frown off your face.”
“Magic bars,” I held up the bag of cookies and dangled it in front of me. “I love you.”
“I know. Most people do.” She laughed at her joke as I placed the salads and green mystery drink in front of us.
“You’re not working today?” I asked as I poured the dressing on top of my salad.
“Not really. I went in for a couple hours, but they sent me home.”
Winnie was a paralegal. Normally, she worked at least sixty hours a week, but everything came to a grinding halt three weeks ago. The partner she worked for had an emergency surgery and he hadn’t returned to the office yet. The other attorneys had given her a few small projects the first week, but now she didn’t have anything to do except make a few phone calls every day.
“Any word on Mr. Brandt?”
She shook her head. “Nothing, which makes me think it’s really bad. If I don’t hear anything by the end of this week, I’m going to start looking for another job.”
“That’s probably a good idea.” I took a sip of the green juice, and my sour taste buds went on high alert, flooding my mouth with saliva. “What the hell is in here?”
Winnie smirked. “Lots of lemon mixed with spinach, avocado, and a dash of pineapple juice.”
“Don’t buy it again.”
“It’s supposed to lift your energy and wake you up.”
“Wake up your taste buds, you mean.”
She took a sip of her juice. “Yeah, I see what you mean. It’s a definite no repeat item.”
“It even sounds terrible. Why did you pick it?” I took one more drink and tossed it in the trash.
“The guy at the counter recommended it.” She bit her lip and turned to the side. “He was cute and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”
“So you decided to hurt us instead.”
She laughed. “I guess so.”
“Stick to the basics next time.”
Winnie tapped her fork on the side of the black plastic salad container. “I saw the picture of you with Archer Black in the paper.”
“Yeah, so did my stepdad. He summoned me to his office the next day to discuss it. He warned me to stay away from him.”
Winnie rolled her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me the picture you texted me was of him?”
“I didn’t know at the time.”
“How could you not know?”
I leaned back in my chair. “We shared a taxi. He introduced himself as Archer. I didn’t ask any other questions.”
“You do know he’s possibly the most eligible bachelor on the east coast, right?”
“I might have read something about that.”
“You should cyberstalk him to figure out how to accidently run into him again, and this time you need to get his phone number and at least one date.”
I stuffed a pile of kale into my mouth to prevent me having to reply right away. Four days had passed since Archer took me out to lunch.
“I have his phone number, and we did go on a date last Sunday. We had a great time. He gave me peonies—my all-time favorite flower. We ate at my all-time favorite restaurant. The conversation never lulled. His goodnight kiss was perfect in a ‘make my knees weak and my lips tingle kind of way.’”
“What?” Winnie slammed her hands on the top of my desk. “And you never said a word? What kind of friend are you?”
I fiddled with the paper napkin in my lap, twisting it until it resembled a feminine hygiene product. I totally misread our date. I would’ve bet half my trust fund that a second date lurked on the not too distant horizon. Now that four days had passed without a single word, I wouldn’t bet one dollar. Apparently, he succeeded at impressing me, but I didn’t do the same.
I sighed. “The first couple of days after the date, I was slammed with patients. Now it’s irrelevant. He hasn’t called me. I don’t think he’s interested.”
“You don’t know that. He could be out of town. He could have crazy things happening at work. Four days is nothing.” She waved her hand in front of her face to emphasize the point.
“Okay, so how
“Magic bars,” I held up the bag of cookies and dangled it in front of me. “I love you.”
“I know. Most people do.” She laughed at her joke as I placed the salads and green mystery drink in front of us.
“You’re not working today?” I asked as I poured the dressing on top of my salad.
“Not really. I went in for a couple hours, but they sent me home.”
Winnie was a paralegal. Normally, she worked at least sixty hours a week, but everything came to a grinding halt three weeks ago. The partner she worked for had an emergency surgery and he hadn’t returned to the office yet. The other attorneys had given her a few small projects the first week, but now she didn’t have anything to do except make a few phone calls every day.
“Any word on Mr. Brandt?”
She shook her head. “Nothing, which makes me think it’s really bad. If I don’t hear anything by the end of this week, I’m going to start looking for another job.”
“That’s probably a good idea.” I took a sip of the green juice, and my sour taste buds went on high alert, flooding my mouth with saliva. “What the hell is in here?”
Winnie smirked. “Lots of lemon mixed with spinach, avocado, and a dash of pineapple juice.”
“Don’t buy it again.”
“It’s supposed to lift your energy and wake you up.”
“Wake up your taste buds, you mean.”
She took a sip of her juice. “Yeah, I see what you mean. It’s a definite no repeat item.”
“It even sounds terrible. Why did you pick it?” I took one more drink and tossed it in the trash.
“The guy at the counter recommended it.” She bit her lip and turned to the side. “He was cute and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”
“So you decided to hurt us instead.”
She laughed. “I guess so.”
“Stick to the basics next time.”
Winnie tapped her fork on the side of the black plastic salad container. “I saw the picture of you with Archer Black in the paper.”
“Yeah, so did my stepdad. He summoned me to his office the next day to discuss it. He warned me to stay away from him.”
Winnie rolled her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me the picture you texted me was of him?”
“I didn’t know at the time.”
“How could you not know?”
I leaned back in my chair. “We shared a taxi. He introduced himself as Archer. I didn’t ask any other questions.”
“You do know he’s possibly the most eligible bachelor on the east coast, right?”
“I might have read something about that.”
“You should cyberstalk him to figure out how to accidently run into him again, and this time you need to get his phone number and at least one date.”
I stuffed a pile of kale into my mouth to prevent me having to reply right away. Four days had passed since Archer took me out to lunch.
“I have his phone number, and we did go on a date last Sunday. We had a great time. He gave me peonies—my all-time favorite flower. We ate at my all-time favorite restaurant. The conversation never lulled. His goodnight kiss was perfect in a ‘make my knees weak and my lips tingle kind of way.’”
“What?” Winnie slammed her hands on the top of my desk. “And you never said a word? What kind of friend are you?”
I fiddled with the paper napkin in my lap, twisting it until it resembled a feminine hygiene product. I totally misread our date. I would’ve bet half my trust fund that a second date lurked on the not too distant horizon. Now that four days had passed without a single word, I wouldn’t bet one dollar. Apparently, he succeeded at impressing me, but I didn’t do the same.
I sighed. “The first couple of days after the date, I was slammed with patients. Now it’s irrelevant. He hasn’t called me. I don’t think he’s interested.”
“You don’t know that. He could be out of town. He could have crazy things happening at work. Four days is nothing.” She waved her hand in front of her face to emphasize the point.
“Okay, so how
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