His Best Friend. Patricia Kay

truth was, Claudia felt no spark of attraction to Philip. It was a shame, too, because in addition to his other attributes, he was intelligent and obviously a really decent guy.

      What’s wrong with you? Do you think nice-looking, decent men with good jobs grow on trees?

      She almost laughed at the thought, because it sounded so much like something her sisters would say. Her mother, of course, would want to know his pedigree.

      “My cousin is turning thirty on Sunday,” Philip said now. “She’s invited some friends over to celebrate with her tomorrow night. I’d really like to take you to the party with me.”

      Claudia picked up a paper clip.

      Philip sat on the edge of her desk. As always, he was dressed impeccably in spotless slacks, dress shirt and tie. Claudia knew he’d probably also worn a sport coat this morning, but imagined it was hanging in his office. “There’ll be an interesting bunch of people there,” he continued. “I think you’d enjoy meeting them. Jennifer—that’s my cousin—works for one of the local TV stations here. She’s a program coordinator—” He grinned. “She says that means she’s in charge of all the grunt work.”

      Claudia turned the paper clip round and round in her hand. “Look, Philip, I’m really not good with lots of people I don’t know—”

      “I promise you. You’ll enjoy it. Jen’s brother is going to be there, too. John’s a documentary filmmaker. He’s been working in Austin the past six years, but he’s in the process of moving to Houston. He won’t know most of the people there, either, so you won’t be the only one.”

      “Oh, I don’t know…”

      “Come on. It’ll be fun. You’ll like these people, especially Jen. She’s a sweetheart.”

      “Well…” Claudia decided she was being stupid. There weren’t exactly dozens of guys lined up waiting to take her out. And after all, going out with Philip didn’t mean she had to marry him. Besides, the party did sound like fun. “All right,” she finally said. “You talked me into it.”

      “Great. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

      Philip grinned all the way back to his office. Yes! She’d said yes. What he would have done if she’d continued to say no, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was, where Claudia was concerned, he had no intention of giving up. Since Emily there had been no one he’d cared about, but that had all changed a month ago when Claudia had begun teaching at the college.

      He’d known the moment he met her that she was special and that she was going to be important to him. He’d have felt foolish saying that to anyone, even John, but it was true. Philip had never believed in love at first sight, feeling that it took time to fall in love, that it was important to be friends first, that real love wasn’t based on physical attraction but mutual interests and ideas.

      Yet with Claudia, all those long-held beliefs flew out the window. It still amazed him that he could have fallen in love so quickly…and so hard.

      He couldn’t wait for John and Jen to meet her. It would be interesting to see what their reaction was. John, he knew, would see exactly what it was that had ensnared Philip so quickly, but women were different.

      What if Jen didn’t like Claudia? Would that make a difference?

      Philip was so caught up in his thoughts, he jumped when Sarah Frost, his assistant, spoke to him.

      “Sorry, I wasn’t listening,” he said.

      “I said Dean Channing has called a meeting.” Her dark eyes looked somber.

      Philip frowned. “What’s wrong?” But he was afraid he knew.

      Sarah lowered her voice after first looking around to make sure no one else was in earshot. “I think it’s about Professor Tate.”

      Philip swore under his breath. Just what he needed today. A week ago, Jeffrey Tate had been accused of sexual harassment by one of the sophomores. He swore he was innocent. The girl’s parents were threatening to sue if Tate wasn’t fired. But Philip knew Dean Channing was afraid Tate would sue if he was.

      “All right,” Philip said in resignation. “Print out all the information on Professor Tate’s salary and benefits package, will you? I’d better be ready for anything when I get there.”

      All thoughts of Claudia were pushed from Philip’s mind as he headed for his office.

      After Philip went back to the administrative wing, Claudia began to clear off her desk. She had given a pop quiz in the form of an essay assignment to her Composition I class—much to their dismay—and she would have to read and grade the papers tonight. And she needed to read ahead for the Principles of Marketing class, which met tomorrow. And there was nothing in her condo to eat, which meant she’d better stop at the supermarket on the way home. She sighed. She’d better get a move on if she hoped to get everything done.

      Claudia taught two classes of Composition I, which was a first-year course; one class of Composition II, a second-year course; two classes of Principles of Selling; and one class of Principles of Marketing—a total of 18 classroom hours a week. What with lesson planning, grading papers and tests, special projects and other related duties, it was a heavy load, especially for a first-year professor, but Claudia didn’t mind. She loved teaching, particularly at this level. She’d found she had a natural rapport with her students, especially once they realized she had hands-on marketing experience herself.

      With all her belongings packed into her tote, she slung her handbag over her shoulder and headed out to the parking lot. The late September heat blasted her when she exited the air-conditioned building. And when she unlocked the Jeep, it felt like an oven inside. After tossing her stuff into the back, she took off her brown linen jacket, exposing the white tank top she wore underneath.

      With her favorite rock station blasting—and Claudia singing along in her slightly off-key voice—she edged the Jeep into Southwest Freeway traffic and headed south toward the Loop and her Galleria-area condo. Traffic was already heavy and it was only four o’clock on a Wednesday afternoon. But then, traffic always seemed to be heavy here.

      Her family, most of whom lived in Morgan Creek, the small Texas town where Hathaway Baking had its main plant and offices, couldn’t understand why she wanted to work somewhere like Houston, but Claudia loved the city. Yes, there were a lot of people. And yes, it was hot and humid for five months out of the year. And yes, the traffic could be horrendous.

      But there was so much energy in the city. It was exciting. There was a feeling here that anything could be accomplished if you just worked hard enough. And the shopping, the theater and arts scene, the restaurants and the museums were fabulous.

      Claudia loved it all. There was nothing about Morgan Creek she missed except her siblings and her nieces. But a person couldn’t have everything. Sometimes you had to choose, and she’d chosen to cut the cord that she’d felt slowly strangling her.

      She had managed to spend a few hours in Morgan Creek last Sunday, and that was nice. She’d enjoyed talking to Bryce and Lorna, telling them about her new job and hearing about everything that had happened since she’d left. It had been nice to see how happy Bryce was now, too, married to Amy—who had been nanny to his two young daughters—and father to her little girl. Bryce certainly deserved to be happy, Claudia thought, after suffering through so much pain when he lost his first wife, whom he’d loved so dearly.

      Claudia had spent Saturday afternoon and evening with Sally in Austin, and that had been fun, too. All in all, it was a good weekend, even though not everything had worked out the way she’d hoped. One of the reasons she’d made the trip home so soon after moving to Houston was that she’d been unable to get the cute guy she’d met that day in August out of her mind. She’d kept thinking about him and finally she’d decided she would call him when she got to Sally’s, see if he wanted to go to a party they were invited to attend that night.

      Remembering how she’d felt when she’d called the