Chapter Six

One-thirty found the man occupying her thoughts roaming the eighth floor. Drew had hoped to surprise her in her office and was shocked to realize he felt more than a little disappointment that Trixie wasn’t at her desk. He helped himself to a post-it and pen and left her a message, then reluctantly returned to the elevator.

***

At one-thirty-seven, Trixie walked back into her office and immediately frowned when she saw her desk wasn’t exactly as she’d left it.

She picked up the post-it, scanned it, and paled.

There’s been a development. Come see me. – Drew

“Crap,” she muttered. “So much for steering clear.”

She took a breath or two to steady herself, then grabbed a notepad and pen and headed for the elevator.

Andrea beamed at Trixie when she stepped out into the top floor reception area.

“Go on back, he’s waiting for you,” she said.

“Thanks,” Trixie replied, trying to keep both her tone and expression neutral.

She walked slowly toward his open doorway, then rapped lightly on the frame.

“Miss Benning, come in,” he said as he moved to meet her. “Have a seat.”

“I got your note. What’s going on?” she asked, barely managing to withhold the ‘sir’ as he shut the door then walked toward her.

“I just spoke to Marjorie,” Drew said, as he once again settled in next to her in the other visitor’s chair. “She’s still in Italy.”

Trixie’s brows knitted with confusion.

“But her flight lands in…” she checked her watch, “three and a half hours.”

“I’m aware,” Drew said. “Evidently, she broke her leg skiing in Chamonix, and the break was severe enough they did surgery. She said the doctors won’t clear her to fly yet. She doesn’t expect to be able to come back for at least another week.”

“Oh,” Trixie answered, eyes widening at the implications. “Oh. That’s not good. What can I do to help cover things in the meantime?”

“Come to Denver with me,” he said, and grinned when she physically shook her head as if to clear cobwebs away.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

He leaned forward to get even closer to her, and her heart did a strange double-thump.

“Come to Denver with me,” he repeated. “I was going to take Marjorie with me, but that’s out of the question now. For obvious reasons, I can’t take Bill. That leaves you.”

“But…but… why do I have to go?”

“Because you fully understand accounting, and I don’t, and at least one board member will ask some deeper question that I might not be able to answer.”

Trixie’s mind raced.

“I thought that’s what the presentation was for?”

Drew smiled.

“That presentation is only a piece of what’s happening. It’s time for quarterly review anyway, so we tacked that on to the agenda. Typically, Bill presents the financials. Now, I need you to.”

Her jaw dropped.

“Miss Benning?”

“Yes, sir?” her voice came out as a squeak, and she flushed scarlet with embarrassment.

“Are you all right?”

“Fine… I just… I need to make arrangements for Joshie.”

“Joshie?” Drew echoed.

“Joshua,” Trixie said without expanding further. “I need to get someone to watch him while I’m gone. How long would we be gone, exactly?”

“We can fly out Thursday afternoon, and the meeting starts at two on Friday,” he answered. “Usually, we have a dinner afterward, so we wouldn’t come back until sometime Saturday.”

She nodded, her mind whirling as she plotted out who might be willing to dog-sit for her.

Damn sure not gonna ask Grant, I know that much, she thought bitterly, and then realized her thoughts must have been displayed on her face when Drew reached over and took her hand.

Trixie almost gasped at the electric current his touch caused to flow through her, but she managed to stifle it.

“Something wrong?” he asked as he moved closer, his face filled with concern.

“No,” she said, slowly pulling her hand back from his and hoping she didn’t offend him in the process. “Just… trying to figure out something for Joshua.”

“His dad? Grandma?” Drew asked. “Any family in the area?”

Trixie blinked repeatedly as she processed what he had said, then began to giggle before she pulled it together.

Drew thinks Joshua is a child…

“He’s my two-year-old beagle,” she explained.

Drew grinned, and his smile lit up the green eyes she found irresistible.

“I love beagles,” he enthused. “Had one growing up. Awesome dogs.”

She smiled back at him.

“Yeah, Joshie’s pretty cool. I need to make a couple of calls and get something lined out for him.”

She paused a bit, then nodded and stood.

“Okay, I can figure something out. What time exactly are we leaving?”

“We’ll be taking the company jet, so, whenever we’re ready to go,” came the answer.

“Then why not just wait and fly out Friday morning?”

“Because,” Drew said as he stood up and gazed into her eyes, “I want a chance to go over that presentation of yours, ask you questions, get familiar with it. Before we have to talk about it to twelve other people.”

“Twelve?” Trixie’s voice began to squeak again.

“Twelve,” he confirmed. “Why?”

It was all she could do not to squeeze her eyes shut as she willed her heart rate back to a normal level.

“Oh, no reason,” she managed. “I just… I don’t…”

What are you doing? Get it together, she berated

herself. No need to reveal all your insecurities right here in one conversation. At least keep your fear of flying to yourself, dammit!

“Don’t what?”

“I have a thing…”

“A thing?” he asked gently, with humor now in his eyes.

“Speaking in front of groups… terrifies me,” she admitted on a whisper.

“Me too,” he assured her. “Believe me. I get the whole ‘mouth dry, palms sweaty, knees shaking’ thing going. But I’ve learned some little tricks to help with it. I can show you.”

“Really?” she answered. “You have difficulty with it too?”

“Really,” he said earnestly. “It’ll all be okay, I promise.”

She nodded, then headed toward the door.

“Miss Benning?”

Trixie turned.

“Make sure you pull together the reporting to present the financials,” Drew said. “They’re going to want to review the quarter as a whole, but also each month separately.”

“I know,” she said. “Who do you think pulls them together for Bill?”

“I thought Marjorie did that.”

“She uses my reporting, just tweaks the format. But I know the template she uses, so I can do that, no problem.”

“Very well, then. I’ll see you tomorrow. Plan on us leaving the office around two-thirty on Thursday.”

“Yes, sir,” she answered, a small smile playing on her lips as she let herself out.