Page 84 of The Law of Attraction
His eyes met hers. “Maybe I do now. Maybe you’ve rubbed off on me.”
“Do you really have faith in this?” she asked, pressing her hand against his, palm to palm. “Tell the truth.”
“I always tell the truth,” he said. “And yes.”
The first thing Olivia did when she arrived at work two hours later was remove Tiny Adam the toy robot from her purse and give him a place of honor among the other assorted toys at her desk. Now, whenever she looked down at him, sitting there between Baby Groot and the TARDIS, she’d be reminded of Adam.
Her Adam.
The word sent a thrill racing through her. Her eyes drifted across the open workspace to Adam’s cubicle. He’d gotten in before her, but his back was to both her and the elevators, so he probably didn’t know she was here yet. All she could see was the top of his head, but even that was enough to set off a swirl of butterflies in her stomach.
Yeah, this wasn’t going to make it hard to focus on work at all. And she’d thought her crush on him had been distracting before. That was nothing compared to this overpowering urge to go over there and talk to him, which was made worse by the fact that she knew he’d welcome her company.
Well, she was just going to have to cope. It was going to be like this every day—except when he was out of the office traveling for work.
She downed the last of the coffee she’d brought for the commute this morning and started up her computer. Only then did she notice the piece of paper someone had left on her desk.
It was a recommendation letter from Adam.
Olivia’s eyes pricked with tears as she read it. It wasn’t just complimentary, it was glowing. He described her with phrases like “determined problem-solver” and “brilliant mind.” He said she had the best people skills of anyone he knew at the company, was deserving of more responsibility, and would shine in a management role. He recommended her wholeheartedly for the Future Leader Development Course.
But even as her heart soared to read his words, she felt a stab of doubt.
He’d only written her a recommendation after they’d slept together. She didn’t doubt he meant every word—he wasn’t the sort of person to lie for the sake of flattery or personal connections. But was it ethical to use his help for her professional advancement now that they were in a relationship?
They hadn’t talked about when or if they’d let people at work know about them—although she realized now they probably should have. She assumed they’d opt for discretion, at least for a while. The optics of coming back from a business trip and suddenly being a couple were not great.
But presumably people would find out eventually. They’d probably need to disclose to HR at some point. Gavin would find out, and the CIO. And if anyone happened to remember she’d used a recommendation from Adam to bolster her application to the leadership program, they might think things about her.
She might think things about her. She wanted to be able to look back and know she’d earned this on her own merits. She’d rather not have it at all than get it with an asterisk beside her name.
She stood up, reference letter in hand, intending to go talk to Adam about it. To thank him for writing such an incredible recommendation, and explain why she wouldn’t feel right about using it anymore.
As soon as she stood up, however, Gavin caught her eye and beckoned her over. She weaved through the cube maze, still carrying Adam’s letter, and stopped in the open doorway of Gavin’s glass-walled office. Even the managers important enough to have offices with walls and doors weren’t allowed any real privacy.
“Hey, welcome back!” He leaned back in his chair and saluted her with his coffee mug. “The victorious hero returns!”
“Ha ha,” she said, putting on her amiable work smile. “Yeah.”
“You guys had quite a week. But you pulled it off! Tell you the truth, I wasn’t entirely sure it was possible. And then after all the stuff that happened, I thought we were sunk for sure. But you and Cortinas worked a miracle and pulled off a win for us. You obviously make a good team.”
“Yeah, I guess we do,” she said, smiling for real.
“And to think, he didn’t even want you on the trip.”
Her smile froze in place. “What?”
“Yeah, he came to me after the meeting with the CIO and asked if I could send someone else from the commercial systems team instead.”
“He did?” Her limbs felt numb.
“Mmm.” Gavin nodded as he sipped his coffee. “But I told him you were the only one I trusted to do the job in my place. And since I couldn’t go, he was stuck with you.”
Stuck with me.
“Anyway, you proved him wrong, hey? And it sounds like you two got along fine. Talk about a trial by fire.”
Gavin went on talking, but Olivia barely heard a word he said after that. All she could think about was Adam, going to her boss behind her back and asking that she be taken off a project.
