Jonas’s blue eyes darkened by several shades, and Stephanie realized that had they been anywhere other than a restaurant, he would have taken her in his arms and kissed her until she begged him to stop.
From the restaurant, Jonas drove her back to the office building with him. Stephanie was about to burst with happiness, and if she didn’t share it with Jan and the others soon, she was convinced she’d start screaming that Jonas Lockwood loved her from the top floor for all Minneapolis to hear.
Her first stop after she and Jonas parted at the elevator was the personnel office. Jan looked up from her desk and blinked.
“Hey, where were you at lunchtime? I have a feeling you were trying to avoid questions. You can’t do this to us, Steph, we’re all dying to find out what’s happening.”
“I wasn’t avoiding anyone.”
Jan looked at her more intently. “You’ve got that saucy grin again. Would you care to tell me the reason you look like a contented cat with feathers in his mouth?”
In response, Stephanie held out her left hand. The large diamond solitaire sparkled merrily in the artificial light.
Jan gasped, and her eyes shot to Stephanie’s. “Mr. Lockwood?”
“Who else would it be?”
Jan’s palm flew to her breast. “I think I’m going into cardiac arrest. You did it! You actually did it!” Even as she spoke, she was reaching for the phone.
“Tell the others to meet us at that cocktail lounge you took me to that night. The drinks are on me this time,” Stephanie said happily. “I owe all of you at least that.”
An hour later, the five were gathered around a table, sipping wine coolers and munching on an assortment of chips, deep-fried zucchini sticks, and mushrooms stuffed with cheese and onions.
“How did you get him to propose?” Barbara wanted to know first.
“I didn’t do anything. I was more surprised than any of you.”
Jan refilled Stephanie’s glass, and they all raised their drinks in a silent salute to their illustrious boss.
“To years and years of happiness,” Maureen said, offering the toast.
“And romance,” Stephanie added, a believer now. She recalled the first time she’d met with her co-workers and how they’d claimed then to have recognized her as the perfect match for Jonas Lockwood. At the time, Stephanie had been shocked, even appalled. She wouldn’t have given the man a free bus ticket. Now, at the very mention of his name, her knees turned to butter, she was so much in love with him. Truly head over heels in love, for the first time in her life.
“Who guessed today?” Toni questioned.
“No one,” Jan answered. “Remember, it was as much a surprise to Steph as it is to us.”
“Today? What today?” Stephanie glanced around the table at her friends. True, they’d all had their share of wine, Stephanie a bit more than her share since she’d also had champagne at lunch with Jonas. But until this moment, everything her friends had said made perfect sense.
“I guess we’ll have to award the three hundred dollars to the one who guesses the correct wedding day.”
“Would you stop talking in riddles,” Stephanie demanded.
“Have you decided on a date for the wedding yet?”
Stephanie noticed how intense the four faces became as they awaited her reply. “I’m not answering your question until you answer mine,” she said, crossing her arms stubbornly. “What’s all this about guessing the day?”
“The marriage pool.”
“The what?” Stephanie cried.
“You know, like a football pool, only we had bets going on when Lockwood was going to pop the question.”
Stephanie took another swallow of her wine cooler. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this.”
“A lot of people bet that you wouldn’t be able to carry this off. They lost this big.” Jan and Maureen slapped hands high above the table.
“Money?”
“Three hundred dollars is riding on your wedding date.”
Stephanie placed her elbows on the table and cradled her head in her hands. “So that’s where Black heard about me and Jonas,” she mumbled under her breath.
“Say, do you know what happened to him today?”
“How would I know?” Stephanie didn’t look her friend in the eye, her gaze fixed on the ice floating in her drink. She hoped that by asking, she could avoid lying.
“I got a call from Old Stone Face shortly after I returned from coffee break this morning. She told me that Donald Black had been terminated, and to arrange for his check to be mailed to him at his home.”
“How unusual,” Stephanie commented, struggling not to reveal any of her involvement with the decision.
“I don’t know anyone who’s sorry to see him go,” Maureen added. “He was a real—”
“We know what he was,” Toni inserted quickly.
“Did anything else of importance occur today?” Stephanie hoped to steer the conversation away from any more unpleasant subjects.
“You mean other than you and Mr. Lockwood getting engaged, and Donald Black biting the dust? I’d say that was enough to make it one hell of a Monday.”