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Erika thought of the Elliotts. Now that was an awesome gene pool. “It would be great if I could choose.”
“Yeah,” Jessica said as she sipped her drink. “We could start with that blond guy by the bar with the buff bod.”
“And what if he’s dumb as a bag of hair?” Paula asked.
“We can put intelligence on the list, but that guy looks good enough that he could make millions by being a model and then retire in leisure.”
“What list?” Erika asked, feeling a little blurry from the alcohol.
“We’re making a list of sperm-donor requirements. Play along,” Jessica said firmly. She pulled a pen from her purse and shook the dampness out of a cocktail napkin. “We’re doing this for the sake of your future child.”
“I would want intelligence,” Erika said, allowing herself to be drawn into the ridiculous discussion. “Good looks aren’t enough.”
“I agree,” Paula said. “And no terrible diseases or addictions.”
“Excellent points,” Erika said.
“You’ve already got the height factor covered,” Jessica said.
“No shrimps,” Paula interjected. “He doesn’t need to be the height of a pro basketball player, but definitely over six feet, right?”
“Right,” Erika agreed. “And a sense of humor. Is that genetic?”
“Lack of it can be,” Paula said and waved for the waiter. “Three death-by-chocolate martinis.”
“Chocolate?” Erika echoed. “I’m on my third.”
“No meal is complete without chocolate,” Paula said.
“I didn’t think martinis constituted a meal,” Erika said.
“Sure they do,” she said, pointing to her glass. “Celery’s a vegetable, isn’t it? Cream cheese inside the olive counts as protein, and appletini provides the fruit.”
“Back to the list,” Jessica prompted. “Do you have a strong preference for hair or eye color?”
“No back hair,” Paula said.
“I’ll second that,” Erika said, amazed at how much this ridiculous conversation was reducing her stress level. “I prefer dark hair.”
“Eye color?”
“Green, if possible.” Why not go for the whole shebang, she thought.
“Okay,” Jessica said and nodded at the waiter as he delivered their chocolate martinis. “We have our assignment now. Each of us is to keep our eyes open for a father for Erika’s baby. A tall, intelligent man with dark hair and green eyes. Healthy, no addictions. He must have a sense of humor.”
“And what are we supposed to do once we find this specimen?” Paula asked.
“That’s easy,” Jessica said with a scoff. “Ask him to donate some sperm to Erika.”
Erika choked on her sip of chocolate martini. “He’ll think you’re crazy.”
Jessica shook her head. “That’s why he needs a sense of humor.”
The following morning Erika awakened late, feeling as if a truck had run over her. Thank goodness she didn’t have any appointments this morning. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a hangover. Oh, wait, yes she could. It was last year when Gannon had broken up with her. The bad thing about having a mad, passionate affair with her boss was that she hadn’t been able to tell a soul, not even Paula or Jessica.
Keeping the secret had intensified everything about her relationship with Gannon. The highs, the lows, the ending. She kept telling herself that if she’d been able to talk with her friends about him, he wouldn’t have affected her so much. Unfortunately part of her remained unconvinced.
Her phone rang, the sound of it reverberating painfully in her brain. She snatched it from the cradle. “Hello.”
“Erika, this is Cammie. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she reassured her. “Since I didn’t have any appointments scheduled this morning, I decided to come in a little later.”
“That’s fine,” Cammie said. “Except Gannon Elliott has called twice asking for you.”
Darn. “Just tell him I’ll get back to him this afternoon.”
“I think he wanted you to sit in on a luncheon meeting.”
“For what?” Erika asked, immediately feeling suspicious.
“He didn’t tell me.”
Erika sighed. “I’ll call him in a few minutes.” Frowning, she turned on her coffeemaker while she jumped in the shower. Skipping the blow-dry, she smoothed on some hair-wax stuff her stylist had given her and pulled her hair into a low ponytail. She applied some makeup, pulled on a don’t-mess-with-me black trouser suit and a pair of boots, grabbed her coffee and coat and walked out her door, glowering as she hailed a cab.
As she scooted into the taxi, she called his office number by rote. One more thing to irritate her. She needed to forget him. “Erika Layven, returning Gannon Elliott’s call,” she said to his assistant.
“I’ll put you right through.”
“Hello, Erika. I wondered where you were,” Gannon said in a deep voice that slid through her like warm whiskey.
“I understand you wanted me to attend a luncheon appointment. My afternoon is crammed. What did you have in mind?”
“We’re having a luncheon meeting at Pulse. The subject for the article I gave you is on the agenda. Love to have you there. I think your input would be invaluable.”
Erika thought again of the article outline he’d left for her. The subject fascinated her. She’d peeked at it at least a half dozen times after he’d left her office. Temptation slid through her like an evil serpent. “I don’t know. Like I said, I’m very busy this afternoon.”
“You could scoot out after the discussion about the article,” he suggested.
He made it too easy. “Okay. As long as you understand that I’m staying at HomeStyle.”
“Great. I’ll see you at noon,” he told her.
Erika walked into the Pulse meeting room a few minutes early. Furnished with a large wooden table set with seven lunch boxes from a local deli-bakery, the room emitted a let’s-get-busy feeling.
“Very nice choice, Lena,” Erika said to Gannon’s assistant.
Lena, a young married woman who was the mother of twins, beamed. “When Gannon told me you were coming, I made sure there was decent food. Inside the box there’s a chicken-salad sandwich, spicy vegetable soup, a fruit cup and a slice of lemon pound cake.”
“You’re a woman after my own heart. Wouldn’t you rather work for me?” Erika joked. “I’m so much easier to please than he is. And I don’t bark.”
“Who says I bark?” Gannon asked from behind Erika.
She cringed at being caught talking about him at the same time she felt a shot of adrenaline at the sound of his voice. His voice had always affected her that way, sent her heart and hormones off to the races. She definitely needed to rein in her response to him. “Coffee, please,” she mouthed to Lena, then turned to face Gannon. “Good morning. Your assistant has arranged a lovely spread for the meeting.”
His killer Irish eyes were a bit too sharp for her taste this morning. And why did she always forget how broad his shoulders were?
He glanced at the table, then returned his gaze to Erika. “Yes, she has. She resisted fast food when I told her you were coming.”
“Bless you, Lena,” Erika said and accepted the piping-hot coffee Gannon’s assistant offered her.
“You weren’t trying to steal her away from me, were you?”
“Just making her aware of her options,” Erika said with a smile.
“Who says I bark?”
“Everyone,” she said without batting an eye.
He glanced at her coffee. “Black?”
She nodded and took a sip.
“Hmm. Black coffee … coming in late this morning … Did you have a late night last night?”
“Nope.” That was true. She’d come home early and fallen into bed as a result of one too many martinis.
“Out with the deadly duo?” he quizzed, speaking of Jessica and Paula.
She’d revealed far too much of her personal life to him during their affair and she didn’t like his reminders. “As a matter of fact, yes. How’s your family?” she asked, turning the personal questions on him.
He paused and shook his head. “Same as ever.”
“That’s about as vague as you can get,” she said, studying him.
He leaned closer to her, making her heart jump. “You’ll learn more if you rejoin the Pulse team,” he told her in a low voice as four more people entered the room.
Michael Elliott, editor in chief of Pulse and Gannon’s father, entered the room and extended his hand to Erika. “Good to have you back. We’ve missed you.”
“It’s good to see you, too, Mr. Elliott,” she said as she shook his hand.
“Erika, glad you’re back,” Jim Hensley, chief copy editor, said as he entered with the rest of the department heads.
“Great to see you,” Barb said.
Howard gave her a thumbs-up.
The greetings felt good. A couple of minutes passed while Lena provided everyone with coffee and a bottle of water.
Michael called the meeting to order. “Let’s get to business. Gannon, you go first.”
“I’d like to start with the baby story since Erika tells me she’ll need to cut out early. Erika, what are your thoughts?”
“I suggest incorporating several points of view. A scientist, a couple who have chosen their baby’s sex, outlining the procedures and costs involved, and a couple who considered choosing their baby’s sex but changed their minds. It would be interesting to learn which sex is chosen most frequently. And at-home techniques that do or don’t work.”
“I like it all,” Michael Elliott said. “And you’re the one to do it.”
Erika blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Since you’re moving back to Pulse,” Gannon’s father said, “you should take the lead on this. It’s going to be a major story with possibilities for awards. You’re perfect for it.”
Erika tossed a questioning glare at Gannon.
“That’s exactly what I thought,” he said. “We have a contact for the scientist, but knowing you, you have your own. You always found the most amazing contacts and got the best quotes.”
“Hey,” Barb said, “if you keep talking about Erika like she walks on water, you’re going to make the rest of us feel like hacks.”
“She does walk on water, doesn’t she?” Howard said, wearing a deadpan expression.
Erika glanced at Gannon and felt a sliver of suspicion. This meeting was way more warm and fuzzy than the meetings she remembered from a year ago, and while Michael Elliott gave the occasional pat on the back, he’d never been one for effusive praise.
If Gannon had pulled his father and three of Pulse’s top power brokers in on seducing her back to the team, something had to be up. Something she hadn’t been told. Something big.
“You guys are too good to me.” She glanced at her watch. “Time for me to go back to HomeStyle land. It was great seeing all of you.”
Gannon stood. “I need a quick word with Erika. How about if everyone starts on lunch?”
“No problem,” his father said. “Don’t take too long.”
Lena handed Erika’s lunch box to her. “Don’t forget your lunch.”
Erika couldn’t prevent a smile. “Spoken like a true mom. Thanks.” She walked out the door, feeling Gannon directly behind her.
He pulled the door closed and she rounded on him. “There seems to be some confusion.”
“What confusion?” he asked, his face revealing nothing.
“Your father, along with other staff members, appears to have the false impression that I’m rejoining Pulse.”
“Admit it, Erika. You can’t resist the baby story. You want to be back on Pulse so bad you can taste it.”
“The baby story interests me, but it’s not enough to bring me back to Pulse.”
“Then what is?” he asked, surprising her again with his wide-open offer. “We need you on the team more than ever. Name your price.”
Three
Gannon allowed Erika thirty hours to think about what he could do to bring her back to Pulse. The negotiation process was turning out to be tougher than he’d planned. In the past, although he’d appreciated Erika’s originality and adventurous attitude on the professional end, he’d always thought of her as cooperative.
