Free Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood Page B

Kincaid, it wasn’t an incident. It was an attack.”
    “I know,” he said, placating her. “Jorguson’s attorneys are calling it the alleged incident, and Jorguson’s version of what happened is quite different from yours.”
    “You’re joking.”
    “Sorry, no.” He heard her sigh. “Olivia?” he said after a long minute of silence.
    “I’m thinking, Grayson.”
    He liked the way she said his name. She dragged it out so he’d hear her frustration. He smiled in reaction. “Five o’clock. I can either come to you, or we could meet somewhere.”
    “You want to meet Saturday night?” she questioned. Didn’t the agent have a life outside of the office?
    “Early Saturday night,” he corrected.
    Ah, so he did have plans, probably a late date, she speculated as she took another sip of the orange juice the nurse had given her.
    Jane was checking messages on her phone and wasn’t paying any attention to the conversation.
    “Three o’clock works better for me,” she told him.
    “No, that won’t work for me. I’m tied up until four thirty.”
    “Then it will have to wait until Monday.”
    “No.”
    “No? Can’t you be a little flexible? I have plans, and I can’t change them.”
    “What plans?”
    He sounded suspicious. Was he simply curious, or didn’t he believe her? Olivia pictured Grayson tackling that horrible bodyguard, saving her from certain harm, and she decided the least she could do in return was cooperate.
    “I’m going to a formal affair,” she said. “I have to get ready and be at the Hamilton Hotel by seven thirty. If clearing up discrepancies will only take ten or fifteen minutes, then fine, we’ll meet at five.”
    “It could take longer than that. What’s the formal affair?”
    “The Capitol League Benefit.”
    “That’s Saturday night? I thought it was next weekend.” Grayson had received an invitation and had respectfully declined, but he had also made a substantial donation to the charity because he believed it was a good cause.
    “Then you’re planning to attend?”
    He thought about it for a second or two, then said, “Yes.”
    She felt a little burst of pleasure that took her by surprise.
    “Then perhaps we could meet at the hotel. It shouldn’t take all that long to discuss Jorguson’s blatant lies, should it? Unless you have plans . . . or if you have a date and it would be rude to leave her while you discussed . . .”
    “Jorguson’s lies?”
    She could hear the amusement in his voice. “Yes. Do you have a date?”
    “No.”
    “Really?”
    He laughed. “Really. I’m working, remember? The Jorguson investigation.”
    “That’s right.”
    “What about you? Do you have a date?”
    “No,” she said. “I sound boring, don’t I?”
    “Olivia, there isn’t anything boring about you,” he said, and before she could respond to the compliment, he asked, “Were you planning to go alone?”
    “Yes. My aunt is being honored at the event, and I promised her I’d attend. I was planning to meet her there. Unlike us, she has a date.”
    “Who is your aunt?”
    “Emma Monroe.”
    “Why don’t I drive you to the hotel? We can talk on the way there.”
    “Yes, all right.”
    “Listen . . . I might as well . . .”
    “Yes?” she asked when he hesitated.
    “I might as well take you home after . . .”
    “That would be lovely.”
    “What time?”
    “Seven.”
    “I’ll see you then.”
    He ended the call, turned back to his desk, and noticed Ronan standing in the doorway. He didn’t ask him if he had listened to the awkward conversation. The look on his face told Grayson he had.
    “Man, that was painful,” Ronan said. “What happened to you?”
    Grayson shrugged. “Damned if I know.”
    * * *
    Olivia told Jane about her conversation with Grayson while she wheeled her friend back up to her hospital room.
    Always the artist, Jane asked, “Give me a visual. What does he look like?”
    “He’s tall, well over six feet, and he