Savannah walked into Will’s office on Monday morning carrying the mail and a small white box. “Well, I don’t have to make a run for breakfast.”

He looked up. “Huh?”

“Someone sent over a cheesecake.” She placed the box on his desk. “Who’s it from? The new client? C’mon, read the card.”

He pulled a card from the box and opened it.

Will,

Thank you for your kindness and understanding.

I hope I haven’t caused any problems for you.

It won’t happen again.

-Rory

Savannah moved around the desk and looked over his shoulder, then furrowed her brow. “Why is Rory Callahan sending us a cheesecake? This sounds like an apology. And what won’t happen again?”

Will pulled the cheesecake from the box, which also had paper plates, plastic knives and forks. “Why don’t I tell you over breakfast?”

“Sounds good, dish it out. Beats the hell out of our usual bag of donuts.”

“Do we have coffee?”

“Did you make it?”

“No.”

“Then we don’t have coffee. I made it Friday, so it’s your turn.”

“Sorry, I’ll get right on it after we eat breakfast.” He took a knife and started to cut the dessert. “So, after you left the Halloween party I want you to know that I behaved perfectly.”

“Good to hear. Full disclosure: I did not behave at the bachelorette party.”

He handed her a plate with a slice of cheesecake and a fork. “Oh really? What happened?”

“Girls don’t kiss and tell.”

“Oh, what a steaming pile of crap, Savannah. Give me a break. I’ve heard you on the phone with your friends back home.”

She took a bite and licked her lips. “Fine, you got me. There was a male stripper at the party who tossed me over his shoulder and carried me around for a while. Then he pulled me onto his lap and kept me there while the future bride opened her gifts. We didn’t kiss or anything but I enjoyed the hell out of it and didn’t resist. It’s not every day a girl my size gets scooped up. And I know what you’re thinking about my being on a guy’s lap, so wipe that dirty thought from your mind, young man.”

“So, while you remained a lady, he was not a perfect gentleman.”

“Oh, he was pretty perfect. Okay, enough about that, your turn. Obviously something happened between you and Rory, so dish.”

He nodded as he cut himself a slice, placed it on a plate and took a bite. “Oh yeah. This is damn good.”

“Stop stalling. Details. Now.”

“Fine. So the party’s ending a little before midnight, we’re closing down the place. I go to get my jacket but the coat check girl is gone, so I go back into the closet and get it myself. Then Rory shows up wanting her jacket. She comes back into the closet and I help her look for it. I find it, and, being the gentleman you want me to be, I help her put it on.”

“So far this is pretty boring. Get to the part where she needs to send you a cheesecake.”

“So she zips up her jacket, turns around... and all of a sudden she gives me this look.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve never gotten that from a woman. It’s hard to describe, but for a second it was like she looked right into my heart. Then she pushed me back against the wall and started kissing me.”

Savannah’s eyes bugged out. “What? Are you kidding me?”

He shook his head and smiled. “Nope. It was totally out of the blue.”

“Did you say something to her beforehand? Use one of your old lines?”

“I was a perfect gentleman with her and everyone else the entire night.”

“So what happened next?”

“Well, she’s kissing me—”

“And what did you do?”

“I couldn’t do anything. She took my wrists, put them over my head, pressed her body against me and pinned me to the wall.”

“Like you’re not strong enough to resist.”

“Savannah, I may be your star pupil when it comes to manners, but I’m a man. When a seriously cute woman like Rory starts kissing you, no guy on the planet is going to fight her off.”

“Was this a casual kiss or something else?”

“Full blown tonsillectomy. She was in total control. I actually felt powerless. And... to be perfectly honest... it was the best kiss I ever had.”

“Damn.”

“So she’s kissing me for a minute, then she stops for a moment and tells me you can’t get away.”

“Whoa. And what was your response?”

“I said who’s trying?”

“So what happened next?”

“She starts kissing me again. All of a sudden she stops, gets this frightened look, backs up and starts apologizing. I couldn’t help but come up with a clever comeback.”

“And that was?”

“She said she was sorry and I said, I’m not.”

“Okay, I’ll admit that’s cute.”

“Anyway, she’s obviously so embarrassed her face matched her red shoes. She blames it on the liquor as she really is drunk and in no condition to drive home. So I give her a ride. We get to her house, I’m helping her to the door, she’s about to fall over so I carry her the rest of the way.”

“You didn’t—”

“Give me come credit, Savannah. I put her on the couch and that was it. But while I was carrying her inside she had her arms around me and gave me the look again... just like the one when she kissed me. It was all I could do not to kiss her.”

“So after you got her home, you didn’t say anything, put the moves on her, ask her out for the future?”

“Nope.”

“Damn, I’m impressed. Well, this is an interesting development. You’ve gone from repelling women to having them attack you in a coat closet. How do you feel about what happened?”

He shrugged. “I thought about it a lot over the weekend. I kinda chalk it up to the booze. I mean, she’s always been pretty cold to me, very businesslike. But I gotta tell ya, that kiss was off the charts. And the way she looked at me... I can’t get that out of my head.”

“Suppose she hadn’t stopped?”

He smiled as his eyebrows did a little jump. He licked a bit of cheesecake from his lips. “I, uh, thought about that too.”

“And...”

“Well, after the kiss, getting to carry her into her home... the idea of Rory finishing what she started made for a frustrating ride home... I had to take a cold shower.”

“So, you’d like a woman to be in charge and have her simply take you.”

He started to blush. “Savannah, stop torturing me.”

“Sorry, this is too much fun. Soooo... are you going to follow up on this?”

“No way. She made it very clear she didn’t mean it to happen. And I think her apology this morning reinforces that. She’s not interested in anything romantic with me. And I’m sure a girl like that can pretty much have any guy she wants. Which we know to be true considering the perfect guy we saw her with at the restaurant.”

Savannah laughed a bit.

“What?”

“You really don’t get it, do you?”

“Don’t get what?”

“Will, no woman sticks her tongue down a man’s throat unless she really wants to. Trust me, Rory may not want to admit it, but she’s interested. Even if it’s just on a subconscious level, she finds you attractive.”

“I think you’re wrong on this one.”

“When have I ever been wrong?”

“Fine, you got me. But I’m sure I have no shot with her.”

“You really like her, huh?”

“Physically, she’s my type. And she’s incredibly smart.”

“I thought your type was breathing.”

“Very funny. I’ve always been attracted to the girl-next-door. And seeing her dressed as Dorothy... in a sexy pair of heels... wow.”

“So, sweet and innocent in public and—”

“Stop, or I’ll have to go home and take another cold shower.”

“I guess I’ve tortured you enough. All I know is that I’m doing all the work getting you perfectly molded and when I’m done some other woman is going to swoop in and reap the rewards.”

“Yeah, but it aint gonna be Rory Callahan.”

***

THE GENTLE TAP ON HER office door got Rory’s attention. She looked up and saw Skylar standing in the doorway holding her laptop. “You look like you’re confused, Skylar.”

“You are correct. I am absolutely baffled.”

“About?”

“This very curious email we just got. From Will Prescott.” Rory’s shoulders tightened as Skylar came over to her desk and slid the laptop in front of her. She did her best Ricky Ricardo impression. “Loo-cee, you got some ‘splainin’ to do.”

Rory’s eyed widened as she saw a selfie of Will and his girlfriend looking happy while eating cheesecake. “I, uh, sent him a thank you gift. For, you know, asking us to partner on the new client. He did pay us a good chunk of change.”

Skylar tapped the laptop until the message filled the screen. “Oh, really. So why did he say, your apology wasn’t necessary, but we’re not turning it down.”

Rory looked down. “I, uh, did something stupid at the party after you left.”

Skylar folded her arms. “Oh, this oughta be good.”

“It was nothing, really.”

“And your face tells me it was something, really.”

Rory rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair. “Fine. I sorta... kissed... Will.”

Skylar’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me? Are you out of your mind?”

“I had too much to drink, Skylar, cut me some slack.”

“Sorry, that’s no excuse for you kissing the biggest jerk on the planet. So what’s the deal, he put the moves on you when I left?”

“No, not at all.” She told Skylar about the search in the coat closet. “And then after he helped me put my jacket on I looked at him... and he was so cute I couldn’t help myself.”

“You sound like you’re in high school.”

“Leave me alone. It happened. I apologized, end of story.” She threw up her hands. “I don’t wanna talk about it anymore.”

“Bullshit, we’re just in chapter one. So how did you kiss him?”

“On the lips.”

“Very funny. Was this a quick peck or—”

“I said I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Well I do.”

“Fine! I pinned him against the wall and kissed him like I wanted to devour him, okay? Are you happy? To be perfectly honest, I have never felt such an intense desire to kiss a man. And while I was kissing him I felt something.”

“His hands on your ass?”

Rory rolled her eyes. “I meant that I felt some real electricity, like I haven’t felt in a long time. There was... a connection.”

Skylar stood up, walked in front of her desk and plopped down into a chair. “Dear God, you’re in trouble.”

“Will you let me finish?”

“Oh no, there’s more?”

“So I realize what I’m doing, stop and apologize profusely. I tell him it’s the booze talking. Anyway, I’m way too drunk to drive home and I want to call a cab, but he insists on giving me a ride since he lives a few blocks away.”

“This train wreck actually gets worse.”

“So he drives me home. He’s walking me to the door and I’m so drunk I start to fall. He scoops me up and carries me inside.”

“Apparently this is a full blown Amtrak derailment. Please tell me he didn’t carry you to the bedroom and spend the night.”

“No. He didn’t do anything. Put me on the couch and said goodnight.”

Skylar put up her hands. “Whoa, hold on a minute. He didn’t do anything?”

“Nope.”

“When you kissed him, did he kiss you back?”

“Well, sure, but I was completely in charge. He didn’t push me away.”

“Yeah, like that’s gonna happen. Did he take what you did as an invitation that you wanted something more?”

“If he did, he didn’t say anything. No sleazy lines, didn’t ask me out for the future, perfect gentleman. Even fed my cat when I was too drunk to get off the couch.”

“You sure this is Will Prescott we’re talking about? Maybe you were so drunk it was someone else.”

“It was him. And get this... the following morning he sends over coffee and breakfast from A.J.’s deli. Obviously knew I’d be hungover. Anyway, after all that I had to say thank you so I had a cheesecake delivered this morning. And you can see him and his girlfriend enjoying it. Which is probably why he didn’t pursue me. He is obviously in a relationship and committed to her. And she’s marking her territory.”

“You’re right about that last part. And that’s the most important thing you need to remember.”

Rory rested her chin on her hand and got a faraway dreamy look. “But I have to tell you, Skylar... the whole episode turned me on. The way he effortlessly scooped me up even though I’m bigger than he is... and getting a good feel of his  muscles... the boy is seriously ripped. He’s strong as hell. He carried me up the stairs like I weighed nothing and wasn’t even breathing heavy.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

“Nothing happened, Skylar.”

“Oh, something happened. Trust me, you gave him a signal and he picked it up even though he didn’t do anything for now. He’s like a stray cat that you feed once and then it won’t go away. All of a sudden it’s your cat. You fed the stray, Rory. He’ll be back.”

“Skylar, you saw his glamazon girlfriend. She’s like every man’s fantasy come to life. No way he’d be interested in me instead of her. I’m not in her league.”

“Rory, you don’t know the guy like I do. And I’m telling you, he needs to get a clear message you’re not remotely interested in him. Break out that list, because you need to annoy him again.”

“That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?”

“Look, it’s only a matter of time before his girlfriend sees his true colors and dumps him. And then he’ll check his list of possible replacements and be on your doorstep. So you need to make sure he knows you won’t ever be receptive.”

“Considering the babe he’s dating now, I doubt he’s even thinking about me.”

“You wear a skirt, you’re breathing, ergo, he is thinking about you.”

“Yeah but—”

The phone rang, interrupting her. Skylar reached across the desk to answer it. “Callahan Agency, this is Skylar, may I help you?” She listened a moment, then smiled. “She’s right here. Hold on a sec.” She put the call on hold. “It’s the cat food guy!”

“Huh?”

“Wake up, Rory! The CEO of the cat food company holding the contest! He wants to talk with you!”

Rory’s heart rate spiked. “And he probably wouldn’t call if we hadn’t made the cut. Do you think—”

“Pick up the damn phone!”

Rory answered and put the call on speaker. “This is Rory...”

“Hi, Rory, Brett Hemmerson from the Fur Baby cat food company. Calling to tell you we loved your idea and you’re one of the six agencies that have made the short list.”

Rory pumped her fist and nodded as Skylar stood up and starting dancing around the office. “We’re so glad you liked it, Mister Hemmerson. And honored to make the first cut.”

“Well, it’s obvious from reading your proposal that you know cats and love them. Anyway, we’d like you to come in and make a presentation in two weeks. Bring copy for three spots and storyboards. After we see all six agencies, we’ll narrow it down to three and actually get one of the commercials produced. Then it’s up to the focus groups and the Marketing Department. Any questions?”

“Sounds pretty straightforward.”

“Great. I’ve got you down for Friday, the 15th at three o’clock. That work for you?”

She started to look at her calendar but then realized she needed to make things as convenient as possible for the man. “Sure, that will be fine.”

“Terrific. Also, between now and then I’d like to have lunch or dinner with all six agencies, so my executive assistant will be in touch about that.”

“Look forward to it, Mister Hemmerson. You’ve made my day.”

“Well, you made mine. I really loved your ideas... and I really enjoyed meeting you.”

Skylar wrote something on a pad and held it in front of her. “Oh, may I ask who the other five finalists are?”

“You may ask...” he laughed a bit.

“Sorry, I guess it’s a secret.”

“No, not at all. It’s just that I called you first. Once I touch base with everyone I’ll send the list over to your ad club for them to post.”

“Always helps to know who the competition is.”

“That’s true in every business. Anyway, nice talking to you, Rory, and I look forward to seeing you again.”

“Me too. Bye, Mister Hemmerson.”

“Again, call me Brett, please.”

“Okay, Brett. Have a nice day.”

“You too. Bye.” The call ended.

Skylar jumped straight up. “Yes! We made it!”

“We made the short list. Still gotta beat out five agencies. Can’t wait to find out who they are.”

Skylar sat back down. “Wonder if your lust object made the short list. With a hundred grand you could afford to add a walk-in closet to this place so you could re-live the Halloween party.”

“Smartass. But doubtful that he made the cut, since he doesn’t have a cat. Not sure you could craft a campaign if you’re not familiar with the furry customers.”

“Meanwhile, speaking of lust... someone obviously made an impression of the cat food guy.”

“Huh?”

“Jeez, you really are clueless lately. Didn’t you hear what he said?”

“Yeah, we made the cut.”

“Not that. He really liked meeting you. And he called you first. Connect the dots. He’s interested.”

She tried to hold back a smile but couldn’t. “You really think so?”

“He looked interested when he met you. And now you have a lunch coming up. Do the math.”

Just because I’ll be having lunch with Will doesn’t mean anything.”

“Oh, no.”

“What?”

“You just called the cat food guy Will instead of Brett.”

“I did?”

“Yep. You’ve got that man on the brain.”

“It was a slip of the tongue.”

“Right, keep telling yourself that. Meanwhile, get the list. You need a refresher course on how to keep Will at bay.”