Zoe wrote it all down, asked him a few more questions, and was about to hang up when Swanson jarred her with a question she’d been hoping not to hear.
She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. What?”
“I asked if you’d meet me for lunch on Monday. I have a few more tweaks for our consult template, and I’d rather not harass you over the phone about them. You’re much easier to get a commitment out of when we’re face-to-face.”
Swanson could outstare Satan himself when he wanted something. And he had a habit of getting her to agree to fix his problems before everyone else’s, even when they were minor. Zoe still had no idea how he pulled off his Jedi mind tricks. But she’d smartened up. Lately, she’d dealt with him via phone calls and emails. Or sent Ginny. Apparently that wasn’t working for him anymore.
She sighed. “Fine.”
“Hey, it could be worse. I could ask our no-show manager to handle it. He’d spend the time pretending he wasn’t trying to see down your blouse, no doubt wondering how he could somehow justify having sex with a woman no longer in her teens. I just want to talk to you about work.”
“Funny, Mr. Swanson.” Though he had a point. She couldn’t stand Dan Garrison either.
He snorted. “I thought so. You owe me.”
“For what? Making your job easier? More likeyouoweme.”
“Please. I’m keeping Garrison contained and making myself look like the bad guy with Lana. So when you schedule that training, she’ll still be madder with me than with you for taking her people away.”
“Um, didn’t you piss off Lana all on your own? You know, by forgetting the creamer?”
“It was all part of a larger plan.”
Zoe laughed. “Someone needs therapy to take care of those delusions…and it’s not me. Okay, I’ll get on the software issues and meet you on Monday for lunch.”
“At eleven.”
“Better make that noon. I have a feeling the new directors’ meeting Cleo scheduled Monday morning is going to add a whole new pile of work for me.”
“Monday morning? What time?”
“Seven.”
“Seven? That’s when we have our providers’ meetings—at seven.Ischedule our clinic’s meetings.” He sounded strangled. “You said Cleo Brewer scheduled it?”
“Yes,” she said, cautious. Swanson sounded ready to explode again.
“Damn it,” he barked, added, “Don’t be late,” and hung up without a good-bye.
Not too bad, considering she hadn’t been frozen by Swanson’s icy displeasure. He burned with a cold tongue. But he reserved his cutting remarks for those who deserved them. Fortunately, Zoe’s diligence had served her well. Her coworkers took her seriously, and she loved her job. She and Swanson rarely had run-ins, though she’d heard more than her fair share about him from Cleo.
And speak of the devil… Bright-green eyes peered at her from behind the doorframe.
“Might as well pop your head back in and have a seat.”
Cleo joined Zoe in the office once more. Handing over a cup of steaming coffee, she sat back and slurped her own. “So how’s Mark McDreary?”
Zoe took a sip of her coffee and grinned. “Don’t you mean Mark McDreamy?”
Cleo snorted. “Please. That man has no heart, no dreams, and nothing more than a handsome shell going for him. If it weren’t for his dark good looks, he’d be the epitome of a troll. Like the kind that lives under the Fremont Bridge. Hmm. Now I think about it, there’s a resemblance in that stony glare.”
Zoe chuckled. “He’s not so bad. He had some valid complaints. And Lana’s giving it to him for not replacing the coffee creamer.”
Cleo shared her mirth. “Oh man. I’d never get between Lana and her coffee. Not if I wanted to live. That’s like telling you that you’ll have to miss your exercise classes because Bill’s son got sick.” She gave Zoe a pointed glance.
Zoe flushed. Obviously Ginny had been telling tales. “I already apologized to Ginny for being bitchy. But you know how it is when your routine gets interrupted. I was cranky because I—”
“Had to miss gym time with Sergeant Studly. I know.”
