had been a dire complaint from the building’s management that had brought him to the art studio this morning in the first place, he didn’t know why he hadn’t fired Lili on the spot when he’d discovered that flier. There was a clause in his lease that stated Today’s World’s rental agreement could be canceled if an employee undertook any activity that could be construed as defaming management. Maybe it had been the scent of her perfume, or perhaps her quaint French accent that had distracted him. Either way, he was beginning to feel as if he’d been seeing Lili for the first time. And he had to admit he liked what he saw—a mixture of an old-fashioned woman and a tantalizing modern one.
Too bad she was off-limits.
The way Riverview’s manager had put it, one-half of the business owners were in favor of closing the center. Another third were for keeping it open, and the rest appeared to be undecided. Lili obviously was out to get that minority on her side, and the process was turning Riverview’s tenants into warring camps.
All things considered, he was actually proud of the way he’d kept his cool with Lili instead of firing her.
LILI HEADED STRAIGHT for a heart-to-heart with her close friends April Morgan Sullivan, one of the magazine’s editors, and Rita Rosales Callahan, the magazine’s research librarian, who had just returned from her honeymoon. Confessing her undercover activities and her disastrous meeting with Tom Eldridge might not be wise, Lili realized, but if she couldn’t ask her two closest friends for advice, whom else could she appeal to?
Lili found the two women at the watercooler.
“No way!” Rita said when Lili finished telling the story of how Tom had caught her planning another flier and sketching his likeness!
Rita’s dark eyes lit up with interest. “I know I advised you to try to get Tom’s attention, but that sure was one heck of a way to go about it! What happened after he caught you?”
Lili shivered as she mentally revisited the scene in the art studio. “For a minute I thought he was angry enough about the flier to fire me. Instead, when he noticed the sketch of him I was making, something about him seemed to change.”
Rita grinned. “What did he say?”
“Not much,” Lili confessed, “although I knew he was still upset. For that matter, so was I.” She frowned. “Until today, whenever he visited the studio, I was sure he was trying to satisfy his artistic side.”
“Tom, an artist? No way,” Rita scoffed. “All the man seems interested in is the way the magazine’s circulation is going through the roof after he published those rules of Lucas’s.”
Rita was right, Lili thought. Not that she blamed Tom. Lucas Sullivan was a sociologist and Tom’s long-time friend. After his six recommendations to guarantee a happy marriage—Sullivan’s Rules—were published in Today’s World, the magazine sold more copies than in its entire history. But there had been an even more delightful result as well—Lucas had fallen in love and married Lili’s friend April, his editor.
“I would love to have seen the expression on his face when he caught you working on another one of those fliers,” April said.
“He didn’t look happy. He warned me to stop, but not before he practically took the piece of charcoal out of my hand and filled in the eyebrows on my sketch.”
“Get outta here!” Rita exclaimed. “I didn’t think the man had a sense of humor. But if you really are interested in him, I hope you took the time to talk about something besides work.”
“No.” Lili doubted Tom had been interested in a personal conversation. “I’m afraid it was all business.”
Rita tossed her empty paper cup into a wastebasket. “All this time I thought you wanted him to notice you…to get to know you.”
“Well, he did notice me, but not in the way I would have wished,” Lili admitted.
Rita threw up her hands. “I can’t believe you wasted such a great opportunity to get personal. Now, if it had been me and I hadn’t already met my Colby, I would have…” She stopped and grinned happily. “What happened then?”
“Not much. He told me I should stick to business during working hours.”
“Well, I suppose any conversation is a start. Although I think you could at least have cracked a joke or two about having been caught.”
“A joke?” Lili said doubtfully. “Mr. Eldridge is always so serious, I’m not sure he has a sense of humor.”
“Sure he does.” April broke in with a laugh. “He managed to bring Lucas and me together when I was Lucas’s editor. Considering the way Lucas and I disagreed about those rules of his, only Tom could have thought the two of us belonged together.”
Rita sniffed. “From what I’ve seen, Tom’s a man without a romantic bone in his body. Just what is it that attracts you to him anyway, Lili?”
“Well, to begin with, his eyes.” Lili smiled as she also remembered Tom’s deep, husky voice—even if he had been telling her off. “I know neither of you thinks Mr. Eldridge is sexy, but I do.”
“Ha!” Rita scoffed. “Don’t get me wrong, Lili. I’m the first to respect Tom for the way he’s brought the magazine’s circulation around. But if the man’s sexy, then I’m the tooth fairy.”
April waved her hand in warning as other members of the staff began to drift back from lunch. “Don’t worry, Lili. Knowing how decent a man Tom really is, I’m convinced he won’t stay angry with you for long. If you want us to help, I’m sure we can figure out a way to keep the center open without causing a riot.”
“I agree,” Rita said airily. “I might need to use the center myself someday.”
Lili gaped at her. “You are expecting a baby already?”
Unabashed, Rita grinned. “You might say I’m working on it.” She turned to April. “What about you?”
April laughed and shook her head. “Not for a while. Lucas and I are busy researching a new slant on his old study about the mating game.”
“It’s about time,” Rita said. “Anyone who believes in his rules about the subservient way a woman ought to behave toward a man in the twenty-first century should have their head examined. As for you, Lili, I actually think Tom has more ‘Sullivan’ traits in him than most men do. Maybe what he needs is someone like you to show him what women really want.”
“Just look at Colby and you, Rita,” April teased. “The poor man had to get himself shot before he realized he loves you just the way you are—the way you’ve been ever since you were kids back in Texas. Still—” April winked at Lili “—maybe it’s too much to expect you to take Rita’s advice about Tom.”
“Sheesh,” Rita grumbled. “I didn’t tell her to…well, not exactly. I just told her to do something to try to get Tom’s attention.”
“Yeah, I remember that conversation,” April said dryly. “But it’s what you suggested Lili do that was the problem. No matter how you put it, your advice boiled down to sex, sex and more sex!”
Instead of denying April’s accusation, Rita looked pleased with herself.
