“Yes, Elena.”

“And you chose option two. We get stuck with a charity.” Elena’s eyes were sharp. “Is that what I’m hearing?”

“Yes.” Felicity stared right back at her. “Hundreds of people and their pets would be affected if Living Ruff was shut down. And you wouldn’t have donated if you didn’t think they were a worthy charity. Now it’s your worthy charity. I can list all the tax benefits, too, if you like.”

Elena held up her hand. “That won’t be necessary.” She exhaled. “Well, you don’t do things by half, do you?”

“Elena?”

“Did it occur to you to ask me before you made this rather monumental decision?”

“No.” Felicity bit her lip. “You left it to me. You asked for nuance. You told me to be thorough and then decide without worrying about what you might think. This is the right decision. I know it is. But if I’m wrong, so what? We can hand it off to someone else later, if you don’t like how it’s working out. Or let it carry on unassisted entirely.”

Elena leaned back in her chair. “Did it not occur to you how much work this might entail for us, a profit-based organization taking on a nonprofit? Whether it would impact the bottom line if the charity takes a loss and so on?”

“I did look into it. And there’s no real work for us at all. They’re separate entities. They’d file their own taxes. Their debt stays theirs. Their gains are theirs, too. It’s entirely hands-off for Bartell Corp. At most we find them a new board and leave them to it. Check in on them every now and then; give them occasional donations perhaps, if you’re feeling generous,” Felicity suggested with a small smile. “But really, this isn’t like taking over a business at all.”

Elena’s lips twitched. “Yes. Apparently, that’s what Bartell Corp’s chairman concluded, too, after he sat down in a panic this morning with the accounts team. Although it took them a lot longer than fifteen seconds to nutshell why.”

That felt a lot like a compliment, but Felicity pursed her lips, wondering where this was going. “So what’s the problem?”

“I’m not sure I said there was a problem. I was just curious how much thought you had put into this before saddling us with a fringe charity.”

“Saddling us? Fringe charity?” Felicity eyed her curiously. “Elena, it’s a charity you put $1.4 million of your own money into. If you didn’t like it, you wouldn’t have. I factored that into my calculations, too. Approval from Bartell Corp’s chief operating officer.”

“Did you now,” Elena said, voice silky. “Well, it seems you’ve thought of everything.”

Had she? Felicity thought she had, but doubts tumbled in. She ran through the variables again quickly in her head before reaching the same conclusion. “I have. Yes.” She slid the NDA and Charles’s community service papers onto Elena’s desk. “And if I’ve erred, just tell Rosalind Stone you can’t sign these papers and back out now.”

Elena templed her fingers. “That won’t be necessary.” She tilted her head slightly. “Do you know why I gave you this assignment, Felicity?”

“You wanted to know where your money went.” Hadn’t that been what she’d said? “And you were testing me. You had questions about my ability to be subtle and nuanced and about how I handled myself while out of my comfort zone.”

“Yes.” Elena said thoughtfully. “But that’s not all there is to it. I had one more reason. A more important one.”

“Oh. Right. Yes.” Felicity nodded. “I wasn’t going to mention it, but I know it was a news story Maddie wrote that inspired you to donate. If she’d endorsed a charity that was corrupt, it would make her look bad. And she’s your…friend.” Felicity still had to swallow on that word. “So there’s that.”

“You really thought this was about protecting Madeleine’s career?” Elena asked in surprise. “She’s an award-winning reporter. She won the scoop of the decade. Her career is in no danger. Besides, if an organization she’s written about does something bad later, it’s hardly the reporter’s fault.”

“But I thought”—Felicity licked her lips anxiously—“you might worry she’d get heat for it. Mocked or something.”

“Never entered my mind.” Elena regarded her. “No, that’s not why I sent you to look into my donation.”

“Then why?”

“I had rather hoped with that fine mind of yours you might have figured it out by now.” Elena smiled her most cryptic smile. “When you do work it out, come talk to me. I’m quite serious about this. I suspect that will be quite the discussion.”

What does that even mean?

Felicity stared at her.

“Okay.” Elena picked up a pen. “Living Ruff. Who do you have in mind as director? Rosalind made it very clear in her communications it has to be us to choose, not her. Fresh faces and so forth. You’ve worked with their people. It’s your call. Or should Living Ruff advertise externally?”

Felicity thought for a moment. The charity needed someone good, intelligent, who understood both animals and the homeless, and would fight hard for Living Ruff. “I know the perfect choice: their head vet—Sandy Cooper. She’s been there longest and is very passionate about the clients and animals and has a track record of fighting for their rights against the mayor. She’d be an excellent spokeswoman and ideal to step up.”

“A vet? Running the whole thing? Are you sure?” Elena frowned. “There’s so much admin involved in being a charity director. Not much time for looking at animals.”

“She can outsource what she doesn’t want to handle to their receptionist, who is already excellent at that side of things. Dr. Cooper can make time to look at animals whenever she wants. Bottom line is, she’s smart, dedicated, competent, and decent. Dr. Cooper deserves the promotion. She’s really…excellent.” Felicity felt her cheeks warm up at that.

Elena regarded her for a moment. “She seems to have made quite an impression.”

Felicity folded her arms. “Yes.”

“Well, all right, then. Inform the woman of her promotion, get our publicity department to prep a press release about our newest charitable venture to go out once your vet has agreed, and let’s get this finalized.”

“You’ll have to sign the paperwork,” Felicity said.

“No, this is your baby”—Elena pushed a pen and the papers over the desk—“so you get to sign off on it. Congratulations on your first completed deal as acting COO of Bartell Corp.”

Oh, that felt nice. Felicity sat up taller. “Thank you.”

Elena smiled. “I see you’re also better at taking a compliment. Progress at last?”

Felicity had no clue what to say to that. Which was probably just as well.

At her silence, her utterly mystifying boss just laughed.

* * *

Felicity straightened the champagne bottle in the ice bucket and then fluffed a Parisian cushion on her couch. She couldn’t wait to share the promotion news. Cooper had just been buzzed in from downstairs, so she’d be here any second.

It had been frantic all day at work since the paperwork had been signed. Felicity had also spent half a day with the publicity department coming up with creative quotes explaining why a media company was suddenly involved in animal welfare. Then there was Felicity’s ongoing confusion trying to figure out Elena’s other reason for having sent her to Living Ruff.

She pushed aside that and all the rest of the day’s stress. Tonight was a celebration.

Felicity straightened the collar on her Isabel Marant blouse and checked her hair was still perfect. It fell in long blonde cascades to just above her shoulder blades. It was so rare she didn’t have it pinned up. But this was a special occasion, and she trusted there would be a lot of opportunity very soon for an appreciative Cooper to run her fingers through it.

At a knock on the door, Felicity ran to answer it before feeling a bit ridiculous. She slowed to a power walk, then opened the door.

What a welcome sight. Her entire body seemed to exhale in delight.

Cooper’s broad shoulders were encased in a tight black T-shirt under a black leather jacket and snug-fitting pale blue jeans. Then there was the cheeky grin.

Oh yes.

Cooper leaned in to drop a roguish peck on Felicity’s cheek that promised a lot more, then strode past, her tight jeans impressive against her ample thighs and ass. Words were rapidly failing Felicity.

“Hey, uptown girl,” Cooper teased. “This is a nice surprise. I was about to spend a pathetic Saturday night all by my lonesome. Normally I’d chill with my nan, but she’s having an early night. And my friends are busy. So…what’s a poor girl to do?”