Page 9

“Like I said, if there’s any way I can help, just say the word,” Ethan said.

“Thanks. Thus far I’ve got everything under control.” This was more for Troy’s benefit than Ethan’s.

“Okay, but if anything comes up, I’m your man.”

She took her lunch back to her desk and sighed. Under normal circumstances, she would have enjoyed eating her lunch with him in the break room. There was a lot to like about Ethan. He was stable, hardworking, and thoughtful, and as a bonus, he was easy on the eyes. It didn’t escape her notice how fit and muscular he was, either. She was particularly fond of the stray lock of dark brown hair that fell over his forehead. More than once, she’d been tempted to brush it aside for him. She found herself thinking about him and their two dates. Her hope was that once Mowrey made his decision, things between them would progress. Until then, she would bide her time, wait it out, and let him know she was interested.

Erica waited until Ethan was out of earshot before she spoke. “You could do worse than Ethan Cornwell, you know.”

“I agree,” she whispered, watching him walk away, her eyes lingering on him. “We’re friends. Nothing more.” Although she had hopes.

“Nothing yet, you mean,” Erica said and wiggled her eyebrows, indicating there was certainly more to come.

Sage took her lunch into her office and was about to eat when Troy showed up. “I suppose you heard.”

“Heard what?” She wasn’t up to playing games.

“About Ethan.”

The rumor mill was alive and active at Park Marketing. Usually, Erica was the one to fill Sage in on the latest gossip.

Troy didn’t hesitate. “Mowrey’s considering Ethan as well as the two of us for the position of manager.”

Sage snickered. “I don’t believe it. Ethan runs the accounting office. Besides, it was my understanding that the position would be offered to whoever got the Hudson account.”

But then when she did think about it, putting Ethan’s name into the mix made sense. Mowrey often sought out Ethan’s advice. More times than she could count she’d seen the two of them in his office talking.

“That was my assumption as well. Guess we were both wrong.”

Troy left and Sage leaned back on her chair. So that was the reason he’d cooled their relationship. This news explained a lot. Her anger was immediate. He should have told her, should have said something. Instead he’d left her to wonder what the problem was and leave her guessing.

Her afternoon was busy as she met with her team to review the media blitz planned for Buzz, the new soft drink. With this news about Ethan in the running for the managerial position, her head wasn’t where it should be.

To distract her thoughts away from Ethan she ordered a beautiful, flocked tree, along with an assortment of gorgeous ornaments. Next, she arranged the date and time for the tree to be delivered, set up, and decorated. It wasn’t as soon as she would have liked, but it was still doable.

Sage called it quits at a quarter to five, nearly ninety minutes earlier than when she usually left the office.

Erica looked surprised to see Sage gathering her purse and coat. “Lisa isn’t expecting you until five-thirty,” she mentioned.

“Ricky wants to take cookies to Santa, so I’m stopping to buy the biggest, most luscious cookies I can find.” And she knew exactly where she would go. The cookies looked delicious and cost nearly four dollars apiece. Not that she begrudged the cost if it made Ricky happy. If he wanted to take Santa cookies, by heaven she would make sure they were the best money could buy.

Chapter Four

Ricky brightened as soon as he saw Sage. She’d parked on the street outside Lisa’s house. He stood by the living room window and seemed to be waiting for her. Right away, the front door flew open, and he ran outside to meet her, waving a paper in his hand.

“Did you have a good time?” she asked. From the smile he wore, she could tell he did. He proudly showed her his art project.

“I had the best day. Oliver said he was glad I was a boy. He’s with his sister and cousin all the time and they do silly stuff like play with Barbies. He said he refuses to play with dolls.”

Sage chuckled. “I can’t say I blame him.”

She opened the back passenger door for Ricky. “Are you hungry?”

Ricky nodded.

Sage didn’t feel much like cooking, although she had a package of macaroni and cheese planned for that evening. “How does cashew chicken sound?”

Ricky leaned his head to one side as he considered her choice for dinner. “I’ve never had that before.”