Perfect Partners by Jayne Ann Krentz

corner. “You don't want to rush things, right?”
    She laughed with relief. “Right. I wasn't sure how you felt. I wasn't certain if you were as interested in me as I was in you. I wondered if my imagination had gone wild or something.”
    “Now you know, don't you?”
    She searched his eyes. “Do I?”
    “I'm interested.” He picked up his glass of champagne and leaned back against the counter. “Very.”
    Letty drew a deep breath and took the plunge. “yes, well, so am I. But where I come from we do things a little more slowly.”
    Joel flashed her a grin. “You're not in Kansas anymore.”
    “I'm not from Kansas,” she retorted. “I'm from Indiana.”
    He held up a palm. “Fair enough. I'll try to remember that and make allowances.”
    “There's something else I think you should know right up front,” Letty continued firmly.
    “I'm listening.”
    “I'm not interested in any one-night stands or short-term affairs.”
    “Neither am I. Too messy and too dangerous.”
    She toyed with a pot holder. “If we—you and I, that is—if we start something, I want it to be because we both believe we've got a future together. Joel, this is very awkward. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?”
    “Yeah, I understand all right, Letty. You want to know if my intentions are honorable. It's a little early to ask me that, isn't it?”
    She winced at the note of laughter in his voice. “It's a little too early for a lot of things.”
    “I thought you came out here looking for passion and adventure.”
    “Yes, well, somehow I wasn't expecting to find it quite so quickly,” she admitted.
    Joel laughed and put her glass of champagne back in her hand. “Don't worry, we'll do this on your schedule. After all, you're the boss.”
    That thought soothed her frazzled nerves. She was the boss, Letty repeated to herself. She had started this, and she would control it. She would test the waters cautiously. She would learn in due course if this man really was the one.
    “To us and to Thornquist Gear.” Letty raised the champagne glass to her lips.
    “Right. You, me, and Thornquist Gear.”
    She sent him home early that night, and he went reluctantly but without a fight. Letty was smiling as she crawled into bed. She lay gazing happily at the neon-lit rain coming down outside her window.
    Everything was going to work out beautifully here in Seattle. She had made the right move. She was going to find all the things that had been missing back in Indiana.
     
    The next morning Letty sat at her desk on the fourth floor of Thornquist Gear and gazed out the window. Her thoughts went back to the phone call she had received from Philip.
    Not just his call but something he had said during the call bothered her. Something about trying to reach her for several days. Letty made up her mind. It was time to confront her secretary.
    She reached out and punched the button on the intercom. “Arthur, will you come in here for a moment, please?”
    “Yes, Ms. Thornquist.”
    The door opened a moment later, and Arthur hurried into the room. He nervously adjusted his tie and blinked frantically. “What is it, Ms. Thornquist? Is something wrong?”
    “Sit down, please, Arthur. I want to talk to you.”
    Arthur's eyes widened as he sank into the nearest chair. He clutched a notepad in one hand and a pen in the other. “Please, Ms. Thornquist, you're not going to send me back to Accounting, are you? I know I was promoted to executive secretary too quickly. I did warn Mr. Blackstone that I didn't have all the skills you would expect, but he said it would be all right. And I am trying very hard. Honest, I am.”
    Letty smiled reassuringly. “I believe you, Arthur. I have no complaints about your skills.”
    “Thanks. That's relief. I thought maybe you were mad or something.”
    “I'm not angry, but I do have a couple of questions. First, have you been receiving phone calls from a Professor Philip Dixon?”
    Arthur brightened. “Yes, ma'am.