Maybe she was relieved to not have him taking up her time anymore. Maybe Theo had already pounced—see, right there, he’d put his hand on her shoulder—and they were as happy as could be together. Had he flown up here for nothing?
He took a deep breath. He couldn’t back out now—both Abby and Carlos would kill him, among other things. Hell with it, he didn’t want to back out now; he had to know for sure.
He saw on the agenda that there was some business to get through first, so he pulled his phone out to pass the time.
“What are you here for?” the woman next to him whispered.
“Oh, the teen arts thing.” He smiled and gestured to the front of the room. “My . . . A friend of mine works for the mayor, so I wanted to be here for her.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Oh? Who’s your friend?”
He hesitated before he answered, but she was looking at him so intently that he had to.
“Alexa Monroe, she’s the mayor’s chief of staff.” He couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he said her name.
The woman dropped her phone into her purse and turned to him with a wide smile. Why was he reminded of a wolf?
“You must be Drew,” she said.
At that, everything clicked. Boy, did he feel like an idiot for not figuring this out sooner. He sat up straight.
“And you must be Olivia?” That’s why she looked familiar; he’d seen pictures of her around Alexa’s house.
She nodded and reached out her hand. He hadn’t been so nervous about a handshake since his med school interviews.
“I was under the impression that you and my sister were no longer . . . friends?” She still had that smile on her face.
He nodded, then shook his head. Words, Drew, it was time for words.
“I hope . . . There have been some problems, but my hope is that we’re still friends.” He laughed under his breath. “No, that’s not what I want. I don’t want to be friends with your sister—I want a lot more.”
Olivia’s smile lost some of the animosity.
“Good. Because if you answered that question a different way, I was going to tell you to walk out of this room right now and get your ass back to Los Angeles.”
He laughed again, louder this time, causing the people in front of him to turn around and frown. He muttered an apology.
He turned back to Alexa’s sister.
“She doesn’t know I’m here. So if you could . . .”
She patted him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, I won’t spoil your surprise. I wouldn’t anyway, but she doesn’t know I’m here, either, so I’d spoil my own surprise, too.”
He suddenly realized something: if Olivia was here, Alexa must have taken his advice and told her about the program. He couldn’t believe she’d listened to him.
He turned to Olivia to say something else, but she shushed him and pointed to the front of the room.
“They’re talking about it now.”