To ensure she wasn’t disturbed, she buzzed her secretary and asked her to hold her phone calls for the next half hour. Signing on to her computer, she typed in her password and accessed her online bank account. While she waited for the page to load, she sipped her double latte coffee. How did someone as smart and conscientious as me end up living paycheck to paycheck? she wondered, staring dubiously at the computer screen. Thanks to Earl’s proclivity for flashy cars and Giorgio Armani suits, she was thousands of dollars in debt.
A heaviness filled Dominique’s heart when she thought about her life with Earl. All of their friends and family thought they were living the good life. But after the bills were paid, there was nothing left. Earl spent money faster than she earned it, and at one point, they’d even been three months behind on their mortgage. Supporting him had sucked the life out of her, and by the time he’d finally gotten his big break, they’d already called it quits. Last she heard, he was in Europe, touring with an eighties jazz band. Dominique didn’t hate him, but every time her credit card statement arrived in the mail, she considered hiring a hit man.
She retained possession of the house after the divorce, but it was an incredible expense for one person. How much longer can I go on like this? she wondered. The stress of her financial situation had caused many sleepless nights, but Dominique was determined to dig herself out of the hole her ex-husband had put her in. That was why she was going to the First Fridays event at the Sheraton. It didn’t matter that she’d been up since 5:00 a.m. or that her legs ached. Networking was the name of the game, and if she could wrangle up five more clients for Destination Wellness, she’d be one step closer to being debt-free.
Noting the required payment due, she transferred the necessary funds from her checking account and waited for the transaction to go through. Right now, all she could afford was to pay the minimum, and at this rate, it would take years to clear the balance. Then there were the delinquent property taxes to think about. If she didn’t have to help her sisters…Dominique deleted the thought from her mind. She was the oldest, and it was up to her to keep the family together. Wasn’t that what her dad had always told her? Even after all these years, she could still hear her father’s voice in her ears. It had a rich, soothing undertone, much like Marcel Benoit’s.
Dominique felt her body flush. Why was she thinking about Marcel? It was true, though. The graduate student had one hell of a voice. It was deep and sensuous and fell across her ears with the same tenderness as a loving caress. She tried not to think about him, but despite herself, she remembered the conversation they’d had at lunch three days earlier. Dominique felt a smile coming on and settled back into her seat.
Her phone rang, startling her. To clear her mind, she expelled a breath and counted to five before picking up the phone. “Hello, Dominique King speaking. How may I be of assistance?”
“Good morning.”
At the sound of Marcel’s voice, she felt flutters in the pit of her stomach. She greeted him warmly, as if unaffected by his dreamy, smooth-as-silk voice. “Hi, Marcel. How are you?”
“Lousy.” He paused before adding, “You stood me up this morning.”
Dominique groaned. “Oh, no! I am so sorry. Our breakfast date completely slipped my mind. I had a flat tire this morning, and it threw off my whole schedule.”
“I understand. I know how slow tow truck operators are,” he said easily. “I once had to wait over two hours for my car to be hauled just a few miles away to my mechanic.”
“I didn’t call a tow truck. I changed the tire myself.”
“You changed your tire?” His tone was thick with disbelief. “You’re pulling my leg, right?”
Used to receiving this reaction from the opposite sex, Dominique reminded him that she was the oldest of three girls. “My dad never wanted any of his daughters to be at the mercy of a man, so he taught us how to fend for ourselves. I can change the oil in my car, assemble any piece of home furniture and whip anybody’s butt at a game of pool!”
His deep chuckles filled the line and alleviated Dominique’s anxiety.
“I wish you would have left a message with the information desk. Then I would have called you as soon as I got in.”
“It never occurred to me.”
“I feel so bad about this,” she confessed, drumming her fingers on her desk. “Are you free this evening? I’m attending the First Fridays event at the Sheraton, but we could meet up for drinks afterward if you’d like.”
“I already have plans.”
“Oh, okay. Do you want to have dinner on Monday?”
Marcel turned her down. “I don’t want you to rearrange your schedule on account of me. I was just calling to make sure you were okay. I got worried when you didn’t show up.”
Disappointed that she wouldn’t be seeing him again, Dominique stared absently out of her office window, wondering if there was anything else she could say to change his mind. “It was very thoughtful of you to call and check up on me,” she said, deeply touched by his concern. “I’m fine though. Forgetting our plans was just an oversight on my part.”
“Well, I better let you go. You’re at work, and I don’t want to hold you up.”
Dominique wasn’t ready to end their conversation, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say. He was reluctant to make plans with her again, and she understood why. Dating a musician had come with its fair share of disappointments, and she’d hate for Marcel to think she was unreliable. He was such a great guy. Intelligent, well-read and seriously hot, he appealed to her in every way and never failed to make her laugh.
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