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She shooed Marcia away with a flap of her hands. “I’ll be there soon. Promise.”
“Kelly, wait.” Marcia grabbed her arm and tugged her up the hall, stopping well out of listening distance. Great sign. “There’s something you should know.”
Kelly pressed a hand against her uneasy stomach. She had enough to deal with right now. Did Marcia really need to tack on more? “Okay.”
“I was the one who gave Spencer your PDA,” she said in a low voice.
Kelly narrowed her eyes. “What?”
“It was me.” She sighed and gazed at the toes of her plum pumps. “You must’ve left it on the table when you had lunch with Cale and he came to me to ask my opinion.”
“Your opinion on what? And why the hell didn’t he just return it?” Kelly crossed her arms over her chest. Cripes, how many more people she cared for would she have to forget about this week?
“He knew you had the hots for Spencer and he figured this would push you together.” The corner of her mouth tipped up. “Well, he figured that eventually. It took some convincing.”
Kelly worked on taking even breaths. “He figured telling other employees about my list would push us together, huh? And what exactly was his reasoning for nosing through my files to begin with?”
“He only told me. I told Tony. The PDA was in screensaver mode and he double checked to make sure it was yours—”
“Nice try.” Kelly rolled her eyes. “He didn’t know it was mine?”
“He said he wanted to be sure.” Marcia shrugged. “And the list was right there. He couldn’t resist when he saw the name of the file.”
Kelly winced. Yeah, a file named Top Ten To Fuck would probably get some notice. That she’d renamed it as a joke between her and Alana after her best friend had been named one of the top ten photographers to watch in the Roanoke area didn’t really make her feel better.
“He wanted to help you,” Marcia insisted. “He thinks of you as a friend. And I…”
“You what? We’re not friends. We never have been. Why would you care if I hooked up with your brother?”
“Because I knew he had feelings for you too.”
“Oh did you.” Kelly didn’t phrase it as a question, because she knew the sentiment was pure bullshit. Still, hope flared inside her.
“Yes. I did. Well, I suspected. It’s not like we had a heart-to-heart about it.”
“And again, why would you want me with him? Why would you care?”
“Why would I care? He’s my little brother. Surprise, I want him happy.” Marcia gave a jerky shrug. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure what your motives were. I didn’t know if he was just a notch for you or a way to get ahead. But Cale assured me you weren’t like that.”
“And you trust Cale that much.”
Something about the shifty expression that slid over Marcia’s face made Kelly stand up straighter. What the hell? Was something going on between Cale and Marcia? What about Tony?
“Yes, I do,” she said softly.
Kelly blew out a breath. She had her own issues and they didn’t include Marcia’s tangled relationships. “Look, I appreciate you telling me the truth. I guess I also appreciate you both trying to play matchmaker. But that list shouldn’t have been made public. If Cale wanted to be my friend, he should have let me handle my own damn love life.”
“He was going to. I’m the one who insisted Spencer needed to have it.” Marcia smiled thinly. “Let’s just say I was pretty sure how Spence would react. From the way the two of you have been flitting around each other lately, looks like I was right.”
“And you told Tony why?”
Marcia suddenly seemed preoccupied with her manicure. “He acts like he thinks he’s God’s gift to women sometimes, so I figured it might bring him down a peg or two to know at least one woman didn’t want him.”
“Did it?”
Marcia grinned. “Nope. He’s incorrigible. Which is the way I like him.”
Kelly dug her thumbs into her aching temples. Too many nights of too little sleep were catching up to her. “Thanks for the heads-up. But it doesn’t matter much now, does it?”
