“Not what—who.”
“All right. Who are those for?” Her sore throat had taken a lot of the fight out of her.
“You.”
“Jan, I’ve told you repeatedly that I’m not into romances. You can’t force me to read them.”
“No, but I thought you might be interested in a little research.” She paused, noticing Stephanie’s appearance for the first time. “What’s the matter—are you sick?”
“No, I’m just fighting off a cold.” And maybe a touch of disappointment, too.
“Great, there’s no better time to sit back and read.”
“Jan...”
Her friend held up her hand to stop her. “I refuse to hear any arguments. I want you to sit down and read. If I have to, I’ll stand over you until you do.”
Muttering under her breath, Stephanie complied, sitting on the sofa with her back against the armrest and bringing her feet up so she could tuck them under a blanket. Jan picked up the romance on the top of the pile, silently read the back cover and nodded knowingly. “You’ll like this one. The circumstances are similar to what’s happening between you and Mr. Lockwood.”
Stephanie bolted to her feet. “Nothing’s happening between me and Mr. Lockwood.”
“You called him Jonas the other day,” Jan said, ignoring Stephanie’s bad mood. “The funny part is, I know that I’ll never be able to think of him other than as Mr. Lockwood.”
To the contrary, Stephanie had always thought of him as Jonas, but she wasn’t about to add ammunition to her friend’s growing arsenal.
“But I don’t think we need worry about his name.”
“Thank heaven for that much,” Stephanie muttered, sitting back down.
“Promise me you’ll read these?”
“I would never have taken you for such an unreasonable slave driver.” She fought back a flash of mutinous pride and shook her head. “All right, I’ll read, but I won’t like it.”
“And I bet you a month’s wages you’ll end up loving them the way the rest of us do.”
“I’m reserving judgment.”
Jan left soon after Stephanie opened the cover of the first book. To be honest, she was curious what Jan, Toni, Maureen and Barbara saw in the books that they read with such fervor. What was even more interesting was the fact that these women did more than just read the books; the whole group talked about the characters as though they were living, breathing people. Stephanie had once heard Barbara comment that she’d like to punch a certain hero out, and the others had agreed wholeheartedly, as though it was entirely possible to do so.
The next time Stephanie glanced at the clock, it was afternoon and she’d finished the first book, astonished at how well-written it was. All along she’d assumed that romance heroines were sappy, weak-willed chits without a brain in their heads. From tidbits of information she’d heard among the other women, she couldn’t imagine anyone putting up with some of the things the heroines in the books did. But she was wrong. The woman in the first romance she read and the one she reached for next were modern women with modern problems that they faced on an adult level. Although Stephanie might not have agreed completely with the way the heroines handled their relationships with their heroes, she appreciated why they acted the way they did. With love, she realized, came tolerance, acceptance and understanding.
*
First thing on Monday morning, Stephanie stopped at Jan’s desk in personnel. She dutifully placed the three romances in Jan’s Out basket, willing to admit that she had misjudged Jan’s favorite reading material.
“What’s that for?”
“I read them.”
“And?” Jan’s eyes grew round.
“I loved them, just the way you said I would.”
Laughing, Jan nodded, reached for her phone and punched out Maureen’s extension. “She read the first three and she’s hooked.” Once she’d made her announcement, she replaced the receiver and sat back, folding her hands neatly on top of the desk and sighing. “I’m waiting.”
Stephanie groaned and shook her head lightly. “I knew I wasn’t going to get away this easily. You want to hear it—all right, all right—you told me so.”
Jan laughed again. “You look especially nice today. Any reason?”
Stephanie considered a white lie, but quickly changed her mind. Like the heroines in the romances, she was an adult woman, and if she happened to be attracted to a man, it wasn’t a sin to admit as much. “I’ll be talking to Jonas later, and I wanted to look my best.”
“You’ll keep me up to date, won’t you?”
Stephanie secured the strap of her purse on her shoulder, “I don’t know that there’ll be anything to report. Our relationship isn’t like those romances.”
“Maybe not yet, but it will be,” Jan said with the utmost confidence.
“I’m not half as convinced as you are. Just keep this under your hat. I don’t want the others to know.”