Falling for the Boss (13 page)

“Even better,” Laci said, getting i
n
to her romantic scenario.  “She’ll see you and realize there’s no way she can compete with you and will give up Mr
.
Hunk and give you free reign.”

Victoria
laughed, wishing the scene would enfold in that way.  “You’re too mu
ch of a romantic to be a lawyer.  Y
ou know that, don’t you?”

Laci sighed.  “Yes.  I’m too idealistic, too old-fashioned, yeah.  I know t
he speal,” Laci said, frowning.  She flopped down on the bed
, her long, curly brown hair pooling in a large, glossy pile behind her
. 

Victoria
turned away from the mirror to look at her sister.  “What’s going on?” she asked, putting the dress on the side of the bed and taking a seat in front of Laci.

Laci shrugged.  “Nothing,” sh
e said, but wouldn’t look
Victoria
in the eye. 

Sitting down beside her sister on the bed, she looked at Laci’s long face. 
“Laci, what’s wrong?”
Victoria
repeated patiently. 

Laci forced a smile and looked up with a falsely bright smile.  “Nothing, really.”

Victoria
leaned back on her hands and watched her younger sister.  “Okay, if you won’t tell me, I’ll call mom and she’ll drag it out of you,”
Victoria
said and leaned over, reaching for the phone.

“Okay, okay,” Laci said, putting her hand over
Victoria
’s on the receiver.  “Todd broke up with me.
  No big deal, it was ending anyway.
”
  Laci covered her sadness with another bright smile, but it came across to her all-knowing, big sister as brittle and false. 

Victoria
nodded, suspecting
Laci’s was going to say that
.  “But you weren’t really into him were you?  Last time we talked, you said he was getting a little too arrogant for your tastes.”

Laci shrugged and started putting dresses back in their bags so she could return them.  “It wasn’t that we broke up.  It was the things he said while we were fighting the last time.”

“What did he say?  That you were uptight and old-fashioned?”

Laci nodded
, her smile faltering
.  “Something like that.”

Victoria
didn’t say anything else as she waited for her sister to continue. 

After a few minutes, Laci’s shoulders drooped and she ignored the last of the dresses, leaving them to drape over the furniture in
Victoria
’s room. 
“Am I really that strange?  I just don’t feel that way for him.  It seems that everyone else around me has a significant other that they can’t seem to live without.  Even you now.”

“I can live without Barry
, obviously.  I’ve been living without him for several months
.
  Even before I started this job, we lived separate lives.  It gives us something to share when we go out to dinner, something to talk about.
”

Laci’s
eyes twinkled for a moment, amused at her sister’s own ability to ignore the reality of her feelings for her boss.  “I
’m not talking about Barry.”  But before
Victoria
could argue, she went on, “I just think there needs to be something more than mild interest before two people commit their lives to one another.”

“Did Todd propose?”

Laci laughed.  “No way.  He just wanted to move in together.”

“Ah!”
Victoria
said.  She was starting to understand. 
Quietly, she said,
“So you haven’t met anyone who turns your belly to butterflies and makes you distracted enough that you can’t work or study, you
don’t
stay awake nights staring at the ceiling and wondering what he’s doing.  Is that an accurate assessment of your feelings?”

Laci raised one eyebrow at her sister.  “That’s pretty much sums it up.  I’m guessing you know that feeling since you are able to describe it so well.”

Victoria
shrugged.

“Just tell me it wasn’t Barry that generates those feelings for you,” Laci pleaded, sitting up slightly from her reclining position. 

Victoria
couldn’t hold Laci’s gaze so she stood up and picked up the dress again.  “Barry is very nice.  I don’t know what you have against him.”

“
T
he fact that he likes working more than he likes you
is one of my major issues against him.
 
You deserve a man who is chomping at the bit to get home to you.  Do you ever sense that Barry is willing to dump a case he’s working on so he can rush to meet you somewhere for a date?  Even a spur of the moment meeting?”  Laci paused to let her words sink into
Victoria
’s mind.

When
Victoria
was silent, Laci continued, “There’s also the fact that
he has stood you up on more than one o
ccasion with suspicious excuses.  I’m not going into details on that one but suffice it to say that a neighbor’s sick dog is a little sketchy.
 
I also don’t like
the way he drinks when he’s at a function with
you in a professional capacity.
  No, I
’m not particularly fond of him,” Laci said, plucking a pillow off of the top of
Victoria
’s bed and hugging it to her stomach.  “
But
I don’t dislike him
because of those reasons.
  I don’t trust him because of the afore mentioned list,” she said, her lawyer’s tone coming out.  “
If you loved him, I’d embrace him simply because he makes you happy.  The reason I don’t like him and don’t accept him as your main squeeze is
because he doesn’t create those feelings you just mentioned in you.”  Laci smiled slyly.  “I’ll bet Mr. Hunk does, though.”

Victoria
rolled her eyes
but refused to appease Laci’s curiosity
.  “We need to get going or we’ll be late for our appointment at the spa,” she said and hung her new dress up in the closet.  Grabbing Laci’s hands, she pulled her to her feet.  “And you’ll find him.  I’m sure of it.”

They spent the afternoon getting manicures, pedicures, facials and both received a massage. 
Victoria
had her hair pulled up into a French twist, held in place by small pearl pins. 

By the time Barry picked her up at seven that evening, she felt like a new woman.  The expression in Barry’s eyes when he initially saw her was gratifying. 

“Wow!  You look fantastic,” he said.  “This must be a pretty amazing shin dig for you to get all gussied up for it.”

“I’ve gotten dressed up for several of your company functions,” she said, maintaining
her
smile despite his whiny tone of voice.  “You look very handsome in your tuxedo
, by the way
,
”
she said before he could comment further about her dress. 

Gener
ally, Barry was a very nice man
. 
Unfortunately,
if he felt slighted in any way, or threatened, he became belligerent and obnoxious. 
It wasn’t a pretty picture.  And not a very good scenario for an up and coming lawyer in the
Washington
,
D.C.
circles. 
Victoria
hoped tonight wouldn’t be one of those nights.  She’d only been with
ATI
and Thomas’s team for
five
months and she still felt like she was new. 
She hoped Barry wouldn’t embarrass her during the evening.

Victoria
wanted the night to go smoothly.  If Barry started drinking, she knew he had a tendency to get ugly.  When they were almost there,
Victoria
turned to Barry, her eyes pleading.  “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but…this is a very important night for me.  I was hoping you could hold off on drinking, at least until a little later in the evening.  I have to socialize a little with my team but once that’s done, we can mingle and have a little more space.  Would you do that for me tonight?”

She could tell from the way his lips thinned that he had definitely taken her comment the wrong way.  His sarcastic tone confirmed her suspicions. 
“Ah, so you think I’m going to get drunk tonight, huh?”

“Barry, please don’t do this,” she begged, hearing the antagonistic tone bubbling up in him. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, doll.  I’m always on my best behavior.”

Victoria
wasn’t convinced.  “So you’ll hold off on drinking for a little while?”

“Li
sten, Vicky.  I can hold my alc
ohol.  Don’t worry about it.”
  He chucked her on the chin in what he probably thought was a playful gesture but it was hard enough to push
Victoria
’s face away.  She bit her tongue about the movement, not wanting to start a fight only moments before they entered the party. 

They pulled into the parking lot
at that moment
so there wasn’t any more time to discuss the issue
of his drinking or his temper
. 
Victoria
just had to put her trust in him and hope for the best. 

The hotel where the party was being held was beautifully decorated and everyone was in their most glamorous dresses.  Some of the women were dressed in all out ball gowns.  Others, like
Victoria
were in formal gowns.  Almost every man wore a tuxedo and it seemed that everyone already had a glass of champagne
in their hands
. 
The laughter from the crowd was bubbling up from every corner and
Victoria
tried to lose her nervousness.   This was a party, not a test, she reminded herself.  She was supposed to have a good time.

She knew it was going to be a tough night when
Barry immediately took her to one of several open bars in the ballroom and ordered scotch. 
Victoria
requested champagne and was sipping the bubbly liquid when Bob, Mike and Thomas found her. 

“You made it!”
Bob said and his eyes showed his appreciation for her appearance. 

“And how!” Mike added, whistling as he took her hand and spun her
around so he could check out her dress.  “Nice rags, lovely lady,” he said and released her hand, but his eyes still admired her in the rose colored dress. 

Victoria
laughed, grateful for their praise.  She didn’t want to analyze why their comments made her feel good whereas Barry’s initial reaction
engendered only marginal emotions
.  She kept her eyes away from the man that she wanted to see the most. 
Thomas was standing
out of the corner of her eye and for some reason, he looked angry although she couldn’t imagine why. 

“What do you think, Thomas?” Mike asked, turning to
their
boss who was standing a little bit back from the group.  “A little different from her normal business suits, huh?”

Thomas slowly looked her up and down, the appreciation evident in his look.  “Definitely lovely,” he said quietly. 

Victoria
couldn’t help the flush of happiness that overcame her with his comment.  And she realized that she had been anticipating his reaction ever since Laci pulled the beautifully feminine dress out of the bag.  “Thank you,” she said softly, looking away quickly so he wouldn’t see how much his comment meant to her. 

“I’m Barry Rogers,” Barry said, putting one arm around
Victoria
’s waist and sticking the other hand out to shake Thomas’s.  Although the gestures were correct, there seemed to be an underlying
threat communicated between the two men. 
Victoria
was initially amazed that Barry had picked out the one man who might be a threat to
Victoria
’s loyalty to him.  But then
Victoria
took a good look at Thomas in his tuxedo and changed her mind.  There was no question about who
Victoria
would choose among the three men, she thought.  Thomas in a tuxedo was stunning.  He looked suave and more debonaire than James Bond could possibly hope to appear.  He literally took her breath away.