your office?” Hannah asked.
“It was.”
“He’s a legend,” Hannah said, getting stars in her eyes. “Good-looking, too.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” Meg joked. She almost blurted out that he’d asked her out. Instead, she stepped to her desk to put down the papers.
“He was a guest speaker in one of my classes. He’s tough.”
“Yes. But I believe he’s saved more than he’s sent to prison. He and I went to law school together.”
“Is he in town for a conference?”
“No, I think it’s personal.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“I FEEL AS if I misjudged you,” Amanda said the moment she and Charlie were seated at the table. The office manager had chosen an expensive, upscale restaurant for their lunch. “Thank you for accepting my invitation.”
Charlie nodded, afraid of what this might be about. “If you’re worried that I’ll—”
“No, it’s not that,” Amanda said quickly and picked up the wine list. “Let’s splurge on something expensive.” She motioned to the waiter and started to order a bottle of wine.
“None for me,” Charlie said quickly. She had to keep her wits about her. “I have too much work to do this afternoon.”
Amanda was clearly disappointed. “Fine, then I’ll take a scotch. Make it a double on the rocks. The good stuff.” She smiled at Charlie. “Our boss is picking up the tab.”
“And you, miss?” the waiter asked her.
“A diet cola.”
Amanda shot her a withering look. “One drink wouldn’t hurt you.” She sounded offended, as if Charlie’s not drinking alcohol somehow reflected badly on her.
“I still have a lot of work to do this afternoon,” she said again.
“Whatever,” Amanda muttered.
They both busied themselves looking at the menu until the drinks arrived. Amanda took a healthy gulp of hers and seemed to relax a little. “I wanted us to have lunch because I don’t think I’ve been...fair to you.” She let out a nervous laugh. “If I’m being honest, I’m jealous of you.”
Charlie frowned. “Why would you—”
“Because of the way Greg had to have you.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Amanda must have seen her confusion. “When he hired you. He saw some designs you did, he said, and he was determined to get you to come to work for him.”
“But he didn’t contact me directly,” Charlie said.
“No,” Amanda said. “I don’t get it but he had a friend of his who’s a headhunter to contact you. I guess he thought it was more professional or something. I don’t know. But he was definitely obsessed with hiring you.”
Charlie had had no idea. “That’s flattering but I’m sure he was the same way with the others on his team.”
Amanda laughed again. “Yeah right. Well, anyway that’s why I was jealous.” She drained her glass and ordered another. “I thought, who is this woman that he would go to that much trouble to get? She can’t be that talented. No offense, but I just didn’t see it. I mean you’re good, don’t get me wrong. But to go to extremes to make sure you were working for him? You can see why I would be suspicious.”
Not really. Though Charlie thought Amanda might be suspicious because she was a cheater and thus expected to be cheated on. But she kept that to herself as the waiter came over to take their meal orders.
Amanda ordered a lobster roll.
“I’ll take the lobster roll as well,” Charlie said, only to have Amanda look at her in surprise as if she expected her to order the cheapest item on the menu or maybe not eat at all.
She closed her menu and handed it to the waiter, wishing this lunch was already over. Tension thick as pea soup settled between them.
Amanda sipped her second drink and leaned forward conspiratorially. “So, do you have a boyfriend?”
Oh, so they were going to do girl talk now? Charlie nodded. She really didn’t want to share confidences with this woman.
“Is it serious?”
Was it? “Maybe. Too early to say.”
“I wasn’t sure either when I first met Greg. I mean, he’s good-looking enough but maybe a little too...nice and he is older than me. We met at a bar and I practically had to pick him up, he was that shy.”
Charlie frowned. “I thought you met at work.”
Amanda laughed and finished her drink. “Greg doesn’t like people to know his business.” She waved a hand though the air as if it wasn’t important. “I worked for him at his last design company in Denver.”
That was news. “I didn’t realize he had a company before this one.”
“Oh yeah, several. Made money on all of them. He gets them up and