The Gift of Love by Peggy Bird Page B

don’t know
Peter Pan
as well as I do. I’ll find you after my meeting. I promise.”
    She walked back down the hall to the conference room where her boss waited, feeling quite sure the young blond god was watching her every step. Hell, yes, she’d find him after the meeting. She had to find out if he was sincere or if he was only trying not to offend Marius. God knows, she hoped he was for real. She hadn’t met anyone as attractive as this man in a long, long time. It would be a shame if he were only apologizing because of a business connection.
    • • •
    Taylor sat at his desk, a box of office supplies in front of him, which he was supposed to be stashing in his new cherry wood desk. Instead, he was looking up at what felt like ten second intervals to see if Isabella had appeared at the door of his office. Jesus, Nate was right. He never behaved like this. What the hell was he doing? What happened to the plan to swear off women for the foreseeable future? Or at least until he figured out what kind of woman he wanted to fit into his life.
    No, here he was mooning around like a lovesick teenager with his first crush. Over a woman he knew nothing about other than her grandparents came from Cuba and they had a friend in common. Oh, and she was beautiful. The worst part was, in spite of knowing nothing about her to assure him she’d fit into his plan, he didn’t care. He knew he had to convince her to go out with him.
    The next hour was probably the most unproductive of Taylor’s entire career. He kept looking out at the conference room where Isabella was meeting with Nate and the blond, checking the time on his computer or listening for her voice coming down the hall. So busy was he with those activities, all he got accomplished was to figure out where he wanted to keep paperclips and rubber bands. Oh, and he set the password on his new laptop.
    Finally he heard Nate’s voice out in the hall saying, “Great. I think I have a clear idea what you’re looking for, and I know we can deliver something you’ll find useful.”
    A woman’s voice, the blond he was sure, said, “I loved the ideas you talked about. How soon do you think you’ll have something for me ... for us ... to look at?”
    “Maybe in a week, ten days, if that time frame works for you.”
    “More than works.” Her laugh didn’t have much humor in it. “At the rate we’re progressing on this project, you could probably take ten weeks and we’d be okay.”
    Nate said, “Maybe we can give you some help with the problems you described, too. Let me give it some thought and see what I can come up with.”
    “If you can give me some advice on how to get a project unstuck, I’ll be your fan for life.”
    Even Taylor could hear the smile in Nate’s voice. “If that’s the reward, I’ll work on your stuck project problem first. I can always use another fan.”
    For God’s sake, Nate,
Taylor thought,
quit flirting and walk them to the reception area so I can have a chance to talk to Isabella.
    But just as he was about to go into the hall, the trio walked past him. Nate and the blonde kept walking, seeming not to miss the third member of the group who had stopped and was standing at the door of his office, smiling at him.
    “How’d your meeting go?” Taylor asked.
    She took two steps into his office. “Really well. Nate had some amazing ideas.”
    “He’s a marketing genius.”
    “Easy to understand.”
    The ensuing silence was broken when both of them started saying, “I was wondering ...”
    Taylor waved his hand as if encouraging her to speak ahead of him. “Ladies first.”
    “I was wondering ... maybe we could, I don’t know, have coffee or something.”
    He glanced at the clock on his computer and groaned. “I’d love to. But I have a client meeting in ten minutes.”
    “Oh. Well, maybe another time.”
    He was happier than he should have been at the disappointment in her voice. “But I don’t know where to reach you,