Anything You Can Do(39)

Bailey stretched up to kiss his scratchy cheek and surprised herself by saying, "There's nothing wrong with the old Gordon. I kind of like him. Don't force yourself to be something you're not."

Gordon shook his head. "I wish you people would make up your minds," he grumbled. As he walked away, he called over his shoulder, "Tell your roommate—tell her I'll see her tomorrow."

Well, Bailey thought as she turned her ignition key, I'm not the only one having an early midlife crisis.

She arrived home to find Paula and Samantha watching television. Paula was polishing her toenails and had just finished Samantha's, as Bailey discovered when the dog leaped into her arms and lay back, feet in the air, showing off her pedicure. Obviously this midlife crisis was contagious, an airborne microorganism likely.

Paula immediately muted the sound on the television. "You got a phone call," she sang out.

"Good. That means they haven't turned off my service." Bailey grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, kicked off her shoes, and joined Paula on the sofa.

"Austin phoned to see if you wanted to go for a drink. I told him he could probably catch you at the office. Did he get you before you left? You ought to call him back if he didn't."

Bailey hated herself for the surge of delight she felt at Paula's news. "Did he say I should call back?" she asked, keeping her attention focused on rubbing Samantha's tummy.

"Not exactly," Paula admitted, "but it's a perfect excuse."

"If I wanted to phone Austin, which I don't, but if I did, I would simply do so. I don't need an excuse to call someone."

"Suit yourself." Paula turned the sound back up on the sitcom unfolding on the television screen."

Bailey reached for the remote control and muted the noise again. "What, exactly, did he say?"

Paula turned to face Bailey, her eyes dancing. "First he asked for Gordon, but I could tell it was just a ruse."

"How could you tell it was just a ruse?" Bailey interrupted, her happiness fading at the knowledge he had really been calling to find Gordon.

"He sounded unsure of himself. That's not like Austin. "

"No," Bailey agreed, "it's not like Austin to be unsure of himself. But it is like Paula to read in things that aren't really there."

"Not so. Anyway, to continue, hopefully without interruption, I told him Gordon wasn't here, then he said if you and I weren't doing anything, maybe we'd like to go for a drink. I told him you weren't here, but he should try the office, and I gave him the night number."

Bailey thought of the ringing phone she hadn't answered. The delight came surging back.

"I'll treat for dinner if you'll do my makeup tomorrow," Bailey offered. Just in case he called again.

Paula leaned back on the sofa, laughed, and wiggled her red toenails in the air. "We never grow up, do we? We just get older." She turned to Bailey. "Let me paint your toenails, too. Men love painted toenails."

Bailey jerked her feet up under her and held Samantha protectively. "You're crazy. Go put your shoes on or I won't be seen in public with you."

But when Paula left the room, she stretched out one foot and tried to imagine it with crimson toenails, tried to decide if men—one man in particular—might find them appealing.

Nuts, she chided herself. You're losing your mind and all sense of decorum and going totally nuts.

*~*~*

When Bailey arrived in her office the next morning, the first thing she did was turn the ring switch of her phone back on. A few minutes later when it shrilled at her, she jumped involuntarily then snatched it up.

"Bailey Russell."

"You sound awful damn happy for this hour of the morning," Stafford Morris growled. "Come see me."

The connection was broken.

Probably another lease for Larry Haynes. Doing that man's work ought to be worth a partnership if she did nothing else.

She stopped by the kitchen for a caffeine refill then moved on to the big corner office. Paula looked up from a document she was proofing when Bailey came by.

"I've been summoned to the lion's den," she said in answer to Paula's questioning look. "If I don't come back, take care of Samantha, but leave her toenails alone."

She knocked on the door, then opened it and entered.

Just as she was closing it, he growled, "Close the door."