I thought back to her friend Tanner’s wishes for my birthday. “You happen to know someone I think might be Super-Orgasm man, or thinks he is, or knows him at least. Why don’t you go call him while I deal with this?”
“Not a chance, young lady. We’re doing this. What kind of friend would I be if I abandoned you in your hour of need to go chasing orgasms?”
“A satisfied one?” I offered, smiling. “And I’m a year younger than you. You can hardly call me young lady.”
“Younger by a minute or a decade is still younger. Now listen to the old, wise person in the room and make that call.”
“Older doesn’t mean wiser,” I said. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my phone from my bed and unlocked it, hitting dial before I could change my mind again. “You better hope I don’t get fired for a misprint on the expensive paper and start saving for a perimeter alarm or a chastity belt.”
She shot me a thumbs up and waited with bated breath as the phone rang. After the first three rings, there was one long ring, and after another half ring suddenly I was connected. “Neil Colman speaking.”
“Neil?” I asked, pulling the phone away from my ear to double check the number I dialed. “I’m so sorry, I meant to call Mr. Williams’ office. This is Stephanie Donavan speaking.”
“Stephanie.” His voice warmed, reminding me instantly of why I felt so at ease with him. With only one word spoken over the phone, I felt some of the knots in my stomach unwind. “I was hoping we would hear from you today.”
“Yeah.” Damn it. The mouse was back in my vocal cords. Nervously clearing my throat again, I said, “I’m not sure how I got through to you. I dialed Mr. Williams’ office. I’m so sorry I bothered you, let me let you go and try again.”
“It’s not your fault, Steph,” he told me cheerfully. He sounded really happy to hear from me. “Is it okay if I call you Steph?”
“It’s fine.”
“Wonderful,” he said. From what little interaction I had so far with both him and Jeremiah, I noticed they spoke differently than other guys I knew. Their language was more refined, more mature. They pulled off saying words like “wonderful” and “excellent” out loud while most would say “great” or “awesome” or something similar.
And they didn’t even sound that pompous or douchey doing it. Has to be the money.
“Jeremiah was in a meeting earlier, so his calls got forwarded to me. Hang on a second, let me patch you through,” he said, then paused. “Before I let you go, please tell me you’re calling with good news?”
I didn’t know. Was I? Since they made the offer, I assumed it was good that I was calling to take it. But I still had time to change my mind. As did they. God, what if all this was some giant prank?
Pull yourself together, Steph. My spiraling thoughts were becoming downright ridiculous.
“I’m not sure. That depends on Mr. Williams,” I said. For all I knew, Jeremiah didn’t even really want me to take the job. I still wasn’t convinced he was clear on the slut/secretary line or even of its existence.
“I see.” Neil sounded understanding. “Well, I’m glad you called. Let me patch you through. I hope to see you soon, Steph.”
“You too,” I replied honestly. I liked Neil. A part of me hoped I would get to work with him a lot. That would sure make things a lot less complicated.
The phone started ringing again, the strange, long ring repeating. There was a brief pause, and then Jeremiah’s smooth, deep voice was in my ear. “I didn’t think you would call.”