Colby hoisted the lettuce, his gaze speculative. “You said you took a leave of absence from that job of yours because you didn’t get the promotion you expected.“
“That’s right. I was going to resign outright, but Aaron convinced me to take some time off and think things over.
He said I’d been working too hard for too many years.“
“You never mentioned this Aaron Crown before.“
“Didn’t I?“
“No, Diana, you didn’t. Stop playing games with me. I read the first couple of paragraphs of that letter out there in the hall. Crown is practically begging you to come back to work for him. Are you sure he isn’t more than just your boss?“
Diana sat down in a kitchen chair and put her feet up on the chair across from her. She sipped her wine, patted Specter on the head and thought about Aaron Crown.
Good-looking in a corporate kind of way, well-dressed in a corporate kind of way, congenial in a corporate kind of way, Aaron Crown should have been able to go very far in the corporate empire of Carruthers and Yale. And he certainly had risen fast enough when he had Diana Prentice around to make him look good. It would be interesting to see how well he did on his own.
“No,“ she said quietly. “Aaron has never been anything more than just my boss.“
There was silence for a long moment as Colby tore lettuce. “I’m beginning to realize something,“ he said finally.
“What?“
“There’s a lot I don’t know about you.“
Diana smiled into her wineglass. “You mean now that you’ve had your wicked way with me, you’re finally getting curious about me?“
“First things first, I always say. I’m very good at establishing priorities and believe me, making love with you was number one on my list. Where do you keep the olive oil and vinegar?“
“Second cupboard on the right.“
When Colby opened the wrong door, Specter came to attention and produced a warning growl.
“What the hell’s the matter with him now?“ Colby demanded.
“You’ve just opened the cupboard where I keep his dog food. Maybe he doesn’t trust you around his food.“
“Maybe he shouldn’t trust me. We’re enemies.“ Colby smiled slightly and closed the cupboard door. “The only thing I care about is whether or not you trust me. Do you, Diana?“
She sipped her wine and studied him. “I still don’t know you very well.“
“You’re trying to sidestep the issue.“ He leaned back against the tiled counter and picked up the glass of wine she’
d poured for him.
Diana took a deep breath. “I must trust you on some level, or I wouldn’t have spent the afternoon doing what I did with you.“
Colby nodded in satisfaction. “Yeah, that’s the way I figured it, too.“ He turned back to the lettuce. “Did I ever tell you I make the world’s best Caesar salad?“
“No, I don’t believe you ever mentioned it.“
“Wait until you’ve tasted it.“
“Where did you learn to cook?“ Diana asked curiously.
“From books. I had a kid to raise, remember? I decided I owed Brandon something besides frozen dinners and pizza, although he would have been just as happy with that level of cooking. I learned a lot of things about raising kids from books. I also found out the books aren’t always right.“
“No, I don’t imagine they are. Did you want a child, Colby?“
“Not at the age of nineteen, I didn’t,“ he said with an ironic twist of his mouth. “But I didn’t have much choice in the matter. One fine day Brandon arrived and that settled it. There wasn’t time to worry about whether or not I wanted a kid. I had one. What about you?“
The intimate question surprised her. Colby didn’t ask such questions. Diana stared into her wine. She had wanted him to be curious about her, but not on this particular subject. She was not prepared to give him a full and complete answer, so she hedged with a portion of the truth. “I used to think about it sometimes. But somehow the right time and the right man never came together.“
“Never?“
“Well, there was a man once, back when I was just starting my career. I was about twenty-five. I thought perhaps he might be the one. Things were very good for a while. But it turned out that he’d been on the rebound when he came into my life. When his ex-lover showed up, he realized that she was the one he really wanted.“
“He walked out on you?“
“I’ve always been extremely grateful the ex-lover showed up before the wedding instead of after it,“ Diana said dryly. “At any rate, after that I quit thinking about a family and concentrated on building my career. Now I’m thirty-four and I’m content with what I have.“
“You don’t wonder what you missed?“
“Not really. Not often. I’ve built a full life based on a successful career, good friends and a variety of interests. I don’t think I would have made a really terrific mother, anyway,“ she added with an attempt at lightening the unexpectedly tense atmosphere. “I’ve never been overwhelmed by the cuteness of kids and the thought of trying to get a child through the teenage years would traumatize me,“
“It can be rough, all right. You get through it by doing what has to be done. But now that I’m a qualified expert, I’m more than happy to retire from the field. Raising kids is a job for starry-eyed people in their twenties who don’t know what they’re getting into.“
“That I can believe.“ She stood up. “After thirty, you’re old enough to be able to see what an undertaking it really is. At thirty-four, I’d be absolutely horrified at the prospect of getting pregnant.“
Colby glanced at her with sudden understanding. “It would throw your whole carefully structured life into chaos, wouldn’t it? It would change everything for you.“
“Yes, frankly, it would,“ she shot back, miffed by his tone. “You sound as if you think it might be a good thing for me to have everything changed in my life.“
Colby sliced a blood-red tomato into small chunks. “Yeah,“ he said. “Having a kid would definitely change everything for you.“
“Well, that’s one thing I don’t have to worry about, do I?“ she said very firmly.
“No,“ he agreed. “That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about. But maybe there are a few other, less drastic changes you could make in your life.“