“Can you blame me for wanting to take you to all my high society obligations?” He held on just a moment longer. “You’re so graceful.”
She punched him in the arm and wriggled away, sitting in the snow beside him despite the growing dampness. She hoped she wasn’t doing permanent damage to the dress. “If certain people wouldn’t insist on me wearing three-inch heels.”
“The magazine would probably take you off the society beat, wouldn’t they?” He resumed their conversation as if they weren’t sitting in a snow bank. “Conflict of interest?”
“More likely they’d want me to give them an exclusive.” She made a face. “I don’t know, Dan. I’m not sure about this.”
“Are you not sure about me or dating me?”
“I can’t honestly tell you.”
“Fair enough.” He was silent for a moment. “Come to dinner with me tomorrow. Tell your editor your personal life is off limits. If he has a problem with it, quit.”
Josie stood, brushing snow off her sleeves. “Easy for you to say. Not all of us have multi-billion dollar trust funds to fall back on.” She held out her hand. “Come on, you don’t want anybody to see you sitting in the snow.”
He accepted her help. “I want to see you again, Josie.”
She could feel herself weakening even as she helped him to his feet. “I’ll think about it.”
* * * *
Dan walked her up to her apartment, letting her unlock the door before taking her hand. “It was a good night, Josie Stewart. I hope there’ll be more of them.”
He didn’t kiss her. Josie realized she’d been waiting for it only after he smiled, gave her hand a gentle squeeze and dropped it. She wondered why she was surprised, hoping she wasn’t disappointed. “I’ll, um, call you.”
“I’ll look forward to it.” He turned toward the elevator as she stepped into her apartment.
The message light blinked a red eye at her in the semidarkness. She switched on the overhead light and hit the “play” button, turning to toss her coat onto the hall chair.
“Hi, Jo-Jo.”
She stopped and gripped the bar as if for support.
There was a long silence. “Is it snowing up there? I was thinking about when we were kids and it snowed. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, we’d have a blast, remember?”
“I remember.” She closed her eyes and leaned hard on the counter. She thought of her little brother, James, standing in the hallway of the minimum security prison in North Carolina. He was probably scrubbing up the back of his hair the same way he used to do when he was a kid.
“Anyway.” James paused. “You know where I am. Sorry I missed you.”
The call ended abruptly. Josie reached for the telephone in a reflexive action, as if she could stop him from hanging up even though the call had come a couple of hours earlier when she’d been dancing and laughing with New York’s elite. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands. She frowned, thinking about Dan’s life of excess and wondering how she could have been tempted to become a part of that life while James was stuck in prison. She shook her head and admitted to herself that she’d been tempted. Like Cinderella was tempted by a nice pair of shoes and shiny coach. It was human nature, after all, to want what others had. She felt a little ashamed of herself for falling into that trap.
Then she thought about Dan again. He’d seemed sincere about wanting to spend time with her, and if he spent time with her, maybe she could influence him to use at least a part of his fortune in a way that might help, if not James, at least some people like him.
And if she took him up on his offer, she could find out what he was up to—and maybe get a good story out of it.
* * * *
Alan opened the limousine door for Dan in front of his apartment building. “What do you think? She know anything?”
“Nothing at all.” Dan shook his head as he got out of the car. “How a woman as innocent as she is has survived in this hellhole I’ll never know. Especially as a reporter. She could be useful though.”
“How so?”
“Distraction. You know how the press is, Alan. They eat up a romance, and they’ll fall in love with Josie. If the press is caught up in how Dan Mason the philanderer is settling down with a beautiful good girl, my other dealings will attract less attention.” He paused, thinking of her smile and remembering the graceful way she moved on the dance floor. He smiled involuntarily at the memory of falling into the snowdrift with her.
Alan frowned. “You sure about this girl, boss?”
“What do you mean?”
“You sure she’s not gonna be as much of a distraction for you as she is for the press?”
Dan turned to the building. “No chance, Alan. I know what’s on the line.”
“Right.” Alan got back in the car to take it around the corner to the parking garage. “No chance at all.”
Chapter 3
Josie paused at the reception desk to check for messages. “Mondays suck.”
Cindy looked up from her own handful of pink slips with amusement. “More for some of us than others, darling.” She turned back to the gray-haired receptionist. “Thank you, Sonya.”
Josie frowned. “What does that mean?” Her voice sounded curt, even to her own ears. Usually a morning person, her late night had not agreed with her and she felt completely off kilter. Tossing and turning for an hour or more after she finally got in bed didn’t help either, but she’d had a hard time getting her mind off James and when she finally did, it was only to find herself debating Dan’s proposal, all of which left her grumpy, even with her best friend.
“Not a thing.” Cindy leaned closer. “Except if I’d been out half the night with one of New York’s most handsome eligible bachelors, I’d be a touch less irritable than you, I think.”
Josie decided to ignore this, turning instead to Sonya. “No messages, Sonya?”
“They’re on your desk.” Sonya’s eyes twinkled. “With your flowers.”
“Flowers!” Cindy pounced. “Ooh, it must have been a better night than I thought!” She grinned, elbowed Josie out of the way and raced her to her cubicle. However, even Cindy was brought up short by the size and beauty of the arrangement. “My dear, what the hell did you do to deserve that?”
“Nothing!” Josie glared at Cindy. “He shouldn’t have done this.” A momentary hope sparked. Maybe he hadn’t. Maybe it was a mistake. “A card.” She pushed past Cindy and Sonya, who had followed. “There must be a card in here somewhere…”
“On top of your messages.” Sonya pointed just as Josie’s fingers closed on the small white envelope definitely displaying her name.
“‘I hope you’ve had some time to think it over. Love, Dan.’” Cindy read over Josie’s shoulder. “What does the dear man mean?”
Josie groaned and put her head down on her desk. “Go away, Cindy. I don’t have any energy for you today.”
The phone rang. Josie jerked up as Cindy punched the flashing button and picked up the receiver. “Josie Stewart’s desk. Of course, Mr. Mason. I’ll check and see if she’s in yet.” Not bothering to put the line on hold, she held the receiver out to Josie and said loudly, “It’s for you, Josie girl.”
“Did you get the flowers?” Dan sounded concerned, but Josie noted a hint of