switched into a file on the computer. “No worries, what I’m going to show you next will feel like work.”
Two hours later Meg’s head was fried. Not only were there portfolios on women to match with men . . . but a few men looking for a longer-term selection of women. Memorizing the faces so Meg could match couples at a glance was imperative. Then there were the kinds of profiles of men and women she needed to keep an eye out to recruit.
Meg was clicking through pages long after Samantha had left the Tarzana house.
When the front door opened, Meg assumed it was her boss returning. When a male voice interrupted her thoughts, she jumped.
“Hey.”
Meg swiveled in her chair, a hand to her chest. “Good Lord.”
“Sorry.”
Rick stood in the doorway, his lazy smile gracing his face. Why Judy wasn’t jumping the man was beyond Meg.
Meg looked out the window, noticed the sun setting. “I lost the time.”
“Happens to the best of us. So you’re Samantha’s new recruit.”
Meg turned toward the computer, hit print so she could study the information at home, and turned off the computer when she was finished. “Samantha is the perfect boss.”
“She’s a nice lady.”
“Agreed.” She stood, looked around the office. “Does it bother you that I’ll be around?”
Rick shrugged. “I’m used to it. Besides, I’m not here often. Just be sure and set the alarm when you come and go.”
Samantha had taught her the drill. It mimicked that which she’d already learned living with Judy at Michael’s home.
“Not a problem.” Meg gathered her papers and lifted her purse onto her shoulder. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I’ll be gone most of the day.”
“Oh . . . OK.”
Before Meg made it to the door, the inevitable happened.
“So how are you and Judy settling in?”
A slow, easy smile met Meg’s lips. The man was terribly transparent. “Judy thinks her new boss is a dickless putz.”
How Rick managed to have dimples and hold back a smile was beyond her.
“Other than that, she’s fine.”
“And the tabloid fodder?”
“You saw that?”
The piece had been small, but it seemed to have made the rounds.
“Double date?”
Oh, now Meg got it. Rick was fishing for the real story. “We’d just met the guys.” She left out the part about them being into each other and not them.
“You were all laughing.”
“Evenings out do that.” Instead of elaborating, Meg squeezed between Rick and the doorway. “Well, it’s late. See ya tomorrow, Rick.”
She would swear Rick grumbled as she sailed out the front door. Men are so easy.
Chapter Six
“I can’t believe how great this place looks.” Judy spread her arms in the middle of the living room of Zach and Karen’s home and spun in a circle. “I love the high ceilings, the wainscoting . . . even the windows that had to be a pain to replicate.”
Karen ran a hand along the drapes framing the windows that spanned half the length of the wall. “Zach was relentless in the effort to keep as many of the original fixtures or make sure a modern fit had an old feel.” The Victorian home would have been drafty with the single-pane windows that undoubtedly came with the original structure.
“You must be happy.”
“More than you can know.”
Karen’s smile laid claim to her happiness. Meg’s shopping excursion was delayed until Judy could join them, and being a Saturday, Judy opted to help Karen out by staying at the house so she and Zach could sneak away for an overnight trip. Not that teenage kids couldn’t keep to themselves, but with the courts watching every move while they worked on getting all the proper licenses to get The Village running full bore, Karen didn’t want to take any chances.
Zach walked into the room with a small bag in his hand. “There you are.”
Karen slid into his embrace and accepted the kiss he laid on her cheek. “You ready?”
Zach winked. “I pack light.”
“Which means
K. Sterling
Jacquie Rogers
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley
Shiloh Walker
Elizabeth Moynihan
Mary Balogh
Tara Fox Hall
Jonathan Maberry
Jane Hunt
James Kakalios