“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?”
Felicity smiled, then waved her to the couch. “Have a seat. Let’s see if I can make you feel a little less lonely.”
Cooper’s grin was even wider. “Mm. Yes, please.”
Okay, this was going well. Felicity’s body announced an upgrade from delighted to aroused.
“I have news,” she said, closing the door and following Cooper to the couch. Felicity chose the cushion beside her and was pleased when Cooper’s hand casually shifted to rest on her thigh.
“I hope this isn’t where you tell me you’ve wrapped up the investigation and we’re now done,” Cooper said slowly. “What’s your news?”
“Well, about that. Yes, my investigation is done. But our working relationship has been extended. Indefinitely.”
Cooper’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”
“Rosalind Stone has decided to part ways with her charity and take everyone with her that she appointed to the Living Ruff board. She asked me if Bartell Corp would be involved in the charity in her place. We worked out the details today. Bartell Corp will be supplying any board assistance necessary for the charity, and we’re tossing in free tech support, too. So you can expect some state-of-the-art computers at Living Ruff come next week.” She beamed.
“I think I’m going to need to sit down.”
“You already are,” Felicity pointed out.
