Free Chasing Glory by DeeAnna Galbraith

come to that conclusion? What did Tal say?”
    “When we came in and Tal introduced me to Pryce, he guessed my blog name and was sweet about being a fan. Alyssia was stressed because Philip Welker hadn’t begged to sign the contract yet, so it was easier to blame me.
    Tal didn’t hear anything between Alyssia and me, but he danced with her before we left, and she did not look happy.”
    “Wow. Do you think he yelled at her?”
    Glory considered the question. “I only saw the last little bit, but I don’t think yelling was involved. He knew I was upset and might have tried to set her straight, but since he still thinks she’s the woman for him, I don’t know if he tried very hard.”
    “From what I’ve seen,” Catherine said, “Tal’s not stupid, but he expects her to be something else, and for him, she is.”
    “Yeah. He looked bummed when she ignored him before lunch.”
    Catherine snorted. “She always puts herself in the most advantageous position, so she probably wasn’t ignoring him, just paying more attention to Pryce.”
    “Nevertheless, I’m going to practice invisibility until her mood improves.”
    “Might be hard to do since you’re trying to throw Tal in her path. Hey, maybe he could take some tips from our favorite CFO,” said Catherine.
    That didn’t make sense. Kingston’s Chief Financial Officer was a boring, straight-laced yuppie. “What does Jeff Lassiter have to do with Alyssia? Other than they work together.”
    “And have lunch together, and appear on each other’s calendars for weird meetings.”
    “Holy cats.You think CTB and CFO are merging letters outside the office?”
    Catherine laughed. “No chance. She’d be in a much better mood most of the time. I’m saying they spend a lot of what seems like unnecessary time together. Why do you think I’m always putting those winking emoticons on the emails when I ask you to put her on his schedule?”
    “Thought you were bored,” Glory said. “Now I have to poke out my eyes at the image that crept in.”
    “Yuck. Thanks for that. But don’t let Alyssia get you down. Tal stuck by you at lunch. I’m telling you, when the scales fall from his eyes, he could be yours.”
    Glory felt a pleasant wobble in her stomach at Catherine’s words, but ignored it. Even if it didn’t work out between Tal and Alyssia, which was likely, he had made it clear what he was looking for. And that little fantasy in no way matched her dream of traveling, writing her blog and her book, and finishing the work she’d started on her house. Not to mention that she wanted to be in love when she got married. That definitely wasn’t on Tal’s agenda.
    “Earth to Glory.”
    She sighed. “Don’t hold your breath. Tal wants the fairy tale to have a short, crisp, ending. I don’t even want to be in the story; the end.”
    “Plans change.”
    • •
    Tal glanced at his watch, then scanned the people strolling toward him on the wide sidewalk in front of Nordstrom’s. He was ten minutes early. Probably because he looked forward to her company. He could spend weeks researching ingredients and testing a new recipe, but the thought of shopping for shoes and clothes held no appeal. Heck, if he were honest, he was a little terrified. At least with Glory helping him, the end results would be quicker and less painful. If his new clothes impressed Alyssia too, as they hoped, so much the better.
    Glory was few minutes early, too. He recognized her shining hair and confident stride. She wore khakis that looked great on her slim legs, soft tan ankle boots, and a sweater the color of blackberry juice. His breath hitched.
    “Hi,” she said, grinning. “I hope you don’t have any other plans for this afternoon, because this is not going to take a half hour.”
    Tal squared his shoulders. “’Lay on, McDuff.’”
    Glory’s eyes widened. “Nothing like quoting Shakespeare correctly to win a writer’s heart.”
    “Accident,” he said, happy that he’d