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They exchanged a long stare, finally broken when she motioned him toward the sofa. “Would you like some tea?”
“Sure.”
“Hot or cold?”
“Cold, please.”
He sat down, and she disappeared into the kitchen. Curious, he leaned forward and opened one of the doors to the armoire. There was a TV, some reading material, and recent movies on DVD. Nothing X-rated. He closed the doors and settled against the sofa cushions in what he hoped looked like a relaxed position. In the two hours and eighteen minutes between her call and his arrival, he hadn’t known a moment of easy breathing.
She returned carrying a tray with a pitcher of tea and two glasses. She set it on the coffee table and filled a glass for each of them. “Sugar?”
“I’m okay.”
She passed him a glass, then carried hers to an armchair where she sat down facing him.
He sipped his tea. She took a sip of hers. But they drank in the sight of each other. He was afraid of starting the conversation, afraid of saying the wrong thing. He didn’t know why she had invited him here today. The familiar manner in which she’d called, and the time of day she’d specified, couldn’t have been coincidental. Yet she’d done nothing to suggest that this would end the way their past meetings in this house had. She may have simply invited him over for tea.
Eventually he said, “Your airline is going gangbusters. That new Select thing sounds interesting.”
“It’s scheduled to launch in three months.” She laughed as she shook her head. “It’s hectic and crazy. So much to do. A million decisions. Daily deadlines.”
He smiled over her apparent exuberance. “But you’re enjoying it.”
“Every minute,” she admitted. “I’m very optimistic for its success. We’ve already sold seventy-eight percent of our membership goal. Through the industry grapevine, I’ve heard that our competitors are scrambling to initiate similar services.”
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
“Absolutely. But it’s still imitation. We’ll be first.”
Her enthusiasm was evident in the way her whole face lit up. Her eyes sparkled. Her smile was so beautiful and uninhibited, it made his heart ache. And he realized this was the first time he’d ever seen her look really happy. Ever.
He raised his glass in a mock toast. “Good luck to you and Select. Not that you need luck. SunSouth’s stock is at an all-time high.”
“You’re monitoring the stock?”
“I’m an investor.”
“Truly?”
“Yep. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up. It’s working.”
“I’m very busy and working hard, but I’m also maintaining some balance in my life. I give myself Wednesday afternoons off.”
That explained her casual outfit. She wasn’t going back to work later. He tried not to read anything into that. Tried but failed.
She watched him closely as she said, “Those Wednesdays off allow me time to devote to other things that are important to me. Like the Elaine Speakman Foundation.”
He shifted in his seat. “The foundation. Right. I saw your picture in the newspaper recently. At some black-tie fund-raising event. How’d it go?”
“Very well.”
“That’s good.”
“Beyond the money raised that night, the foundation recently received a sizable donation.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“One hundred thousand dollars.”
