the computer. Paul waited a couple seconds, then left me.

I stared for a while at my computer but couldn't make

much sense of the words on the screen.

At ten-fifty, Vivian click-clacked into the office on her

expensive high heels. She carried an immense mug, the

sort you buy at the convenience store and use for refils on

fountain drinks. It looked out of place against her high-

profile suit and jewelry, but she clutched it like she'd kil

anyone who tried to take it.

"Paige." She nodded. After a second she remembered to

smile, too.

"Vivian." I didn't get up from my desk, though I did take

my hands from the keyboard. "Paul said you wanted to

meet at eleven. He's in his office. I'l be in when I'm

finished with this last file."

My smile stretched the corners of my mouth, but I didn't

feel it in my eyes. Vivian took a long, gurgling swig from

her mug and went into Paul's office without more than a

swift rap of her knuckles on the door frame to announce

her arrival. My victory was smal but mighty. She couldn't

complain I wasn't being prompt, but I'd made it clear I

wasn't going to be rushed, either.

I'm not a fan of scary movies, especialy the kind where

the girl knows there's something awful in the basement or

attic but goes in anyway, armed with only her ear-piercing

screams and a wooden spoon or something. Facing Paul's

office felt that stupid to me. I knew what they wanted to

talk about, and I knew I didn't want to discuss it.

I liked working for Paul, even if I was "only" an executive assistant. It wasn't, frankly, al I intended to be. Not

forever. But for now. Moving into another position,

working for another person didn't appeal to me even

though I knew it should, but I didn't want to work for

Vivian Darcy. I didn't like her, and I didn't think she liked

me, which made her sudden interest al the more

disturbing.

Despite al that, at 11:00 a.m. exactly I pushed away from

Despite al that, at 11:00 a.m. exactly I pushed away from

my desk and knocked on Paul's door. They were laughing,

their heads bent together, when I knocked, and they both

looked up. Paul put distance between them at once,

pushing back in his roling chair. Vivian didn't move. Her

mug rested with familiarity on the edge of Paul's desk.

I hadn't brought him coffee but he stil sipped from a venti

Starbucks cup, so I figured he was al right. I took the

chair in front of the desk but kept it back far enough that

my knees didn't come close to the wood. I crossed my

legs, watching her, not him, and she gave me a level stare

in return.

"So. Paige." Vivian's smile didn't warm me any more than

it ever had, though I thought she'd put more effort into it.

She tucked a short blond curl behind her ear with French-

tipped fingers and didn't say anything else.

I smiled, too.

Paul cleared his throat after a few seconds and leaned his

elbows on the desk. "Paige, Vivian's been working with

the marketing department to create some entry-level

positions. The idea is to get expansion going on, starting

from the ground up. They're looking to hire in-house,

from the ground up. They're looking to hire in-house,

people they feel wil be an asset to the department."

"And you feel I'd be an asset to your department?" I

watched her face carefuly as she answered.

Her gaze flicked so briefly toward Paul and back to me I

was supposed to miss it. She might not even have known

she looked at him first, that's how fast it was. But I didn't

miss it.

"Oh, yes," Vivian said. "Absolutely. Paul's spoken so winningly of you."

Seriously, what the fuck? Aside from the fact I was pretty

sure she hadn't used it correctly, who ever says

"winningly"? Except, of course, a woman who's trying to

find something flattering to say to a woman she doesn't

realy like.

And then I understood it.

Paul and Vivian were fucking. They were very good about

hiding it, more discreet than a lot of interoffice couples I'd

come across. But there it was, the truth slapped down on

the desk between al of us like a gauntlet. They were

lovers and her dislike for me had nothing to do with

lovers and her dislike for me had nothing to do with

anything as simple as my clothes or education. It was al

about my blond hair and blue eyes and the size of my tits

and ass. She thought I had her on the run.

"I haven't seen the jobs posted on the board," I said

without bursting into sudden laughter.

Vivian looked at her gigantic mug but resisted drinking

from it. "They're not going up for open applications until

after we've interviewed the people we have already

prescreened. We'd realy like you to consider an

interview."

I didn't know much about how human resources works, or

the hoops anyone's required to jump through in the name

of being politicaly correct, but that didn't sound quite right

to me. At any rate, I nodded as though it made perfect

sense. Paul smiled and looked back and forth between us.

I couldn't look at him. Not because I'd figured out Vivian

thought he and I might be having a fling but because I was

convinced they had. And it wasn't any swinging of my

moral compass toward judgment, either, but more about

the fact I didn't want to believe he had such bad taste.

"Can I ask you why you prescreened me? Aside from

Paul's recommendation." I knew my smile for him had to

be a sliver in her skin, but I didn't care. "I don't have any

background in marketing. I have a business-school degree

from Harrisburg Area Community Colege."

"There's a certain amount of on-the-job training we're

expecting to provide."

I'd spent enough time around people who couldn't stand

silence to understand how powerful it can be. I nodded

instead of speaking, even to murmur what could be

construed as consent. Vivian looked at Paul, but he and I

had already established our lack of need for speech to

communicate.

She cleared her throat to draw his attention and then

drank, at last, from her mug. "Paul has spoken so highly of

you, Paige, and your background can only help you. This

is a great opportunity."

"Could you explain why?"

Her lips parted, and she drank again instead of answering

me right away. When she put the mug down on Paul's

desk the sloshing from inside had lessened considerably.

She looked at him again with her brow furrowed. Clearly,

the fact I wasn't jumping up and down for joy to leave

behind my dreary life as a secretary for the bright, shiny

world of junior whatever-thefuck confused her.

"You'd be salaried, not hourly," she said. "And of course, there'd be more responsibility."

I kept my eyes on Paul. "I have plenty of responsibility."

We al laughed, though she didn't sound amused. She

drank again and her mug rattled with the unmistakable

sound of emptiness. She put the cup down with a final-

sounding thud.

"This would be different," she said flatly.

The men I knew were more often insensitive rather than

purposefuly cruel, obtuse rather than inattentive. Paul was

more in tune than most and, smile fading, he turned to her.

I wondered if he'd only just now figured out her real

reasons for wanting me out of his office.

The silence went on long enough to make it officialy

awkward. Then Vivian stood. "Excuse me a minute."

awkward. Then Vivian stood. "Excuse me a minute."

I was surprised she'd lasted as long as she had. My

kidneys would have been floating. Neither of us said

anything as she went into Paul's bathroom and closed the

door firmly behind her.

He turned to stare at me. "Paige."

"Let me just get something straight, Paul. This isn't even an

interview for the new position. I'm interviewing for an

interview for a job I've been preselected for, right?" I leaned forward and caught his gaze with mine.

Paul hesitated, then nodded. "Yes."

Back straight, chin lifted, I sat back in my chair and

recrossed my legs. From the bathroom I heard the sound

of running water. I kept my expression neutral, though I

had no doubt he could tel my mood even through the

steady monotone of my voice.

"Then I deserve to know exactly why I've been selected

and why I should consider it," I told him. "You can't

expect me just to jump up and down for joy because

someone's offering to take me away from al this."

Paul opened his mouth but before he could speak, I

added, "I happen to like the job I have, Paul. Very much."

"I'm glad," he said quietly, and before he could say more, Vivian came out of the bathroom.

I took petty pleasure in seeing that she'd splashed water

on her skirt and silk shirt. She'd run a damp hand through

her haircut, too, to settle it into place, and I could see the

edges of her makeup had run a little bit along her cheeks.

She didn't know I didn't want the man who wasn't even

hers, but the fact she was worried he might want me