Free More to Give by Terri Osburn Page A

itself but appreciated Callie’s broader view of the entire property.
    “Then I’ll get started,” Callie said, slipping the proposal into a slender briefcase at her feet. “There is one more thing we need to discuss.”
    All his male instincts told Sam to brace for something bad. Callie’s words were the equivalent of the dreaded “we need to talk.”
    “And what is that?” he asked, fighting the urge to say he had another meeting. Since she was his scheduled meeting, not meant to start for ten more minutes, the lie would be obvious.
    “Us,” she said. The word dropped like the pin being pulled from a grenade.
    Sam did what any man would have done. He played dumb.
    “I don’t follow.”
    Callie sighed. “We can’t keep pretending there isn’t unfinished business between us, Sam. I appreciate this job and am looking forward to the renovation, but we’re going to be dealing closely with each for the next three months. I can’t keep up the farce.”
    “The farce?” Sam said, zeroing in on the word that struck him the hardest. “Is that what you think this is?”
    “A poor choice of words on my part, but the last time we saw each other before Monday wasn’t exactly normal. Or have you forgotten?”
    “I haven’t forgotten anything.” Not for lack of trying. At least not in the past few days. “But I’m not interested in revisiting ancient history. The past needs to stay in the past.”
    “I’ve tried that,” she said, leaning back in her chair, as if settling in for a long, leisurely discussion. “If three years of therapy taught me anything, it’s that ignoring the past doesn’t work.”
    “You’ve done therapy?” Sam had never been interested in examining his feelings and sure as hell had no intention of ever delving into the scars of his childhood. Both were the first requirements that came to mind when he heard the word therapy.
    Callie kept her head up. “You know how my marriage ended, and you’ve met my mother. If anything, I’d expect you to be more surprised if I’d never had therapy.”
    While Sam had stuffed his demons into some dark recess of his mind, Callie had called hers out in a duel. Considering the confident, seemingly well-adjusted woman before him, he thought she’d clearly won the battle. Which left Sam feeling outgunned and ill prepared for what she expected them to hash out in a morning meeting.
    “What do you want to hear?” Sam asked, happy to say whatever it was she needed to get this over with.
    Callie’s ice-blue eyes dropped to the edge of his desk as she considered her answer. After several seconds she said, “Maybe we could find some kind of reset button. Something that will clear out this cloud of awkwardness around us.”
    Sam felt relieved. Dealing with the present, he could do.
    “What did you have in mind?”
    That soft smile crossed her lips. “Ironically enough, we weren’t all that close back then. Back when we were part of two couples who spent a lot of time together, each unaware there was a third couple in the mix.” Her words carried a trace of sadness. “But we were friends. I know you’re now my boss, but maybe we could also be friends again?”
    Friends. Could he be friends with a woman he’d once had sex with? A woman he wanted to have sex with again and who happened to work for him?
    “That doesn’t sound too difficult,” Sam lied.
    The lie earned him a full-on smile. “Good.” Callie exhaled, blowing a lock of hair off her forehead. “I feel better already.”
    So long as one of them did. “Then we’re finished here,” he said. “Now, I believe you have a hotel to renovate.”

    The last guests of the season would be checking out on Sunday, which meant the renovation could begin in earnest on Monday. The first order of business was the exterior of the building, and for that Callie needed workers familiar with stripping paint and getting it back on, in a hurry, but properly. No shortcuts or sloppy work.
    Where was she