Free Fat Chance by Rhonda Pollero

Tony Caprelli knocked on my open door. He’d loosened his tie and rolled up his shirtsleeves. His hair was mussed, as if he’d been raking his fingers through it.
    “Got a minute?”
    My mouth was dustbowl dry, so I just nodded and pointed him to the chair recently vacated by Liam. Then my brain started doing the inevitable comparisons. Tony was a little shorter thanLiam, but he was definitely the better dressed of the two. Both had black hair, but I could tell Tony had his cut regularly—and not by some hack in a strip mall, either.
    “You didn’t seem too thrilled about taking a couple of refresher courses,” he said.
    Working with you and a raise sealed the deal. “Was I supposed to?”
    He smiled, and I noticed a really sexy dimple on the right side of his face about an inch to the right of his very sexy mouth. Liam didn’t have any dimples. But he did have those incredible blue eyes. Tony’s eyes were nice. Brown, but nice.
    I started imagining him on the precipice of passion. I’d bet my impending raise that those eyes turned the color of rich, imported chocolates, sensual and sinful. I wondered what it would feel like to have his large, square-tipped fingers touching me. The temperature in the room rose along with my interest. Who wouldn’t be interested? The guy was gorgeous, smart, financially stable, and three feet away from me.
    “I guess not. Victor gave me your personnel file.”
    I tried not to groan or grimace. “Dull reading, I imagine.”
    “Anything but,” he said, lacing his fingers behind his head. “Why’d you stop at a bachelor’s degree? You had the grades, and your LSAT scores would have gotten you into the law school of your choice.”
    “Have you met my mother?” Jesus, just what I needed—a third musketeer jumping on the Finley-could-have-made-something-of-herself bandwagon.
    “Let me guess, she’s less than thrilled by your career choices.”
    My shoulders relaxed, and I leaned back in my chair. “That’s putting it mildly. Luckily for her, I have a sister whom she can brag about for days on end.”
    “An attorney?”
    “Pediatric oncologist.”
    He whistled. “That would be a tough act to follow.”
    “I wasn’t the follower, I was the leader. Lisa’s three years younger than I am and about to marry a doctor. If you’re keeping score, that’s Lisa two Finley zero.”
    He laughed. “You did good work on the Evans investigation.”
    My heart skipped a self-congratulatory beat. “Thank you.”
    “And on the Spencer case.”
    “Thank you again, but you must not have read carefully. Mr. Dane fired me in both instances.”
    “And rehired you,” he said.
    “Only because I brought new clients to the firm.”
    Tony shook his head. “Victor Dane isn’t an idiot, Finley. He knows you’re bright and very capable. So does Ellen Lieberman. She told me you mastered complex contracts in under a week.”
    It felt really good to have someone compliment my work. It also felt really weird. Especially since I’d just planned my day to include a long lunch and personal errands all on Dane, Lieberman’s dime. I felt a little guilty, but not guilty enough to change my plans. I was grateful, not stupid. I did do good work. I just had a limited work ethic.
    “Have any questions for me?” he asked.
    Do you put out on the first date? “No, sir.”
    “Don’t call me ‘sir.’ ‘Tony’ will do just fine. I’m taking the morning to get settled in, but I’d like to meet with you at three thirty.”
    While I was minorly excited that Dane, Lieberman was branching out into criminal law, did they have to flipping do it at three thirty? “That would be fine,” I lied.
    “Great. See you in my office then.” He rose and started for the door.
    “Where exactly is your office?”
    “Fourth floor. I think it used to belong to Mr. Zarnowski.”
    My heart skipped a beat. “He’s not coming back?”
    “Apparently not, if they’ve given me his office.”
    “The fourth floor is