home. Olivia would close the office door and heat up one of the precooked meals she bought every week because she had neither the time nor inclination to cook and had learned the hard way eating junk on the run was bad for her health, her waistbandandher productivity. She’d surf the internet and catch up on news while she ate, which was a bad habit she should break...someday.
Then she’d slip into yoga pants and a soft, slouchy sweatshirt. There was no work once the comfy clothes were on, and years of training her mind were why—no matter how exhausted she was—she didn’t change until the day was done. The evening was for relaxing and charging her batteries so she could be at her best the next morning. Sometimes she read, sometimes she watched television.
And sometimes she stared at the TV and had no idea what the show was about because her mind was on a sexy firefighter with the scar and the smile and the rough hands that warmed her insides like hot chocolate on a cold day.
Why didn’t you jump him when you had the chance?She wouldn’t have in a million years. It wasn’t in her nature. But alone in her bed, she let herself imagine the firefighter offering her comfort. Kissing her. Backing her up against the elevator wall.
It was a harmless fantasy, she told herself. She’d never see him again.
* * *
It had been a slow shift so far and Derek was stretched out on the couch, close to nodding off while channel surfing. As the new guy on this crew, he didn’t get control of the television very often, but everybody was occupied elsewhere so he’d been looking for something good to watch. He hadn’t found anything.
The woman from the elevator was the only reason he wasn’t asleep. Every time it was quiet, she popped into his head.Olivia.A week later, and he was still kicking himself in the ass for not getting her contact info.
Hey, I meet a lot of people in my line of work. You got a business card in case I find somebody who needs...whatever it is you do again?
It was for the best he hadn’t opened his mouth, since he probably would have said something stupid. And a woman like that probably would have shot him down, anyway. Or she might have gotten a kick out of having a fling with a firefighter, but she wasn’t going to stick around for a guy like him. While he wouldn’t mind a casual fling now and then, he had the kids to think about.
But none of that stopped him from thinking about Olivia. A lot.
“Hey, Derek,” Grant said on his way through to the kitchen. “Amber and the kids are downstairs. I was on my way up, so I told her I’d let you know.”
“Thanks.” He tossed the TV remote on the table and got up off the couch.
His ex-wife had sent him a text earlier telling him she was going to try to stop by, but she hadn’t been sure when.
When he got down to the bay, he saw Amber standing just inside the open bay door, talking to Danny Walsh. They’d been divorced before he moved shifts to this crew when Jeff Porter retired, but Derek had worked out of this house for most of his career so she knew a lot of the guys and their families.
He looked at his kids, his day already better. It had only been a couple of days since he’d dropped them off, but seeing them was the best thing about his life.
While eight-year-old Isaac favored Derek, ten-year-old Julia was the spitting image of her mother. She had Amber’s curly black hair and dark eyes, and she had mimicking her mother’s facial expressions down pat. And his ex-wife and daughter’s matching smiles when they saw him lifted his mood instantly—bright, cheerful reassurances the hard decision to divorce had been the right thing for their family.
“Dad!” Isaac tore his attention away from the apparatus long enough to spot his father and ran in for the hug.
“Hey, bud.” He swung his son into his arms to kiss his cheek, groaning a little at his weight. “Another growth spurt? What’s your mother been feeding you?”
“Doughnuts.”
“Isaac!” Amber rolled her eyes while her kids laughed. “That was just today, because we were running errands.”
“He got taller, so that’s why he weighs more,” Julia said in her serious way. “Not because Mom gave him junk food.”
Derek chuckled and ruffled her hair. “I know, sweetheart. I was teasing.”
