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CHAPTER NINETEEN

After her workout the next day, Olivia drove into Charlotte to pick up a few things.

While she was out, she decided to stop by Tyson’s office.

She wanted to personally thank him for being a listening ear—without worrying if Wes or Chandler were around reading too much into her words.

If she was truthful with herself, she might admit that she was stopping by because she just wanted to see him again. The man was intriguing, and she wanted to know more—despite Lyle’s advice that she should remain unattached.

She took the elevator to the sixth floor and smiled at Sheri, Tyson’s administrative assistant, as she approached. Olivia had met Sheri when Tyson brought her by for a tour last week.

“Hi, Sheri.” Olivia paused at the woman’s desk. “Is Tyson in?”

“I’m sorry, he’s not.” The perky, twentysomething blonde smiled brightly up at Olivia. “But he should be back any minute now. You can wait in his office if you’d like.”

“If you don’t think he’ll mind . . .”

“Not at all.”

Olivia nodded and opened the door. She sat in a chair across from his desk and waited. As she did, her eyes roamed the room.

Just like his home and truck, the office fit Tyson: practical and immaculate. There weren’t any papers left in stacks around his desk or on his filing cabinet, unlike Olivia’s desk at the station. Everything here was in its place.

She waited for five minutes before realizing she had too much energy to sit.

Standing, she began wandering around the office.

She smiled as she looked at a picture on his desk. It was of Tyson and an older woman Olivia assumed was his mother. They smiled at each other in the photo, and it was easy to see the affection between them.

Continuing around the space, Olivia slid her finger across the back of his leather chair. Impulsively, she pulled it out and sat down at the desk, grinning as she sat upright in imitation.

She imagined Tyson sitting here running his business. She wondered if he was as patient with his employees as he was with her. She couldn’t imagine him being any other way.

A phone rang nearby, jolting her from her thoughts.

She laughed at herself for being so jumpy.

But that antsiness was just a part of who she was now.

Pushing back the chair, she started to stand when her eye caught something tucked underneath the desk. She leaned down to take a closer look.

As her gaze hit the objects, she gasped.

Was that . . . ?

It couldn’t be.

But it was.

Reaching beneath his desk, she pulled out a bundle of red roses.

Her throat went dry as she counted . . .

Ten.

There were exactly ten roses.

Shakes overtook her.

Was Tyson the one doing this to her? Was this some kind of scheme to boost his ratings? Or was he truly evil?

She had no idea.

But her blood turned to ice at the thought.

* * *

Olivia sprinted from the office, ignoring Sheri’s questions as she hurried past.

She had to get away. She had to process what she’d found. Decide what to do next.

Reaching the elevator, she pressed the down button over and over again as if that would make it come faster.

She couldn’t wait any longer. Instead, she rushed to the stairs and pushed open the door.

She’d only taken two steps before she ran into an immovable, living and breathing brick wall.

“Olivia?” Tyson grasped her arms. “Where’s the fire?”

She snapped her gaze up to him. “It was you?”

“What was me?” His forehead scrunched.

“How could you?” she snapped. “I trusted you. Was offering a listening ear just to cover up the fact that you were the one?”

Tyson’s gaze fluttered behind her. Olivia was sure an audience of his employees were listening, but she didn’t care.

Apparently, Tyson did care. He pulled her into the stairwell, and the door snapped closed behind them.

At once, her lungs tightened.

She should have waited for the elevator.

She hadn’t been thinking. Only reacting.

But she hated confined spaces.

Of course, she hadn’t expected to run into Tyson in the stairwell.

But she had. What were the odds?

Fear coursed through her, and she tried to control her breathing.

Tyson stared at her, concern showing in his gaze, in his wrinkled forehead. “What are you talking about, Olivia? What do you mean about me being the one?”

“I found the roses under your desk.” Her voice sounded hoarse. “I might have dismissed them if there had been twelve or eighteen or any other number. But ten? How could you?”

Tyson squinted as if confused. “Olivia, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He sounded convincing, but she’d seen the evidence.

“The roses.” Tears threatened to stream down her face. “There are ten roses under your desk.”

“I haven’t bought any roses since . . .” He looked into space. “Since I saw my mother six months ago. I wasn’t aware there were any roses in my office.”

Olivia searched his eyes, looking for the truth.

This was Tyson Stone. Not only a fitness guru and entrepreneur.

But he was a good person.

If he’d wanted to hurt her, he could have already done so . . . right?

For those reasons, she believed him. He couldn’t have known she would come here.

Except . . . she had asked Hobbes if Tyson was in the office today. If he had any meetings.

Could Hobbes have surmised she was coming?

Was he behind this?

After all, Tyson had said Hobbes worked in New York a year ago before coming to work for Tyson.

She tried to ignore the connection.

But maybe that was a mistake.

Maybe coming here was a mistake . . . one that might cost Olivia her life.