Page 107 of More Than Pen Pals

I sleep soundly for the first night in ages and wake up ready to face the day and whatever it might bring, though I hope it’s uneventful for a change.

When I leave my apartment, I call out on a whim, “Good morning, Maud,” and pause for a moment.

“Morning, Leslie,” her muffled voice calls back from behind her door. “Have a good day.”

“You, too.”

It’s a gorgeous sunny day, and the wind brings a welcome warmth with it instead of the chill of the past few weeks. This is one of those days when I wish I lived close enough to work to walk there, but since that’s out of my budget, I convince myself the bus isn’t too bad. At least I don’t have to change buses anywhere and the ride only takes about fifteen minutes.

True to form, Wendy appears in my office soon after I arrive.

I cock an eyebrow at her. “I have a question for you.”

“What?” She plops down in the purple chair.

“Do you work for the CIA?”

She stares at me and then lets out a burst of laughter. “What would you do if I said yes?”

“Not believe you.”

“What if I said no?”

I tap my lips with my pointer finger. “Not believe you.”

She grins. “Then I guess you’ll have to wonder. What’s on your agenda for today?”

“Tons of calls to get Diego some interviews and speaking engagements. We want to start pushing the narrative about him wanting to give back to this city that has welcomed him with open arms. And you and I need to meet in the next day or two to nail down our presentation for next Wednesday.”

“Hmm.” She twists her mouth. “Diego is going to be single soon, right?”

I roll my eyes. “Wendy, you will not be dating Diego Sanchez.”

“Hey! I resent that!”

“First off, you signed an NDA before we looped you in on the foundation stuff. You can’t ask him for favors.”

“Um, excuse me? I don’t have to ask anyone for favors … if you know what I mean.” She actually winks at me. “Men come to me.”

“Whatever. Secondly,” I say with mock irritation, “are you throwing my brother out with yesterday’s garbage, like you did to Ash?”

“I didn’t throw Ash out.” She flicks her hand. “I tossed him to you.”

I raise an eyebrow at her again.

“Okay, fine,” she says. “He never wanted me, anyway.”

I study her for a minute.

“What?” she asks. “Why are you staring at me like that? It’s creeping me out.”

“If you knew he didn’t want to date you, why did you keep him at the top of your list? Why did you act like a lovesick teenager in his presence? I saw how you acted that day at lunch.”

“What would you say if I told you it’s because I knew he didn’t want to date me?”

My mouth falls open. “Wendy O’Halloran!”

She shrugs.

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