Jennifer Drew – All Wrapped Up (страница 5)

“Fine.”

“You can turn around now. How did you know I work here?”

She tried not to squirm as he turned and gazed at her.

“You still look spectacular, Liv.”

“Thanks.”

He still had the annoying habit of dodging questions, but her own reaction concerned her more. How could he possibly look even better at twenty-nine than he had as a twenty-four-year-old graduate student? He was dressed in a conservative jacket and slacks, a big step up from the jeans and sweatshirts he used to live in, but his long, lanky body looked even harder and more muscular. His hair was shorter but still combed back from his forehead. He was clean-shaven, and his skin had a honey glow with high color in his cheeks from the cold outside.

“If you came for an apology, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, your message.” His little grin vanished. “My dentist leaves a friendlier one.”

“I’m sorry about that. I was upset.”

“Because your sister invited me? If you didn’t want me to be there, it’s okay.”

She was touched that Nick cared enough to look her up, but rattled because her heart was pounding. She had to fight a crazy urge to jump into his arms and kiss him silly.

She’d imagined seeing him by accident someday, maybe on the street or at a party. She’d thought up all kinds of clever, witty comments to show him that she was over him, so why couldn’t she remember a single one now?

“It’s not that. The party is canceled. My parents won’t be celebrating their thirtieth anniversary because they’re getting a divorce.”

“Liv, I’m really sorry. I know what a blow it is when parents split.”

“Yeah, and I never saw it coming.”

“If it’s any consolation, mine are much happier apart. They’ve both remarried and like their new lives.”

“Well, I’m sorry my message was so abrupt. I’d just found out, and I had so many people to call and—” She started twisting the ties of her sweater then forced herself to stop. She’d been calm and collected talking to her parents’ friends and canceling the party. It was what everyone expected of her, and more importantly what she demanded of herself. She took a deep breath, then another, locking her arms across her chest. Nick meant nothing to her anymore, so why was she feeling so emotional?

“No problem,” he interrupted. “You didn’t even know your sister had invited me, did you?”

“Well, actually no.”

Now that the initial shock of seeing him was wearing off, she remembered the months of heartbreak after he’d left her. She wasn’t a girl to put her hand on a hot burner twice.

“Well, thank you for coming by.”

“Actually, seeing you is only a bonus. I didn’t know you worked here. I’m chasing a lead on a story.”

Nick always had an ulterior motive—the warm glow she was feeling at seeing him again was replaced by icy suspicion.

“Here?” she asked.

“Your firm represents someone I badly need to interview.”

“We don’t divulge client information.”

“Yes, I’ve already been told that, but the receptionist hinted you might be able to help me.”

Mary, the receptionist, was fifty-seven and seven times a grandmother. Was there no female who was immune to Nick’s charms? At least Liv knew she was.

“She was mistaken,” Liv said.

“If I could explain—”

“I’m sorry, Nick, but William Lawrence Associates keeps all client information confidential.”

“Let me tell you what I’m after, then I’ll accept your decision, whatever it is,” he said.

He was relentless. Soon she was going to be wrapping her sweater ties around his gorgeous neck. “You aren’t going to talk me into betraying a client,” she said.

“I don’t even know if you still represent this one. Let me take you to lunch,” he urged. “We can talk about it.”

“Thank you, no. I don’t have time to go out for lunch.”

“Then let me take you to dinner, unless you have to hurry home to someone,” he said.

“No, I live alone, but dinner isn’t a good idea.”

“We’ll go someplace close and quick.” Another thing hadn’t changed. He didn’t like to take no for an answer.

Liv noticed Brandi Jo standing in the doorway watching with wide eyes. Did she think Liv was so old she was on the shelf?

“All right,” Liv said impulsively. “Meet me down in the lobby at five-thirty.”

“I didn’t know you had company,” Brandi Jo said, moving over to her computer table and openly checking out Nick.

Brandi Jo’s buttocks had a life of their own under the clingy skirt, and Nick couldn’t help but notice her backfield-in-motion bid for his attention.

“This is Nick Matheson, sportswriter for the Post,” Liv said dryly. “He’s just leaving.”

“I’m Brandi Jo Willis, Miss Kearns’s intern.” She directed a high-wattage smile Nick’s way.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, to his credit not rising to Brandi Jo’s bait. “I’ll see you at five-thirty, Liv.”

He backed toward the door and left without giving Brandi Jo the appraising look she usually received from men.

Liv realized that she’d let all her stored-up annoyance with the intern trap her into meeting Nick for dinner. For a moment she’d enjoyed showing the little sexpot that she could attract men too, but it was a short-lived triumph. It was a really bad idea to see Nick again for any reason. She was totally over him and wanted to stay that way.

3

STANDING IN the lobby of the Syracuse Building where she worked, Liv stared at a tiny butterfly in the design on one of the elevator doors, a detail she hadn’t noticed in the five years she’d worked there. Of course, she’d never stood in the lobby for nearly twenty minutes. Dana and several other people stopped to ask if Liv needed anything as she waited and waited for Nick to arrive. Time meant nothing to Nick, one more reason why she was fortunate their relationship had ended.

Even the two uniformed security guards sitting in the cubicle where they monitored cameras were beginning to look at her too frequently for comfort. She knew the routine, of course. At six sharp the door would be locked. Then no one, not even fast-talking Nick Matheson, could get in without buzzing and showing a special identity card.

She’d had it with waiting. She turned up her coat collar and braced herself to fight Chicago wind and commuter crowds. If the snow kept falling in big fluffy clumps, the lot where she’d left her car would be snowed shut before she got there for the last lap of her trip home. She hoped her temperamental little compact, seven years old and counting, would start.

Nick stepped out of the snowy darkness just as she opened the door. She met him on the pavement where wet slushy snow was already as high as the ankles of her boots.

“Thanks for waiting,” he said with a lopsided grin. “I got held up.”

He was wearing a red squall jacket, the hood hanging down and filling with snow. Nick never covered his head in less than a raging blizzard, Liv remembered. She had to resist an urge to brush silvery flakes from his hair.

“I only wanted to tell you I can’t have dinner,” she said. “The way it’s snowing, I’ll be lucky to get home before the streets drift shut.”

“You drive into the city? Where do you live?” he asked, stomping snow from his boots.

“Haley Park. I take the train, but I have to drive home from the station.”

“Have dinner with me, and I’ll drive you home. You can take a cab to your car in the morning.”

“No thanks to both. I’m going to take the Metra.”

“It’s no trouble. I’ve got four-wheel drive, and I pretty much go in your direction anyway. I live in Ira Heights.”

Nick took her arm as the door behind them opened. A couple came out, and she got a glimpse of the man, tall and broad-shouldered with a big square face, a felt derby and a tan wool overcoat. She opened her mouth to acknowledge the president of William Lawrence Associates, but Billy wasn’t looking in her direction. He was too busy gazing fondly down on Brandi Jo’s sleek blond head.

She should’ve known.

Liv scooted around Nick and started to walk away before Brandi Jo saw her, not that the intern wasn’t fully focused on her conquest. Liv feared her job was toast. The intern had one more semester before graduation, then Billy might slot her into Liv’s position.

The restructuring was a ruse as far as she was concerned. They were setting her up to fail. If she couldn’t attract the kind of new clients Billy wanted, he’d use it as an excuse to replace her with Brandi Jo. The whole staff would shake their heads and say, “Poor Liv couldn’t hack it.”

“Where are you going?” Nick asked. He was half running and half sliding to keep up with her on the slushy sidewalk.