Ready for Romance

“This is very nice.”

“Mr. Dryden has worked hard to make sure our work environment is pleasing to the eye,” the woman remarked primly.

“Damian’s like that,” Jessica murmured.

“I was speaking about the younger Mr. Dryden,” came the surprised response.

“Oh, of course,” Jessica said quickly.

BY THE END of the first day, Jessica felt as though she’d put in a forty-hour week. She’d been assigned a small desk in the corner of the room and her own phone. Mrs. Sterling seemed to feel it was her duty to keep Jessica occupied with a multitude of tasks which included taking lunch orders, organizing file cabinets and hand-delivering messages throughout the office.

Just when she was about to think she wouldn’t even lay eyes on Evan her first day, he breezed into the office, stopping abruptly when he saw her. He was as tall as Damian, at least six-two, with chestnut hair and dark soulful eyes. To Jessica’s way of thinking, it wasn’t fair that any one man should be so breathtakingly handsome.

“Julia,” he whispered, as though he’d stumbled upon a treasure chest. His eyes suffused with delight. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s Jessica,” she corrected him, refusing to be offended by his failure to remember her name. “I’m here because I’m working for you now.”

“Your brother hired Ms. Kellerman as your new legal assistant,” Mrs. Sterling explained.

Evan stepped forward, gripping Jessica’s hand in his own. “This must be Christmas in July! Why else would Damian present me with such a rare gift?”

“Christmas in July,” Jessica repeated, having a difficult time not laughing. What she’d heard about Evan was true, she decided. He was a flirt, but such a pleasant lighthearted one that it didn’t seem to matter. She knew he wasn’t serious.

“There are several matters here that need your attention,” Mrs. Sterling said stiffly from behind Evan.

“I’ll be with you in a few minutes,” he said.

“I know you will,” Mrs. Sterling said. “Just don’t leave before these letters are signed, and while we’re at it, there are a few items we need to discuss—when you have the time.”

“I promise to get to the letters first thing,” he said as if he had no interest beyond studying the young woman who stood before him. “Just put everything on my desk and I’ll look through it before I leave.”

“You won’t forget?”

Evan chuckled. “My, my, how you love to mother me.”

“Someone has to look after you,” his secretary said, her eyes crinkling above a bright smile.

Jessica watched in amazement as Evan charmed the older woman. Mrs. Sterling had been the picture of cool efficiency until Evan walked in the door. The minute he did she turned into a clucking mother hen. Before Jessica had a chance to analyze this reaction, Evan grinned. “You love me, Mary, and you know it.”

“It’s just that you’ve been a bit forgetful of late,” Mrs. Sterling said with a concerned frown. She reached for a stack of letters and leafed through them. “It doesn’t hurt to offer you a little reminder now and then, does it?”

“I suppose not,” Evan said and, taking the letters with him, walked into his office as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

“Have you been working on the brief for the Porter Corporation?” Mrs. Sterling asked, following on his heels.

“The Porter Corporation,” Evan repeated as if he’d never heard the name before. “It’s not due anytime soon, is it?”

“Yes, it is,” the secretary said, and Jessica heard a hint of panic in her voice. “First thing Friday morning.”

“I’ll have it ready by then. What day is this, anyway?”

“Mr. Dryden, you’ve got to start coming into the office before closing time!”

“Don’t you fret. I’ll have everything ready the way I always do,” he said as he ushered his secretary out the door. He paused when his gaze fell on Jessica and he winked. Then the door closed and Evan disappeared.

Mrs. Sterling shook her head and glanced toward Jessica. “Mr Dryden’s been going through some rough times lately,” she explained.

“How long has he been without a legal assistant?”

“Quite a while now. He didn’t seem to think he’d need one. Damian’s cut his work load and, well, things just haven’t been the same around here for quite a while.”

Jessica was leaving for the day when she happened upon Damian. Looking dignified and businesslike, he was talking to his secretary. A few silver hairs at his temple added a distinguished air. He made a striking figure, and she wondered briefly why he hadn’t married. Tagged onto that thought came another. One that took her by surprise. She realized she was happy Damian hadn’t married.

He must have seen her in his peripheral vision, because he straightened, smiled and walked toward her. “Well, Jessica, how’d your first day go?”

“Really well.”

“Mary isn’t working you too hard, is she?”

“Oh, no, she’s great.”

“Mary’s one of the best secretaries I’ve ever worked with. She may be a bit abrupt, but you’ll get used to that.” He was walking with Jessica now, their steps matching, his hands clasped behind his back. Mary was abrupt perhaps, Jessica mused, but not with Evan.

“I’ll always be grateful to you for being willing to take a chance on me,” she said conversationally.

Damian’s smile was rueful. “You may not be thanking me later. My brother can be a handful, but if there was ever someone who could get him back on the straight and narrow, it’s you.”

“Me?” she asked, not understanding.

Damian broke eye contact and looked away. “Everybody needs to be looked at with wide worshipful eyes now and then, don’t you think?”

“Ah…” Jessica didn’t know how to respond. One thing was becoming abundantly clear. Damian hadn’t hired her because of her high test scores at business college.

Two

“Y ou actually got the job?” Cathy Hudson said over the telephone line, her voice raised with astonishment. “You were hired, just like that, by one of the city’s most prestigious law firms?”

“It helps to have friends in high places.” Jessica was excited about this job, but she felt mildly guilty knowing the only reason she’d been hired was that their families were such good friends. However, Damian had made it plain she’d need to pull her own weight. Jessica was determined to prove herself; she’d be the best legal assistant the firm had ever hired. It was a matter of pride.

“Why is it everything comes so easy for you?” Cathy lamented. “You set your sights on something that would give Norman Vincent Peale second thoughts and—”

“Me? You’re the one trying out for a lead in Guys and Dolls. Talk about setting your sights high.”

“All right, all right,” Cathy said with a dramatic sigh, “you’ve made your point.”

“So how did the tryouts go today?”

“I…don’t know. It’s so hard to tell. I would kill for the part of Adelaide, but then I watch the others, and they’re all so good. I came away today thinking it’s just a pipe dream. David, the director, is wonderful. Working with him would be one of the highlights of my career, but I don’t dare hope I’ll get the part.”