A Younger Man (Mount Faith Series: Book 7) by Brenda Barrett Read Free Book Online Page B

Vanley said, reaching across the desk and taking one of her hands in his, "is why the big fight."
    He laced their fingers together. "So five years ago I may have been a little younger and more naive, and that may have been a concern for you, but I am much older now, and I think I can recognize the difference between love and a fleeting crush. I want you, nobody else, but you keep pushing me away."
    Anita looked at his earnest features longingly. She was on the verge of blurting out her biggest bombshell yet, just to see how he would take it, but something held her back. She slowly pulled her hand from his and massaged her temples.
    "When are you going to act like the mature person you claim you are and give us a chance?" Vanley asked softly.
    "I promised to go to the singles retreat with you, didn't I?" Anita said, "That's progress."
    Vanley nodded. "I guess. Can I come to your house to see you sometime?"
    No! Carol's voice shrieked in Anita's head before she could even formulate it herself.
    She shook her head instead. "Let's take it one step at a time."
    "What's your middle name?" Vanley asked, standing up. He looked a little disappointed that she refused to see him in a different environment.
    "My middle name?" Anita flushed. "I don't have one."
    "Really?" Vanley quirked his brow at her. "Your parents didn't give you a middle name?"
    "Something like that," Anita said frowning. "Why'd you ask?"
    "Just realized I didn't know it." Vanley said. "Mine is Christian. There was one time I was thinking of going by the name V.C. Bancroft."
    "Sounds distinguished," Anita said, watching as he palmed the basket and headed to the door.
    "I enjoyed having lunch with you," Vanley said, staring at her intensely before he walked out.
    His intensity left her with a slight headache. Her heart was beating unevenly, and she felt a hot flush under her collar. She glanced down at the papers in front of her and gritted her teeth.
    She was not going to indulge herself in 'what if' questions, like what if Vanley knew her secret and decided that he would stay with her anyway. She had work to do.
     
    *****
     
    When Vanley exited the office, Davia was at her desk. She looked at him and then at the basket and gave him a less than cheery hello. Vanley waved to her and headed through the door not catching the speculative look on her face.
    Davia drummed her fingers on the desk after Vanley left. She always thought that Vanley and Anita were just good friends. She thought that Anita was like a mother figure to him. She almost laughed at her naiveté. That face coming out of Anita's office was not one of a man who had a platonic relationship with a woman. It was one of a love struck fool.
    The thought made her angry and jealous. When Anita called her into the office, she barely heard what Anita said. She was looking at her in a completely new light. She assessed her boss, feature by feature. What was so attractive about her anyway? she thought resentfully. You could call her pretty if you squinted one eye tightly and tilted your head to the left; maybe it was the line of her neck, or the way her hair swung. She had healthy hair and smooth peanut butter looking skin, but for Vanley to be attracted to Anita, surely that couldn't be true. The thought wouldn't quit though, and she silently took the dictation of a letter that Anita was giving to her.
    "These are the bare bones," Anita said to her in her husky professional voice. "Flesh it out and send it to me."
    "Okay," Davia said abruptly and stood up. "Will there be anything else?"
    Anita looked at her stony expression and shook her head. "No. Where's that happy smile of yours?"
    Davia gave her a half smile. "Just one of those days, female issues." She tacked on carelessly.
    Anita nodded. "Okay."
    Davia huffed and went to her desk, banging the keys on the computer so loudly that she almost broke a nail. Her guy—the guy that she thought of as hers—was seeing her boss, an older woman. The inevitable