Winner Takes All by Jacqui Moreau Read Free Book Online Page B

I’m going to do. In the meantime, let’s concentrate on what you’re going to do.”
    But Mark wasn’t ready to move on. “Why don’t you call him and set up another business lunch? Mention something about details you need to clear up. It’s my favorite strategy for arranging follow-up interviews.”
    “That would seem desperate,” she said, before mumbling unintelligibly another excuse.
    “What was that?”
    “I don’t have his number. I don’t even have his name. If I want to see him again I’m going to have to stand in front of the Hammond Communications building and surreptitiously check out every single male who enters.”
    Mark nodded. “Sounds like a plan. When do we get started?”
    Eva was not amused. “Ha ha.”
    “Just trying to help, ma’am.”
    “I’m not so sure about that. Regardless, all of that is to say, no, I’m not seeing anyone right now, so there’s nothing to stand in the way of our plan.”
    He considered her for a long moment. “All right. How do we start?”
    “We share a cab home.”
    “But that makes no sense,” he said. “You’re in the Village and Ruth and I live in Hell’s Kitchen.”
    Sometimes, Eva thought, Mark could be so thick. “Exactly. It makes no sense so it’ll start Ruth wondering. Ten bucks says I get a telephone call from her tomorrow asking what was up with that.”
    “Okay, cab ride home. What else?”
    Eva was as new to scheming as Mark was, so she needed a moment to mull it over. “We’ll go out Friday night. Ruth will probably call me or you to see what we’re doing and we’ll say we already have plans. That’ll get her.”
    Mark imagined Ruth sitting at home on a Friday night because she had nobody to play with. “I don’t want to hurt her.”
    “Faint heart never won fair lady,” she countered.
    “But isn’t it cruel for all her friends to desert her at once?”
    “Pshaw!” she dismissed. “A little cruelty now, a whole lot of happiness later.”
    He paled at the thought. “Maybe we shouldn’t do—”
    “Mark, you really have to chill. It’s going to work beautifully. And I was just kidding. What we’re doing isn’t cruel. Ruth does have other friends. She’ll be fine.”
    “You’re right,” he said, finishing off the last bite of his salad. “I know you’re right. Okay, we go out Friday night. And after that?”
    Eva couldn’t strategize that far in advance. “Let’s see what happens on Friday and then play it by ear. I don’t know how all the details are going to play out, but don’t worry. I’ve got everything under control.”
    Mark laughed.
    “Hey, what’s so funny?”
    “Let’s be honest here, Eva. I’m willing to go along with your insane scheme and I’m willing to run the risk of alienating Ruth, but don’t expect me to believe you know what you’re doing any better than I.”
    Although Eva thought this was a reasonable enough thing to believe, she didn’t press the point. She extended her hand. “So we have a deal?”
    He shook on it. “We have a deal.”
    “What deal?” asked Ruth, looking pointedly at their clasped hands.
    Eva winked at Mark before whispering in his ear. “This is going to be cake.”
    ***
    The party broke up a little before midnight, and fifteen minutes later an exhausted Eva climbed the last step of the sixty-two steps to her floor and let herself into her apartment. She dumped her mail on a small table in the kitchen, tossed herself onto the couch and kicked off her heels. God, her feet were killing her. When would she start wearing sensible shoes? She couldn’t recall where she had last seen her jacket but didn’t have enough energy to be concerned. In all likelihood it was sitting on the back of her chair at the office.
    The thought of work made Eva cringe. She would have to go in early the next day to finish the letter. She had known that all along. The second she’d realized that she had blanked completely on Jenny’s birthday party, she had known she would