Only One Night (Only One 3)

Chapter 26

Evelyn

“Good morning,” I say to Chantal, putting a Starbucks cup on her desk, and she smiles at me.

“You spoil me,” she says, picking up her coffee and following me into my office.

“It is pouring rain out there,” I say, taking off my beige Burberry rain jacket.

“One of these days, I’m going to beg to come over to your house and go through your closet,” she says, looking at my outfit. I am wearing a high waisted gray pencil skirt that hugs me tight to my knees. The black cotton short-sleeved cross-over shirt is tied at the side. “Especially your shoe closet,” she says of my gray stilettos with a thin metal heel.

“I will share anything you want,” I tell her, pulling my chair out. “Except for my YSL shoes.” I try not to remember the last time I wore those shoes, but the memory comes back before I can stop it. All I see is Manning in my head. I sit down, opening my laptop. “So how does my day look?”

“You have three conference calls and a meeting this afternoon with Kavanaugh,” she says, and I lean my head back and groan.

“Jesus, that man,” I say of the man who has been pushing me to my limits in order to prove to him that I’m just as good as my father. He had me building his whole portfolio again and again. “I swear I don’t even know if I want him at this point.”

She laughs at me. “I will order you lunch,” she says, getting up and walking out. “Besides, you love the rush of coming up with new ideas.”

“I don’t know if I have any other ideas when it comes to him,” I tell her. “Can you tell me when my father comes in, please?”

“I will,” she says, and she walks over to her desk. I click on the local news, and Manning’s face is there front and center. He is looking at something off camera, his face all sweaty as he chews his mouth guard, and all I can do is look at him. I read the bold headline.

Someone lit a fire under the captain’s stick. Dallas takes the game against Buffalo.

I look at him, and I wait for the butterflies to disappear. But they come each fucking time. I swear if I close my eyes hard enough, I still feel his touch on me.

I read the article, not understanding all of the hockey lingo, and if I’m honest, the only thing I think about is the last time I saw him. The last time his wife was there. I stepped away from him right before she turned the corner. I knew it wasn’t smart to be alone with him, and I knew that I wouldn’t be able not to be close to him. I knew all of that, and still, the pull to him was so strong. I ignored her staring at me when Caleb came out of the room, and I even ignored the snippy way she grabbed Jaxon when he asked if he could join us for lunch.

“Your father has arrived.” Chantal’s voice comes through the phone, bringing me out of my daydream.

I get up and walk toward my father's office, knocking on the doorjamb, and he looks up, smiling when he sees me. He is sitting behind his desk, his jacket hanging on the back of his chair. His white button-down shirt is rolled up to his elbows as he reads his newspaper in front of him. “Knock, knock, knock,” I say, and he takes his glasses off.

“Come in, sweetheart,” he says, leaning back in his chair.

“Are you still reading the paper every single morning?” I ask, knowing that it gets delivered to his house, and he brings it with him to the office.

“Seven days a week,” he says.

“Dad, you do know they are going to stop printing those papers one day, and it’s going to be all digital.” I stand here in the middle of his office.

“Bite your tongue, young lady,” he says, and I shake my head, laughing.

“Dad, I don’t think I can handle Kavanaugh,” I tell him. “He is coming over today to talk about his portfolio, and I’m going to hand him over to Tim.”

My father leans back in his chair. “Oh, come on,” he says. “You thrive when it challenges you.”

“I used to but not with him. I’m annoyed to the tenth degree,” I say, and he shakes his head, putting his glasses on and picking the paper back up.

“You’ll be fine,” he says. “You’ll be even better than me.” He picks up his cup of coffee and winks at me. I turn my head and walk out of his office.

I’m almost at my office when I hear her voice. “I think she’ll take the time to speak with me.” I’d know that voice anywhere, and I turn around to see her walking toward the back. She is dressed in black leather pants with a black turtleneck and her brown hair is done perfectly, even with the rain outside. Her face is perfectly made up, and she looks like she walked off a runway. “There she is.” Her voice gets just a touch louder, making people look up from their desks. I see Chantal get up from her desk.