some—”
“It’s how you’ve been acting since you met her. Like you might have finally realized you didn’t die along with your fiancée.”
“I’m not acting any way.” He snapped the words out, aware that right now he was acting like a kid busted in a big lie.
“Ah, okay. So I just imagined someone singing weird shit in the shower this morning?”
Busted again. He’d been singing up a storm—Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Queen, Cage the Elephant.
“Total hallucination.” He arranged his pad next to the laptop, put his pen horizontally across the top.
“Tawndee heard it, too.”
“You’d believe someone named Tawndee?”
Jake snorted. “Point taken. But seriously, man. You seemed excited about this woman.”
Jake had no idea. Thinking about kissing her, Daniel was practically getting hard right now under the conference table. Her ragged breathing and those hungry whimpers. He’d nearly—
“Good morning, gentlemen.” Larry Kaiser burst into the room, bald head leading his peculiar gait, as if he were always about to take off and start flapping. “Sorry I’m late. You two are on time as usual.”
“Yes, we are.” Jake cleared his throat pointedly. “But we can always use a few extra minutes of preparation.”
Daniel rolled his eyes. Suck-up.
“Anything going on?” Larry hoisted his case on the table and took out his laptop. “Just got in from the airport. Can’t get a flight on time anywhere anymore.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary, no,” Jake said.
“All’s good.” Daniel looked down at his laptop, its edge parallel to the edge of the table, paper beside it, pen having rolled so it was no longer exactly horizontal. The urge to straighten it was ridiculously powerful. And it hit him, that besides being sexy, part of Angela’s draw was her lack of right angles and straight lines, her shifting moods and energies. Kate had been all order and predictability, vital to him after the chaos of his upbringing. Angela…
Who was he kidding? He couldn’t push her from his mind. Not even for ten minutes.
“Who’s got what on the agenda?” Larry laid his BlackBerry on the table. “Or off the agenda?”
Off the agenda. Here was Daniel’s opportunity to push Angela as he’d promised. “I was wondering about the Spring Fling this year.”
“The party?” Larry looked up from his laptop in surprise. “What about it? You coming? Got a new date finally?”
“Ha!” Jake smirked. “As a matter of fact, he—”
“No, not that.” He sent Jake a glare. Daniel hadn’t been to any of the quarterly company parties since Kate died. “I stumbled over a potential caterer. Really talented. Just wondered if—”
“Caterer?” Larry’s ears perked up. He was devoted to food in all forms, which his many hours in the gym couldn’t erase from his middle. “What kind?”
“Bakery.”
Larry booted up his machine, shaking his head. “No, no, out of the question. We have my niece, Nellie, for that.”
“I know. She’s incredible.” She was. Angela couldn’t compete in that arena. But… He took a deep breath, not sure if what he was about to do was the right thing. “This is different.”
“Different how?”
“Less sophisticated. More regular stuff. Cookies, cupcakes.” He called up the taste memory of those oatmeal cookies. “Sounds dull, but one bite and you realize how flat and tasteless the rest of your life—”
He broke off in horror. He’d been about to say “the rest of your life has been.”
“Um, how the rest of your life eating cookies…has been…flat. And tasteless.”
Silence as Jake and Larry looked at him in concern.
This was not good. “Her name is Angela Loukas. She owns A Taste for All Pleasures on Capitol Hill. She’d be happy to provide samples.”
Angela would undoubtedly rather send pastry samples, but an in at Slatewood would be good for her business, and given Nell’s talent, the cookies and cupcakes were her best chance. Her only
“It’s how you’ve been acting since you met her. Like you might have finally realized you didn’t die along with your fiancée.”
“I’m not acting any way.” He snapped the words out, aware that right now he was acting like a kid busted in a big lie.
“Ah, okay. So I just imagined someone singing weird shit in the shower this morning?”
Busted again. He’d been singing up a storm—Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Queen, Cage the Elephant.
“Total hallucination.” He arranged his pad next to the laptop, put his pen horizontally across the top.
“Tawndee heard it, too.”
“You’d believe someone named Tawndee?”
Jake snorted. “Point taken. But seriously, man. You seemed excited about this woman.”
Jake had no idea. Thinking about kissing her, Daniel was practically getting hard right now under the conference table. Her ragged breathing and those hungry whimpers. He’d nearly—
“Good morning, gentlemen.” Larry Kaiser burst into the room, bald head leading his peculiar gait, as if he were always about to take off and start flapping. “Sorry I’m late. You two are on time as usual.”
“Yes, we are.” Jake cleared his throat pointedly. “But we can always use a few extra minutes of preparation.”
Daniel rolled his eyes. Suck-up.
“Anything going on?” Larry hoisted his case on the table and took out his laptop. “Just got in from the airport. Can’t get a flight on time anywhere anymore.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary, no,” Jake said.
“All’s good.” Daniel looked down at his laptop, its edge parallel to the edge of the table, paper beside it, pen having rolled so it was no longer exactly horizontal. The urge to straighten it was ridiculously powerful. And it hit him, that besides being sexy, part of Angela’s draw was her lack of right angles and straight lines, her shifting moods and energies. Kate had been all order and predictability, vital to him after the chaos of his upbringing. Angela…
Who was he kidding? He couldn’t push her from his mind. Not even for ten minutes.
“Who’s got what on the agenda?” Larry laid his BlackBerry on the table. “Or off the agenda?”
Off the agenda. Here was Daniel’s opportunity to push Angela as he’d promised. “I was wondering about the Spring Fling this year.”
“The party?” Larry looked up from his laptop in surprise. “What about it? You coming? Got a new date finally?”
“Ha!” Jake smirked. “As a matter of fact, he—”
“No, not that.” He sent Jake a glare. Daniel hadn’t been to any of the quarterly company parties since Kate died. “I stumbled over a potential caterer. Really talented. Just wondered if—”
“Caterer?” Larry’s ears perked up. He was devoted to food in all forms, which his many hours in the gym couldn’t erase from his middle. “What kind?”
“Bakery.”
Larry booted up his machine, shaking his head. “No, no, out of the question. We have my niece, Nellie, for that.”
“I know. She’s incredible.” She was. Angela couldn’t compete in that arena. But… He took a deep breath, not sure if what he was about to do was the right thing. “This is different.”
“Different how?”
“Less sophisticated. More regular stuff. Cookies, cupcakes.” He called up the taste memory of those oatmeal cookies. “Sounds dull, but one bite and you realize how flat and tasteless the rest of your life—”
He broke off in horror. He’d been about to say “the rest of your life has been.”
“Um, how the rest of your life eating cookies…has been…flat. And tasteless.”
Silence as Jake and Larry looked at him in concern.
This was not good. “Her name is Angela Loukas. She owns A Taste for All Pleasures on Capitol Hill. She’d be happy to provide samples.”
Angela would undoubtedly rather send pastry samples, but an in at Slatewood would be good for her business, and given Nell’s talent, the cookies and cupcakes were her best chance. Her only
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