Driven to Date Read Online Free PDF Page B

doesn’t want to give up on him, because she thinks he has hope and her clock is ticking.”
    Sarah slipped into the chair across from my desk. “Ah, one of those women.”
    My brows came together. “One of what women?”
    “Is she almost thirty?”
    Sounded about right. “Yes . . .”
    Sarah shrugged. “She’s PML.”
    I tried to decode the unfamiliar acronym, but came up with a big fat goose egg. “Never heard of it. Does it run along the same lines as PMS?”
    Sarah shook her head, then leaned toward me conspiratorially. “You know, pre-midlife. Right before single women hit thirty, they panic because they’re not married and all the good ones get taken. Some gals go a little crazy, trying to snag a husband before their choices dwindle to nothing.”
    For some reason, fear spread over me. First Ginger and now Sarah. Was thirty the new deadline for marriage? “PML, huh?”
    “Yep.” Sarah stood upright and thumbed through the small stack of papers she held. “The guys who’d make a great husband are flying like hotcakes at our age. Soon, we’ll only have the men women passed on.”
    “Hmm,” I said, wondering why my clock had never started ticking. Oh, right. Because I’d been too busy slaving all my free time away at my desk, working for a promotion I’d never get because Jim Shaw doled out the best positions to family first.
    “You don’t have to worry, though.” Sarah smiled as she dropped a handful of papers into my in-box. “I heard through the legal grapevine that you met someone at Ethan Harrison’s wedding last weekend.”
    My eyes bulged. “What?”
    She pulled the papers out and began shuffling through them casually. “Rumor has it you were in a hot lip-lock with a very sexy guy on the dance floor.”
    I sat up, and straightened my button-up blouse. “It was just a kiss, and won’t happen again.”
    Sarah threw me a questioning look. “Why not?”
    Maybe because he’d kissed me after I’d confessed the horror at his stealing my promotion? “Just not interested in him.”
    Although when Sarah left my office, this PML thing started circling my brain. Of course, I wanted to get married someday . And it’s not like I was getting any younger. . . .
    “Knock-knock.” Valerie Jacobs cooed from the doorway. “How are we doing today?”
    “Fine, Val.” I skimmed through the stack of papers on my desk. “What’s up?”
    “I just came from Ryan’s office.” Valerie winked her long—obviously fake (but, cute)—eyelashes at me. “He’s such a doll.”
    Jealousy snaked up my spine, which was ridiculous. Val was single. So what if she made a play for Ryan? I, myself, had been avoiding him like a garlic sandwich. “What can I do for you?”
    She gestured to the folders bundled under her arm. “Ryan had these Somerset pleadings of yours, so I offered to bring them back for him since I was coming in here anyway.”
    I watched in confusion as Valerie plopped the stack of legal documents on my desk. “This is my case. What was Ryan doing with these?”
    “Reviewing them?” Valerie sounded like she was guessing.
    This was too much. First my job, now my files. I grabbed the pile of pleadings and flipped through them frantically, searching for a clue as to why Ryan would go through them without asking me first. It infuriated me that he was checking my work. I glanced up.
    Valerie watched me intently.
    Probably the first time she’d caught me in an emotional frenzy. Actually, it was the first time I’d even had one at work. “Is there something else?”
    “Actually, I’m making the rounds. I ordered a welcome cake for Ryan from Freeport Bakery. Their chocolate-with-cream-fillings are out of this world.” Valerie rolled her eyes heavenward. “Care to chip in?”
    I had the sneaking suspicion Valerie thought buying Ryan a cake would edge her closer to a date. Not like I cared to help Val in her quest (or welcome Ryan, for that matter), but I searched in my wallet for five bucks.