Third Time's a Charm by Virginia Smith

Author:Virginia Smith
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 0100-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

When Tori stepped off the elevator at seven fifty-eight Wednesday morning, Fran was just getting to her desk.

“Good morning.” Tori started to sweep past.

The receptionist’s keys jingled as she unlocked her desk and placed her purse in the bottom door. “How was the date?”

Tori paused. “How do you know I had a date last night?”

Tapping a sparkly tipped finger on her chin, Fran said, “Let’s see. One, you brought clothes and makeup with you to work yesterday. Two, your sister told you to ‘have fun’ before she left.” She grinned. “And three, Mitch told us yesterday afternoon.”

Tori rolled her eyes. Mitch was a worse gossip than any of his female co-workers. “I should have known. No secrets in this office.”

“None at all.” Fran seated herself and pressed the button to turn on her computer. “So, did you have fun?”

“We had a nice time.” Tori left quickly, before Fran could question her further. She’d just as soon not spread it around that she’d allowed her job to infiltrate her date by going to Maguire’s last night. No sense giving Mitch anything else to needle her about. Or any ideas for market research.

She took the long way around the office so she could swing by the small break room and grab a cup of coffee. Rita always got to work before the sun came up and started a pot brewing. Tori doctored hers with diet sweetener and hazelnut-flavored creamer, and headed for her cubicle, stirring the light brown liquid with a wooden stir-stick.

When she rounded the corner to her cubicle, she jerked to a stop in the doorway. It took a moment for the sight that greeted her to register on her uncaffeinated brain.

While she stood gaping, her cube-neighbor Diana came to stand beside her, grinning widely. “You were either a very good girl,” she said with a nudge, “or a very bad girl, but very good at it.”

Tori felt heat gathering in her face as she looked at her desk. On the corner sat Ryan’s bouquet of Gerbera daisies. But in the center stood a tall crystal vase absolutely overflowing with dozens of the rainbow-colored blooms, interspersed with colorful roses and baby’s breath.

Diana’s voice held a giggle. “I don’t know who your date last night was with, but he sure did want to impress you.”

After she left, Tori stood for a moment, staring at the flowers. They were beautiful, of course. But so many of them! There was only one person she knew who would go for such an ostentatious display. And his motive sure wasn’t to please her, but to make a statement.

She crossed to her desk, tossed her purse on the chair, and searched for a card among the abundance of blossoms. The heady scent of the roses threatened to woo her into complacency, but then she plucked out the card.

“You won’t see many of these on a plumber’s salary.”

The handwriting was unmistakably Mitch’s. Her fingers itching with irritation, Tori ripped the card in two and tossed the pieces into the trash.

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