Allison Leigh - Beyond Business - Falling for the Boss / Her Best-Kept Secret / Mergers & Matrimony

“Fine by me.”

“But I want to go on record as saying I don’t think you should hire Lenny Doss.”

He shrugged. “Then put me on record as saying I still disagree with you on that one.”

Big surprise. “Evan, please think about this seriously. The guy is a huge millstone. Obviously Megachannel Network didn’t think he was worth the risk, because they let him go.”

“I know that,” he conceded.

“If you put him on the schedule, and he screws up—as he’s bound to—it’s not just Hanson, it’s you, too. You’re going to look like a fool. Your reputation will be shot.”

He gave a single spike of a laugh. “You can do better than that, Mer. You know I don’t care about my reputation.”

His use of the old nickname disconcerted her. “Maybe you should.”

“Listen,” he went on, leaning slightly toward her. “I hear what you’re saying, and I promise I took it into consideration before I ever approached Doss. But I really do believe he’s learned his lesson. If I thought, as you do, that he was going to be a problem, I wouldn’t be trying to hire him. Honestly. Besides, we have a six-second delay in place, too. If he says anything objectionable, it won’t make it on air.”

“You hope.”

“I know.” He was always good at persuading her away from her better judgment. “Trust me.”

Luckily for Meredith, her spine had gotten a lot stronger in the years since she’d last seen him. “You haven’t signed him yet?”

He shook his head. “It’s just a matter of time. I’ll have an answer in a few days. A week at the most.”

“And are you looking into other options in the meantime?’

“Of course.”

She nodded, thinking that bought her a little bit of time at least. Now she just needed to get away from this conversation—she needed to get away from Evan —so she could pull herself together and figure out a way to solve this problem she found herself swimming in. “Then let’s revisit this when you have a better idea of who you’re bringing into the company. Once you’ve hired the talent and set up the schedule, we’ll come up with a plan to give you the best possible visibility.”

He narrowed his brown eyes slightly and looked at her. “It isn’t like you to drop something like this so quickly,” he said, his voice tinged with suspicion.

“Maybe it’s not like the girl you once knew,” she corrected, though he was right. “But you don’t know me anymore, Evan.”

“So you keep saying.”

She sighed. “Look, there’s no point in spending the afternoon arguing with you when it’s obvious neither one of us is going to back down.”

He nodded his agreement.

“And I’ve got more important things to think about than whether or not you’re foolish enough to hire Lenny Doss.” She opened her purse, took her wallet out and dropped a bill on the table. “If you’ll excuse me now, I’m going back to work.” She started to slide out of the booth, not an easy thing to do gracefully, especially when she’d just taken that parting shot.

He looked at the money, then back at her. “I’ll pay for lunch, Meredith.”

She shook her head. “No need.” She stood up and straightened her suit, hoping the gesture would magically bring back the objectivity she seemed to have lost. “Listen, I’m really sorry to have to cut this short, but, like I said, we’ll revisit this later.” She hoped to God she wouldn’t really have to discuss this, or anything else, with him again. “Once you know more about who you’re hiring.”

“I know who I’m hiring.”

“We’ll see.”

He nodded. “I guess I’ll see you around the water cooler.”

The old joke, “Not if I see you first,” occurred to her, but it wasn’t true. The thing that was going to be most difficult about working with Evan was going to be the irresistible urge to be around him.

That was why she had to keep as much distance as she possibly could, starting now.

Meredith stepped out into the hot July sun. Chicago’s streets and sidewalks were baking and so was she, but it had less to do with the weather and more to do with being so close to Evan Hanson again.

She’d only stopped a moment to catch her breath when the door opened and he came out behind her. “Oh, good, you’re still here,” he said.

She whirled to face him. “Evan! Yes, I was just heading back to the office.”

He looked her over for a moment then said, simply, “Meredith.”

She swallowed. “Yes?”

“Things are a little tense between us.”

No sense in being coy about it. “Yes, they are.”

“Are you sure you can do this?”

She didn’t have to ask what he meant. “Of course. Are you sure you can?”

He shrugged. “No problem.”

“Good. Why should a little ancient history get in the way of business?” She took a long, deep breath and let it out. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today—or any other time, to be perfectly honest with you—and it threw me for a loop.” He would never know just how much. “That’s all.”

“It was a shock for me, too,” Evan said. His eyes held a myriad of emotions. “But a good one.”

Was he suddenly going sentimental on her? Impossible. She gave a half shrug and nodded. “Then let’s have an understanding that from this point on, this is strictly business. Our past, such as it is, has nothing to do with the way we conduct our business. Deal?” She held out her hand.

He took it, sending a surprising tingle up her arm. “Deal.” His voice was smooth and low, a man’s voice now, yet still horribly familiar. She wondered if she would be able to keep her thoughts of him on a business level.

They held hands for just a fraction of a second longer than they both knew was appropriate. When Evan let go, Meredith’s hand felt suddenly cold.

He looked as if he was about to say something but just then his cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and glanced at the caller ID. “Damn.” He looked at her apologetically. “I’ve got to take this. Can I get you a cab?”

“No, no. I’m fine. Go back in and take your call.”

He flipped his phone open and said to the caller, “Hang on, I’ll be right with you,” then looked at Meredith. “You’re sure? About … everything.”

“You bet.”

“Okay, I’ll be talking to you soon.”

“Absolutely.”

“Great.” He looked at her for a moment. “This will work out just fine.” Evan turned to leave. Watching his faded jean-clad form walking away from her, noticing the way his loose-fitting cotton shirt lay across his muscular back and shoulders, Meredith could have sworn she heard him add, “I hope.”

The usually short walk back to the office seemed to take forever. With every step the heat got more intense, along with her conflicted feelings.

When she finally got to the building, the air-conditioning hit her like a slap in the face, and she told herself she had to regroup for a moment then make some tough decisions.

She went back to her office. Fortunately David wasn’t there—he and his wife, Nina, were taking the kids to the Whistle Stop Circus—so she was alone. Completely alone. She sat down at her desk, a blanket of silence enveloping her like a warm fleece throw.

For a few minutes she couldn’t move, couldn’t think. All she could do was breathe deeply and try to still her pounding heart. Her eyes burned, but no tears would come, no release.

Just an empty silence.

How had a love that had once been so strong and so comfortable turned into the awkward exchange that had just taken place? It was as if she and Evan were two completely different people now. Strangers.