Still laughing, and leaning against the same ladder Robin had hung herself on, Lucy looked surprised when Robin came spilling out of her room and down the hall. “Hey, it’s about time,” Lucy said.
“And a cheerful good morning to you, too, Lucy. What’s going on?”
“Jake and I were just telling a few tales while I waited for you to get out of the shower,” Lucy said, sliding off the barstool. “You take a really long shower. Really long. You could probably track it on Doppler radar.”
Robin glared at her assistant, but as usual, Lucy was oblivious. She was studying Robin’s pants. “Are those new?”
“No.”
“I haven’t seen them before.”
“You haven’t seen all my clothes, Lucy.”
“That’s because I can’t keep up.”
“Could we just please get to work?” Robin asked through clenched teeth, and thank you, Lucy, because now Jake was looking at her pants.
“Sure,” Lucy responded cheerfully, as if suddenly remembering why she was there. “Your dad called. He said I was to bring you the names of these people to call. Then Evan said you needed to see the accounts for Peerless Packing and Wirt Supplies and Packing. Don’t ask me what is up with that, but thank God this is all in the computer, because I’m telling you, there is nothing left of that office except ashes. Remember all those files on your desk? Gone! And then Darren called and asked if you were free for dinner—”
“Oh, hey, hey!” Robin interrupted, laughing nervously as she stole a look at Jake’s back while shaking her head furiously at Lucy.
Lucy cocked her head to one side. “What? Why are you shaking your head like that?”
“I’m not shaking my head—”
“Yes you are. If you don’t want to go, I’ll call him, but I thought you liked this guy.”
Robin cringed. “Why don’t we go to lunch and go over this stuff?”
Lucy looked at her watch. “It’s ten o’clock.”
“I meant coffee.”
“Okay, but I think Evan’s coming back—”
“He can get his own coffee!”
“Okay, all right!” Lucy said, eyeballing her suspiciously. “We’ll get coffee!” With another hard look at Robin, she swung around, snatched up her giant designer knockoff shoulder bag and marched toward the kitchen. Robin was right behind her, picking up her new little kate spade purse in her near sprint to get out of the house, following Lucy out the back without so much as a ta-ta to Jake.
Ahead of her, Lucy abruptly stopped and turned, almost colliding with Robin. “Am I insane, or am I seeing things right?”
Oh shit. Shit shit shit, it was obvious. Robin’s heart started beating like a drum; she looked everywhere but at Lucy.
“I mean, have you ever seen anyone so cuuuuute?” Lucy squealed and grabbed Robin’s wrist in her excitement.
“Huh?”
“The worker guy, Jake! He’s gorgeous!”
“Really?” Robin asked and self-consciously tried to tame a curl at her temple. “I didn’t notice.”
“Oh, come on!” Lucy demanded, incredulous. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a man like that tucked away in your house? I would love to work at home if I had a guy like that stuck inside. I’d set it up like Hotel California. Once he came in, he would never come out—”
“Come on, Lucy, he’s just a contractor,” Robin reminded her as they headed for the car.
“Just a contractor—what does that mean? Well, whatever, he’s gorgeous. And he’s so nice. And funny. Girl, he is funny.”
Okay, Robin thought, he might be nice, but he wasn’t particularly funny. And he was stingy with doughnuts. “I haven’t really talked to him.”
“Yeah, well, with a guy like that, you really don’t need to talk,” Lucy said with a not-so-subtle elbow in Robin’s ribs.
“Can we just talk about the files you brought?” Robin insisted, trying hard to change the subject.
But Lucy continued to wax dreamily about Jake at the coffee shop, even through the ordering of two skinny double mocha cafe au lait with nutmeg. Robin was finally able to shut her up by blurting out the news of her demotion.
At first, Lucy was stunned. She gaped at Robin. “Are you kidding?” When Robin shook her head no, she contorted into a howl of laughter. Looking around at everyone looking at Lucy, Robin didn’t exactly appreciate her reaction and said so.
“I’m sorry,” Lucy said, wiping the tears of laughter from beneath her eyes. “But the thought of you and Eldagirt Wirt is too much!”
“Who is that?”