Passion Play

Rose considered the large mug

. How many of these minitubs of caffeine had Donovan consumed before meeting me for coffee Friday night?

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Donovan’s smooth baritone interrupted her thoughts.

“Not at all.” Rose stood, balancing the mug in her right hand. “Sherry made me quite comfortable.” She offered the receptionist a grateful smile.

Sherry’s blue eyes twinkled as she collected her purse and tote bag. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Rose. Please tell Iris I said hello.”

“I will.” Rose adjusted her purse on her left shoulder and collected her briefcase.

Donovan cupped Rose’s elbow to guide her down the hall, presumably toward his office. “Thanks, Sherry. Have a good evening.”

“You, too, Van,” Sherry called after them.

Rose walked beside Donovan past the frosted glass walls of the company’s offices. The warmth of his hand on her elbow through the linen material of her sapphire-blue blazer made it difficult for Rose to collect her thoughts. She had to clear her mind. Focus on something else. She—

Rose stopped short in the threshold to Donovan’s office. She’d glimpsed his name and title on the silver metal plate beside the door. Donovan stepped aside to let her enter before him. She wasn’t certain she wanted to.

“Are we meeting in here?” She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the scene in front of her.

“Yes.” He had the nerve to sound confused.

Was he blind to the disaster zone that was his work area? The spacious office looked as though a paper mill—perhaps several paper mills—had vomited across every surface of every piece of furniture in the room. Folders and printouts were strewn across his desk. Magazines and newspapers grew on top of his circular conversation table. File folders sat on the chairs around it. The two bulletin boards mounted to the wall on her left were covered with memos. Some appeared to be three sheets deep. Binders stood on the silver carpet.

“How do you find anything in here?” Rose gingerly entered the room.

Donovan walked past her. He moved a stack of magazines from one of the gray cushioned chairs around his conversation table to the floor beside his desk. He then dug through the turmoil on the right corner of his desk and liberated two manila folders, each about a half inch thick.

“I have a system.” He returned to the table with the folders.

“Prove it.” Rose once again looked around in disbelief.

“Wasn’t it Einstein who asked if a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what does an empty desk mean?”

“Einstein never met you.”

Donovan’s burst of laughter startled Rose. She’d insulted him but instead of being offended, Donovan was amused. His face was alive with humor. The rich, warm sound vibrated in Rose’s lower abdomen.

“My first impression of you was wrong.” Donovan’s laughter ended, leaving a sexy grin in its place.

“What was it?” Do I really want to know?

“I thought you didn’t have a sense of humor.”

Is that the way I came across during our first meeting? Rose stiffened. Maybe Lily and Iris were right. She’d allowed her breakup with Benjamin to change her—and not for the better.

“I’m glad I could entertain you. But we’d better get started on your submission statement.” She settled onto one of the seats at the conversation table.

* * *

Donovan watched Rose cross her long, slender legs, visible beneath the hem of her conservative blue business dress. He chose the seat beside her. There was a chill in the air after the comment about her seeming humorless when they’d first met. He shouldn’t have said that. He’d lost ground with the only lawyer who’d agreed to help the shelter.

He handed Rose one of the manila folders. “I made a copy of all of our project documents for you.”

“Thank you.” Rose removed a pen from her purse. She flipped open the folder, then skimmed the memos, press releases and letters contained within. With her pen, she underlined several phrases. “You’ve already shared a lot of communication with the city council members.”

“Many of our clients are recovering addicts—drugs, alcohol or both. Most of them have been arrested and are going through a court-mandated rehabilitation program.” Donovan tried but failed to read Rose’s reaction to the information he’d given her. What did she think about the shelter’s clients and the neighborhood in which they lived?