Don’t Call Me Sweetheart Read Online Free

to deliver Miss Lane McLaughlin’s latest
bestseller by noon today in case you’ve forgotten. You wouldn’t want to keep
your publicist waiting, now would you?”
    “Tess…”
    “Nooo, now wait a minute, I’m busy thinking.” Tess was
enjoying herself far too much. “Oh, now I remember, I’m your publicist, aren’t
I? And it would never do to have me irritated over a missed deadline.” Quickly,
before Whitney could formulate an argument she added playfully, “I’ll be out of
the office all morning but I suppose I could meet you for lunch and… Well, what
do you know. Crestfield would probably be as good a place as any. See you
there!” The dial tone was buzzing in Whitney’s ear before she could collect her
thoughts enough to realize she had just been out-manipulated by one of the
best.
    Whitney peered ruefully at the clock in her hand. In order
to comply with Tess’ ridiculous request she knew she needed to get moving, no
matter how much she wanted to ignore the grand summons just issued.
    Normally she would have made up an excuse to avoid meeting
one of Tess’ many finds but there was no hope of backing out today. Tess was
right. Lunch guest or no she had a deadline to meet and Whitney had never been
one to take her responsibilities lightly. And to her credit, Tess was
intimately familiar with Whitney’s strong distrust of strangers. She wouldn’t
knowingly lead her reluctant friend into an uncomfortable situation. If she
valued her hide at any rate.
    The cool linoleum beneath her bare feet caused Whitney to
hurry but by the time she washed her hair and performed all the necessary
toiletries, which wouldn’t be necessary at all if she didn’t have to meet a “Mr.
Incredible”, it was approaching midmorning and there was little doubt she was
purposefully dragging her feet.
    “You know,” she told herself for the hundredth time as she
tugged the requested garment over her head and smoothed it across her hips, “one
of these days you’re going to have to start being more assertive. Stop being
scared that everyone you meet is out to take advantage of you. Especially men. They’re
not all after your bank account like Jon was, you know.” A bitter smile touched
her lips but she forced the unpleasant memories away. She hadn’t thought about
her former fiancé for weeks and she certainly wasn’t of a mind to do so today.
    She was struggling with the zipper of the troublesome little
black dress she had been ordered to wear when a friendly voice called to her
from the doorway. “I don’t suppose you’d like a hand with that now would you,
Miss Whitney?”
    Whitney twirled around awkwardly, one arm stretched behind
her back and the other twisted over her shoulder. She flashed a thankful grin
in the housekeeper’s direction. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you,
Elizabeth.”
    The heavyset woman ambled into the room and laid the stack
of fresh towels she had been carrying aside so she could finish the task that
had kept Whitney tied in knots for the last several minutes. As she retrieved
her load she couldn’t help but ask, “You don’t usually get this dressed up to
see Tess. She wasn’t replaced by a handsome new publicist, was she?”
    Whitney grimaced, replying, “No, she wasn’t. And if she had
been why would I care one way or the other if her replacement was handsome?”
    “Someday you’ll care again, sweetheart,” the older woman
laughed. “A man will come along and steal your very heart away, then you’ll
know firsthand all about this romance stuff you’re so good at writing about. You
won’t need to make it up anymore.”
    “I don’t need a man to teach me about romance, Elizabeth,”
Whitney protested adamantly as she plopped down in front of the antique vanity
dresser that had been in her family for generations.
    Distracted, she began to pull a brush through her long,
russet hair. “Jon taught me all I’ll ever need to know about how men really
behave. I’d rather