Ringing in Love Read Free Page B

manner, even if it was to turn him down. Catherine hadn’t. She was friendly enough in the elevator, but she didn’t react as he expected. She either didn’t get the hints he dropped about having lunch with him or she chose to disregard them, although that seemed unlikely. Not that he was vain. Well,
that
vain. He was experienced, however, and knew what it was like to be brushed off. There had been no cold response or quick turndown from Catherine. Hell, the problem was she’d had no reaction at all to his attempts to move their conversation out of the elevator to a table for two in a nice restaurant someplace.
    He knew she was seven years younger than he was, but he doubted age was a problem. He didn’t think she knew his. He only knew hers because of the paperwork and background check he did on all prospective tenants. He also knew her credit history, where she lived, how old her son was, and what her income had been last year. There were distinct advantages to owning the building and having people work for you who knew how to do a thorough background check.
    Among the things he didn’t know, however, was whether she had a man in her life other than a son and an ex-husband. Boyfriends didn’t show up in the kind of search his management company conducted for a lease agreement.
    He’d checked out social media, but that hadn’t helped either. The only Facebook page and website he could find connected to her were company pages. So, although he’d never seen her enter or leave the building with anyone but a young boy he assumed was her son, it was possible she had a boyfriend. But if she did, why hadn’t she told him when he’d hinted at lunch?
    Of course, it was also possible, God help him, he was losing his touch with women. He shuddered at the thought. But he had to face the fact he wasn’t a kid anymore. He was forty-five, not thirty. No, he refused to go there. It had to be something else.
    With enough time, he’d always been able to charm anyone. It was one of the reasons for his success both with women and in business. He was sure all he had to do was figure out a way to get her in a longer conversation, and he’d be able to persuade her to have lunch. Maybe even dinner.
    The most likely place for a conversation was the coffee bar in the building lobby. He knew she went there every morning when she came to work. Occasionally she was there in the afternoon, too. He’d seen her a couple of times when he’d been coming in or going out of the building. All he had to do was figure out when she’d be there in the afternoon, when she’d be more likely to sit and talk, and “accidently” run into her the same way he “accidently” ran into her most mornings in the lobby.
    • • •
    “Here,” Melody said as she handed Catherine a brightly colored envelope. “A bunch of cards for free lattes came from the coffee place downstairs. Nice way to end the week.”
    “Thanks.” Catherine took the envelope and started to put it in her desk drawer. “I’ll use it next week.”
    “Don’t put it away. You have to use it today. Between three and four.”
    “How weird. I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
    “It’s probably some promo for new tenants. And they want us to use the ‘get out of paying’ card when they’re not too busy. Then if we like their stuff, we’ll come back.”
    “Why would they have to worry about us buying our coffee there? It’s five blocks to the next nearest place. Who’d go out in this heat when we can stay in air-conditioned comfort and still get our caffeine fix?”
    “Well, then, maybe it’s a welcome to the building. Whatever it is, a free latte is a free latte. I was hoping you’d go get one for me as well as for yourself. The ISP guy will be here soon to sort out the glitches in the router system they installed.”
    “Yeah, we need to get it fixed. It’s so unreliable right now it’s a pain in the neck. I’m ready to go back to our old provider if they