She watched him go to Ray’s bar, pour himself a whiskey, then go back to the couch.
“So who are you going to settle for?”
“You mean which account?”
“No, which man? You’ve got four men hanging around you.”
“You know, I’m not liking this conversation. I want you to leave.”
“It’s not your office,” Cal said. “First there’s that skinny kid. What’s his name?” Kathy didn’t answer.
“Three last names. Laurence Winbeck. That’s it. He wants your daddy’s money. Then there’s Andy Donaldson.”
Kathy drew in her breath. No one knew she was interested in Andy. Ray thought she had a crush on him.
“Andy says he’s playing hard to get so he won’t be accused of going after the boss’s daughter.”
“He says that?” Kathy whispered.
“Only to a company VP who takes him out to lunch. After two martinis he enjoyed telling me what his goals in life are.” Cal snorted. “He’ll never make it in advertising. Blabs too much truth.”
Kathy was frowning. “Why would you do that?”
Cal didn’t answer her question. “Then there’s Ray.”
Kathy’s lips tightened.
“Oh, I see that you do know about Ray’s interest in you. He’s catching on that clients like tablecloths and that those two forks have different uses. He’s beginning to think marriage is a business proposition. You could give him what he doesn’t know, and in return, he’d give you the privilege of being near his glorious self.”
Kathy couldn’t help it but that image made her give the tiniest bit of a smile. “That’s three men. Who’s the fourth?”
“Me.”
All Kathy could do was blink.
“Didn’t know that, did you?” He got up and walked to the window to look out. “Those men want you for how you can advance their lives, for what you can give them. But me? I want you. I like your brain, the way you think. You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.”
Turning, he looked at her—and his eyes were hot. Like something out of a movie, she thought. Cal looked as though he might throw her across the desk and tear off her clothes.
No man had ever looked at Kathy like that and it made her heart leap into her throat.
He took a step toward her. “I like that glorious, lush body of yours.” He took another step. “I like women.” He was standing beside the desk and he gave her a look up and down that made her feel like she might melt into the leather of the chair.
When he held out his hand to her, she started to take it, but she glanced at the door.
“I locked it,” he said, his voice throaty. “And I told Martha we weren’t to be disturbed no matter what she heard.”
She took his big hand in hers.
Chapter Thirty-One
“OMG,” Elise said. “That’s... Oh! That’s wonderful. Great. I love it!”
Olivia was smiling in an I-told-you-so way.
“Don’t you dare take credit for this!” Kathy said to Olivia, but she was laughing. “Cal and I would have happened eventually. It’s just—” She stopped. “No. It never would have happened. After being married to Ray, I would have been too scared to even think about marriage again.”
She picked up her wineglass and twirled the stem in her hand for a moment. “I didn’t know how bad my life with Ray was. The comparison I had was my parents, and my marriage was a lot better than theirs.” She looked up. “When people ask about a bad marriage, the only thing they really want to know is, Does he hit you? If the answer is no, then you’re put into a category labeled SAFE. Whatever else is done to you is okay.”