But she did have questions that he’d been very evasive about answering. Like, why this particular other company? What did it bring to HIT that the firm didn’t have already? Why this man, whoever he was, who was being appointed vice president effective tomorrow? And why did her dad want her to be there during the video link when he and the new vice president of the newly branded Harrison Tanner Tech would make the merger announcement simultaneously to the whole staff? She couldn’t think of anything she’d rather do less. Aside from the fact that she hated being in the public arena, how on earth would she look her colleagues in the eye afterward and possibly have to face their accusations that she’d known about this merger all along? Or worse, have to admit that she hadn’t. Just the thought of it made her stomach flip uneasily.
Her father had always told her he worked hard so she didn’t have to. She knew he worked hard. Too hard, if the recent tired and gray cast to his craggy features was anything to go by. It was another prod that she hadn’t pulled her weight. Hadn’t been the support he deserved and maybe even needed. Not that he’d ever say as much. He’d protected her all her life, which hadn’t abated as she’d reached adulthood. To her shame, she’d let him.
Thing was, she wanted to work hard. She wanted to be a valued member of HIT and to be involved in the decision making. She wished she could shed the anxiety that led to her always hovering in the shadows and allowing others to run with her ideas and get the glory that came with those successes. Okay, so not every idea was wildly successful, but her phobia of speaking in groups had held her back, and she knew others had been promoted over her because of it. Her personality flaws meant she wasn’t perceived to be as dynamic and forward thinking as people in upper management were expected to be.
When her crippling fear had surfaced after the death of her mom, and when years of therapy appeared to make no headway, her father had always reassured her that she was simply a late bloomer and she only needed time to come into her own. But she was twenty-eight now, and she still hadn’t overcome her insecurities. She knew that was a continual, if quiet, disappointment to her father. While he’d never said as much, she knew he’d always hoped that she could overcome her phobia and stand at his side at HIT, and she’d wanted that, too. She’d thought he was still giving her time. She hadn’t realized he’d given up on her. Not until today.
This latest development was the last straw. Her father had always included her in his planning for the firm, even implemented an idea or two of hers from time to time, but this he’d done completely without her.
The shock continued to reverberate through her. The writing was on the wall. She’d been left in the dark on this major decision—and in the dark was where she’d stay going forward unless she did something about it. She couldn’t make excuses for herself anymore. She was a big girl now. It was past time that she stretched to her full potential. If she didn’t, she’d be overlooked for the rest of her life, and she knew for sure that she didn’t want that. Things had to change. She had to change. Now.
Gilda and Ron were still laughing and talking, sharing reminiscences as well as exchanging those little touches and private looks that close couples did all the time. It was sweet, but it compounded the sense of exclusion she felt at the same time. In her personal life as well as in the workplace, the people around her seemed to move forward easily, effortlessly, while she struggled with every step. She was happy for the others, truly—she was just sad for herself.
When they both looked at their watches and said they needed to be on their way, she didn’t object. Instead she waved them off with a smile and stayed to finish her barely touched drink.
She should go home to her apartment, get an early night—prepare for the big announcement tomorrow. Should? It felt like all her life Sally had done what should be done. Like she’d spent her life striving to please others. But what about her? Change had to start from a point in time—why couldn’t that change start now? Why couldn’t she be bold? Accept new challenges?
“Ma’am? The gentleman over there asked me to bring you this.”
A waitress put another Gibson on the table in front of her. Sally blinked in surprise before looking up at the girl.
“Gentleman?”
“Over there.” The waitress gestured. “He’s really hot.”
“Are you sure it was for me?” she asked.
“He was quite specific. Did you want me to take it back?”
Did she? The frightened mouse inside her quivered and said, oh, yes. But wasn’t that what she would have done normally? In fact, since she’d dismissed her personal security, wouldn’t she normally have left with Gilda and Ron and shared a cab so she wouldn’t be left on her own like this? Open to new experiences? Meeting new people? Flirting with a man?
Sally turned her head and met the gaze of the man in question. She’d noticed him before and rejected him as being way out of her league. Hot didn’t even begin to describe him. He wore confidence as easily as he wore his dark suit and crisp, pale business shirt, top button undone. Sally felt every cell in her body jump to visceral attention as his eyes met hers. He nodded toward her, raised his glass in a silent toast, then smiled. The kind of smile that sizzled to the ends of her toes.
Be bold, a little voice whispered in the back of her mind. She turned her attention to the waitress and gave the girl a smile.
“Ma’am?”
“Leave it. Thank you. And please pass on my thanks.”
“Oh, you can do that yourself. He’s coming over.”
Coming over? Sally’s fight-or-flight reflexes asserted themselves in full screaming glory, shrieking, take flight! like a Klaxon blaring in the background.
“May I join you?” the man said smoothly, his hand hovering over the back of the chair Gilda had recently vacated.
“Certainly.” Her pulse fluttered at her throat, but she managed to sound reasonably calm. She lifted her glass and tipped it toward him in a brief toast. “Thank you for the drink.”
“You’re welcome. You don’t see many people drinking a Gibson these days. An old-fashioned drink for an old-fashioned girl?”
His voice was rich and deep and stroked her nerves like plush velvet on bare skin. And he certainly wasn’t hard on the eyes, either. He filled his suit with broad shoulders, and the fine cotton of his shirt stretched across a chest that looked as though it had the kinds of peaks and valleys of toned muscle that a woman like her appreciated but oh so rarely got to indulge in. His face was slightly angular, his nose a straight blade, and his eyes—whatever color they were, something light, but it was hard to tell in here—looked directly at her. No shrinking violet, then. Not like her. His lips were gently curved. He didn’t have the look of a man who smiled easily, and yet his smile didn’t look fake. In fact, he actually looked genuinely amused but not in a superior way.
Not quite sure how to react, she looked down at her drink and forced a smile. “Something like that.”
Sally looked up again in time to see him grin outright in response. Seeing his smile was like receiving an electric shock straight to her girlie parts. Wow. Shouldn’t a man need a license to wield that much sex appeal?
“I’m Kirk, and you are?” He offered her his hand and quirked an eyebrow at her.
Sally’s insides turned to molten liquid. Normally, she wouldn’t give in to a drink and a slick delivery like the one he’d just pitched, but
