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"No," she inserted quickly "That isn’t what Ishe wanted was for Oliver to assume she was attracted to him "I like that you’re kind to animals"

"You want me"

Emma set her fork down, astonished at his audacity "I er s yourself that, but I know otherwise"

"This is exactly what bothers ance is unbelievable You assu, any worateful for the opportunity to date you The fact is, it’s si you can about ht She couldn’t help it "You’re the one asking all the questions--andconversation It see the next few hours together"

Soht find his smile sexy Not Emma, of course, but others She forced herself to look away, in case he ht then What do you want to know aboutforward

E she asked him, Oliver was bound to interpret in such a way that it would see head over heels in love with him Really, his attitude bordered on the comical

"How soon before we can fly out of here?"

He frowned "I can’t answer that until I get an updated weather report Anything else you want to know?"

Plenty, but she planned on asking Phoebe first "Not really"

She sliced into her omelet and saw that he’d already finished his sandwich Only a handful of French fries re to eat your toast?" he asked

She shook her head and slid the plate across the table

Oliver took it, slipped out of the booth and headed outside to where Oscar waited As soon as he left the café, E and pushed the button that speed-dialed the newspaper office A moment later, she connected with Phoebe

"This is Phoebe," her friend answered in her usual cheerful fashion

"When did Oliver Hamilton ask you about me?" Emma demanded

"Emma?"

"You know exactly who this is"

"I take it the muscle relaxant has worn off?"

So it was true "Why didn’t you say so?"

"Because," Phoebe murmured, "it was a short conversation Twoin to talk to Walt"

"Yes," Phoebe adht, I’ll tell you I was afraid that if I mentioned I’d talked to Oliver, you’d have all these questions about how I knew and I didn’t want to get into that"

"How did you know?" E Walt Why she wanted to keep that a secret, Emma wasn’t sure

When Phoebe answered, it was in a whisper "Walt and I are dating"

"You are?" Even though she’d already guessed, Emma was shocked "Why didn’t you tell me?" As soon as she asked the question, she knew "Walt doesn’t want anyone at the office to find out" It explained a lot

"He doesn’t think it’s good policy I hated not telling anyone, especially you, but I…couldn’t"

"How long has this been going on?"

"Three months"

Emma was stunned into silence She couldn’t believe that her best friend had ed to keep this from her for three months Obviously, Phoebe wasn’t as timid around Walt as she’d seemed

"You can’t let him know that you know," Phoebe said anxiously

"Fine" Eet back, I want you to tell hed softly "I’ll make a full confession"

"Good Nohat do you know about Oliver Hamilton?"

"Just that…he likes you He specifically asked for an opportunity so the two of you could fly together"

"What?"

"You heard htened to death to get into his little plane The man was a sadist, and between thely handed her over

"He told Walt you’d done a wonderful job of selling hiive the newspaper his business because of you"

"Did you tell Walt that if I didn’t get an assignment soon, I’d quit?"

"I couldn’t let h Emma noted that she hadn’t really answered the question "Not if I could prevent it Then Oliver showed up and, well, it was nht she was ready; he was just trying to keep Phoebe happy

"I can’t understand why you don’t like Oliver," Phoebe said

Eether "Oliver Ha over him"