Page 38 of Love on the Line

He knelt down to her level, reached behind her ear, and produced a bright, gold coin.

“Why, you had it all the time,” he said with a smile.

The children begged to know how the trick worked. He handed the little girl the coin. “Keep this, and next time I’ll show you a different trick. I can’t tell you how I did it, because magicians always keep their secrets.” He put a finger to his mouth. “Shh.”

“Do you have to go now?” The little girl pouted.

“I’m afraid so, but I have a surprise for you. The nurses are going to bring ice cream and cookies as a special treat.” The children cheered and he turned, still smiling. His eyes grew wide when they met Anne’s. “Hi there…Anne, right?”

“Yes. Wow, I’m surprised to run into you again.”

“It’s a small world.” He waved a hand at the kids. “Are you here to visit one of the children?”

“Oh...no…I was just passing by.”

The children whispered and giggled.

“Is she your girlfriend?” asked the little girl holding the gold coin.

Devon smiled and patted her on the head. His gaze locked on Anne’s. “No such luck.”

Heat surged to Anne’s face. She tapped her watch. “I better get going, or I’ll be late.”

“Me too, as a matter of fact. Nice bumping into you.” He said goodbye to the children, then turned and walked briskly down the hall.

Huh. People were a constant surprise. With his sporty car and expensive suit, she hadn’t expected him to be someone who would kneel down and play games with kids. Maybe she was a bad judge of character. Which brought her right back to thoughts of Wyatt. No. She didn’t have time for that. Shaking her head, she checked the room numbers on the wall to figure out which way to go.

She found the conference room and stopped at the sight of Devon standing at the table, pulling papers out of a briefcase. He looked up. “Are you lost?”

“I don’t think so. I’m here for a fundraiser meeting. Is this the right room?”

“Yes.” He motioned for her to come in. “Oh, Anne…you must be Anne Cooper. I didn’t make the connection.”

“Yeah…wait, you’re the hospital liaison?”

He flashed a smile and nodded, his brown eyes staring deeply into hers. “I guess we’ll be working together.”

Was she imagining it, or had he emphasized the word “together”? A wisp of unease snuck up her back.

“Please, have a seat.” He gestured to the chair across from him. “I’m happy to have you onboard.”

The fragrance of his cologne filled the room. The smell was distinctly masculine and nothing she recognized. Probably some expensive European brand. Not unpleasant, but it didn’t make her knees weak the way one whiff of Wyatt’s clean, male scent did. Raw pain scratched her ribs. She needed to focus.

After sitting, she clicked her pen and opened her notebook. “Have you been the liaison for the walk-a-thon in the past? This is my first time doing this.”

“Mine too. I met with the sponsors and other board members earlier.” He shuffled through his papers, then raised his gaze. “I thought it would be better for us to meet alone.”

Again, his eyes bored into hers, and the hint of a smile played on his lips.

She swallowed and cleared her throat. “I don’t understand.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He tapped the folder on the table. “They’ve been doing this for years and have all the materials and instructions. I thought since we were both new at this, it made sense to meet separately to go through the details without disrupting their day.”

So he was being considerate, and she was being paranoid. Her thoughts about Wyatt were making her suspicious of everyone, damn it. “Of course. With school, I’m not available during the day, anyway.”

Devon handed her a paper. “This outlines the plan for advertising and promoting the walk-a-thon. Your role is to get as many people as possible involved at the school. Kids, parents, teachers, anyone who’s interested in helping or participating. I’m open to suggestions and ideas.”

“Great, I’ll look everything over and present it to the staff at our meeting tomorrow.”

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