Working with Bradley Youngson was certainly going to be interesting.

Chapter 2

It was a month before Jennifer saw Lee Youngson again. During that time she did her best to forget him, but to no avail. He was the darling of the newspapers, and as she was responsible for reviewing all his press releases, and even composing some of them, ignoring his existence was not possible. His performance in the practices and the preseason games was the subject of much discussion, and there was speculation about whether or not he was worth his astronomical salary. The general consensus seemed to be that he was. Jennifer found that difficult to believe. As far as she was concerned, in order to deserve what the management was paying him, he would have to cure lepers and walk on water.

One hot afternoon in mid-August Jennifer paused in the middle of dictating a batch of letters and retreated to the rest room for a few minutes of peace. There was so much to be done in preparation for the new season that the bathroom was virtually the only place where she could escape the constant demands on her attention. She drew the line when Dolores tried to follow her in with her note pad. Dolores retreated, grumbling, to her desk.

Jennifer surveyed herself in the full-length mirror and wished she were in Greenland. Or Oslo, Norway. Anyplace cool and quiet where they had never even heard of football. Every year the September zaniness got worse, and now it was beginning in July. Autumn had always been her favorite season, but since coming to the Freedom her thoughts of it were always mixed with visions of constantly ringing phones and a desk buried under piles of correspondence.

Jennifer brushed out her shoulder-length, honey blonde hair and reflected that she looked tired. There were shadows under her gray-blue eyes, and her fair skin had the drawn quality she associated with late nights reading contracts and publicity fillers. She didn’t notice that her tall, slim figure was flattered by the blue silk jersey dress she wore, and her legs were long and elegant in sheer hose and heeled pumps. She reapplied a light coral lipstick and tied the sash at her waist in a neater knot. She sprayed herself with a spritz of perfume from the tiny atomizer in her purse and felt better.

She emerged to find Lee Youngson lounging against the wall outside her office. She stopped, startled. Then she glanced at Dolores, who shrugged slightly and gave her a “your guess is as good as mine” look.

The minute Jennifer saw him she knew that she had not imagined the electricity of their first encounter. During the intervening time she had tried to tell herself that her memory had magnified it, but this fiction was exploded the instant he straightened and met her glance. She felt the warmth of his eyes on her like a palpable thing. Nothing had changed.

“Hi,” he said. “Got a minute?”

“Hello, Lee,” she responded, schooling herself to react casually. “Sure I do. Come on in.”

Jennifer turned back to Dolores, who was making faces at her over Lee’s shoulder. Jennifer threw her a threatening look and shut the door.

Lee stood uncertainly, watching her. He was wearing a loosely woven cream knit top with wheat cord jeans of a slightly darker shade. He looked so vibrant, brimming with health, that he made Jennifer feel like an extreme case of vitamin deficiency. Nobody could be as fit as he seemed.

“Have a seat,” she said, and he did. She noticed again his impeccable manners—he waited to be invited before he sat.

She glanced at him inquiringly.

He extracted a folded sheet of paper from his pocket “I received this in the mail this morning,” he said, rising to hand it to her.

It was the schedule for the mall opening on Saturday.

“And?” Jennifer said.

“There are a couple of things I’d like to change, if I can.”

“Such as?”

“I’d like to drive myself there rather than go in the limousine. I feel like King Farouk pulling up in one of those hearses. I know where the place is, I’ll be there on time.”

“That’s not the issue,” Jennifer replied. “You are escorted for insurance reasons, as I’m sure you know. On company time, we like to take charge of your safety. Did they allow you to drive yourself when you were with the Broncos?”

He looked uncomfortable. “No, but…”

“You’ll find that we here at the Freedom are just as cautious and solicitous of your safety as your previous employers,” Jennifer said firmly.

He held up a hand. “All right, all right, I give up. I’ll ride in the limo. Do you supply bulletproof vests, too?”

“Are you expecting an assassination attempt?” Jennifer countered.

They eyed each other, evenly matched, stalemated. The silence in the room lengthened.

Lee sighed. “Moving right along,” he said, “do I absolutely have to spout the party line about what a great place Philadelphia is, and how happy I am to be here, and how wonderful the people are? They’ve heard it all before, and that kind of speech can be phoned in.”

Jennifer regarded him levelly. “Let me put it this way. It wouldn’t be wise to say that you hate Philadelphia and find the people obnoxious.”

His eyes widened innocently. “Really? Too bad. That’s just what I had in mind.”

Jennifer felt the tug of war begin again.

“I think we can trust your judgment on it,” she said neutrally, wanting to end the interview as soon as possible. She was growing increasingly wary— exchanging banter with him was dangerous.

“Thank you so much,” he said, with exaggerated courtesy. “It’s heartening to know you have such confidence in me.”

“Is that all?” Jennifer said impatiently.

He stood. “That’s all. I’ll see you at nine-thirty on Saturday.”

Jennifer nodded, watching his retreating form as he left.

Dolores materialized in the doorway seconds after he passed through it. “What was that all about?” she hissed in the tone of a conspirator.

“Dolores, don’t you have work to do?” Jennifer asked pointedly.

“Aw, come on. Don’t be a spoilsport. What did he want?”

“He just had some questions about Saturday,” Jennifer said wearily. “Nothing earthshaking, I assure you.”

Dolores evaluated that. “Hmm. If you ask me, he wanted to see you again.”

“I’m not asking you,” Jennifer said. “And besides, he’ll see me on Saturday.”

“Along with several hundred other people,” Dolores said. “I think he wanted a cozy little tete-a-tete in your office.”

“It was hardly that. We seem to get on each other’s nerves. And if your theory is correct, why did he wait so long?”

“Ah-ha!” Dolores pounced. “Expecting him, were you? Disappointed that he didn’t show until now?”

Mercifully, at this point the phone rang. “Will you get that?” Jennifer said in icy tones and picked up a folder, pretending to examine it.

Dolores went back to her desk, leaving Jennifer to wonder if there was any truth in what she had said.

* * * *

On Saturday, the weather was stifling, so Jennifer wore a sleeveless, clinging sheath in air force blue that matched her eyes and piled her hair atop her head for coolness. She would be doing a lot of walking, so she selected shoes with a medium heel, and added a large canvas shoulder bag to hold her clipboard and other materials.

The day was overcast and humid, which made the heat seem worse. The driver arrived for her at 9:15, and she stared moodily out the window during the drive to Youngson’s condominium complex in Yardley.

The townhouses all looked the same, set decoratively amidst the exquisite plantings and Immaculately landscaped lawns. There was a security station at the main gate, and Jennifer identified herself to the guard. He called ahead to Lee, who okayed their entry. Lee was waiting for them outside when they arrived.

He was wearing a navy blazer with charcoal gray slacks and a club tie. Cochise as Young Republican, Jennifer thought to herself, admitting that he had chosen well: he looked neat, conservative, and very fashionable. Damn the man. Why did she always find him so appealing?