Page 23 of Love Me Carefully
“Ms. Graham, please?” a male voice requested.
“This is Ms. Graham.” Thinking it was a prospective client she abandoned the search for her keys and snatched up a pen.
“This is Terrell Pierce.”
The sound of his name had her dropping her pen.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Pierce?”
“Oh? I’m Mr. Pierce now? Just yesterday I was Terrell.”
“What can I do for you?” she said, dismissing the pleasantries.
“You turned down my dinner invitation. So how about lunch?”
His voice was enticing, and she pinched herself in an effort to kill the fanciful feelings developing in the pit of her stomach. “That’s not possible.”
“There’s something I need your help with,” he said, hoping she’d be curious enough to ask what.
“What could you possibly need my help with?”
He smiled. “I need you to explain why I’m not your type.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m not. If you’re going to tell a man he’s not your type, the least you can do is elaborate on what your type is. Come on, you have to eat.”
“I bring my lunch.”
“Then I’ll come to your office and we can share.”
She shook her head even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “No.”
“What if I call tomorrow and ask you to breakfast?”
Leah didn’t know if she was impressed or annoyed, but either way it had her stifling a smile. “Not my type means, I don’t date men like you. Date means any breakfast, lunch or dinner when you pick me up and pay for it. Is that clear enough?”
She hadn’t hung up on him, her tone wasn’t angry. He was making progress. “What exactly are men like me? And who said I was paying? I understand you own your own company. You should be able to afford your own meal,” he said jokingly.
Leah laughed out loud then. “I can, and that’s why I eat alone.”
“See, we get along really well. We should see each other again. First impressions aren’t always accurate. And we met under stressful circumstances.”
Leah was perched on the edge of her desk now, twirling the office phone cord around one finger as she talked. “Stressful? I wasn’t stressed.”
“Well, I was. My mother’s wedding announcement hit me kind of hard. And I’m still trying to figure out if her fiancé’s on the up and up.”
She didn’t want to discuss that with him. That was his own personal hang-up, and she didn’t need to get involved. “I’m sorry to hear you’re taking her happy news badly, but that really doesn’t concern me. Now if that’s all you want—”
“Are you in a hurry or something? Did I interrupt you?”
“Actually, I’m on my way out. I have a date tonight.” She didn’t know why the information just slipped out—like he cared anyway whether she had a date or not.
“A date?”
His tone changed quickly. Gone was the joking, light-hearted exchange they were having. That had been replaced by a skeptical tone and she was instantly insulted. “Yeah, you’ve been on a date before, haven’t you?”
“Of course, I have.” He frowned into the receiver; glad she couldn’t see him.
