A Heart to Trust by A.L. Brooks (romantic books to read txt) 📗

Then Olivia surprised the crap out of Jenny—she grabbed Jenny’s arms and shook her. “Oh my God, you were amazing!” Her voice bubbled over with laughter and enthusiasm.

Jenny burst out laughing. The relief at having made it through the meeting without fucking anything up mingled with the fantastic sensation of being so appreciated by Olivia. “I was, wasn’t I?”

“You were.” Olivia’s voice turned serious. “You were cool, professional, clear. Did you see that twitch in his face at the end?”

“Yeah, I did. Do you think he was angry?”

“Yes—angry he hadn’t thought of this idea himself, I’d bet. You absolutely nailed it in there. Well done.” Olivia’s eyes shone with pride.

A lump formed in Jenny’s throat. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

Olivia swallowed visibly. “You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.”

“What do you think happens now?” Jenny stared at Olivia. “I mean, he didn’t say he’d get back to us or anything but…”

“He will,” Olivia said firmly. “Just you wait and see.”

“What the hell is this?” Chrissy’s voice was almost a snarl.

Jenny looked up from unpacking her bag and threw her friend a confused look. “What’s what?”

It was Monday morning, just before nine, and Jenny wasn’t quite firing on all cylinders yet. The lunch at Tamara and Roz’s had been a long one and had involved watching the Steelers defeat the Dolphins. That had meant a little more alcohol than usual had been consumed, and there was a tight knot in the middle of her forehead the painkillers hadn’t been able to touch.

“Project Catwalk is being changed.” Chrissy looked over the top of her screen at Jenny. “We’ve had an email from Derek.” She stood and walked over, her face like thunder. “It says something about his production team coming up with a brilliant new suggestion and we’re running with it.”

Jenny swallowed. I am so not ready for this conversation right now.

At that moment, Maxwell and Olivia appeared, laughing together as they walked toward the desks.

“I suppose you had something to do with this?” Chrissy snapped, her hands on her hips as she glared at Olivia.

Olivia stopped abruptly. “With what?”

“Looks like Catwalk 2.0 is going live.” Jenny was unable to keep a smile off her face as Olivia’s eyebrows rose. “Derek’s just emailed, apparently.”

“Oh my God.” Olivia gaped at Jenny. “Oh my God!” She rushed over and, without warning, pulled Jenny into a hug.

Arms holding her tightly. Strong arms wrapped around her that felt so, so good. Jenny bit back a groan. Olivia’s body, pressed lightly up against hers, was warm. The feel of it sent arousal coursing through her. Jeez, this early on a Monday with a hangover, I cannot handle this as well.

Olivia stepped back, her face flushed. “Sorry, I—”

“It’s okay.” Jenny’s voice was a rough croak. Trying desperately to remember how to breathe, she turned to Chrissy, whose face was a shade of angry magenta that made Jenny wince. She cleared her throat and stood up a little straighter. “The change to Catwalk is a suggestion I made to Derek on Friday. Olivia helped me with some of the research.” She made sure to look at both Chrissy and Maxwell. “We didn’t include either of you because we were scared Derek would hate the idea. We didn’t want either of you to be caught up in the fallout if that was the case.”

It wasn’t a total lie, but it certainly wasn’t the truth. Yes, she and Olivia had briefly considered bringing both Chrissy and Maxwell into their plans, but they’d soon decided against it. Mainly because of the lingering awkwardness between Olivia and Chrissy. Jenny knew Olivia didn’t trust Chrissy, and she knew Chrissy didn’t like Olivia. Why make them work on something like Catwalk 2.0 when it needed everyone pulling together to make it happen? So, of course, if Chrissy wasn’t included, then Maxwell had to be out too.

Chrissy’s eyes softened a little, but not by much. “I could have helped.” Her voice was almost a whine. “You know I would have helped you.”

“I know. But I was worried he’d fire me, to be honest. I didn’t want that to happen to you.” Okay, a little embellishment, but anything to talk Chrissy down off her ledge.

Chrissy’s face had almost returned to its normal, pale color. “Okay.” She sounded a little dubious. “So, what is this fantastic new idea of yours, huh?” The sarcasm in her tone was impossible to miss.

Jenny frowned. Yeah, I need to have a private talk with you sometime soon.

To her surprise, Olivia jumped in. She outlined Jenny’s concept, making sure she addressed both Chrissy and Maxwell, and made it very obvious she was highly impressed by what Jenny had come up with.

Heat threatened to steal across Jenny’s cheeks as Maxwell looked at her in admiration.

“Well, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the original idea,” Chrissy said sullenly. “But I guess your idea is just as good.”

Jenny caught Olivia’s eye.

“Well done,” Olivia mouthed, her gaze lingering on Jenny’s face.

Heat crawled up her neck and into her face, and Jenny turned away to her own desk before—she hoped—Olivia noticed.

The door to Derek’s office opened, and he stuck his head out. “Meeting! Now!” he called. “Room B.” Then he strode off down the hallway.

After a moment of silence, the four of them hurried to pick up their laptops and follow him.

Once they were all seated around the table, he shot Jenny a look that was half annoyed, half ruefully impressed. “So we have a new version of Catwalk to put together. While it is a little late in the day, the execs loved it, so here we go.”

Jenny went hot and cold at hearing him say “the execs loved it.” I wonder if he sold it to them as his own idea? Yeah, he probably did. She tried not to let that thought sour her mood. At least the project was changing, and that was the main thing. She’d be able to work on it with