‘All right, lunch. But we can’t go out to dinner too, or I really will get fat. Come here for the evening,’ she suggested eagerly.
A pulse beat erratically at his jawline. ‘I don’t think that would be a good idea.’
‘Oh, Logan—’
‘We have to meet on mutual ground, Callie,’ he insisted. ‘It’s the only way I can get through this. We’ll go to a club I know, have a few drinks, dance a little.’
‘Dance?’ she said hopefully.
‘Yes,’ he gave a rueful smile. ‘I think I can trust myself that much.’
‘I hope not,’ she taunted.
‘Callie,’ he laughed softly, ‘you aren’t very good for my self-control!’
‘And you aren’t very good for mine,’ she said throatily.
‘Lunch,’ he said briskly. ‘I know the agency you work for, so I’ll pick you up.’
He called for her every day that week, and the next, meeting her every evening too. For Callie the attraction was still as fresh and strong, and as she
watched the way Logan merited respect wherever they went, for a meal, to the theatre, a club, her love deepened. He continued to treat her with easy charm that came so naturally to him, the intensity of their second evening spent together kept firmly at bay.
In the middle of the second week Bill telephoned her to say he had managed to get the shareholders’ meeting put off until the New Year. ‘Although Sir Charles wasn’t very pleased about it,’ he added with satisfaction.
‘Poor Sir Charles,’ she said unsympathetically.
‘That’s what I thought.’ The grin could be heard in his voice. ‘Not least of his gripes seemed to be that you aren’t seeing his son any more.’
‘Thank God!’ she groaned.
‘I gathered from Marilyn that he wasn’t exactly the catch of the season. But Sir Charles doesn’t seem very happy about you spoiling all his plans.’
‘Plans for me to marry his son,’ she said disgustedly. ‘I never heard of anything so archaic!’
‘No. By the way, I’ve been calling you the past three nights and getting no reply. Found yourself a boy-friend?’ he teased much as an older brother might.
‘As a matter of fact, yes,’ she admitted shyly.
‘Good for you!’ Bill sounded genuinely pleased. ‘Marilyn and I have been worried about you since Jeff died,’ he added softly.
‘I know,’ she said huskily. ‘And I appreciate it. But I’ve met someone, Bill, and—well, he—he’s just wonderful.’
‘I can tell,’ he chuckled. ‘Wait until I tell Marilyn!’
Callie knew her friend would be overjoyed, that Bill was too. They really had been very good to her since Jeff died. ‘Once you’re back home I’ll have you all over for dinner,’ she promised.
‘Must be serious if you’re actually going to cook,’ Bill teased.
Callie laughed too. Almost everyone who knew her also knew that she hated to cook, even more so since she had been on her own. ‘This will be a special occasion,’ she explained.
‘It must be!’
‘Bill…!’ she warned.
‘Okay, okay,’ he laughed. ‘Ted’s well on the way to recovery now, although it’s a slow process. But we’ll be home soon, Marilyn can’t stand being in the kitchen with her mother,’ he said with satisfaction. ‘And Paul is really getting spoilt.’
‘Sounds like you’re having fun,’ Callie commented.