Free Fast Courting by Barbara Delinsky

itself in Nia’s marriage. Yes, she dated often, but raw physical desire had never played a part in her social life since the divorce. What had happened today?
    The turnpike curved to the right and crested a rise, bringing the skyline of Boston into full view. Its sight was instantly comforting to Nia, as was the landscape of Cambridge to her left. This was home. Its nearness reassured her; its life enveloped her. By the time she had left the pike and negotiated the downtown streets she felt nearly normal. There was still the unfinished business of the eligible easterner feature that had caused her trouble from the start. But there were other things to think of, more immediate things. Daniel Strahan could wait his turn.
    Daniel Strahan, however, was not one to wait. He made his turn, taking the offensive, stealing the ball on the rebound and breaking fast with it. Nia scarcely had time to settle into a chair by Bill Austen’s desk when the phone rang.
    “Yes,” Bill clipped absently, then shot a glance at Nia. Both brows lifted in speculation, he held out the receiver.
    Startled, she took it. “Hello?”
    “Antonia …? It’s Dan.” How could she ever forget that voice? “Are you…all right?”
    For the past ten minutes, she’d been able to divert her mind from the embarrassment she felt. Now it was all back. With an audience, no less. Was she all right? If self-reproach, frustration and guilt were the normal state of things, she was fine.
    “Dan who?” she quipped, unable to resist the barb. But her voice was soft and a far cry from the expression of annoyance she’d intended.
    “Ahhh. She is all right.” He spoke slowly, deeply. Nia tried to picture him in his office, balanced back in his chair, half buried in a world she could never share. Unfortunately, the man stood out in her mind, tall and alluring. She heard the smile in his voice. “And sweet as ever.”
    “As ever.”
    He paused for a minute. “Are you angry?”
    “Hmmph.” She looked up to catch Bill’s sharpened gaze, then quickly averted her eyes, lowered her head, and turned from him to perch on the corner of his desk.
    “At me?” Momentary wariness came low over the wire.
    “Among others.”
    “At my…wards?”
    “They’re charming,” she offered in quiet sarcasm.
    Daniel hesitated, then plunged. “At yourself?”
    “Bingo.” Unconsciously, she put her little finger against the tight coil of the phone wire and began to work it around.
    “Well, don’t be. It takes two, you know.”
    “Tell me.”
    “It takes two.”
    Nia bit her lip in a bid for patience. Bill shifted in his seat and Daniel, miraculously, saw it all.
    “Your boss is right there?”
    “Uh-huh.” And he was eyeing her very strangely.
    “Well, tell him I’m thinking about it.”
    “You’ll never do it.” The tip of her finger was all but hidden in the white coil.
    “I may.”
    “I doubt it.”
    “Don’t you want me to?”
    She tucked her chin more tightly against her chest, so that her voice was nearly muffled. “No.” The resultant pause was predictable.
    “Now…that does surprise me. Was the decision made before…or after…we met?”
    “A little of both.” Bill’s restlessness was a glaring hint from the corner of her eye. “Listen,” she half whispered, “I’ve got to run.”
    “OK. Be good.” He accepted the brush-off without a fuss.
    “You, too.” The receiver had already left her ear when his parting shot brought it quickly back.
    “Will you be watching the game tonight?”
    “No.”
    “Why don’t you try.”
    “Uh-uh.” The first joint of her pinkie had disappeared as well now.
    “It might be helpful…if you hope to write that article.”
    “I don’t.”
    “You may.”
    “It’s not about the game.”
    “Ahhh. That’s right. It’s about me. But …is there really a distinction?”
    Her voice rose for the first time, fraught with urgency. “Yes! You know there is!”
    Again, she heard his smile, could almost see