Page 24 of Lovesick

“I’m glad. I-I’m sorry that I ducked your call. I shouldn’t have and I shouldn’t have deleted your message without listening to it.” There was a beat of silence and then she added. “Maybe I thought you’d call back if it was important.” There was another beat of silence. This wasn’t going so well. She should definitely have gone to his office to see him in person.

“I was busy with my son.” He sighed. “And I was worried and unsure about why you weren’t calling me back.” Before she had a chance to feel gratified at his shared misery, he added, “Do you like children, Louise?”

“I . . . don’t know. I don’t dislike them. I’ve never had to take care of them,. Other than a few family babies and kids at dinners and holidays, I haven’t been around them much. I get along with them okay.” She held her breath. “Is that a deal-breaker?”

“Depends on the deal,” he said, his voice change. It had a rumbling sexy quality. He was flirting with her now. She laughed with relief. It was entirely possible their night together was haunting him the same as it was haunting her.

“The deal? Fun. No complications.”

“Sounds like my kind of deal.”

“After the vote.”

“I was afraid of that. But I understand.”

“You ready for tomorrow’s meeting? The investors are making a presentation at ten a.m. So are we.”

“I’ll be there. I have a few tricks up my own sleeve.”

“I’ve seen your tricks. I can’t wait.”

He laughed and she ended the call. Her heart felt light and her mind fuzzy. Her heart pattered closer to out of control than normal. Had she passed the test for being lovesick? Was she heading for trouble by going with her gut, throwing all logic and strategy out the window for this relationship?

She tapped on some keys at her computer and found an online dictionary. She looked up smitten and lovesick and googled the symptoms. After two minutes of skimming, her heart picked up to hammering, her belly to bubbling. They may as well have included a picture of her to define the condition.

She was officially lovesick. Now what?

Now she needed to figure out how much she liked children. If it wasn’t enough, no matter what he said, she knew it was the deal-breaker.