Ready for Romance

“I’ll be with you in a few minutes,” he said.

“I know you will,” Mrs. Sterling said. “Just don’t leave before these letters are signed, and while we’re at it, there are a few items we need to discuss—when you have the time.”

“I promise to get to the letters first thing,” he said as if he had no interest beyond studying the young woman who stood before him. “Just put everything on my desk and I’ll look through it before I leave.”

“You won’t forget?”

Evan chuckled. “My, my, how you love to mother me.”

“Someone has to look after you,” his secretary said, her eyes crinkling above a bright smile.

Jessica watched in amazement as Evan charmed the older woman. Mrs. Sterling had been the picture of cool efficiency until Evan walked in the door. The minute he did she turned into a clucking mother hen. Before Jessica had a chance to analyze this reaction, Evan grinned. “You love me, Mary, and you know it.”

“It’s just that you’ve been a bit forgetful of late,” Mrs. Sterling said with a concerned frown. She reached for a stack of letters and leafed through them. “It doesn’t hurt to offer you a little reminder now and then, does it?”

“I suppose not,” Evan said and, taking the letters with him, walked into his office as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

“Have you been working on the brief for the Porter Corporation?” Mrs. Sterling asked, following on his heels.

“The Porter Corporation,” Evan repeated as if he’d never heard the name before. “It’s not due anytime soon, is it?”

“Yes, it is,” the secretary said, and Jessica heard a hint of panic in her voice. “First thing Friday morning.”

“I’ll have it ready by then. What day is this, anyway?”

“Mr. Dryden, you’ve got to start coming into the office before closing time!”

“Don’t you fret. I’ll have everything ready the way I always do,” he said as he ushered his secretary out the door. He paused when his gaze fell on Jessica and he winked. Then the door closed and Evan disappeared.

Mrs. Sterling shook her head and glanced toward Jessica. “Mr Dryden’s been going through some rough times lately,” she explained.

“How long has he been without a legal assistant?”

“Quite a while now. He didn’t seem to think he’d need one. Damian’s cut his work load and, well, things just haven’t been the same around here for quite a while.”

Jessica was leaving for the day when she happened upon Damian. Looking dignified and businesslike, he was talking to his secretary. A few silver hairs at his temple added a distinguished air. He made a striking figure, and she wondered briefly why he hadn’t married. Tagged onto that thought came another. One that took her by surprise. She realized she was happy Damian hadn’t married.

He must have seen her in his peripheral vision, because he straightened, smiled and walked toward her. “Well, Jessica, how’d your first day go?”

“Really well.”

“Mary isn’t working you too hard, is she?”

“Oh, no, she’s great.”

“Mary’s one of the best secretaries I’ve ever worked with. She may be a bit abrupt, but you’ll get used to that.” He was walking with Jessica now, their steps matching, his hands clasped behind his back. Mary was abrupt perhaps, Jessica mused, but not with Evan.

“I’ll always be grateful to you for being willing to take a chance on me,” she said conversationally.

Damian’s smile was rueful. “You may not be thanking me later. My brother can be a handful, but if there was ever someone who could get him back on the straight and narrow, it’s you.”

“Me?” she asked, not understanding.

Damian broke eye contact and looked away. “Everybody needs to be looked at with wide worshipful eyes now and then, don’t you think?”

“Ah…” Jessica didn’t know how to respond. One thing was becoming abundantly clear. Damian hadn’t hired her because of her high test scores at business college.

Two

“Y ou actually got the job?” Cathy Hudson said over the telephone line, her voice raised with astonishment. “You were hired, just like that, by one of the city’s most prestigious law firms?”

“It helps to have friends in high places.” Jessica was excited about this job, but she felt mildly guilty knowing the only reason she’d been hired was that their families were such good friends. However, Damian had made it plain she’d need to pull her own weight. Jessica was determined to prove herself; she’d be the best legal assistant the firm had ever hired. It was a matter of pride.

“Why is it everything comes so easy for you?” Cathy lamented. “You set your sights on something that would give Norman Vincent Peale second thoughts and—”

“Me? You’re the one trying out for a lead in Guys and Dolls. Talk about setting your sights high.”

“All right, all right,” Cathy said with a dramatic sigh, “you’ve made your point.”

“So how did the tryouts go today?”

“I…don’t know. It’s so hard to tell. I would kill for the part of Adelaide, but then I watch the others, and they’re all so good. I came away today thinking it’s just a pipe dream. David, the director, is wonderful. Working with him would be one of the highlights of my career, but I don’t dare hope I’ll get the part.”

“I have faith in you. You’re a natural, Cath.” It was true, her friend had a knack for the dramatic, and that had always made their friendship so interesting.

Cathy laughed softly. “How can I fail, when both you and my mother are convinced I’m destined for stardom? Now, before we get off the subject, how did the interview with Damian go?”

“Really well, I think.” Damian had dominated her thoughts all afternoon. He’d changed, she decided, or perhaps she was the one who was different. Whichever, she found herself enthralled by the man. The thought of working with him excited her.

“What about the younger brother?”

“Actually I’ll be working directly for Evan.”

Cathy must have noticed the hesitation in her voice because she asked, “Does that worry you? What’s the matter? Do you think you’re going to make an idiot of yourself over him—again?”

So much for Jessica’s delicate ego. “No way. I was fourteen years old, for heaven’s sake.”

After she’d hung up, Jessica slipped a CD into the player, choosing an invigorating medley of jazz hits, and set about fixing her dinner. She whipped together a hot chicken-and-spinach salad and stood barefoot in her kitchen, humming along to the music, her heart singing its own melody.

Later that evening, she relaxed with the paper. Despite her best efforts, her thoughts drifted to Damian. The last thing she wanted was to make a fool of herself over another Dryden.

To the best of her knowledge, the source of which was her mother, Damian wasn’t currently involved in a relationship. Joyce Kellerman said that Lois Dryden had complained that her elder son didn’t take enough time for fun in his life. What Damian needed, Jessica decided now, was to fall in love with a woman who would take his mind off his work. Someone fun. Someone who would make him laugh and enjoy life. Someone who appreciated him.

An hour later, as she was getting ready for bed, Jessica realized she’d spent most of the evening thinking about Damian. Well, quite understandable, she rationalized. After all, he was head of the firm she was working for.

THE FOLLOWING DAY , Evan didn’t show up at the office until well after eleven. As she had previously, Mrs. Sterling fussed over him as though he were the prodigal son the moment he waltzed in the door.

“Good morning, Mr. Dryden.” Mrs. Sterling gushed, nearly leaping from her chair. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

Evan seemed to need time to think about this. “I hadn’t noticed, but you’re right, it is a gorgeous day,” he said as he reached for his mail and leafed through the envelopes.

He was on his way into his office when he noticed Jessica sitting at her desk. She felt his scrutiny and was pleased that she’d dressed carefully, choosing a smart-looking flowered silk dress with a blue jacket. In her heels, she was nearly as tall as he was.

“Good morning, Mr. Dryden,” she offered.

“Evan,” he insisted. “You can call Damian Mr. Dryden if you insist, but I’m Evan.”

“All right. Good morning, Evan,”

“It is a good morning, isn’t it?” he asked, giving her a roguish grin. Jessica couldn’t help but respond with a smile of her own. She hadn’t noticed it so much the day before, but there were definite changes in the Evan she remembered. He was thinner and his smiles didn’t quite reach his eyes. Another thing she couldn’t help noticing was the way everyone walked on eggshells around him. Mrs. Sterling had made a point of letting her know Evan’s work load had recently been cut, and Damian had said Evan hadn’t yet recovered from a broken relationship. It must have been pretty serious, she mused.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a chance to talk, hasn’t it?” Evan asked, walking over and sitting on the edge of Jessica’s desk.

“A very long time,” she agreed, praying with all her heart he wouldn’t resurrect her girlish antics. It’d been embarrassing enough to have Damian do it.

“I think we should make up for lost opportunities, don’t you? Tell you what—I’ll treat you to lunch.” He checked his watch and seemed surprised at the time. “We’ll leave in half an hour. That’ll give me enough time to clear whatever’s on my desk.”

“You want to take me to lunch?” Jessica asked. “Today?”

“It’s the least I can do,” Evan said with a shrug. “I’ll have Mary make reservations.”

“But—”

“That’s an excellent idea,” Mrs. Sterling interjected, clearly pleased.

“I…I’ve only just started work,” Jessica said. “I’d enjoy lunch, perhaps in a week or so, after I’ve settled into the job.” The last thing she wanted was to give Damian the impression she was already slacking in her duties.

Evan pressed his thumb to her chin and gazed deeply into her eyes. “No buts, and no arguments. We’re going to lunch and you can fill me in on what you’ve been doing for the last five or six years.”

Mrs. Sterling followed Evan into his office, looking inordinately pleased with the turn of events. She returned a few minutes later, casting a delighted look in Jessica’s direction as she picked up her phone and called the restaurant to make reservations. Evan chose Henri’s, one of Boston’s finest, well-known for its elegant dining. It also happened to be a good fifteen-minute drive from the office, which meant they were going to be out for lunch much longer than usual.

“I doubt we’ll be back in an hour if we have lunch at Henri’s,” Jessica felt obliged to say.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll make it up another time, I’m sure.”

“But this is only my second day. I don’t want to give the wrong impression.”

“My dear, Mr. Dryden is your boss. If he wants to take a leisurely lunch with you, don’t argue. You should be counting your blessings, instead.”

“I know but—”

“From what I understand, you two are old family friends,” Mrs. Sterling interrupted. “It’s only natural for him to want to personally welcome you into the firm.”

It seemed the reservation had barely been made when Evan reappeared. “Are you ready?”

Jessica blinked back her surprise. “Yes, of course, if you’ll give me just a moment.” She finished typing her notes into the computer, stored the information and pushed back her chair.

Evan took her elbow and told his secretary, “We’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

They were on their way through the corridor leading to the front of the office when Damian appeared. His gaze shifted from Evan to Jessica.

“Jessica and I are on our way out to lunch,” Evan explained. “Do you need me for anything?”

“No. You two go on ahead. I’ll talk to you later.”

Damian nodded, and it was all Jessica could do not to blurt out that this lunch date hadn’t been her idea, but there wasn’t the opportunity and she doubted it was necessary anyway. Damian must have known she hadn’t invited herself out to lunch. Nevertheless, she didn’t want him to think ill of her.

“We’ll probably be late getting back,” Evan said to his brother, guiding Jessica out of the office.

They arrived at the restaurant by taxi and were seated immediately. The ambience was formal, with soft chamber music playing unobtrusively in the background. The waiters, who dressed like diplomats, were attentive, the tables were well spaced, and the meal was served with a good deal of ceremony.

Evan seemed disinclined to talk about himself, asking her a series of questions about school, her friends and activities. He appeared attentive, but she suspected his thoughts were far removed from her and their lunch. At least he didn’t dredge up the past and her infatuation with him. She could have kissed him for that.

After their dishes were cleared away, Evan took out a pad and pen. “I’m going to be working on a civil suit that’ll demand a fair amount of research,” he told Jessica. His eyes were bright with an enthusiasm she hadn’t seen before. “The case involves Earl Kress—you might remember reading about him.”

“Of course.” The unusual details of the case had filled the local news for weeks. The twenty-year-old former athlete was suing the Spring Valley School District for his education.

Jessica wished she’d brought along a pad and pen herself. She listened, enthralled, as Evan explained the details of the suit. It seemed Earl was a gifted athlete and the key figure in three of the school’s biggest sports—football, basketball and track. In order for him to participate in these sports he had to maintain a C average. Unfortunately Earl had a learning disability and had never mastered reading skills. Although he’d graduated from high school and been awarded a full scholarship, he was functionally illiterate.

Evan explained that the school district had pressured Earl’s teachers, and they’d been forced to give him passing grades. After he graduated from high school, he went on to college, but a severe knee injury suffered during football training camp effectively ended his career. And within the first two months of school, Earl flunked out.

“That’s so unfair,” Jessica said when Evan finished. If Damian was concerned about his brother, she thought, then offering Evan this groundbreaking case was sure to take his mind off other things. It would give Evan purpose, a reason to come to work in the morning, the necessary incentive to look past his personal problems.

“There’ve been a number of similar suits filed in other parts of the country,” Evan continued. “I’m going to need you to do extensive research on the outcome of the cases previously tried.”

“I’ll be happy to help in any way I can.”

Evan grinned his appreciation. “I knew I could count on you.”

So this was the real reason for their lunch. The case clearly meant a good deal to Evan, and consequently to Jessica. She was grateful for the opportunity to prove herself.

By the time they returned to the office, their lunch hour had stretched to three. It seemed everyone in the office was staring at them, and Jessica felt decidedly uncomfortable.

She walked directly to her desk, keeping her face averted when she passed Damian’s office. His door was open, and when he saw her walk by he stood up, called her name and then glanced pointedly at his watch. It was all Jessica could do not to tell him it had been a business lunch.

Damian had made it painfully clear that he expected her to do her job. He wasn’t paying her to romance his brother during three-hour lunches, and Jessica didn’t want him to have that impression. She longed to explain, but she’d look ridiculous doing so in front of Evan. The only thing she could do was stay late that evening in an effort to make up for the time spent over lunch.

Although it was after seven when she started out of the office, a number of others were still there. With her sweater draped over her arm, she was on her way down the long corridor when Damian stopped her.

“Jessica.”

“Hello, Damian,” she said. He was standing just outside his office.

He relaxed, crossed his arms and asked, “How’d your lunch go with my brother?”

“Very well, but…”

“Yes?” he prompted when she didn’t immediately finish.

“I want you to know it was a working lunch,” she said, rushing the words in her eagerness to explain. “We discussed the Earl Kress case. I didn’t want you to think we’d spent three hours socializing.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered.”

“But it does!” she insisted fervently. “The lawsuit was the reason Evan asked me out. He wasn’t interested in renewing an old friendship.”

Damian’s frown was thoughtful. “Did he seem pleased with the assignment?”

“Very much so,” Jessica recalled Mrs. Sterling’s saying that “things just haven’t been the same around here for quite a while,” implying Evan hadn’t been the same. She wondered if Damian realized the extent of his brother’s unhappiness.

Damian grinned; Jessica had the feeling he didn’t do that often, which was a shame. The grooves in his cheeks and the sparkle in his gray eyes were very attractive. “I thought he might need a change of pace. Did you two have a chance to talk about old times?”

This was a casual way of asking if she’d noticed the changes in his brother, Jessica guessed. “A little. Evan really was hurt, wasn’t he?”

Damian nodded. “Generally he disguises it, but I wondered if you’d detect the changes in him.”

“I couldn’t help noticing.” She’d seen it almost from the first moment. Even though she hadn’t seen Evan for years she could see how hard he was struggling to hide his misery. No wonder his parents and brother were so concerned.

Damian glanced at his watch and arched his brows. “It’s late. We’ll talk again some other time. Good night, Jessica.”

“Good night, Damian.”

As she waited for a train in the subway station, Jessica at last understood what Damian had meant when he’d told her that everyone needed to be looked at with wide worshipful eyes sometimes. It made perfect sense now that she thought about it. Damian still viewed her as that teenage girl infatuated with his younger brother. If ever there was a time that Evan needed a woman to idolize him, it was now. She’d been hired, not for her legal skills, but to help his brother forget the woman he’d loved and lost. Damian was looking to her to heal Evan’s pain.

THE FOLLOWING MORNING around ten, Evan, his smile bright enough to rival the sun, breezed into the office and presented Jessica with a bouquet of a dozen bloodred roses. Their perfume filled the room.

Jessica was speechless. “For me?” The flowers took her completely by surprise. Mrs. Sterling, too, from the look the secretary cast her.

“I need a favor,” Evan said, leaning against the edge of her desk, his face scant inches from her own.

“Of course.” She was holding the flowers against her like a beauty queen, inhaling their heavenly scent.

Evan reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a folded sheet of yellow paper. “I need you to do some last-minute research for me.”

“Certainly.”

“There’re some statutes I need you to look up and report back to me on as soon as possible. This stuff is as dry as old bones—I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Jessica looked at the items Evan wanted her to research and her heart sank at the number. “How soon do you need this?”

“Yesterday,” was his frank reply.

Mrs. Sterling made a small tsk-tsk sound in the background, which made Jessica smile. Evan’s eyes twinkled and he whispered, “There’s nothing worse than a woman who can’t let ‘I told you so’ pass. Remember that, Jessica.”

“I will,” she said with a small laugh. “I’d best get started. I’ll have the information for you before I leave tonight.”

“Good girl.”

Mrs. Sterling produced a vase for the roses, and after setting them on the edge of her desk Jessica got down to work. She ensconced herself in the library and kept at her research straight through the lunch hour. She didn’t notice the time until it was after three, when her stomach rumbled in protest. Even then she didn’t take the time to sit down to eat, but grabbed an apple and munched on it while she continued to search for the required data.

The next time she looked up, the clock on the wall said seven forty-five. She’d heard the others leave, but that seemed like only minutes ago. She stood up and, placing her hand at the base of her spine, arched her stiff back and breathed in deeply.

Her eyes felt tired and her back sore as she carried her paperwork into the office. She stopped, surprised to find the room dark. She flicked on the lights and looked around, certain Evan had left a note for her.

He hadn’t.

Picking up one of the roses, she held it to her nose and closed her eyes as she tried to battle down the weariness—and the disappointment.

“Jessica, what are you doing here?”

“Damian.” She could ask the same question of him.

“It’s nearly eight o’clock.”

“I know.” She rotated her overworked shoulders. “I guess time got away from me.”

“So I see. I had some reading I was catching up on, but I assumed I was here alone. There was no reason for you to stay this late.”

She glanced toward Evan’s office. “What time did Evan leave?” she asked casually, not wanting him to know how abused she felt.

“A couple of hours ago. Why?”

“He said he needed this information right away.” She’d been in a frenzy attempting to finish the task as quickly as possible. She’d assumed he would wait until she’d collected the data he seemed to need so desperately.

“I believe he had a dinner engagement,” Damian explained.

“I see,” she muttered. In other words, he’d cheerfully abandoned her.

“You sound angry,” Damian said.

“I am. I worked through my lunch hour getting this stuff for him.” And dinner hour, too, she thought, feeling even angrier. She realized too late that she probably also sounded jealous.

“I’m sorry, Jessica.”

Evan’s thoughtlessness wasn’t Damian’s fault and she said so, then asked bluntly, “Is there anything to eat around here?” She blinked back unexpected tears. Hunger always had a strange effect on her emotions, but it was embarrassing, and she tried not to let Damian see.

“You mean you haven’t eaten since lunch?”

“Not since breakfast, unless you count an apple, and if I don’t eat soon I’m going to cry and you really wouldn’t want to witness that.” The words rushed out and she felt a sniffle coming on. “Never mind,” she muttered, turning away from him. She wiped her nose with her forearm and returned to the library. Several ponderous law volumes were spread open across the tables. She closed them and began lugging them back to the shelves.

“I found a package of soda crackers,” Damian said, coming into the room.

“Thanks,” she said, ripping away the clear plastic wrapper and sniffling again. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to act like this.” She ate a cracker quickly and managed to hold back a sob. “Don’t look so concerned. I just needed to eat.”

“Let me take you to dinner.” Damian lifted a couple of the volumes and replaced them for her.

“That isn’t necessary.” A second cracker had made its way into her mouth and she was beginning to feel more like herself.

“We owe you that much,” Damian countered. “Besides, I’m half-starved myself.”

“The least he could have done was waited,” Jessica fumed.

Ignoring her comment Damian suggested a popular seafood restaurant nearby.

“He made it sound like it was a matter of life and death, and then he doesn’t even bother to tell me he’s leaving,” she continued to fume. “You’re right,” she said as Damian cupped her elbow and led her out the door. “Evan has changed.”

Damian didn’t respond to this comment either.

They walked the three blocks to the restaurant. It wasn’t too crowded, and they were given immediate seating at a wooden table near one of the windows. Even better, the waitress brought hot bread and chowder no more than a minute after it was ordered. Damian must be a regular here to get such service, Jessica thought, her good mood restored now that her stomach had something warm and filling.