LITMIR.BIZ

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reminded her drily, “That is, if you pass your two-week review.”

      She brushed a curl of red hair back over her shoulder. “You know I will. Already, after one week, you can’t function without me. And Johnny knows I love my new job. He would never ask me to quit.”

      “Johnny sounds like a real prize,” he remarked with absolutely no inflection.

      “Oh, he is, he is.”

      “In fact, he almost sounds too good to be true.”

      She didn’t miss a beat. “He does, doesn’t he? But he is very real. A man of flesh and blood, of—”

      “Zoe?”

      “Hmm?”

      “Don’t overplay it.” He gave her one of those looks, both patient and all-knowing. Was he on to her little deception—already, when she’d barely begun it?

      Surely not.

      She smiled at him, a sweet smile. Angelic, even.

      “All right, Dax. I’ll do my best to keep my unbounded, ecstatic happiness to myself.”

      “Excellent. We need to prep for the meeting.”

      “The caterers from the bakery should be here by nine-thirty.”

      “Good. Give me ten minutes to pull myself together. We’ll do a quick once-over of what has to be covered before we go down.”

      “I’m ready.”

      He shook his head. “Are you always so eager on a Monday morning?”

      She beamed. “I’m young, I’m in love and I’ve got a great job.”

      “Ugh.” He put his dark glasses back on. “That does it. I absolutely forbid you to smile again until at least 11 a.m.”

      “I live to serve.” She mugged an exaggerated frown.

      “There. That’s more like it.”

      During the first three days of that week, Zoe made up a lot of stuff about Johnny—most of it on the spot when someone would ask her a question about him and she would have to produce an answer. Later, at home alone in the evening, she would open her “Johnny” file and add in whatever new information she’d fabricated about the new love of her life. It worked out well. She made up stuff and then she made sure she remembered what she’d said.

      Johnny, as it turned out, was allergic to strawberries. His last name was Schofield—of the Mendocino Scho-fields. He traveled a lot, taking care of various “family interests.” He loved long walks on the beach and quiet nights at home and he was an accomplished horseman.

      He had moss-green eyes and dark gold hair that Zoe loved to run her fingers through. He was tender and loving, a good listener. He truly was the perfect man.

      Well, except for the fact that he didn’t exist.

      Wednesday afternoon, as they were going over Dax’s travel checklist for the last time, Zoe caught him yet again looking at her legs. She went right on with her rundown of his itinerary. There was no law that said he couldn’t look.

      She felt much more relaxed around him now. More confident in her ability to resist his considerable charm and powerful sex appeal. Johnny, as it turned out, had been just what she needed to help her keep her priorities in order.

      Her big fake engagement diamond glittered at her, reminding her that she knew what she wanted and she would not be distracted from what mattered in her life. She smiled a soft, contented smile. She was keeping this job and she was going to be the best editorial assistant there was. Eventually, she might move on to become an editor in her own right.

      Or, if Dax was willing to pay her enough to continue as his assistant, she would consider a new title of Executive Secretary to the Editor-in-Chief. And the fat paycheck that went with it.

      She was going to go far at Great Escapes. But all in good time.

      Thursday, with Dax on his way to Australia, she dug into the slush pile. She wanted to get caught up on the unagented submissions, get them logged and categorized by the time he returned.

      She liked reading slush. She found she could pick out the stories with potential. Those she flagged so Dax would be sure to give them a more careful look.

      Reading slush also helped her to get ideas of her own. It inspired her to think in terms of what kinds of stories and features she might contribute to Great Escapes. It never hurt to plan ahead, to start preparing for the day when coming up with a story might become part of her job.

      Sunday, the Fourth of July, she went out to the ranch again. She got there at eleven in the morning and stayed for the fireworks after dark. She had a great time, enjoyed the meal and the family conversation, and didn’t once want to burst into tears because of some thoughtless remark her dad had made.

      Monday at noon, she slipped off the fake diamond she’d put on that morning and met her sister Abilene for lunch at the Riverwalk. They split a turkey and mozzarella panini and Zoe talked about how much she loved her new job, while Abilene tried hard to stay upbeat.

      Back in January, Abilene had won an important fellowship to co-design a children’s center in collaboration with a certain world-famous architect. Now, months later, the project was on hold for some reason that was unclear to Abilene.

      At least she’d managed to get some temporary work, thanks to Javier Cabrera. Javier owned Cabrera Construction and had been kind enough to take Abilene under his wing, hiring her to do some drafting for him and also to help him out at the construction sites of a couple of houses he was building.

      Javier’s relationship to the Bravo family was complicated, to say the least. But Abilene didn’t seem to care about the family issues. She really liked Javier and appreciated that he’d put her on his payroll until the fellowship came through.

      “If it ever does,” Abilene said with a heavy sigh. “By now, I’m beginning to wonder. And I am beyond frustrated with the whole situation.”

      They agreed it was pretty ironic, actually. Always in the past, Abilene was the one who knew what she wanted from life and stayed happy and focused, working toward her goals. Now, Zoe was the one doing work that she loved. And Abilene was feeling powerless, trying to decide what she ought to do now: start looking for fulltime work. Or keep waiting in hopes that the fellowship would finally come through.

      Dax returned Thursday morning. He called Zoe in first thing and they had a two-hour huddle, catching up, organizing priorities for the next couple of days.

      When she stood to return to her desk, he said, “It’s good to be back, Zoe. I missed you. Lulu doesn’t read my mind anywhere near as well as you do.”

      It was a huge compliment. She clutched her laptop to her chest and tried not to look as dewy-eyed and thrilled as she felt. “Good. It was always my plan to become indispensable.”

      “And I’m beginning to believe your plan is working.” They shared a long look—too long. He blinked first. “So, how’s it going with Johnny?”

      She almost asked, Who? But by some minor miracle, she caught herself in time. “He’s … wonderful. In, uh, New York for a couple days. Left this morning, as a matter of fact. Some Wall Street deal, I think.”

      “Ah.”

      They looked at each other some more.

      Get a grip, Zoe. Get it firm and get it now. “Well, okay, then. I’ll just … go on back to my desk.”

      He nodded and reached for the phone. Twenty minutes later, he was on his way to a meeting. And another after that. The meetings went on until two.

      At two-thirty, he went to work finishing the Spotlight on the Australian trip, locking himself in his office, only accepting calls if something absolutely couldn’t wait. He stayed until after seven, and she stayed,

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