License to Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

said, mercifully taking the conversation in a different direction. “I did, too.”
    “I know,” said Steve. Relieved, he continued expansively, “I saw your diploma in your office. Did you happen to know my sister, Jamie Saraceni? She went to Penn State, too. She would’ve been a class or two ahead of you, I think. Majored in library science. She’s married now. In fact, she just had a baby boy last month, two weeks before Christmas. His name is Matthew Albert Marshall.”
    Good Lord, he needed a clamp on his tongue! Steve grimaced. What was the matte- with him? He wasn’t normally given to long, free association monologues.
    But Michelle didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she gamely replied, “A new little nephew, how nice. No, I didn’t know your sister, but of course, Penn State’s main campus is an enormous place.”
    “Jammed to capacity with students,” Steve agreed. “Remember those lines at the bookstore the beginning of each term?”
    “I’ll never forget them! How about the lines in the dining halls?”
    Some things in State College remained the same, whatever the year and the class, and Michelle and Steve reminisced about their alma mater and the classes, professors, social life and sports. There had been some changes in their old college town, and they discussed those, too. The conversation was so enjoyable to them both that it continued for more than half an hour.
    Then Michelle was interrupted by Claire. “I hate to bother you, Michelle, but you were going to read over this draft before we showed it to Ed, and he’s due here in about fifteen minutes.”
    And Steve was interrupted by Saran. “Steve, there’s this guy who’s been waiting around to see you for the past twenty minutes and he’s getting awfully hyper. Are you going to see him or should I tell him to get lost?”
    “Oh my goodness, the draft!” Michelle exclaimed. “Claire, I’ll get to it right away.”
    “Good Lord! I forgot all about my appointment with the chief counsel to the party caucus!” gasped Steve. “Saran, do not tell him to get lost! ”
    “I guess we lost track of the time,” Michelle said sheepishly over the phone to Steve.
    “And I accused my cousin of conducting marathon telephone calls!” Steve murmured, completely nonplussed. He had never, ever forgotten an appointment! Nothing distracted him from his work, particularly not a woman. He’d always consigned women to his leisure time when they would not interfere with anything important.
    Yet, even now, both were oddly loath to hang up. “Maybe we could—” Michelle said at the same time that Steve was saying, “Would you like to—”
    They both paused and laughed awkwardly.
    “You first,” said Steve.
    “No, really. You go ahead,” insisted Michelle.
    “I was going to ask if you’d like to continue this discussion over dinner sometime?”
    “Yes,” she replied quickly. Probably too quickly, but Michelle didn’t care.
    “I know this is short notice, but what about Friday night?” He did some swift mental calculations. He had a date, of course; he always had a date on Friday nights. Saturdays, too. But he’d never had a problem with breaking dates if something else—someone else—came along.
    “Friday night is fine,” Michelle said breathlessly. A Friday night date, now that was a rarity for her. Usually she rented a video and watched it with her cat, both of them crashing on the sofa after her sixty-hour : plus work week. Her job consumed most of her energy and too many hours for her to pursue much of a social life.
    “Would Alfred’s Victorian be all right?” He named a popular restaurant in a restored Victorian mansion, which had carefully preserved the luxurious, old-fashioned ambience. He already had reservations there for Friday at eight.
    “Oh, that would be very nice,” Michelle exclaimed. She knew the place. Senator Dineen treated his staff to an annual Christmas party there. But the romantic atmosphere would be entirely