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Mary Paige shoved a pile of folders toward the corner of her desk and looked under the credenza for her other shoe. Where had it gone? She’d kicked it off earlier, which meant it had to be in the office somewhere.
She found it under some papers she’d thrown toward the wire trash basket just as Ivan the Terrible roared into her office.
“Where’s the Hogue file with all the 1099s? You had it last.”
Mary Paige slipped the red stiletto onto her foot. “I put it on your desk an hour ago.”
Growl. Roar. Snuffle. He disappeared.
She pulled a brush from the drawer and gave her bob the twice-over, making sure it curved against her jaw, then she touched up her makeup—what little she wore—before shrugging into the red swing coat her mother had given her last Christmas.
“Where are you going?” the beast called through his open office door.
“I told you this morning. I have to leave early for the tree lighting.”
“You can’t leave now. We have to have the McKays ready by tomorrow morning. You still have to call Randy and get the disclosures.”
She closed her eyes and performed her serenity prayer. “Mr. Gosslee, we went over my upcoming schedule this morning. I have to leave right now if I’m going to make it to St. Charles in time. Traffic’s about to kick up on the bridge. I’ll come in early tomorrow and make sure we have everything in order for the McKays.”
“This is unacceptable.”
Another silent plea to her Maker. Another sigh. “Shall I tender my resignation?”
His hoary head appeared in her doorway. “Is that the sort of employee you are? One who wants to quit when the going gets tough?”
“No.”
His black eyes narrowed. “Have it ready in the morning.”
She saluted, ducked under his arm, and tucked the tag back into his sweater. The man was forever untucked and wrinkled, but he was a hell of an accountant. “See you tomorrow, Ivan.”
“That’s Mr. Gosslee to you,” he grumbled.
“I love you, too, Ivan.”
She shut the door of the faded shotgun house in Gretna that served as their office as she heard him say, “Cheeky.”
Ah, free until tomorrow morning. And a date to boot. Okay, not a date really, but something inside her bubbled at the thought of seeing Brennan again.
Which was not good.
The man was so far off her map she’d have to enter another realm to locate him. Brennan Henry was too rich for her blood. Too everything for her, including grumpy, materialistic, and sardonic. Not qualities she’deverlook for in a man.
Still, those tingles wouldn’t go away.
The drive to the east bank of New Orleans was painfully slow because of an accident in one of the lanes near the Superdome. By the time she hit Carrolton, a crawl would have been fast compared to the current flow of traffic. She pulled into a safe parking lot and tugged off her heels, glad she kept an extra pair of running shoes in the gym bag in the backseat. She didn’t want to arrive in her sneakers, but there was no way she could cross the mile and a half to Audubon Park in her heels.
She gathered her purse, keys, and the signed contracts then locked her car. By the time she reached the park, it was too late to go back to her car for the red high heels she’d forgotten on the passenger seat. Darn it.
When her nerves jangled, she forgot stuff. Now she’d look like a moron at the lighting. She felt the prick of tears, tasted the embarrassment that would come.
Crap. Why had she agreed to this? She was not the kind who could function in front of large crowds. Riding a tractor in a parade and clogging at the Watermelon Festival in her hometown was as close as she’d ever been to the public spotlight.
Too late now.
She choked down the panic and scanned the fading sky for the decorated streetcar they would use to carry Old St. Nick into the city. Finally, she saw it sitting jolly and bedecked at the very place Brennan said he would meet her. She headed toward the throng of people clad in business suits and elf costumes, and spied Mr. Henry, Brennan, and the man who’d leaped out to take her photograph that night in the alley. These men were not in elf suits. If they had been, it would have been more than surreal…and amusing.
“She said she’d be here, but I’m having my doubts,” Brennan said to his grandfather as she approached.
