Free Come Dancing by Leslie Wells

a dismissive glance. “I majored in Lit at Princeton, so I always wanted to get into books,” she said in a boarding school lockjaw.
    “Julia’s also an assistant editor. She can show you where the bodies are buried,” Harvey said. “I expect great things of Briar. She has an incredible rolodex from her year at the magazine.”
    With that, he led her down the hall toward publicity. I stared at the piles of paper on my desk, shaken by the directly competing hire. With Briar sharing my position, we’d both be vying for the next rung on the ladder. This is how he repays me after all the grunt work I’ve done for him? I thought miserably.
    Meredith poked her head in. “Did you meet the new person?”
    “I just did. She let me know within the first sixty seconds that she’d gone to Princeton.”
    Meredith shut the door behind her. “Harvey’s always impressed with the fancy schools. I don’t see why he needs anyone else; you keep on top of everything.”
    “He mentioned her amazing rolodex,” I said dispiritedly. “I’m really in shock. Is he trying to edge me out?” A chill ran down my spine as I thought of Daphne’s firing.
    “I suppose he thinks she has some great contacts from being at TownTalk .” Meredith gave me a motherly pat. “But she doesn’t look like the type to work her fingers to the bone, and that’s the only way to get ahead. If it doesn’t pan out for her here, she can always take her Princeton degree back to magazines, where it’s more glamorous.”

 
     
     
Chapter 8
    The Girl Can’t Help It
     
     
    All Saturday, my nerves were jangling. I had stopped by Vicky’s that afternoon, and her clingy black party dress was now hanging from a nail on my wall. Just looking at it made me even more jittery.
    By ten I had my makeup on and was bopping around to Little Feat in my jeans. Jack called to say he’d be there soon. There was a lot of noise in the background, so I assumed he was still at the studio and didn’t rush to put on the dress. Shortly thereafter I heard someone on the street. I went to the window and stuck my head out. It was Jack, peering up at me from below.
    “Rapunzel! Throw down your key.”
    I laughed. “I’ll be there in a second.”
    “ ’Punzel! Toss it down.”
    Why didn’t I finish getting ready? I hope he doesn’t think my place is pathetic . I stuffed my key in the sock and threw it to him, then I opened my door and listened to him tromping up the steps.
    “Whew, that’s some climb,” Jack said, handing me the sock. He wore a tawny jacket over a silky peach-colored shirt and tight black pants that accentuated the muscles in his thighs. His shirt was half-unbuttoned, and his dark hair was sticking up all over. He looks amazing , I thought as he took off his jacket and laid it on my chair. I haven’t been this nervous since I presented my thesis to a roomful of professors. Come to think of it, that doesn’t even compare .
    “How are you, Miss Julia?” Jack said, smiling at me.
    “I’m fine. Do you want a beer? I just have to get dressed.” I bounced up and down on the balls of my feet to release a little tension.
    “Sure, I’ll take a beer. It’s warm in here; you don’t have your AC on?”
    “I don’t have air conditioning. I get a good cross-breeze from the windows.”
    I meant for him to sit on my couch, but he followed me to my fridge. “I see you have your books and records.” He indicated my wooden crates stacked on top of each other. I handed him a bottle, and he went past me to the back of the room. “These your outfits?” he asked, inspecting my clothes hanging there.
    “This place didn’t come with a closet, so I just put a few nails in the wall. Maybe not the best decorating move.”
    He swung over to my futon, which was covered with piles of paper. “What’s all this?”
    “That’s Timothy Collins’s book. I’m trying to move things around; it helps to separate the chapters. I don’t have a table big