Once Upon Stilettos

“Why?” Then she grinned. “I knew it! You’re interested in him yourself, aren’t you?”



It looked like I was going to have to take one for the team. This was the only way I could think of to get the information without raising suspicions. If it made me the butt of office gossip, I’d have to get over that and hope Owen forgave me. Looking down at my lap, I said, “Yeah, maybe. But I don’t want to do anything that would hurt Ari, and if she liked him, it would be a bad idea for me to go after him.”



She beamed. “You two would be perfect for each other, and I still say he likes you—and not only as a friend.” Leaning back in her seat and steepling her fingers, she said, “Let’s see, it must have been back when she joined the company, before he was promoted. Gregor was still fully human. She pretty much fell for Owen at first sight—and can you blame her? He was focused on something else—I think that was when he was starting to get suspicious of Idris—and didn’t even notice. She made the mistake of getting aggressive with him, which sent all the barriers up. Make a note of that: sneak into his heart. No full-frontal assault. But I think that’s what you’re already doing. He trusts you.”



“So what happened?” I prodded.



“She got more and more aggressive, and he either didn’t notice or pretended he didn’t notice. I don’t think she would have minded so much if he’d outright rejected her, but he neatly sidestepped every pass she threw at him, and that made her feel like she hadn’t made any impact. After a while, she gave up.”



“Do you think she really got over him, or does she still resent him?”



“I think she gives it another try every so often, just for kicks and to see what will happen. She wouldn’t be happy if you ended up with him, but I think she’d also be the first one to say it was his choice, and you won fair and square. It’s all a game to her, anyway. I’m not sure she would have liked him if she had caught him. She just wanted to be able to say she’d caught him.”



“Catch-and-release dating, huh?” I had a sinking feeling Ari wouldn’t be so happy about me ending up with Owen. Not that it was likely to happen. I gave Isabel my most beseeching look. “You won’t say anything about this to Ari, will you? Or anyone else? You know how shy Owen is. If he knew I was interested, he’d probably clam up on me.”



“My lips are sealed,” she promised. I knew she meant it, but I also knew her good intentions tended to disintegrate when she had a really juicy piece of gossip.



I nearly ran head-on into Rod in the hallway outside the personnel office, and as usual, it took me a moment to remember that the gorgeous guy I saw was the Rod I knew. He steadied me with his hands on my shoulders, and I fought to resist the effects of that attraction spell. I took a couple of steps backward to get out of the spell’s range.



“You okay?” he asked me.



“What? Oh, sorry, just a little distracted.”



“Did you need me for something?” He waved toward the office I’d just left.



I shook my head. “No, I was discussing something with Isabel.”



He grinned. “Ah, office gossip, then.”



“Treasure hunt, actually.”



“Of course. Then I’d better let you go on about your important business.” He gave me a jaunty salute and a wink, and I grabbed the nearest door handle to anchor myself so my body wouldn’t fly at him of its own accord. With that kind of pulling power, there was no wonder he never lacked for a date. It was a miracle he wasn’t the Pied Piper of New York, with hordes of salivating women following him around town.



Before I could force my feet into motion so I could get farther from his enticing spell, he said, “Uh, Katie?”



“Yes?”



“I was wondering…I know things have been rough for you lately, what with this investigation, and then your parents, and Ethan, and that attack last weekend, and all. Would you like to have dinner this weekend? Don’t worry, nothing romantic. I just feel like you could use a break, a no-stress night out.”



My body shouted Yes, yes! but my mind knew better, reminding me that I had a huge crush on Rod’s best friend, and I could kiss any future chance I might have with Owen good-bye if I got together with Rod. It was a persuasive argument, but my body wasn’t quite ready to give up. My mouth compromised between body and brain with, “Can I get back to you? I need to check my calendar.” Maybe once I got away from him I could think straight enough to decide if this was something I wanted to do. I suspected he meant exactly what he’d said. He had no way of knowing that I was influenced by his attraction spell.