“Yes.” Olivia raised her chin. “We’re dating.”
“Seriously?” Stuart started to laugh. “You turn me down and datehim? A young punk who looks like he barely knows how to hold a conversation?”
“That punk, as you call him,” she retorted bitingly, “is bringing up his daughter single-handed.” As soon as she said it, she realized her mistake.
“Jesus.” Stuart shook his head. “And you want to become CIO. You know you’re practically a stepmum, don’t you? It won’t be long before you’re doing school runs and taking time off work for sickness, for parents’ evening. School plays.”
It was everything she feared, and he knew it. “Connor’s been managing all that just fine by himself. He doesn’t need my help.” She ignored the twist in her stomach and gave him a hard look. “Was that all?”
“How about giving me a cookie? From the sounds Meera was making, they’re better than sex.”
The thought of something Connor had so lovingly made being eaten by this man sent bile to the back of her throat. “No.”
“Fair enough.” Stuart smirked at her. “Looks like I’ll have to settle for sex. And for the sake of transparency, I should tell you I’m dating someone too. Paige is a portfolio manager at Schroders. Her dad is a great friend of Simon’s. Apparently, they went to the same boarding school.” He smirked again. “Same one I went to.”
With a final, triumphant glance, he stalked out of her office.
Bastard. Olivia slid the lid off the cookies again, but as she looked down at them, her stomach rolled. She couldn’t eat one now, not with the bitter taste in her mouth.
The taste only got worse when Simon knocked on her door an hour later. “I hear you’re dating a single dad.”
“News travels fast. Stuart must have run down the corridor,” she said with barely concealed sarcasm.
Simon gave her a long, appraising look. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Techtonic fully supports working mothers, but be careful it doesn’t blunt your edge, Olivia.”
“Why would it?”
“This company needs a CIO who’s dedicated, prepared to work long hours, give the role their total focus.”
Acid churned in her stomach. “I presume you’d have said the same to Stuart if his girlfriend had a child?”
Simon smiled, nodded once, and walked away.
She let her head fall to her desk with a thud, struggling to contain her need to scream, to throw something at the wall. And, damn it, to cry too. Wallow in the unfairness of it all.
She hadn’t asked to fall in love, had no desire for a family. All she wanted was to make CIO. Yet now, because shehadfallen, and for a single dad, the CIO position she’d worked so hard for might be snatched away from her.
Connor reread Olivia’s message. She’d sent it at four o’clock, when he’d been knee-deep in fractions and spellings, so he hadn’t a chance to read it until now.
Thank you for the cookies. Very sweet of you. X
Did that sound... off?Very sweet?He wouldn’t have minded if she’d added a laughing emoji, but without it, the phrase sounded trite and nothing like the woman he knew. His Livvy would have said something along the lines ofAre you trying to sweeten me up?Plus, he knew he was being an oversensitive prick, but there was no mention of her trying one. Did she even like them?
“Ellie.” He nudged her. “Time to get ready for bed.”
Sprawled out on the sofa next to him, she didn’t budge, her eyes fixed on the TV, watching the credits roll from a rerun ofFriends. Yeah, he’d been told it wasn’t suitable for an eight-year-old, but try telling that to the eight-year-old desperate to watch it because her friends did. In the end he’d gone on the Mumsnet website, searched for episodes that were primary-school-friendly, and struck a deal that she could watch those.
He gave her ribs another nudge, and she moaned. “Do I have to?”
“Yes, Turnip. At least if you want to watchFriendsagain tomorrow.”
A huff and a pout later, she trudged upstairs.
Deciding he’d spent too long analyzing nine words, Connor dialed Olivia’s number. “Your message didn’t mention if you liked the cookies or not.”
“Oh, I...” She sighed. “Sorry, I haven’t tried them yet. I was going to, but then Stuart ruined the mood.”
He tensed. “Ruined it how?”
