Page 19 of A Matter of Time

“Oh yeah.” I drew it out.

“But I don’t want to⁠—”

“I’m sorry, Sonja.” I cut her off quickly. “There’s nothing you or I can do about it now. He’s made up his mind, and when he does that, we both know that’s it.”

“It’s just because of the flowers?”

“And all the other stuff.” I sighed. “You’ve got a crush on him.”

“He knows that?” She was incredulous.

“Everyone knows.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. You’ve made it very clear that you’re interested in having more than a professional relationship with him.”

“Who isn’t?”

I thought about it for a minute. “Well, me for one,” I told her honestly.

“You’re a guy, Jory, and Dane’s not gay.”

There was that.

“But I swear to God, you’re the only one I know who doesn’t want him. Both Celia and Jill are crazy about him too.”

“Maybe so, but maybe that also makes it possible for me to be the only one who can work for him. You obviously can’t.” I knew that Celia Johnson and Jill Kincaid were both crazy about my boss, but they didn’t work for him, so he didn’t know they wanted to jump his bones. Celia worked for Miles Brown and Jill worked for the third partner at the firm, Sherman Cogan.

“But”—her voice dropped to a whisper—“I think he’s starting to like me.”

You irritate the hell out of him, I thought, sitting down on the edge of her desk. “He likes you fine, Sonja. We’re just going to make sure you get out of here before that changes.”

“You don’t know what it’s like to be around him every day and not be able to touch him.”

Oh God, all these lovesick puppies in the office.

The door to Dane’s office opened, and he and Mrs. Bradley came out. He walked over to me as I stood up, sliding off Sonja’s desk.

“I’ll be out of the office until twelve, so get lunch for us and be back so we can go over the schedule for the Mamon house. I expect to find only you here,” he said, making a point of looking right at me when he said it. “We’ve got a lot to do.”

“Yessir.”

“Don’t be late.”

“No.”

“And don’t forget my lunch.”

I felt the frown, my eyebrows lowering fast.

“Fine,” he grumbled.

“Should I get you a drink too?” I asked sarcastically. I obviously needed everything to be spelled out for me in big neon letters. Since I was such an idiot and all.

He gave me a smile then before he turned and followed Mrs. Bradley out of the office. Mrs. Bradley herself was a case of puppy love; she had asked me over the phone, without even having laid eyes on the man—their conversations alone had clearly sparked more than professional interest—if Dane ever dated his clients. I’d told her that I didn’t know, and she’d confessed to me that she found him compelling and impossible to get out of her mind. Having heard so many other such confessions, I had merely smiled on my end and given her an appointment time.

“Oh, Jory,” Sonja sighed. “Can’t you just tell him I’m sorry and it won’t happen again?”