"Debra, Matt," she murmured in a voice that somehow managed to sound both smooth and a bit husky, as though she'd just slipped from between silk bedsheets. She looked at him over the top edge of her glasses. "Nice job with the Heavenly Chocolate account. Very clever, fresh and hip."

He searched for a sign of insincerity in her expression or voice, but found none. Man, she was good. "Thank you. It was a 'sweet' deal."

Her lips didn't so much as twitch. "Of course, I would have given you a run for your money if I hadn't been laid low with the flu."

"I know you would have. But I still would have been the one to bring in the account."

"I'm sure you like to tell yourself that."

He smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better."

She smiled back. "I'm sure you like to tell yourself that as well. How are you doing on the Fabulous Feline Food account?"

"Fantastic. But you know me-I'm a creative magnet. I'm like catnip."

"Hmmm. I think I feel a hairball coming up." She turned to Debra, effectively dismissing him as if she were the Queen of England and he a lowly footman. "Is Adam in?"

Debra nodded. "He's expecting you."

With a nod at both of them, she strode down the corridor, then knocked on Adam's door. Seconds later she disappeared into the office, closing the door behind her.

Matt's competitive and suspicious instincts kicked into gear. What sort of meeting were the two of them having?

"Well, now I understand," Debra said, pulling his attention back.

He looked at her, and the speculation gleaming in her eyes made him nervous. "Understand what?"

"Why you haven't picked up on any of the signals I've sent your way. Your receptors are all clogged up." Her gaze shifted pointedly toward the door where Jilly had just disappeared. "I saw those sparks between you."

An incredulous laugh escaped him. "You couldn't be more wrong."

She hiked a skeptical brow. "I know sparks when I see them."

"Well, if you saw sparks, they definitely weren't those kind of sparks. More like sparks of annoyance."

"Doesn't matter," Debra said, with a knowing gleam in her eye. "Any kind of sparks can start a fire."


* * *

At seven-thirty that evening, Jilly plopped down into a booth across from Kate Montgomery at their favorite Chinatown eatery for their standing Thursday night dinner "date," a weekly tradition since their college graduation six years earlier. Jilly slapped her hands on the Formica table and shot her best friend a broad grin. Kate worked at a law firm on Park Avenue and specialized in tax law. Jilly loved her in spite of the fact that she was gorgeous, brilliant and savvy. Indeed, clad in what Jilly suspected was most likely an Armani suit, her pale blond hair falling softly about her shoulders, Kate reminded Jilly of a young Grace Kelly.

"Looks like you had a good day," Kate remarked with an answering smile as Jilly slipped her overcoat from her shoulders.

"You have no idea. I have a chance to bring in a huge new client for Maxximum."

"Sounds exciting," Kate said, passing her a plastic-coated menu. "Who's the potential client?"

"ARC Software, to promote their new operating system that's going to be installed in all WellCraft computers." Adrenaline surged just saying the words.

Kate looked properly impressed. "That is huge. Landing something like that would cement your position at Maxximum."

"Exactly. There's a promotion, bonus and perks attached." Finally-the financial and career security she'd been striving for. "My boss, Adam, has arranged for me to spend time with ARC's CEO this weekend at-guess where?"

"Hmm… obviously somewhere good. Maui?"

Jilly laughed. "Not quite that good. Chateau Fontaine."

"Oohh. I'm green with envy. Ben and I spent a weekend there last summer and we loved it."

Jilly noted how Kate's eyes lit up when she mentioned her fiancé. "I'm hoping I'll have enough down time to squeeze in a facial."

"Oh, yeah, I'm feeling your pain," Kate said with dry humor. "I just hate it when I have to schmooze clients at Chateau Fontaine. When are you going?"

"Tomorrow after work. I won't be back until Monday night. As much as I hate to cut our 'date' short, I need to go home right after dinner. I only have tonight to prepare some sort of presentation. Doesn't give me much time to be brilliant."

"That's fine. I have some briefs to go over for a meeting tomorrow."

The waiter arrived, and they gave their selections-a no-brainer as they ordered the same thing every week.

"So, what else is going on?" Kate asked. "How's your social life?"

"You mean besides my weekly date with you? Nonexistent. What about you?" Her gaze flicked down to the two-carat sparkler adorning Kate's left hand. "Judging from that neon glow emanating from you, things are going well with Ben."

"Things are going very well with Ben. The wedding plans are progressing nicely. I highly recommend falling in love."

"Of course you do. That's because you managed to find the last decent, honest, financially secure, emotionally stable, unmarried, heterosexual man in New York."

"I found him because I was looking."

"Actually, you weren't looking at all. As I recall, you were totally focused on your career."

"I was only ninety percent focused on my career," Kate corrected, shifting into lawyer mode. "I kept ten percent of myself open to dating and searching for Mr. Right. Unlike you. You are one hundred percent work, one hundred percent of the time."

"That's not true. I've jumped on the relationship bandwagon more times than I care to remember. And I've fallen off that wagon every time-with varying degrees of injuries."

"Uh-huh. And when's the last time you took that leap?" Kate asked, moving in for the kill.

"Okay, okay, it's been a while." Yeah, like nine months, three weeks and seventeen days. "But I can sum up my lack of interest in two words: Aaron Winston."

"That was months ago. And just because your last boyfriend turned out to have major control issues, doesn't mean that would happen with your next boyfriend."

"Sure, Aaron was the last one, but what about his predecessors Carl, Mike, Kevin, Rob… the list goes on. It seems as if every man I date has control issues. It's like I'm this big magnet-" she spread her arms to demonstrate "-that only attracts men who want to smother, change and control me. Well, that type and gay men. Unfortunately neither one works for me." When Kate appeared about to argue, Jilly plunged on, "Look, I'll admit I'm paranoid, but given my track record with men can you blame me?"

Kate heaved out a sigh. "I suppose not."

"Believe me, I'd love to have the sort of relationship that you share with Ben."

"And if the right guy came along…?"

"I'd grab him like that." She snapped her fingers. "But I'm not holding my breath for Mr. Fabulous to walk by. And besides, I'm way too busy at work to spend time looking for this fictitious man."

"Excellent. That means you'll find him soon. The right guy always comes along when you're not looking."

"Sure. If you say so."

"I do. Believe me, when you least anticipate it, something unexpected will happen and-poof!-your world will be turned upside down."

Their waiter delivered their food, and having skipped lunch, Jilly immediately applied her chopsticks to her sautéed shrimp and broccoli.

"I wish there was someone at my office I could introduce you to," Kate said, filling their small, white, porcelain teacups with fragrant brew, "but they're all either married, gay, nearing retirement age or as mature as preschoolers."

"Hmmm. I thought all men fell into one of those categories."

Kate laughed. "Only ninety-nine percent. It's trying to find that elusive one percent that's the challenge. But Ben is proof that they're out there."

"Well, I don't have the time right now to devote to searching out the one remaining good apple in the barrel. Men require too much time and attention, both of which I'm currently out of." She shook her head. "Whoever said women were high maintenance was definitely a man. Where are all the guys I read about in Cosmo who like independent women who don't cling to them like vines? I certainly haven't met any." She stabbed a shrimp with the end of her chopstick. "Sure, they say that's what they want, but after a few dates, it seems as if guys develop expectations-like that I'll be at their beck and call, and that they can take charge of my life. Then they get testy if I need to cancel plans because of work."

"Amen, sister," Kate said. "The majority of men I met before Ben required nonstop ego stroking, and seemed to crave almost slavish devotion-not that they necessarily planned to return that slavish devotion, and not that I'd wanted them to, anyway-but they wanted it just the same."

"Yup. And the minute they realize my job is my top priority and I'm not willing to rearrange my entire schedule, or change my hair or fashion preferences or political beliefs or whatever to suit their every need, interest fizzles-on both sides. I don't want or need a man to take care of me, and I sure don't want a man who thinks he should be in charge all the time. I don't want the mess my mom found herself in to ever happen to me, which is why it's so scary that I almost fell into that trap with Aaron. I've worked too long and hard to make certain I can take care of myself-financially and emotionally."

"Oh, I agree," Kate said, popping a water chestnut into her mouth. "But-trust me on this-it's very nice to have someone else take care of you physically for a change."

Jilly shook her head at Kate's devilish grin. "You're killing me, you know that? Good grief, you practically have little bluebirds of happiness encircling your head like a wreath. If I didn't love you so much and weren't so happy for you, I'd have to bring you outside and slap the crap out of you for being so content and in love and sexually satisfied."

Kate laughed. "Well, maybe you'll meet the man of your dreams at Chateau Fontaine this weekend."

"Not likely. This is going to be strictly business."

"Just keep an open mind-in case Mr. Right happens to knock on your door." She raised her porcelain cup and fixed Jilly with a no-nonsense stare. "Promise?"

Jilly briefly looked toward the ceiling, but tapped the rim of her cup against Kate's. "All right, I promise. But the problem here is that because you're in love, you think everyone should be in love."

"Everyone should be," Kate agreed without hesitation. "Falling in love doesn't mean you're relinquishing all control or losing your independence." She reached out and squeezed Jilly's hand. "It doesn't have to be that way, Jilly. I used to think that, too-until I met Ben. There's a big difference between compromising your dreams and ambitions, and sharing them with someone. You'll understand when you meet the right guy."

Looking at Kate's earnest expression, at the happiness that shone from her in almost visible rays, Jilly felt a pang of something resonate through her that she couldn't put a name to. Envy? Want? Probably. Who wouldn't want the sort of love Kate had with Ben?

"Well, until the right guy toddles along, my time and energy are focused on my career. And winning the ARC account would be a major coup."

"Speaking of which," Kate said, scooping more fried rice onto her plate, "I wonder what Matt Davidson will say when you land the account."

An odd tingle, no doubt indigestion brought on by the mention of Matt's name, fluttered through Jilly. "He'll probably claim in that infuriating, superior way of his that he could have landed the account in half the time, and with a better campaign. He thinks he's 'all that' because he brought in a big account while I was out with the flu. He's the most arrogant, ambitious, annoying, cutthroat, doesn't – give – a – damn – about – anyone – but – himself person I've ever had the misfortune to meet."

Grrrr. The mere thought of Matt Davidson raised her hackles. He'd earned her enmity right from the beginning when he'd waltzed into Maxximum and promptly landed Strattford Furniture, an account she'd worked on for weeks. When she'd confronted him, demanding an explanation for stealing her account, he'd bristled, denying he'd ever do such a thing, claiming that Walter Strattford was a long-standing friend of his family and had sought him out. After Matt's story had proven true, even though she was still irritated, Jilly had attempted to offer an olive branch, but clearly Matt wanted no part of her peace offering. He seemed to have singled her out as his main competition. As Jilly wasn't about to let him usurp her hard-won position at Maxximum, the line in the sand had been drawn.