Dorie Graham - Faking It

“You think so?”

He walked her to the door. “Yes, I do. No reason not to.”

“Thanks, Thomas.” She kissed his cheek as he held the door. “Tell Maggie I’ll give her a call.”

She headed to her car, his words rolling through her mind.

I’d say this potential customer was just such a young man to test your new no-man vow.

He’d hit the mark. Maybe if she had a little more in common with her family then she wouldn’t have to close herself off from romantic relationships.

She slipped behind her wheel and sighed. Her lack of the gift was one thing she couldn’t bring herself to celebrate. It wasn’t fair. Nikki had Dylan and Tess had Mason. Even Maggie had Thomas in a way.

Erin glanced at the house. Why was it that Thomas and her mother had never hooked up romantically? The two were like intricate pieces to a puzzle. One would never be whole without the other.

Thomas loved her mother. Everyone knew that, probably even Maggie. Was that why she’d never encouraged a sexual relationship with him? Did she fear that once they became lovers she would be destined to move on and leave him behind, the way she had with all her past lovers?

The thought comforted Erin in an odd way. Was it possible she could have a Thomas in her life? She pulled out Jack’s card from her wallet.

Could Jack be her Thomas?

She pressed her hand to her face. One thing was for certain—her bottom line was suffering too much to make this decision. She’d been foolish to turn down a paying job.

Simple, clear fonts accentuated Jack’s card. Information-Security Investigator. Some kind of techie, no doubt. She stared at the number until it blurred. Would he be willing to settle for a standard interior-design job? She’d never know if she didn’t call him.

With her heart thudding, she carefully pressed his number on her cell phone. His phone rang once, twice, then a third time. His soft baritone vibrated along the line, caressing her ear. “Jack Langston here.”

“Jack, good afternoon, this is Erin McClellan. You stopped by my design studio yesterday.”

“Erin,” he said, his voice lightening. “What a happy surprise. How are you?”

Her pulse pounded in her ears and she was sixteen again, asking Dale Stone to the Sadie Hawkins dance. “I’m doing well. Did I get you at a good time?”

“Perfect, I’m on my way to a meeting.”

“Oh, what kind of meeting?” She rolled her eyes at her own evident stalling.

“The usual. Helping some corporate information-security team figure out how their system was breached. They usually have their own protocol in these cases, but they tend to miss things. That’s when they call me.”

She bit her lip. “Oh, that must be really interesting.”

“I enjoy it. Keeps me busy.”

She nodded, at a loss as to how to continue. She was an idiot for calling.

“So not that I’m complaining, but I’m sure you have a reason for this call.”

“Yes, of course.” Her face warmed. “I just…I was thinking I may have been…” She inhaled a deep breath, then took the plunge. “My schedule has cleared some and I was wondering if you still needed a designer?”

A long silence hummed across the phone. She frowned. “Jack?”

“Hello, Erin? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, I hear you.”

“Sorry, I lost you for a minute.”

“Oh, I was saying that my schedule has cleared—”

“Yes, I heard that. That’s great news. I would love it if you could work me in.”

“Great.” She let out a shaky breath.

“I respect your feelings in that you favor interior design over feng shui and I think we can work something out.”

“I’m sure we can.”

“How about this? We’ll start with a more traditional theme, one in keeping with your interior-design methods, but you’ll work in the feng shui as you see fit. Surely that can be done, can’t it?”

Her stomach tightened. “I suppose it could.”

“My guess is that the two would complement each other.”

She pursed her lips. “They’re really two different philosophies.”

“Which is what makes you such a unique choice. I can’t imagine where else I could find a designer who is also first in the fine art of feng shui.”

“Not everyone has the same appreciation for it. I always felt it was important to strengthen my training with the more well-known aspects of interior design.”

“And it looks like I’m to benefit. I’ll have the best of both worlds.”

“I wouldn’t claim to be the best, Jack, but I will give you my best effort.”

“Which is all it takes to be the best.”

She sat a moment in silence. Had she let him talk her into giving him a feng shui consultation? “I’ll e-mail you the standard contract.”

“That would be really great, Erin. I can’t tell you how excited I am that you’ve agreed to take me on as a client.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Great,” he said. “Why don’t you come by my condo, say around seven?”

“Tonight?”

“Yes, is that okay? I’m anxious to get started.”

She paused for a few seconds, assessing. “I’ll be there.”

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