Page 72 of The Virgin Romance Novelist Chronicles
“’Just in case you aren’t able to escape the cats so easily next time. Phillip.’”
“Oh, he sounds dreamy.”
“Who the hell is Phillip?” Henry asked. His demeanor had completely changed.Again.
“He’s a guy I met in the elevator the other night before my date with Alejandro. He watched me dodge the cats and avoid cat hair central, which I was grateful for since I didn’t have a lint roller with me.”
“So he sent you lint rollers. How adorable,” Jenny cooed while she sat on my desk and started touching the “bouquet.”
“Seems kind of lame,” Henry said, leaning back in his chair with a grumpy look on his face.
“It’s not lame at all. You’re just jealous you didn’t think of it,” Jenny countered.
Henry and Jenny had never really got along. They’d hung out a couple times at the most and each time had been a disaster. For some reason, they clashed, so I tried to keep them separated as much as possible. Since Henry never came to my office, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Until now.
“Who the hell would I send lint rollers to?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the girl you’ve been crushing on for years now.”
“What are you talking about?” Henry asked, and for the second time in twenty-four hours, I saw deep anger. Heard venom in his words.
“Don’t play dumb with me, everyone knows you want Rosie.”
“What?” I asked, almost falling out of my seat. “Jenny, Henry and I are just friends.”
A blank look crossed Henry’s face as he looked between me and Jenny. Once again, he cleared his throat and adjusted his jacket. “Yeah, just friends, Jenny, so drop it.”
Both Henry and Jenny exchanged heated glares before Jenny rolled her eyes, got off the desk, and headed for the doorway.
“Whatever, live in denial. Rosie, Gladys wanted me to let you know she’ll be sending you her edits on your cat secret article. She wants more passion for cats in it.”
I shook my head in confusion. “What does that even mean? Does she want me to lick the back of my hands and rub my hair as I write the article? Would that be showing more passion?”
“Possibly. Try it.” She smiled back and left, shutting the door behind her.
Once she was gone, Henry glared at me and said, “I don’t like her, at all.”
“I gathered that from the way you snarled at her the minute she walked in my office.”
“She just thinks she knows everything when she doesn’t.”
“Taking the mature road today I see.” I moved the bouquet to the bookshelf behind me. It was a perfect gift but a little large for my desk. I liked to keep things neat and orderly so Sir Licks-a-Lot couldn’t destroy things. Many times I’d walked into my office the next day to find the papers I’d organized in files strewn along the floor because the cats thought it would be fun to knock everything off my desk.
I’d caught them doing it too. They’d sit on my desk, acting all innocent, but casually paw something until it fell, just to be jerks. Damn cats.
“Whatever, I’m going to get going.”
“Wait, you were going to say something before Jenny came in.”
“Forget it,” Henry said while getting up and brushing off his jacket.
“Why are you being so weird? I don’t get you, Henry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Are we good?” he asked, a little concerned and less annoyed.
“I guess so. Please don’t treat me like that again. You’re my best friend, Henry, I don’t want you mad at me or mean.”
Blowing out a frustrated breath and running his fingers through his styled hair, he walked over to the side of my desk and sat on it, grabbing one of my hands.
