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"He wanted a mistress," Jennifer said, putting it into words. "And I wanted a husband. We just got our
signals crossed. Besides," she added with a wan smile, "I'm feeling worlds better. I've got a great
job, a lovely boss, and even a part-time boyfriend.
If you can call Drew a boy."
"He's delightful." Sally sighed. "Just what you need. A live wire."
"And not a bad architect, either. You must be pleased he's working with us." She grinned. "He did a
great job on that office project last month."
"So did you," Sally said, smiling. She leaned against the doorjamb. "I thought it a marvelous idea,
locating a group of offices in a renovated mansion. It only needed the right team, and you and Drew
work wonderfully well together."
"In business, yes." Jennifer twirled her pencil around in her slender fingers. "I just don't want him
getting serious about me. If
it's possible for him to get serious about anyone." She laughed.
"Don't try to bury yourself."
"Oh, I'm not. It's just..." She shrugged. "I'm only now getting over... I don't want any more risks. Not
for a long time. Maybe not ever."
"Some men are kind-hearted," Sal y ventured.
"So why are you single?" came the sharp reply.
"I'm picky," Sally informed her with a sly smile. "Very, very picky. I want Rhett Butler or nobody."
"Wrong century, wrong state."
"You're from Georgia. Help me out!"
"Sorry," Jennifer murmured. "If I could find one, do you think I'd tell anybody?"
"Point taken. Give me that cup and I'll fill it for you."
"Thanks, boss."
"Oh, boy, coffee!" a tall, redheaded man called from the doorway as he closed the door behind him.
"I'll have mine black, with two doughnuts, a fried egg..."
"The breakfast bar is closed, Mr. Peterson," Jennifer told him.
"Sorry, Drew," Sally added. "You'll just have to catch your own chicken and do it the hard way."
"I could starve," he grumbled, ramming
his hands in his pockets. He had blue eyes,
and right now they were glaring at both
women. "I don't have a wife or a mother. I
live alone. My cook hates me..."
"You're breaking my heart," Sally offered.
"You can have the other half of my doughnut," Jennifer said, holding up a chunk of doughnut with
chocolate clinging to it.
"Never mind." Drew sighed. "Thanks all the same, but I'll just wither away."
"That wouldn't be difficult," Jennifer told him. "You're nothing but skin and bones."
"I gained two pounds this week," he said, affronted.
"Where is it," Sally asked with a sweeping glance, "in your big toe?"
"Ha, ha," he laughed as she turned to go to the coffee pot.
"You are thin," Jennifer remarked.
He glared at her. "I'm still a growing boy." He stretched lazily. "Want to ride out to the new office
building with me this morning?"
"No, thanks. I've got to finish these drawings. What do you think?"
She held one up, and he studied them with an architect's trained eye. "Nice. Just remember that this,"
he said, pointing to the vestibule, "is going to be a heavy-traffic area, and plan accordingly."
"There goes my white carpet," she teased.
"I'll white carpet you," he muttered. He pursed his lips as he studied her. "Wow, lady, what a
change."
She blinked up at him. "What?"
"You. When you walked in here three months ago, you looked like a drowned kitten. And now..." He
only sighed.
She was wearing a beige suit with a pink candy-striped blouse and a pink silk scarf.
Her blond hair was almost platinum with its new body and sheen, and she'd had it trimmed so that it
hung in wispy waves all around her shoulders. Her face was creamy and soft and she was wearing
makeup again. She looked nice, and his eyes told her so.
"Thanks."
He pursed his lips. "What for?"
"The flattery," she told him. "My ego's been even with my ankles for quite awhile."
"Stick with me, kid, I'll get it all the way up to your ears," he promised with an evil leer.
"Sally, he's trying to seduce me!" she called toward the front of the office.
She expected some kind of bantering reply, but none was forthcoming. She looked up at Drew
contemplatively. "Reckon she's left?"
"No. She's answered the phone. You still aren't used to the musical tone, are you?"
No, she wasn't. There were quite a lot of things she wasn't used to, and the worst of them was being
without Everett. She had a good job, a nice apartment, and some new clothes. But without him, none
of that mattered. She was going through the motions, and little more. His contempt still stung her
pride when she recal ed that last horrible scene. But she couldn't get him out of her mind, no matter
how she tried.
"Wel !" Sal y said, catching her breath as she rejoined them. "If the rest of him looks like this voice, I
may get back into the active part of the business. That was a potential client, and I think he may be the
Rhett Butler I've always dreamed of. What a silky, sexy voice!"
"Dream on," Jennifer teased.
"He's coming by in the morning to talk to us. Wants his whole house done!" the older woman
exclaimed.
"He must have a sizeable wal et, then," Drew remarked.
Sal y nodded. "He didn't say where the house was, but I assume it's nearby. It didn't sound like a long-
distance cal ." She glanced at Jennifer with a smile. "Apparently your reputation has gotten around,
too," she laughed. "He asked if you'd be doing the project. I had the idea he wouldn't have agreed
otherwise." She danced around with her coffee cup in her hand. "What a godsend. With the office
building and this job, we'l be out of the red, kids! What a break!'
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