The rest of the day went by in a whirlwind as Dominique worked to keep her attention on the matters at hand. But Mirabelle’s phone call had affected her more than she’d let on and now, for the first time since being hired into the best job of her life, she felt the real possibility that she could lose it. She’d called and left a message with Mirabelle’s friend but so far he hadn’t called back. By five o’clock she’d had all of Capricious that she could handle and began clearing off her desk.

“You’re going home, Miss Dom?” Reggie asked, as he walked into her office and placed several pieces of correspondence on her desk.

“Yes.”

“Thank God!”

Dominique fixed Reggie with a questioning look.

“Girl, you can’t let these people kill you. Don’t those French fools know that the Emancipation Proclamation has been proclamated?”

“I believe the word is ‘proclaimed,’ Reggie, and yes, they know.” Not wanting to upset him or have him fearful of losing his job, she chose not to share the earlier transatlantic conversation. “These extra hours are all about me. I’m working on a little project.”

“If I were you, I’d be working on a big project—about six foot five and about three-hundred pounds to be exact.”

Dominique smiled. “Good advice, Reggie. That’s where I’m off to now. You’ve been putting in the hours, too. Why don’t you knock off early, take Quinn out to dinner?”

“Girl, Quinn is getting on my nerves. I’m getting ready to drop him like he’s hot.”

“What happened? Oh, never mind.” Dominique turned off her computer, placed the papers Reggie had brought her into her briefcase and stood. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand,” she said, letting Reggie go in front of her so that she could lock her door.

“You need to blow something else,” Reggie murmured.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, Miss Dom. You go on and have a good night now, you hear?”

Thirty minutes later Dominique was sitting in one of Jake’s large leather recliners. He was standing behind her, massaging her neck and shoulders.

“What’s got you so uptight?” he asked, kneading a particularly troublesome spot.

“Work.” Dominique dropped her head as Jake worked his way down her spine.

“What happened?”

“Don’t worry about it, baby. I can handle it.”