International Player(74)

“I don’t know what to say,” Frankie stuttered as she sat back in the chair opposite my desk.

Abigail and I had agreed this was the best decision all around. Frankie had done a great job, and I didn’t want her to take a step backward when she’d proved herself capable of being at the next rung of the ladder. Plus, it freed me up to do other things.

“Say yes.” I grinned.

“Well of course, yes. But what does that mean for you? You’re not leaving, are you?”

“Never.” I would spend the rest of my career at the foundation, but I was taking on a different role. “Abigail and I are both going to be working on the donor side of things. Turns out that I don’t mind the presentations to small groups of donors and some of the new reporting we produce on measurability is getting a great response from people, and I’m better at talking about that than Abigail.”

“I don’t know of any other charitable foundation that has such robust quantitative data.”

“And we want to make sure we stay ahead. So we’ll be working together on that. And then I’ll present it to donors new and old. Abigail will still do the big speeches, some of the presentations, along with a lot of the general schmoozing. She’s so good at it. But dividing it up between us will mean that we’ll be able to do more amazing things. Two of us working with donors should bring in a lot more money.”

“This is exciting,” Frankie said. “We’re growing.”

“Professionally, financially, and maybe even emotionally.” I laughed as I opened my desk drawer and put away my notebook.

“I’m so thrilled you asked me. I wondered how I’d feel going back to my old role after filling in for you these last few months.”

“It’s good to move forward, but sometimes it takes something drastic to make us see that.” Abigail’s bedrest had been worrying, but in the end it had brought nothing but good things. Abigail had been fine, baby Olivia the most beautiful baby ever born, and managing Abigail’s role while she’d been gone had even forced Noah and I together.

“You don’t need to ask me twice. And if it’s okay with you, I’d like to get started straightaway.” She bounced up from her seat and headed toward the door.

I knew I’d made the right decision. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. But don’t stay too late.”

“I won’t, and have a good time tonight,” Frankie called from halfway down the corridor.

I glanced at the clock. I didn’t have long before Noah and Rob would be here, and I needed to change and refresh my makeup.

“Did you tell her?” Abigail appeared at the door. “I thought I heard someone say something.”

“Come in and close the door. I need to change before Rob and Noah get here.” I pulled out the outfit I’d chosen for our engagement dinner from the suit carrier hanging on the coat stand behind my desk. “And yes, she was delighted.”

“I’m so happy we’re doing this. It really takes the pressure off.”

“Me too. We have so much going on in our lives that it’s the perfect solution.” I stripped out of my blouse and skirt and unzipped the black jumpsuit so I could step into it.

“And fun, too. I’ll have a partner in crime at these functions now.”

“Some of them,” I said. “Not all.”

“Hey, I’ve not seen that outfit before. It’s great. And it’s one shouldered?” Abigail asked as I hooked one arm into the sleeve.

“Yeah, Noah bought it for me.”

“Excuse me? Your fiancé went out and bought you clothes? I hate you.”

I laughed as I zipped myself up. “Not exactly. That stylist that I told you about had me try it on, but I’d decided against it as it was so much money. Noah got it without telling me.”

“But that was before anything had happened, wasn’t it?”

On several occasions Abigail had made me recall almost every detail of my relationship with Noah. She’d said she hoped it would teach me not to keep things from her in future. “After tequila kissing but, yes, before anything else.”

“He was smitten practically as soon as he got back from New York,” she said.

“I hadn’t really thought about the timing.” Maybe there’d been more between us sooner than I’d realized. I bent and did up my strappy heels. Noah liked to do it for me when we were at home—I swear that man had a shoe fetish. But as he wasn’t here, I’d do them myself. He could take them off later.

Abigail launched forward as someone tried to open the door.

“I think it’s your husband,” I said.

Abigail flung open the door. “Don’t you knock?” she asked Rob. “Truly was getting changed.”

“Sorry. We can come back.”

Seeing I was dressed, Abigail coaxed them in and Rob pressed a kiss on his wife’s cheek and Noah and Lev followed.

“Hello, sexy.” Lev grinned at me.

“Hey, that’s my fiancée you’re talking to,” Noah said as he knocked Lev out of the way before he could do anything other than give me a very chaste kiss on the cheek. “Although she is very sexy.” Noah looked me up and down, paying particular attention to my bottom before hooking his arm around my waist and pressing his lips against mine.