Part 16 (1/2)
”Glad I could help.”
”Hey, Dorothy, just because he cares about Toto doesn't mean he's not concerned about you. He did run all the way to your place to see you.”
”And he did drive me to the airport-”
”What about the limo I sent?”
”I canceled it.”
”Rosalie, you sound tired. Why don't you look at what we're up against and then go to bed? You're going to need all your strength tomorrow. All I can say is, it's a good thing you're there and La.s.siter's here. Once you see what he did, you're going to want to murder him, and I'd sure hate to have Sam arrest you.”
She groaned. ”Okay, thanks, and email me those other numbers as soon as you get them.”
”I will. Sleep well.”
”Ha. Night, Gina.”
She looked over the report and cringed. d.a.m.n that La.s.siter. Gina was right. It was a good thing she wasn't in the office. The work she and Gina had done over the phone that afternoon had her feeling marginally better, but Gina was right, Rosalie would need all her strength to turn this company around. Too bad she couldn't bounce ideas around with Nick. Nick would probably take one look at the financials and know what needed to be done, instead of doing what she'd be doing-spending the next few weeks getting up to speed.
She ordered a wake-up call, did a breathing treatment, and crawled into bed. Nestled into the incredible pillows, she made a mental note to hit the hotel's website and buy a couple.
Rosalie was falling out of bed. Yes, she knew she was too old for that, but for some reason, she must have been sleeping on top of the pillows. She felt herself falling and grabbed onto what she thought was the mattress, but it wasn't. The pillows did cus.h.i.+on her fall, but she doubted whoever was below her thought so.
Rosalie lay sprawled on the floor at six-thirty in the morning, with a rug burn on her knee. Gathering the pillows, she climbed back in bed. The rug burn hurt like h.e.l.l and looked even worse. She grabbed her phone off the bedside table, scrolled down to Nick's number, and hit ”Send.” Nick answered on the second ring.
”Lee?”
”Hi.”
”Did you just wake up?” ”Yeah.”
”And the first thing you did was call me?”
It was a question, but it sounded more like a statement of fact. ”No, it's not the first thing I did.” She didn't think she had to tell him the first thing she'd done was pick herself up off the floor.
”Sure, if you say so. You sound sleepy and s.e.xy as h.e.l.l... the way you always do for the first ten minutes, before your brain starts screaming for caffeine. Did you call room service yet?”
d.a.m.n, she knew she'd forgotten something. ”Of course. Um... how's Dave?”
”He's fine. He seems to be feeling better.”
”Why, what was wrong?”
”We went for a run yesterday. You should have seen him. After a mile, he lay down and refused to go any farther. It took me almost an hour to get him to walk home, and then he looked as if he were limping on all fours. I've never seen anything like it. After we talked to you, he was out for the rest of the night.” ”Outside?”
”No. Out, as in asleep on the bed. He takes over the entire bed, like someone else I know. But at least you don't snore.”
”It's nice to know I'm a better sleeping companion than Dave. You'd better watch it. All these compliments are going right to my head.”
She heard a siren and then Dave groaning.
”Dave, cut it out, I'm driving here.”
”You're driving with Dave?”
”Yeah, we're going to work.”
”It's against the law to talk on a cell phone and drive. Pull over.”
”You know, Dave, when your mom calls, all she does is order me around. I don't think she's had her coffee yet. I'm pulling over. Happy now?”
”Are you talking to me or to Dave?”
”You.”
”I'm thrilled. Let me get this straight-you're taking Dave to work with you? What are you, nuts? Dave isn't a Pekingese. He's not portable.”
”Sure he is. He likes the car, but he refused to sit in the back seat, so I buckled him in.”
”You put a seat belt on Dave?”
”Only the shoulder strap. I thought it would keep him from going too far forward. He should be safe enough, since the car has airbags...”
”You actually thought of his safety? That's so sweet.”
”Lee, give me a break. Sweet is almost as bad as cute. We got six inches of snow last night, and the kids have a snow day. My secretary is bringing her son, Tyler, with her to work. I thought Dave would like to hang with us.”
”You're going to let a kid and a dog follow you around?”
”Sure. Tyler's great. We shoot hoops and do guy stuff together.”
”Ooh, the mysterious guy stuff.”
”Yes, very mysterious. Even Lois doesn't know what we do. Ty took the blood oath right after I taught him how to pee standing up.”
”What do you mean? I thought the big deal with guys was writing your name in the snow...”
”Sweetheart, he didn't know how to spell. He was only two. He's a bright kid, but not that bright. Look, I've got to run, or I'll be late, and I'm already on Lois's s.h.i.+t list.”
”Oh, right. Um, give Dave a kiss for me.” ”Not likely.”
”Make sure he doesn't drink antifreeze or anything.”
”I'll keep him in my office.”
”Nick?”
”Yeah?”
”Thanks.”