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Authors: Susan Mallery
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donations planned?” Millie asked.
“I’m not sure. Why?”
“No reason.” She glanced at her slim gold watch. “Oh, my, look at the time. I’d better head out. There’s some mail on my desk. I’ll take a look at that, then I’ll be gone. You have a nice evening.” The older woman rosé to her feet.
“I will. Thanks, Millie.”
“Thank you. You trust me, and that means so very much.”
Elissa smiled. “I’m going to get something to drink, so I’ll see you in the morning. Night.”
When she returned to her desk twenty minutes later, Millie had already left. There were a few letters for her to type. She read the top one. It was to the director of a science camp in Santa Barbara. Millie had written that despite the generous discount, the orphanage couldn’t afford to send the children to the program. There wasn’t enough money to send everyone, and Cole refused to leave any child behind. Underneath the letter was a brochure for the camp.
Elissa looked it over. The camp ran four days, beginning the first weekend of next month. Although the children would miss two days of school, the program was recommended by their local school district as well as by the state’s education office. It wasn’t cheap, but with the discount offered to the orphanage, it was a bargain.
Elissa glanced toward Millie’s office to make sure it was empty, then picked up the phone. What was that old saying? Better to be hunted as a wolf than live as a sheep. She laughed. No, that wasn’t the old saying, but it worked. She’d lived too many years as a sheep, and while she wasn’t exactly wolf material, she felt she’d made progress up the food chain.
If Cole wanted her gone, she would be gone, even if she did everything perfectly. Besides, she wasn’t doing this for him, or even for herself. She was doing it for the children, and because it was the right thing to do.
Chapter Five
C ole sat in the dark auditorium and tried to concentrate on the performance. On stage, high school students delivered the lines from the Neil Simon play. When the audience burst into spontaneous laughter and Cole didn’t get the joke, he realized he didn’t have a prayer of focusing on anything but Elissa tonight.
He shifted on the hard wooden seat. How many times had he sat in this particular building? There were dozens of assemblies while he’d attended the high school and dozens more activities since taking over as director of the orphanage. By definition, the children he took care of had no one to show up to watch them perform. He made it a point to be at as many events as he could, as well as assigning different staff members. Some came, even when they weren’t on duty. As Elissa had tonight.
He thought about moving his arm, but he didn’t want her to know the soft pressure of her elbow against his was distracting. He refused to let her guess that the faint scent of her sweet perfume surrounded him in a cloud of arousal and memories. She might have grown up and become an independent, feisty temptress, but her perfume was the same. It made him think of pale skin and hot kisses. Elissa had many flaws, but her kissing ability wasn’t one of them.
Without wanting to, he remembered the months they’d dated. He’d known she was a virgin and had tried hard to go slowly. Her request that they wait to make love until after they were married had made him grit his teeth, but he’d agreed. And because the need was so strong, he’d decided it was safer to do nothing at all. Nothing except kiss.
He fought against the memories, trying to force his attention back to the play. Mindy, one of his kids from the orphanage, was second lead and he was really enjoying her performance. But lines from a play, however witty, couldn’t compete with the power of the past. Instead of high school students on a stage, he saw Elissa, her long curly hair tumbling loose over her shoulders as she laughed at him, bent forward and touched her lips to his.
He
“I’m not sure. Why?”
“No reason.” She glanced at her slim gold watch. “Oh, my, look at the time. I’d better head out. There’s some mail on my desk. I’ll take a look at that, then I’ll be gone. You have a nice evening.” The older woman rosé to her feet.
“I will. Thanks, Millie.”
“Thank you. You trust me, and that means so very much.”
Elissa smiled. “I’m going to get something to drink, so I’ll see you in the morning. Night.”
When she returned to her desk twenty minutes later, Millie had already left. There were a few letters for her to type. She read the top one. It was to the director of a science camp in Santa Barbara. Millie had written that despite the generous discount, the orphanage couldn’t afford to send the children to the program. There wasn’t enough money to send everyone, and Cole refused to leave any child behind. Underneath the letter was a brochure for the camp.
Elissa looked it over. The camp ran four days, beginning the first weekend of next month. Although the children would miss two days of school, the program was recommended by their local school district as well as by the state’s education office. It wasn’t cheap, but with the discount offered to the orphanage, it was a bargain.
Elissa glanced toward Millie’s office to make sure it was empty, then picked up the phone. What was that old saying? Better to be hunted as a wolf than live as a sheep. She laughed. No, that wasn’t the old saying, but it worked. She’d lived too many years as a sheep, and while she wasn’t exactly wolf material, she felt she’d made progress up the food chain.
If Cole wanted her gone, she would be gone, even if she did everything perfectly. Besides, she wasn’t doing this for him, or even for herself. She was doing it for the children, and because it was the right thing to do.
Chapter Five
C ole sat in the dark auditorium and tried to concentrate on the performance. On stage, high school students delivered the lines from the Neil Simon play. When the audience burst into spontaneous laughter and Cole didn’t get the joke, he realized he didn’t have a prayer of focusing on anything but Elissa tonight.
He shifted on the hard wooden seat. How many times had he sat in this particular building? There were dozens of assemblies while he’d attended the high school and dozens more activities since taking over as director of the orphanage. By definition, the children he took care of had no one to show up to watch them perform. He made it a point to be at as many events as he could, as well as assigning different staff members. Some came, even when they weren’t on duty. As Elissa had tonight.
He thought about moving his arm, but he didn’t want her to know the soft pressure of her elbow against his was distracting. He refused to let her guess that the faint scent of her sweet perfume surrounded him in a cloud of arousal and memories. She might have grown up and become an independent, feisty temptress, but her perfume was the same. It made him think of pale skin and hot kisses. Elissa had many flaws, but her kissing ability wasn’t one of them.
Without wanting to, he remembered the months they’d dated. He’d known she was a virgin and had tried hard to go slowly. Her request that they wait to make love until after they were married had made him grit his teeth, but he’d agreed. And because the need was so strong, he’d decided it was safer to do nothing at all. Nothing except kiss.
He fought against the memories, trying to force his attention back to the play. Mindy, one of his kids from the orphanage, was second lead and he was really enjoying her performance. But lines from a play, however witty, couldn’t compete with the power of the past. Instead of high school students on a stage, he saw Elissa, her long curly hair tumbling loose over her shoulders as she laughed at him, bent forward and touched her lips to his.
He
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