Breaking Into the Business (4 page)

I
didn’t know how to respond.

“I
can see that I’ve made this uncomfortable.”

“It’s
just that nobody has ever talked to me like that,” I managed. “On top of that,
you and I are going to have a working relationship with each other.”

“Had
I known all the facts, I would not have requested you as my editor,” Jeremy
said.

“I
apologize,” I said. “I can contact Mr. Leighton and request to be taken off the
assignment.”

“No,”
he said quickly. “Don’t do that. I only meant that I would not have requested
you as my editor. I still would have come to the office to see you, but it
would have been to ask you on a date.”

“That’s
very nice of you to say,” I said. “But the problem remains that I’m still your
editor.”

“So
you are saying that if it weren’t for the working relationship, you would go
out with me?” he asked.

I
did sort of just admit that. But seriously, who wouldn’t go on a date with this
man? He was stunning.

“In
any other situation, I would go out with you,” I confessed. That was the most
forward I had ever been with a man.

“Then
I must insist we work out a way to have a professional relationship and another
one that is fun,” he said. “Are you capable of separating the two?”

“I
don’t really know,” I said. “I have never been in this situation.”

“I
think that we can make this work.”

“So
what are you talking about here? Just a date?”

“That
would be a start,” he said with a smile.

“Dating
a client is something that my office will probably frown upon.”

“Then
we have to keep it a secret,” he said, “At least for now, while you are on my
assignment.”

“Wow,”
I said, sitting back and thinking this through.

Luckily,
our food arrived and that broke the conversation. I had to think this through.
The most handsome man I had seen in a while was asking me on a date, and other
than the whole work stuff, I had no reason to say no to him. He was kind,
educated, rich, and successful in every way I could think of.

Of
course, I had my children to think about, but if I were ever going to date
again, they would have to face that reality. In fact, having a male presence in
their lives might not be such a bad idea any way.

Was
I ready for this? Frank’s departure and subsequent silence had certainly left me
damaged. Sometimes I thought it might have been better if he had stuck around
and just treated me like crap. Not knowing the problem was worse.

I
sighed and gave him an answer. “Okay, I will go on a date with you.”

“Great,”
he said.

“On
one condition.”

“Anything.”

“We
take it slow,” I said. “I’m not even sure if dating is the right thing for me,
but I want to give it a try. But I’m very serious about the fact that this has
to be slow.”

“We
can go as slow as you want,” he said. His smile was warm, and I could tell that
he was sincere about what he said.

“I
should also let you know that I have two children, both teenagers,” I said. “I
hope that’s not a problem.”

“Not
a problem at all,” he said.

Chapter Four

For some
reason, I felt the need to get extra dressed up that night. I had my weekly
standing appointment for drinks with the girls and it wasn’t uncommon for guys
to ask to buy us drinks. I never put much stock into it, and usually I just
declined the offer, but tonight was different.

Maybe
it was the combination of the incident with Derrick and being asked on a date,
but tonight I felt sexy. The blouse I chose was low cut, showing an ample
amount of cleavage, and the skirt I put on was the shortest that I had. I
actually put product in my hair and a little more makeup than usual. I was
never a fan of makeup and felt that I looked better without a lot.

There
wasn’t much time before I was to meet them, so I had to hurry. That afternoon, the
kids and I had watched a movie to spend some quality time together. Jake and I
interacted as we always did, and Mallory typed away on her phone the entire
time. I nearly confiscated the device, but knew that wouldn’t help.

I
knocked on her door to tell her bye and got some inaudible response, but Jake
actually came out of his room to give me a hug. He was such a sweet boy.

Before
I walked off, he stopped me.

“You’re
going out in that?” he asked.

“Obviously,”
I said. “Is there a problem?”

“Don’t
get me wrong, Mom, you look great, but you realize that you will definitely get
some male attention in that thing, right?”

“Maybe
that’s the idea,” I smiled.

“Well,
just make sure they are nice,” he said. “And don’t go too far.”

“What
would you know about that sort of thing?” I asked suspiciously.

“Mom,
I’m fifteen,” he said. “I know all about that.”

“You
better not ‘know all about that’ from personal experience, young man.”

“That’s
none of your business,” he laughed.

I
shook my head, not wanting to take the conversation any further. Jake always
felt comfortable talking to me about girls, but I had a hard time hearing about
it.

“You
two better behave while I’m gone,” I warn him. “I should be home by midnight,
but if you need me, call my cell. You are not to go anywhere.”

“Got
it,” he said.

“And
tell your sister for me.”

“Will
do.”

I
kissed him on the forehead and took the stairs as fast as I could manage with three-inch
heels. I glanced at myself one more time in the hallway mirror before leaving.

Damn,
I looked good.

The
girls and I met at our normal meeting place, Studio 94, named for the year in
which it had opened. The place was swanky, but not too stuffy, and the crowd
was eclectic with a mix of the young and the old. It was a shame that the ‘older’
crowd’s age range included my own, but I didn’t really care. I knew I looked
better than half the anorexic girls still in college did.

Betsy
and Pearl were already there when I arrived and had managed to secure our
normal table, which looked like it had been a fete considering the bustling
crowd inside.

The
two women were my best friends. No, they were so much more than best friends
were; they were my rock. We had met in our freshmen year in high school and had
managed to stay friends through all that life had delivered. When I was
pregnant in high school with Jake, those two had never left my side, even when
many at my school had chosen to ostracize me. When Frank had left, they were
there with the exact words that I had needed to hear.

Betsy
saw me first. As always, she looked stunning. She stood a few inches over most
other women and typically wore heels to make that fact even more pronounced.
Her luscious brown hair was usually pulled back, but it still found some way to
flow outwards. Her curls seemed to seduce men, beckoning them back to her. She
had never faced issues with confidence or attracting men with her legs that
went on for days. Her second marriage had ended right after Frank left, and
sometimes I felt as if the time she spent with me helping to get over my failed
marriage had contributed to the downfall of her second.

Bright
glistening green eyes greeted me and she held up her martini to salute my
arrival. Her outfit showed a good deal of cleavage, more than I would have been
comfortable with, and her skirt was at least an inch or two shorter than mine
was.

As
I approached the table, Pearl turned and held out her arms. She couldn’t have
been any more different than Betsy. Short of stature and just a little thick,
she was just as outgoing as the other. Her dark skin made her brown eyes appear
the color of toffee. That feature was the one that men noticed first about her,
and she too had never had problems attracting them.

The
fact that both of them had never lost their confidence was the main reason they
pushed me so hard to get back into the world of dating. For most of our
friendship, I was with Frank, and both of them had admitted to me recently that
they were excited about the prospect of a single Lana.

“What
took you so long?” Pearl asked.

“Sorry,”
I said as I pulled up to the table. I exchanged air kisses with each of them.

“I
just ordered you a drink,” Betsy announced.

“Thank
you,” I said. My usual raspberry martini sounded delicious.

Betsy
waved her hand. “So Pearl here was just telling me about the maintenance guy at
her office who has been eyeing her every day this week.”

“Really?”
I asked, intrigued.

Pearl
worked as claims adjuster at the local insurance company. The pay was great,
the stress high, and she loved her job. I personally couldn’t see the appeal,
but Pearl liked a good confrontation.

“So
this company came in to redo some of the lighting in the office,” Pearl said.
“I noticed this guy named Hector walking up and down my aisle on Monday. He
passed my desk four times that day. Then the rest of the week, he keeps coming
by.”

“Is
he sending you any signals?” I asked.

“Signals?”
she asked, clearly shocked. “Girl, he is eyeing me like he’s a hungry man
staring at a Thanksgiving feast.”

I
burst out laughing. Pearl’s sense of humor was the best.

“So
did you talk to him?” I asked as the waiter set our drinks down.

“On
Friday, he walked by my desk four times before lunch, so right before I left
for lunch, I stopped him and gave him a folded up piece of paper with my number
on it.”

“That’s
awesome,” I chuckled. “Do you think he will call?”

“Um,
he’s already called my cell three times,” Pearl said with a smile.

“What
did he say?”

“I
don’t know because I haven’t answered the phone.”

“Then
why did you give him your number?” I asked.

“A
girl has to play hard to get a little,” she said. “I don’t want to appear too
easy. I mean, I was bold enough to give him my number. I can’t answer on the
first ring like he’s the only man I can get right now.”

“You
have other men lined up?” Betsy asked.

“Not
right now, but you never know.” She turned back to me. “So what’s new in your
world dear? I can tell by that sexy outfit you wore that something is on your
mind.”

I
blushed, but tried to hide that fact by taking a big drink from my glass.

“I
had a little episode with the pool boy,” I announced in a quiet voice.

“What?”
Pearl almost screamed. She also used Derrick as her pool boy, so she knew how
hot he was. “What do you call an ‘episode’?”

“It’s
not much really,” I said. “But I came outside this morning and he was skinny
dipping.”

“Oh,
dear,” Betsy said, clutching her chest with one hand and then fanning herself
with the other. “He’s such a pretty young man. What did you do?”

“You
know she probably asked him in to play cards or something,” Pearl said, waving
her off.

“No,
I didn’t,” I said. “At first, I was a little dumbstruck from embarrassment.
He’s just as attractive naked.”

“How
big was it?”

“Oh
my god, Pearl!”

“It’s
a valid question,” Betsy chimed in.

I
shook my head. Sometimes they were insufferable. But I knew an answer was
required to satisfy their curiosity. “Now I don’t have much to go off of for
comparison, but let’s say he was much larger than Frank.”

“I
knew it!” Pearl said, slamming her first on the table. “So what did you do?”

“Well,
he stepped out of the water and then he noticed me,” I continued. “He was as
shocked as me. He just stood there and didn’t even bother covering up at first.
But he wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as I was.”

“He
was probably waiting on you to make a move,” Pearl said.

“No,
he wasn’t,” I said.

“Sounds
like he was,” Betsy said. “So did you make a move?”

“No,”
I said quickly.

“So
that’s the end of the story?” Pearl asked.

“Yes,”
I said.

“Well,
that sucked,” Betsy told her.

“But
I do have a date,” I said.

“With
Derrick?” Pearl asked.

“No,
with Jeremy Towers,” I said.

“The
famous author?” Betsy asked.

“Yes,”
I said. “He heard about my editing abilities from another author that I worked
for before, and he requested my services on his next one, so I got the
assignment. When we went to lunch today to discuss it, he asked me on a date.”