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“Constance will be coming in when we open. She had some exams for the end of the semester.” He waved his hands through the air. “I need your help with something.”
“Sure, what do you need?” She moved around the reception desk and deposited her purse on the counter before she pulled her chair out and sat down. When she turned around to face him, he was still hovering in the doorway of his office. Her lips quirked into a smile. “What do you need, James?”
Shoot, he hadn’t thought this through before he’d asked for her help. No one knew about their relationship except her sisters. His chest tightened. Chloe was trustworthy; she wouldn’t tell anyone. At least he didn’t think she would. And besides, she did walk in on their kiss.
James shifted, folding his arms as he leaned against the doorjamb. “But before I ask you, I need to clarify something.”
She snickered. “Geez, James. The way you’re acting, I’m beginning to think that something is wrong.”
He shook his head. “Nothing is wrong, but what I’m about to tell you isn’t something I want spread around.”
Chloe sobered. “You’re not lumping me into the gossiping women in town, are you? Because I’m not interested in that kind—”
“Of course not. But I have to make it clear that you can’t breathe a word to anyone.”
She sighed and turned in her seat to face her computer. “Now you’re just being ridiculous.”
He moved toward her and leaned back against the counter so that he could see her face. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew what I’m dealing with.”
“Just say what you’re going to say. I’ve got a long list of things to do today.” She placed her hand on the computer mouse and the computer screen in front of her lit up. Right away, she started clicking and typing.
“I need to know the best restaurant to take a woman to for a special occasion.”
Chloe froze and slowly lifted her face so she met his gaze. “You’re kidding.”
He shook his head.
“If this is about Constance, you have to be joking.”
James stilled. “What?”
She rolled her eyes. “Come on, James, I’m notblind. The first time she came around, I wasn’tpositive, but when she came dressed up for—”
“Abusinessdinner.”
Chloe snorted. “Anyone with eyes could see that you two were going steady.”
“Do people even call it that anymore?”
She shrugged, her smile returning. “Then the time that I caught you guys kissing. Seriously, if that’s your big secret, then you might have bigger problems.”
His brows furrowed. What she said made sense. But to be fair, he hadn’t really worked that hard to keep his interest in Constance quiet. “Fine. Yes, that’s the secret I was talking about. You haven’t told anyone, have you?”
Chloe snickered. “Like I said, I don’t have any interest in sharing secrets that aren’t mine to tell. You said you wanted to know a good place to take her?” Her eyes widened and she sucked in sharply. “You’re not proposing to her, are you?”
“What? No. Of course not! Her father would chase me out of town before I could get all four words out. But I do want to tell her how much I care about her and that in the future, I can see us together.”
She lifted one brow. “Have you seriously not said any of that up until now? For heaven’s sake, James. What has it been? Three months? All that sneaking around and she doesn’t know how you really feel?”
Heat crawled up his neck and he propelled himself from where he stood and strode toward his office. “Forget it. I’ll come up with something on my own.”
Chloe laughed and turned around in her seat. “Oh, don’t be like that. Come back here. I’ll help you figure something out.”
He paused in the doorway and glanced over his shoulder toward her. “I just need to find a place that would wow her. I can’t take her to Sal’s, and I don’t know if we can make it all the way to the city without someone noticing.”
She tapped her chin a few times, then her eyes brightened. “Didn’t you once tell me you learned how to cook?”
“I seem to recall that I told you I learned how to cookonemeal.”
