I Do! I Do!

“I’ll be right with you,” Liz called to them. “Speaking of work,” she told Mitch, “I’d better get back to it.”

“Finish what you were saying first,” he urged her with a brief touch on her wrist, “about what you’re looking for?”

Ignoring again her flare of awareness of him as a man—an attractive, successful, available man, as the old Liz would have noticed first and foremost—she stuck to her new resolution.

“I’m looking for a career opportunity,” she said firmly, “a genuine chance to move up in the world.”

She figured he might laugh in her face as he got to his feet. Imagine someone like her telling a successful entrepreneur like him that he’d have to do better with his offer!

His brown eyes—lighter than Marshall’s and shaded with gold—narrowed for an instant and then he took out his wallet. After he’d extracted a couple of bills, he slid a business card toward her.

“Come and see me,” he urged again. “We’ll talk.”

Bemused, she watched him walk purposefully from the Lounge without a backward glance and then she stared down at the card. Since his gaze hadn’t once wandered to her cleavage, perhaps his offer really was different from most.

Cates International, read the card in green script on an ivory background. Mitchell Cates, President, followed by his numbers.

The sound of snapping fingers distracted her.

“Hey, cutie, shake your booty.” A trio of young guys had come in without her notice. Seated at the bar, all three sniggered as though they had just invented humor.

Liz plastered a smile on her face. “Down, boys,” she teased. “I’ll be right with you.” And if you don’t think I’ll card you, she promised silently, think again.

Mitch looked up from a purchase order he’d been scanning to see Suzy, the office temp, standing in the doorway.

“Lizbeth Stanton is here. She said you asked her to come by, so do you have time to see her now?” she asked.

He had himself convinced that she probably wouldn’t come, especially after she’d told him her accounting job had been boring. How exciting was farm equipment if you weren’t a farmer?

“Bring her right in,” he said impatiently as he got to his feet. Did he think she would turn around and leave again if he kept her waiting for more than ten seconds?

He barely had time to smooth down his hair before Suzy reappeared with Lizbeth, who hovered in the doorway while Suzy handed him her résumé.

“Have a seat,” he urged, hoping his face didn’t betray the extent of his pleasure. Inside he was beaming like a kid with a treat.

“I’m glad you could make it,” he said as Lizbeth perched on the edge of a chair facing him, her dark skirt almost reaching her knees. With it she wore a tailored blouse and toned-down makeup. Even the tiny hoops in her ears, a far cry from the glittering bangles, seemed to whisper serious applicant.

“Anything else?” Suzy asked from the doorway.

“Coffee?” he suggested as he sat back down behind his desk.

“I’m good, thanks,” Lizbeth replied, crossing one slim leg over the other.

“Hold my calls,” he told Suzy. “Thanks.”

After she had shut the door behind her, he set aside Lizbeth’s paperwork without a glance.

“Did you have any trouble finding us?” he asked.

The sun that streamed through the window turned her hair a hundred shades of fiery copper. Whether or not the visual feast was her natural color, it emphasized the chocolate brown of her eyes.

“Marshall pointed it out to me once,” she replied. As soon as the words were out, she shifted uncomfortably. “I mean…no, I didn’t have any trouble.”

It was no secret that she had dated his brother before Marshall hooked up with Mia Smith. Hell, Mitch doubted there was any woman in town who hadn’t dated Doctor Dazzle, as he sometimes thought of his outgoing sibling.

“Please don’t feel uncomfortable, Lizbeth,” Mitch reassured her. “I’m aware of what it’s like to live in a small town where everybody knows everyone else’s business. It’s no big deal.”

She appeared to relax. “Please call me Liz.”

“So how have you been?”

“You’ve probably heard that I’m no longer engaged.” She stuck out her bare left hand as proof. “Maybe you noticed when you were in the Lounge the other evening.”

He hadn’t, but he didn’t figure that kissing her hand now would be a good idea, so instead he tried to appear sad for her. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” If this had been a fairy tale, his nose would have grown like Pinocchio’s for telling such a whopper.

She tossed her head, making her small gold earrings sparkle. “Like you said, it’s not a big deal.”

He wondered how Dax could bear to lose her, but for once his buddy hadn’t said a word.

“Does that have anything to do with your interest in changing jobs?” he asked curiously.

His question seemed to catch her by surprise. Her gaze darted around his office.

“It made me realize that I can’t depend on anyone but myself, so it’s time to get serious and start working on a career plan like I mentioned the last time we talked. I just wasn’t ready to go public with being dumped then.”

“Sounds like you’ve sworn off men,” he replied regretfully. Maybe trying to hire her wasn’t a good idea after all.

She started to smile flirtatiously, but then her expression sobered. “I’m putting myself first,” she said firmly. “I want to be independent, to take care of myself instead of relying on some man.” She leaned forward with a touch of earnestness. “I’m willing to work hard and learn all I can. What I’m asking in return is that you give me a genuine opportunity. I’m done being window dressing.”

Mitch had been picturing himself leaning over her shoulder, basking in the scent of her perfume while she gave him a list of his phone calls. Admiring her legs as she perched on the corner of his desk or soaking up the admiration in her big brown eyes when he outlined some new product idea.

Reluctantly, he realized he’d been guilty of the worst kind of chauvinistic fantasies between a boss and his secretary. That attitude was not only wrong, it was unfair, especially when he considered himself a progressive employer who gave his workers respect and loyalty.

In the lengthening silence, Liz had begun to pick at the hem of her skirt. Her chin went up in a gesture he was beginning to recognize as a defensive reaction.

“Perhaps I’ve misunderstood your offer.” Her voice had cooled, its former enthusiasm gone as she started to rise.

Mitch gestured for her to stay put. “Believe me, my need for a full-time assistant is legitimate,” he said insistently. “I’m looking for someone who wants Cates International to be part of her future.” He took a deep breath. “Come on. I’ll explain more while I show you around.”

“I can’t believe you’re really doing it,” Kay Costner, Liz’s closest friend in Thunder Canyon, said from the next chair as Shandie Solomon spun Liz around to face the mirror.

“What do you think?” Shandie asked Liz as the they both studied her reflection. Shandie had recently begun working at the beauty shop and Liz liked her youthful attitude as well as her knowledge of trendy styles.

Liz studied her hair with mixed feelings. “It’s funny,” she replied as she tipped her head first one way and then another. “Last week I was thinking about adding scarlet or purple streaks and now I look more—”

“Like a secretary?” Kay supplied.

“Like a serious professional person,” Liz corrected her. She met Shandie’s gaze in the glass. “It’s perfect.”