“No worries if you don’t want to talk about Felicity. I’m here to pick up Tally and take her to lunch. Are you still coming by tomorrow with Nanuq and Shila?”
He’d been housing a couple of horses for Marshall since one of his two barns had burned and he needed some flex space for his animals while the rebuilding was under way. The aesthetics weren’t complete, but the stalls were secure and warm. Nanuq and Shila, which meant white bear and flame, were ready for transport.
“Absolutely. See you then.”
In fact, he could use a ride to work out the tension he would no doubt feel after the impending confrontation with Felicity. Before the day was out, she would learn just how closely they would be working together.
Striding down the hospital corridor toward her office, Felicity wished it was as easy to haul her thoughts away from the first-floor lobby and one big sexy distraction in a Stetson.
But then her nerves had been a mess since she’d bumped into Conrad. She needed to get herself together before the meeting with her new boss. Felicity wove by a nurse with a vitals cart and a cluster of visitors lost in their conversation.
Her new supervisor had been cryptic about the reason for the meeting other than to say it was about a way for Felicity to make a mark in her job. Her interest was piqued. She couldn’t get there fast enough. Looking down to pull her notes from her portfolio bag, she nearly slammed into someone—
Tally Benson, waving at her.
“Hello there,” her friend exclaimed in surprise. “I’m just finishing up volunteering. I thought I wasn’t going to see you today. How’s the new job?”
“I’m excited about the opportunity.” The words sounded hollow in Felicity’s mouth, making her wonder why she bothered faking emotions with her friends. Back in high school, she’d briefly tried out for a school production of King Lear because her foster mom loved Shakespeare. During the course of her tryouts, Felicity had realized masking her feelings required a lot more work than actors onstage and on-screen made it out to be.
Strangely, during her work, she’d never had to fake an emotion she didn’t feel. Her deep well of empathy supplied her strength as she moved through the difficult spaces of social work.
Today, she felt like that high schooler reading lines. The words didn’t match her body’s articulation of apprehension, intrigue.
“Then why are you frowning?” Tally scrunched her nose.
Felicity adjusted her lanyard, unable to resist asking, “Did you know that Conrad is reading to the kids in pediatrics?”
She opted to dodge the question that had too much of a matchmaking vibe. “I’ve heard the family’s charitable foundation has big plans for the hospital.”
And that level of donation couldn’t be a simple romantic ploy. Renaming a wing involved a significant amount of money. She felt small for having accused him of reading to the kids for show.
Felicity forced a smile. “The hospital is lucky to have such a generous benefactor.”
“To be honest, I’m a little overwhelmed by the family. There are so many of them.” And the redhead would certainly know that since not too long ago she’d been hired to help Marshall around the house while he recovered from a broken arm. Now they were a couple. “But the charity foundation has been a rewarding way to get to know them.”
When the Steele patriarch had married his rival’s widow, the business world had been full of reports about the merger of their two companies and there had been fluctuations in the market with concerns about who would take the helm. There still hadn’t been an official announcement of who would be the CEO for the newly formed Alaska Oil Barons Inc., but she’d heard rumblings they were closing in on a choice.
“Oh,” Felicity remembered, reaching into her portfolio bag, “I have your letter of recommendation ready.” She had convinced Tally to apply for a scholarship to pursue a degree in social work. The woman was a natural.
Tally’s smile beamed, her eyes watering. “Thank you.” She took the envelope, sliding it carefully into her purse. “Your support and encouragement means the world to me. I’m afraid to get my hopes up that I’ll get in, much less receive the scholarship.”
Hope was a scary thing, no question. Felicity remembered too well how difficult it had been to trust in a positive future after her divorce. “I’m rooting for you. Let me know the minute you hear.”
“I will,” Tally promised, giving her a quick hug. “I should let you go. Let’s do lunch soon and catch up. My treat.”
“Sounds great. Let’s keep in touch...” Felicity backed away with a smile and a wave before spinning toward her new office. She lifted her key card and swiped her way into the space—all hers with a window of her own. She could see the snowy mountains and make the most of what little daylight there was during an Alaska winter. She still had boxes stacked in the corner, but had started unpacking the most important items first. Starting with a bulletin board of thank-you notes from parents and newly adopted clients, along with a few childishly drawn pictures she’d framed. These meant more to her than any accolades, seeing how her work made life better for children who were helpless.
She understood the feeling too well.
Swallowing back a wad of emotion, she searched through the stack of files on her desk until she found the one she was looking for under a brass paperweight, a Texas buffalo. She glanced at the clock and gasped. She needed to get moving.
She locked her door, then raced down the hall toward the elevator bank, her leather boots scuffing against the tile floor in her speed. Just ahead, an elevator door began to slide close.
“Wait,” she called. “Please hold that elevator.”
A hand shot out and the doors bumped back open. Sighing in relief, she angled through sideways.
“Thank you,” she said breathlessly. “I’m running late for a meeting.”
A masculine voice chuckled from the other side of the packed elevator.
A familiar masculine voice.
She closed her eyes. “Hello, Conrad.”
What were the odds?
Gathering her composure, she opened her eyes to find him standing next to a young nurse who was making no effort to hide checking him out. And he gave no acknowledgment to the flirtatious behavior, which Felicity had to admit moved her. He dated widely, but she’d never heard a negative word about him from other women.
Damn it. She didn’t need these thoughts. “Fifth floor, please.”
She made a point of reviewing the proposal she wanted to give her boss about a new playlist of music and movies for the children in oncology during treatment time.
The elevator slid open again and the cluster of occupants departed, leaving Felicity alone with Conrad. It must have been too much to hope for that he would leave too and make this easier on her. Another part of her whispered that his presence shouldn’t bother her this much.
He stepped up alongside her. “Would you like to go out to dinner?”
She
