to his rich tenor voice and well-fitted suit. Amanda suspected he was a bit older than he appeared to be since he was already head of the Treasury Department, filling in this week for the Vice-President of Finance, who was away.
Josh was wearing a preppy Vineyard Vines tie, with yellow whales on a pale blue background. He stopped next to her, said "Good morning," and placed his briefcase on the conference table next to hers. When he sat down, she could smell a pleasant aroma of coffee and mint. Clean and cool. She smiled warmly at him.
He leaned his head down to speak quietly to her. "Ready for the daily drama?"
Amanda giggled. Yesterday's drama had featured Phoebe pacing back and forcing in front of the white board, declaring she needed to double her budget if anyone expected the company website to remain at the top ranking in the search engines.
Maria had taken her on, arguing for any extra money to go directly to the marketing department where it could be more effectively spent than on "some website that no one ever looks at."
Phoebe hadn't taken that well and the battle raged until Logan raised one hand.
"No one's budget will be increasing this month." His quiet words fell into a bucket of silence, and no one had dared to venture another comment.
Now Josh winked at her, just as Logan slipped in through the door from his office. Logan's dark gaze flew from Amanda to Josh and back again to Amanda. She thought his lips tightened, but that might have been a trick of the lighting.
Logan strode over to his seat and yanked out his chair just as Philip Barnston bounded in. His purple tie, complementing a purple and white striped dress shirt, introduced a carnival atmosphere into the room. "Hey, Amanda, love." Philip headed in her direction. "Thanks for saving me a seat." Sliding in to the empty seat next to her he flashed a grin, and offered her a stick of gum.
She shook her head no, frowning slightly at the way he'd singled her out. His blonde hair waved back from his forehead in a perfectly styled cut that had undoubtedly set him back more than a hundred dollars. Though he was a bit too boyishly Hugh Grantish for her taste, she couldn't rule him out. He seemed disposed to like her and he was certainly young and attractive.
With a final cool glance in the direction of Amanda, Logan began the meeting. He didn't look her way again unless she spoke, and she wasn't sure if she should be grateful or alarmed.
Alarm won the day when the meeting ended and everyone rose in a buzz of talk and scraping chairs.
"Amanda." Logan had to raise his voice a bit to call down the table. "I'd like to see you in my office."
Her head jerked up in surprise. But she managed to reply calmly enough, "Be right there."
"Hey, Amanda." Josh touched her arm.
She turned to look at him. "What—"
"Amanda." Logan's deep voice cut through the post-meeting buzz. "Now, if you please."
"Geez," she muttered under her breath. "The drama continues."
"He's not too bad," Josh murmured. "As long as you don’t make any mistakes."
Amanda watched covertly as Logan tucked his laptop under his arm and strode from the room. What did he want with her? Had he seen her flirting with Josh? Was that the cause of the thunderous scowl on his face?
No, she couldn't be so arrogant as to suppose it was. She reminded herself of how he'd left her both nights in Philadelphia. He was hardly pining after her.
On that thought, courage spurted through her. She had her own life to make and it certainly wasn't going to revolve around Logan Winter.
She walked into his office, faking a confidence she didn't really feel. He'd been facing out the window, but he swiveled around at her approach. She had to order herself not to gape, but it was hard. He was so attractive. His white Oxford shirt emphasized the breadth of his shoulders, and he'd rolled up the sleeves neatly, showing off his strong forearms.
With the air of a man opening negotiations on an unpleasant topic, he announced, "I have to attend a wedding next Saturday."
"Scary." Amanda bit her cheek to keep from smiling at the tense look on his face.
"Unavoidable." He tapped a pen against the leather blotter on his desk. "One of my financial backers."
"You want me to ask Rosie to order a gift? Can't go wrong with Tiffany's."