A Fortunate Arrangement. Nancy Robards Thompson

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СКАЧАТЬ get it,” he said. “I do. Congratulations on accomplishing this, Felicity. I’m happy for you. I know how hard you’ve worked. You’re smart and you’re creative and I understand that a person with an MBA is way overqualified to be a personal assistant. You’d be wasting your potential staying in this position. But that doesn’t make it any easier for me because I don’t want to lose you.”

      He held her gaze and her expression softened.

      “I mean did you expect me not to be upset about the prospect of losing you?” He held up his hand again to signal that the question was rhetorical. “But that’s me being selfish. This isn’t about me. It’s about you. What do you want to do with your degree?”

      “My undergraduate degree is in advertising. I’ve always wanted to work in that field.”

      “You’d be good at it,” he said. “You’d be good at anything you decided to do.”

      Her cheeks turned pink again. She looked down and then back up at him.

      “Is there anything I can do to convince you to stay with Fortune Investments?”

      “I don’t know. Are there any opportunities here?”

      “What if I talk to Miles and see if we can create a position for you? I’m not making any promises, but would you consider staying if we could come up with something?”

      Felicity smiled. “It depends. Would it mean doing advertising work in addition to everything I do for you?”

      Austin laughed. “You know me too well.”

      “I know I do.”

      “How am I supposed to get by without you, Felicity?”

      She shrugged. “You did fine before I came on board. You’ll survive.”

      No, he hadn’t been fine before she came onto the scene. His life had been a mess, a big tumbleweed of mistakes and misjudgments that had cost him dearly. It had taken him five years to get himself back on track after his disastrous marriage. Sure, he’d come through it intact and he’d learned a lot about himself and life. Yes, he would be fine on his own, but he didn’t want to lose her.

      “If they can’t create a position for me, I’d like to stay until after graduation, and as I said in my letter, I’ll stay until we find my replacement.”

      Maybe if he didn’t find someone new, she wouldn’t go. It would be like waiting for tomorrow. Did tomorrow ever really come?

      “I’ll tell you what. I’m having dinner with Miles tonight. I’ll broach the subject with him and let you know what he says. Sound good? You won’t quit on me before you let me figure something out, right?”

      * * *

       How am I supposed to get by without you, Felicity?

      If she was a silly woman, Felicity would’ve let herself read so much into that question. But true to form, she had already overthought it, turning it round and round in her mind, examining it from every angle until it had completely lost its shape and she’d killed off any dreams that Austin Fortune felt anything for her that wasn’t strictly platonic.

      However, her heart hadn’t gotten the memo from her brain, because her heart thudded in her chest like a drum in a New Orleans funeral procession.

      He’d said get by.

      He didn’t say live without you.

      There was a world of difference between the statements. Like night and day. Love and like. Get by and live without.

      Even so, she couldn’t shake the satisfaction she felt over his reaction to her letter of resignation. Sure, she’d known he wouldn’t be happy, but she hadn’t fathomed that he would react the way he did.

      She stole a glance at Austin through the glass wall that separated his office from her workspace. He was wearing that blue button-down that she liked so much. It contrasted with his dark hair and those soulful brown eyes. Eyes that hypnotized her, that made her lose track of time and occasionally space out and miss what he was saying because she’d been totally transported.

      Her thudding heart slowed, leaving her more breathless and full of longing.

       He acted like I was breaking up with him.

       As if I’d ever break up with him.

       If I ever had him.

       But I never will.

      Why did she have to be in love with her boss?

      Why did he have to dangle the potential of a promotion in front of her? She thought she wanted a clean break, so she could get on with her life and forget about him and this ridiculous crush, but the moment he’d offered to talk to his father, all fresh starts flew out the window.

      Of course, the Fortunes had been so good to her. They were dream employers. The pay and benefits were top-notch. The working conditions were first class.

      She stole another glance at Austin and her ridiculous heart picked up the cadence right where it had left off.

      Felicity knew she shouldn’t get her hopes up. Fortune Investments was a family firm. Austin’s sister Georgia handled public relations for the investment firm. They’d never had to advertise in the true sense of the word—not the kind of advertising Felicity wanted to do. They’d built their business on solid reputation and word of mouth. But even from her position as support staff, she knew the business had grown.

      Maybe they were ready to expand.

      If she got a promotion, it was likely that she’d be in a different department with a different supervisor. Which would mean Austin wouldn’t be her boss anymore—

      Don’t even go there.

      She’d worked with him for almost five years and during that time, it had been all business all the time. What made her think anything would change if she got promoted?

       Yeah, well, a girl can dream.

      Just not on Fortune Investments’ time.

      * * *

      “Did you do it?” Maia Fredericks asked after she let herself in Felicity’s patio door. She didn’t knock. Maia never knocked. Felicity didn’t mind because her friend’s hands were never empty when she came over. This evening, she was carrying a bottle of something that looked like it could be champagne.

      “I did,” Felicity said.

      “Well, how did it go? Don’t keep me waiting.” Maia dislodged the cork on the bottle. Felicity winced at the loud popping sound.

      “You do know you’re not supposed to open champagne that way, right? Besides the possibility of damaging eardrums and putting out someone’s eye, it kills the bubbles and the taste.”

      “This way is more fun,” Maia said, helping herself to two СКАЧАТЬ