Page 51 of Conner

“Your weekend, the gala, how was it?”

“Oh right, the gala. It went beautifully,” she said honestly. The gala had gone off without a hitch, it had been a remarkable event. They had raised thousands of dollars for local charities, the boys all picked charities to sponsor, the Magic organization was deepening its community connections, it was all best-case scenario. That is with the exception of the deranged stalker that was now after her.

“Do you have some posts ready for announcing Wes is out for the season?” he asked.

“I do, I saw the email about the meeting yesterday.”

“It's a real shame, I thought the boys were really going to bring home the cup this year.”

This was more words than they had ever spoken. Why did he decide this morning of all mornings to start being chatty? She really needed to get her head screwed on straight before the meeting.

She pulled up all the social analytics and messages and got prepared for the meeting just in case anyone had any questions. Sasha was always one to be prepared. And much to her relief there was no real new activity on the accounts that seemed out of the ordinary. So, she took a slight breath of relief and got ready for the meeting.

After Sasha was in the meeting things were going good. They had the posts ready and the messaging ready—disappointed about Wes of course—but still hopeful about the cup, at least on the outside. The organization on the inside was fully acknowledging the cup was probably out of reach without their top scorer. But towards the end of the meeting something happened that Sasha hasn't been expecting.

Hillary stood up and made an announcement. “I have some exciting news to share. Since Sasha has joined us our ticket sales have been at a record high and the community engagement is amazing. It is clear to us we have not been fully investing our efforts into social media. I'm so excited to announce that this summer we will be hiring two people to come on and help Sasha. She will be the manager of our entire social media team, that is if she is interested in the promotion. What do you say Sasha? I know I shouldn't have put you on the spot like this, but we talked about this earlier and everyone is on board.”

Sasha's mouth fell slack. This is not what she was expecting from the morning meeting. Managing social media for an entire organization like this was truly more than a one-person job now, and she desperately needed the help.

“I think we can accomplish amazing things,” Sasha said with a smile. “I look forward to hearing more about this.”

As the meeting was wrapping up Hillary stopped by Sasha. “I hope I didn't put you on the spot, but I just got word we were good to go to hire two people for your team.”

“If putting me on the spot means I get some help and can do bigger and more creative things, I'm here for it.”

“Of course, the new position will come with a new salary. Swing by my office after lunch and we can talk about the offer and the details.”

“That's amazing. Thank you, I’ll be in after lunch.”

Sasha was wrapping up her day. It had been incredible. At some points she had even forgotten about everything else that was going on. She knew she needed to talk to Hillary about what was going on, but he hadn't contacted her through the organization's accounts since the gala. There had been nothing since the note on her car. There was a big part of her that wanted to pretend that it wasn't happening, but as she was packing up for the day the knock and handsome face at her office door were a reminder that he was there because she needed protection.

“How was your day?” Conner asked with a concerned face.

“Actually, it was amazing!” she said.

“It was?” he asked, clearly taken aback. That was not what he had been expecting.

“Yeah, it was announced today they’re going to hire a social media team and I was unofficially offered a promotion to be the lead of the social media team,” she said grinning at him.

“That's amazing. I'm so proud of you,” he said as he came into her office and swept her up into a hug, picking her up clean off the ground.

“Thanks,” she said, beaming up at him when he finally put her down. “They’re working up the offer right now. It’ll be more money and I’ll have help doing all this stuff.”

“That's amazing,” he said as he sat back propping his butt against her desk. She looked over at him and she really wanted to kiss him, but they hadn't talked about what this looked like outside of their current predicament. The same predicament she had been avoiding all day.

“Did you talk to Hillary about the other thing?” he asked gently, addressing the elephant in the room she was trying her hardest to ignore.

“No, it just didn't feel like the right time. I mean what do you say, thank you for this responsibility, oh wait I'm about to make everyone's job harder?”

“You got the promotion because you earned it, and you’re good at your job. It had nothing to do with the safety concerns you have right now.”

She sighed and turned away from him to packing her bag. He stopped her with his hands on her hips and pulled her towards him, so they were close, face to face. “I don’t mind you staying with me and keeping you safe, but we need to deal with this situation before it gets out of hand.”

She gasped at the pull she felt to him, at the spark she felt when he touched her. She had been pushing those feelings down because this was new and unexpected, and he was this impossibly handsome hockey star. And while Sasha knew her worth and knew she was beautiful, but something about his words and the way he was looking at her made her feel like she was glowing from the inside out.

He kissed her head and she leaned into him.

“I know, it just didn't feel like the right time.”

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