Not really. After all, how could she criticize him for acting right in line with the way he’d warned her. He didn’t want kids, didn’t want to be tied to one woman, or tied down in Texas. So what did she expect?
Still, she came into work resolved on the fourth day. This was the day. It was time. She was going to confront him, get everything out in the open, make sure they each knew where they stood. She’d pumped herself up. She was ready to make him deal with the situation.
Sitting down at her desk, she was a model of fierce determination, drumming her fingers on the heavy wood and waiting for him to show his face.
And then she heard the laughter in the hallway. Turning, she beheld the spectacle of Mitch being escorted into the office suite by a bevy of the building’s most attractive young women, all seemingly in a party mood. They giggled and called out teasing suggestions as they left him, and he looked very pleased with himself as he waved them off.
As the elevator doors closed on the last of them, he turned back to favor Darcy with a crooked grin. His tie was pulled open, as was the neck of his crisp white shirt. There were lipstick marks on his cheek and neck. His blue eyes were dancing with pure male happiness.
“Good morning,” he said.
She couldn’t respond. Something was choking her.
“Uh … sorry I’m a little late,” he added, shrugging with boyish helplessness. “Some of the girls asked me to come in early for a meeting. I didn’t realize they were planning a little surprise ‘welcome back’ party for me.”
“I see,” she managed to get out, and darned frostily, too.
But it was no use pretending. All her confidence was draining away, as though someone had pulled the plug on her reservoir. She didn’t need to be reminded of what an attractive man he was. Women responded to him the way flowers turned toward the sun. It was a natural phenomenon she couldn’t have stopped if she’d wanted to. She knew he had a thousand other options besides dealing with her and her twin boys.
So where was this confrontation she’d been planning? He walked on into his inner office, whistling tunelessly, and she closed her eyes. No confrontation, no settling of things. What was she trying to prove, anyway? If he wanted to be a part of her life, he would have said so by now. If he had any interest in the babies, he would have asked about them, or come by to see them. She couldn’t make him care. If it wasn’t there, it just wasn’t going to be and she might as well face it.
Hurt and anger simmered inside her, but she tamped them down. She had work to do, and luckily, a reason to get out of the office and leave all this behind for most of the day. She had a few loose ends to attend to and then she was off on a field trip—and as far away from Mitch as she could get in one business day. The trick would be to avoid him and get out of here before he knew she was going.
Working quickly, she spent the next hour clearing up the work left over from the day before. She was almost ready to leave when she heard him coming back out of his office and she started typing furiously, concentrating like a laser beam on her work. Maybe he would notice how busy she was and go on by. She could always hope.
“Ah, Darcy,” he said, almost as though he hadn’t already seen her that morning. “There you are.”
She sighed. Oh well. Looking up, she threw him a glance with the hint of a glare.
“You’re right,” she said tartly. “Here I am. Just like always. On time and with my wits about me.” She stacked a few folders as though that was a very important thing to do right now.
He stood right over her and she didn’t have to look up to know he was smiling. She knew he actually enjoyed it when she didn’t play the docile employee. Why did she keep providing him with red meat this way? She couldn’t seem to help herself.
Though they’d been working together for days now, she’d managed to avoid too much direct contact. Luckily he’d been spending a lot of time in meetings. Even luckier, the requirements of her job kept her out of the office a lot of the day. She was planning to do as much fieldwork as possible from now on.
“I’ll agree you’ve got a strange sense of humor about you,” he was saying. “But wits? We’ll see.”
He was trying to make a joke, trying to lighten the mood between them. But she didn’t want it lightened. She made another careful pile of folders.
“I’m busy,” she said without looking up.
“As usual,” he noted. “But maybe you can spare me a minute or two.”
She finally raised her head and reluctantly met his gaze. She’d been right. He was silently laughing at her.
“What can I do for you?” she asked with as much regal chill as she could manage.
“You can type up these meeting notes for me.” He waved pages of yellow paper with a lot of things scribbled on them in her direction. “Okay?”
She looked at them. Her impulse was to grab them and start typing away. After all, it wouldn’t really take all that long. But she stopped herself. She had to guard against letting him put her into a role she didn’t deserve. So instead of accommodating him, she flashed him a look and shook her head.
“No, actually, I can’t. Give them to Paula.”
“She’s out this morning.”
“She’ll be back.”
“Maybe.”
He still stood there, waving the papers at her.
She glared at him. “I guess I need to remind you again. I’m not a typist.”
He frowned as though he didn’t understand the word. “You’re not a what?”
“A typist.” She rose and opened a drawer, pulling out her little molded purse. It was obvious he thought she was being silly, but she didn’t care. She’d worked hard to achieve her position and she wasn’t going to let him discount it.
“I’m also not a secretary. I’m not even an administrative assistant. In fact, if you think about it really hard, I’m sure you’ll recall that I’m a property acquisitions agent.”
She tucked the purse under her arm and started toward the elevator, looking back at him over her shoulder.
“And I’m off to do some acquiring work right now. In fact, I’m late for a meeting with a contractor on the Pearson Development. So if you’ll excuse me …”
He was following her, looking interested. “You’re meeting with him right now?”
“Yes. I’m going out to Shadow Ridge.”
“Great. I’ll go with you.”
Stopping dead, she swung around to face him.
“What?”
He shrugged, looking remarkably handsome and civilized now that he’d wiped off the lipstick and straightened out his dark blue suit and the silver-blue tie. “Why not? I’ve got to get to know more about this business. You can show me the ropes.”
She sagged. The last thing she needed was to spend the day carting him around and feeling resentful while doing it. “But Mitch …”
He was taking no arguments. “Look, Darcy. I’m like someone who’s been dropped out of the sky here. I mean, I know I used to work here part-time when I was in high school and college, but I never paid much attention. I only wanted to get out of this town as soon as I could. On the whole, you know a lot more about this business right now than I do. If I’m going to do a decent job, I’ve got to learn. You can teach me.”
She was supposed to teach him all she knew? Hah! That would be the day. She’d come by her knowledge the hard way, and he could do the