"I know you would have. But I still would have been the one to bring in the account."

"I'm sure you like to tell yourself that."

He smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better."

She smiled back. "I'm sure you like to tell yourself that as well. How are you doing on the Fabulous Feline Food account?"

"Fantastic. But you know me-I'm a creative magnet. I'm like catnip."

"Hmmm. I think I feel a hairball coming up." She turned to Debra, effectively dismissing him as if she were the Queen of England and he a lowly footman. "Is Adam in?"

Debra nodded. "He's expecting you."

With a nod at both of them, she strode down the corridor, then knocked on Adam's door. Seconds later she disappeared into the office, closing the door behind her.

Matt's competitive and suspicious instincts kicked into gear. What sort of meeting were the two of them having?

"Well, now I understand," Debra said, pulling his attention back.

He looked at her, and the speculation gleaming in her eyes made him nervous. "Understand what?"

"Why you haven't picked up on any of the signals I've sent your way. Your receptors are all clogged up." Her gaze shifted pointedly toward the door where Jilly had just disappeared. "I saw those sparks between you."

An incredulous laugh escaped him. "You couldn't be more wrong."

She hiked a skeptical brow. "I know sparks when I see them."

"Well, if you saw sparks, they definitely weren't those kind of sparks. More like sparks of annoyance."

"Doesn't matter," Debra said, with a knowing gleam in her eye. "Any kind of sparks can start a fire."

At seven-thirty that evening, Jilly plopped down into a booth across from Kate Montgomery at their favorite Chinatown eatery for their standing Thursday night dinner "date," a weekly tradition since their college graduation six years earlier. Jilly slapped her hands on the Formica table and shot her best friend a broad grin. Kate worked at a law firm on Park Avenue and specialized in tax law. Jilly loved her in spite of the fact that she was gorgeous, brilliant and savvy. Indeed, clad in what Jilly suspected was most likely an Armani suit, her pale blond hair falling softly about her shoulders, Kate reminded Jilly of a young Grace Kelly.