by Kaylea Cross
Janet shook her head. “I didn’t do it on my own.”
“Yes, you did. But then I guess you do have a point. If I hadn’t dragged you into Bostoff Securities in the first place you would have never had to deal with the mess that was going on there. And there I was, thinking that I had done you a great favor, while it was you who saved me.”
All this praise made Janet feel uncomfortable. In the light of recent developments, she did not really feel like a hero. Janet frowned. What was the use of hiding the truth? Muller’s exoneration would become public soon enough. She might as well tell Lisa now.
“What’s wrong?” Lisa asked.
“The case against Muller has been closed due to insufficient evidence.”
“What?”
Patiently, Janet recounted everything that had happened at work since Alex became her boss.
“The Alex Kingsley?” Lisa asked.
Janet bit her lip. “There is only one, as far as I know.”
“This reeks of foul play. You’ve got to figure out who is behind all of this.”
“That’s what Dennis is saying, but I just don’t know. Alex must have the backing of some really powerful men, and I just don’t think that Dennis and I will be able to bring them down.”
“You’re not going to give up without a fight, are you? You can’t let Alex repeat what he did to you at the DA’s office. You’ve got to stand up to him.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
“Sure you can. You’ve always been the one talking about justice and fairness. I used to make fun of you for that, but now I know that you were right. You have to make things right—if not for yourself, then for Jon and me.”
Janet lowered her eyes. She had spent the majority of her career chasing after the bad guys. Granted, her chasing did not involve any actual running or gunfights. Her job was mostly done behind the desk, raking through rows of data. But the crooks she was after could do just as much damage as those with guns, like the Ponzi scheme crooks who had stripped her grandfather of every penny he had ever earned, sending him into fatal cardiac arrest. “Muller will not get away with it, not if I can help it.”
“Good. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, can you believe that he had the nerve to RSVP for the wedding?” Lisa exclaimed.
“You mean you invited him in the first place?”
“Long before the whole ordeal began, Jon had asked to include Muller on the guest list. Somehow, his name was never taken off and an invitation was sent to him. Still, I can’t believe that he actually accepted.” Lisa narrowed her eyes. “But now that I think about it, it might be a blessing in disguise.”
“How?” Janet stared at her.
“Have you picked your date for the wedding?”
“I … um …,” Janet stammered. In a fit of unchecked optimism, she had selected the “plus one” option when sending her reply to Lisa’s wedding invitation. At the time, she had genuinely thought that she would have a date, and that Dennis Walker would be that date.
Lisa was too excited to pay attention to Janet’s love life. “You have to bring Dennis as your date.”
“What? Why?”
“Don’t you see? It will be an excellent opportunity to get close to Muller. Dennis will weasel the information right out of him.”
“What makes you think so?”
“Isn’t Dennis supposed to be this top notch sleuth? He certainly managed to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes when he was masquerading as an IT engineer at Bostoff Securities. David Muller should be a piece of cake. You told me that neither you nor Dennis had actually met Muller face to face, right?”
“That’s right,” Janet confirmed, none too happy with where the conversation was heading. “The Enforcement staff questioned him. We never met with him in person.”
“So it’s perfect! Ask Dennis to take you to the wedding, I’ll arrange the seating chart so that you’ll be at Muller’s table, and the rest should be a piece of cake.”
“There is just one problem. I don’t think that Dennis will agree to be my wedding date. He is seeing somebody,” Janet blurted out. Sure, she wanted to help Lisa, but the thought of asking Dennis Walker out, even for a purely professional reason, literally made her stomach cringe.
Lisa stared at Janet. “I don’t care about Dennis Walker’s social life. We’ve got to play every card in the deck, and I’m not taking no for an answer. After everything the two of you put the Bostoffs through, you owe it to them and to me to make things right.”
* * *
Janet lingered in the hallway section that led to Dennis Walker’s office. It shouldn’t be that hard to ask a man out on a date, should it? she thought. And it’s not even a date; it’s an opportunity to find out what David Muller is up to. No need to get worked up about it; just two coworkers joining forces on an undercover assignment—an undercover assignment with romantic possibilities …
Janet braced herself; she had promised Lisa to get Dennis to come. The door to Dennis’s office was half ajar. Janet was about to walk in when she heard the sound of Dennis’s voice. He was on the phone. She hesitated; she was not one to eavesdrop, but when presented with an opportunity it was hard to resist.
“Yes, baby,” Dennis’s voice, slick with suaveness, carried past the doorway. “Of course I missed you. I told you that I’ve been busy at work. Of course I want to see you. Yes, tonight would be great. My place or yours?” Dennis purred suggestively. “Of course we’ll have dinner first. Yes, Buddha Bar sounds great. I’ll make a reservation. See you soon, honey boo.”
Honey boo. Janet’s face burned. What an idiot she had been to even think about asking Dennis Walker out. In her defense, she was going to ask him out for work-related purposes, but Dennis would have surely considered her invitation a flirtation. And the truth of the matter was that it would have been.
Ducking her head in embarrassment, Janet rushed down the hall.
“Janet! How is it going?”
Startled, Janet looked up. Peter Laskin was standing a few inches away from her. If he had not called her name she would have stumbled right into him. “Peter!” Janet aimed for a smile but ended up with a scowl. “Everything is great. How are you?”
Laskin shook his head. “Come on, Janet. You can’t bullshit a bullshitter.”
Janet felt a shiver run down her spine. Could it be that Laskin had seen her eavesdropping on Dennis?
“It hasn’t been great for anyone here since Ham was let go. Oh, excuse me,” Laskin coughed, “I meant to say ‘left for early retirement.’”
Janet smiled with relief. “I couldn’t agree more. I’m just trying to stay positive, you know?”
“I know.” Laskin scratched the spot on his head that used to be bald before he got the implants. “I’m trying to hang in there as well. What’s that you got there?”
“Oh, this …” Janet glanced at Lisa’s wedding invitation that she still had in her hand. Suddenly, she had an idea. There was no way in hell she was asking Dennis Walker out, but she had no objections to asking Peter Laskin. So what if Laskin hardly ever worked the field? Two pairs of eyes would be better than one; besides, she did need a date for the wedding. “It’s funny you should ask,” Janet replied, lowering her eyes demurely. “I was just going to see you about it, actually. Would you accompany me to my friend’s wedding?”
Laskin’s eyes flashed with surprise. “Why, yes, I’d be delighted. On second thought, let me just check my schedule to make sure.” Laskin fumbled with his Blackberry. “When is it?”
“It’s on a Saturday three weeks from now.” Janet hoped that Laskin would not turn her down. Just how much mortification could a girl endure?
Laskin traced his finger along his Blackberry screen. “I’m wide open,” he confirmed. “It’ll be my pleasure, Janet.”
“Good, that’s all settled then.”
“Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to grab a drink after work this Thursday?”
“Sounds like a great idea,” J
anet stalled. “But I’ve got so much work to catch up on. I’ll let you know later in the week, all right?” Her worst fear was becoming a reality: Laskin had misunderstood her invitation as actual interest in him. To be fair, he could not very well be blamed for his reaction. Normally, when a girl asked a guy to be her date, to a wedding nonetheless, the guy would be safe to assume that the girl was at least somewhat attracted to him. But Janet’s life was anything but normal, so Laskin would just have to suck it up.
Chapter Eleven
At five thirty p.m., Janet closed the door of her office. She would have liked to go home but she was meeting her law school friend Katie Addison for drinks. Katie was also in Lisa’s wedding party, and Katie had insisted that they meet to discuss some last minute wedding details.
“Janet.” At the sound of Dennis’s voice, Janet’s finger froze halfway to the elevator button.
“Hey there, Dennis. How is it going?” Janet tried to sound as relaxed as possible, lest he suspect how upset she was at him having other love interests in his life—love interests that were not her.
“I’m fine, thanks.” Dennis scratched his forehead. “Do you want to grab a drink after work? If you could just wait a minute while I grab my jacket …”
Why don’t you ask your honey boo? Janet wanted to snap. The man’s cockiness was unbelievable. Did he really expect her never to have any plans?
“I’d love to, but I can’t. I have a previous engagement.” Janet pressed the elevator button.
“How about tomorrow then?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll have to check my schedule.”
“Oh, all right. Let me know tomorrow morning then. I found this really funky bar that I think you’d like.”
He’s already assumed that I will say yes, Janet bristled inwardly. But then she knew that she was the one to blame for Dennis’s attitude. In all the times he had asked her for a drink after work, even when the invitation was last minute, she had never refused. She had hoped that these outings would lead to something more, but they never had. As far as she was concerned, she was done with plugging the gaps in Dennis Walker’s schedule.
If only she could come up with a snappy remark, but her mind had gone blank from her hurt pride. Mercifully, the elevator doors opened and she jumped right in.
“So I’ll call you tomorrow?” Dennis poked his head in the elevator, the tone of his voice a pitch higher.
Janet merely smiled. Sometimes silence worked better than words. She had had it with Dennis Walker and his charm.
When Janet got to the bar where she was supposed to meet Katie, Katie was already seated by the bar stand with a drink in front of her. “Sorry I’m late,” Janet apologized. She was still wired up from her earlier encounter with Dennis.
“Oh, that’s okay. Swamped at work?”
“Yeah. It’s getting to be really bad.” Janet grabbed the cocktail menu. “What are you drinking?”
“A cranberry margarita.”
“I’ll have the same,” Janet said to the bartender, “with an extra shot of tequila, please.”
“What’s gotten into you?”
“Dennis Walker,” Janet blurted out before she could stop herself. Talking about Dennis Walker was probably not a good means of putting the man out of her mind, but then she really could not help herself.
“Oh, that old story. What happened?” At least Katie had the decency not to roll her eyes, but the tone of her voice produced the same effect.
Janet sighed. “Nothing happened. That’s exactly my problem. Why can’t I just forget about him?”
“The man is cute, so I can’t blame you there. He is charming, and there is definitely chemistry between the two of you. Palpable chemistry.”
“You are not helping.”
“Look, Janet, if you like the guy, just tell him so. Who knows, maybe he’s thinking the same thing? Maybe underneath his bravado, Dennis is just shy and he’s afraid to ask you if you’d like to take your relationship to the next level.”
“Really? Somehow I just don’t think that’s the problem. And we don’t have a relationship.”
“I beg to differ. In my book routinely mooning over a man and jumping at his every beck and call, abandoning all prior commitments, is a relationship. A slightly warped one, but a relationship.”
Janet sighed. There had been one occasion when Dennis had asked her for a drink after work, and she had cancelled her night out with Katie because of it. “I’ve already apologized to you like a million times, and I bought you dinner to make up for it!”
“I’m not mad at you. I was just saying it to make a point, and the point is that you never break your commitments for anyone but you did it for him. You really like the guy, so just go for him.”
“Do you think that Dennis Walker really needs any encouragement when it comes to asking a woman out?”
“Fine, maybe he doesn’t. I’ll admit that he doesn’t seem like the shy type. But maybe he just doesn’t know that you’d like him to ask you out. I mean really ask you out.”
“In that case he is either deaf, dumb, or blind. Or perhaps all three, and he’s found a really good way to hide it. But I highly doubt it.” Janet finished the rest of her drink. “At least you’ll be glad to know that I’m not jumping at his beck and call anymore.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. He wanted to grab a drink after work tonight, but I told him no. Then he asked me if I can meet him tomorrow, and I didn’t commit to anything either.”
“That’s a good way to start—give the guy the cold shoulder.”
“Oh, come on! Don’t I get a break? First you say that I jump every time he snaps his fingers, and now you’re saying I’m giving him the cold shoulder? What was I supposed to do, stand you up instead?”
“No. But you can meet him tomorrow and just flat out tell him how you feel about him. Have a couple of drinks and then just kiss the bugger. There are only two possible outcomes: either he kisses you back, takes you to his place where the two of you proceed to make wild, passionate love, and you live happily ever after; or he doesn’t and, yes, there will be some embarrassment there, but at least you’ll get him out of your system.”
“There is also a third possibility where he takes me to his place where we make passionate love for one night, and then he never calls me again. Only it will be really awkward because we will keep seeing each other at work.”
“Is that why you’re so afraid to take things further with him?”
“Maybe.” Janet shrugged. “Let’s face it: I don’t have the best track record when it comes to dating coworkers.”
“Is this about Alex again? That was over a year ago. Why can’t you just forget about him?”
“Because now I see him every day, reminding me of my failure, and I don’t want to risk repeating the same experience with Dennis.”
“At least we’ve gotten to the bottom of this. I think I should have become a shrink instead of a lawyer,” Katie concluded. “Look, Janet, I’m not a relationship expert, but I do know one thing: when you want something or someone, you’ve got to go all in. I know I’m happy that I did.”
Katie was right. For about two months she had been happily dating one of the partners at her law firm.
“How are things with Adam?” Janet asked. A handsome, young attorney in his mid-thirties, Adam Lewis was a transfer from the Washington office, and Katie had been assigned as his associate. At first, the idea of anything more than a professional relationship with her boss had seemed impossible, but then one night, when they were both working late, their mutual attraction had taken over.
“Great. Just great.” Katie’s eyes lit up. “The firm is fine with it; they reassigned me to a different partner, and we are officially a couple. He’s taking me to meet his parents next weekend. And he is going to be my date for Lisa’s wedding. I was worried that he might get spooked—you know how guys are about going to weddings—but he said that he’d love to take me.”
“Katie, th
at’s wonderful! That means he’s really serious.”
“Dennis could be serious too. All you have to do is ask him.”
“If you must know the truth, I was going to ask him to be my date for Lisa’s wedding.”
“And?”
“He is seeing someone.”
“How do you know? Did you ask him?”
“I didn’t need to. I overheard him speaking to her on the phone. He called her honey boo.”
Katie crossed her arms on her chest. “That doesn’t mean anything. Do you really expect a man like Dennis Walker to be single? So he’s dating, but that doesn’t mean it’s serious.”
“And what makes you think that he wants to get serious with me?”
“I don’t know if he does or doesn’t, but I do know that unless you go out of your comfort zone, you’ll never find out. So who’s your date for the wedding then?”
“Peter Laskin.”
“The dude you told me about, the one with the hair plugs? Since when do you have a thing for him?”
“Not everyone has been blessed with Dennis Walker’s good looks. There’s nothing wrong with improving one’s physical appearance,” Janet snapped. “Besides, attraction has got nothing to do with it. It’s more of a work assignment.”
“Lisa’s wedding is a work assignment to you? Just wait till she gets a load of this.”
“She knows. She’s the one who told me to invite Dennis in the first place and not because she was trying to get him and me together. Remember David Muller?”
“Of course.”
“As you know, he got off the hook while Jon Bostoff was made a scapegoat, and Lisa is not very happy about that.”
“So she wanted you to bring Dennis to the wedding so that he could apologize to the Bostoffs for the botched up investigation?”
“Would you just listen? Turns out Muller had accepted his invitation to the wedding.”
