Two's Company

making the
    environment more employee-friendly. I’ve even implemented a doggie-friendly
    office in a few places.”
    “Doggie-friendly?”
    “Yes. A lot of people, like us, choose not to marry and have children, but
    they do have pets. Pets left alone can sometimes be destructive, and people are
    attached to their pets just like they would be to a child. Pets and their owners get
    stressed out when they’re apart so a pet-friendly business saves a lot of money
    by reducing absences the same way an in-house daycare does.”
    “That’s, um, great. I guess.”
    “You think it’s nuts,” Gillian said, tilting her head.
    Ian grinned. “Yes, yes I do.”

Chapter 2
 
    Ian kicked off his shoes as he entered his apartment, shrugged off the jacket
    and tie he’d been wearing, and tossed them carelessly onto the sofa. In his
    bedroom, he stripped off the rest of the garments and sat naked on the bed.
    Pulling out his Palm Pilot, he scrolled down to the list of appointments. Dinner at
    six with a seventy-eight year old lady named Esther Jones. He and Esther had
    had many dates in the past and he actually enjoyed her company. She called him
    for any social occasion that required an escort, and he often wound up flying to
    Dallas, San Francisco or New York with her. The one thing she never required
    was sex, and Ian considered dates with her paid vacations. However, tonight
    was simply a black-tie dinner benefiting one cause or another, so he’d have her
    home by nine with no problem.
    The next appointment was with a new client he’d yet to meet. He didn’t
    really like new clients, preferred to stick with what he already knew. He’d have
    to talk with Bridget tomorrow about that. Bridget was his secretary, and he her
    anonymous employer. She took the calls at her home, scheduled the
    appointments and forwarded them via the Internet. His bank made a wire
    transfer from his account to hers twice monthly and the arrangement had
    worked well for nearly ten years. His only contact with her was either through email
    or a phone call.
    Stepping into the shower, Ian relaxed as the massaging showerhead beat
    down on his neck and shoulders. He closed his eyes and thought about his night,
    then washed his hair and scrubbed his body. After toweling off, he walked
    naked into the closet and selected an Armani suit for the dinner with Esther.
    Standing in front of the mirror, he appraised his body. At thirty-one years
    old, he could easily pass for twenty-five. Working out a few times a week kept
    him in good shape. Staring at his reflection, he didn’t quite see what everyone
    else apparently did, or at least what women saw.
    At six-feet-three-inches and one hundred eighty pounds, his body fat had
    been calculated at less than five percent. His dark hair and blue eyes seemed to
    be his best features, or at least that’s what everyone seemed to notice first. Those
    attributes were genetic, not dependent upon anything he did or didn’t do.
    Perhaps the body fat percentage, but even that he hadn’t worked toward; it
    was just the way it was. He looked like his father, who looked like his father, who
    had come to America as an Irish immigrant shortly before the depression. He’d
    learned to capitalize on those genetic blessings at a very early age.
    During his senior year of high school, a not-quite-eighteen-year-old Ian
    had taken a job at his father’s office as a gopher. He ran errands, swept up at
    night, and earned a hundred dollars a week. On one of his errands fate
    intervened when he’d delivered a packet of legal papers to a very wealthy
    widow. Of course, all his father’s law clients were wealthy, and the man only
    accepted those able to pay the exorbitant fees up front. Joseph James had a very
    successful law firm right up until the day he dropped dead from a massive
    coronary in the conference room. The partners cashed out Joseph’s ownership to
    Catherine James, who became even wealthier as a widow than she’d been as a
    wife. The only stipulation was that the firm retain Joseph’s name since he’d been
    the founding partner.
    The day Ian delivered the legal packet to Mrs. Charles Winthrop, III, his
    life changed forever. In fact, it altered the course of his life. Ian had always
    thought he’d go to law school, become a lawyer at his father’s firm, and someday
    take his father’s place. But life doesn’t always go as planned as Ian found out. At
    twenty-one years of age, Judy Winthrop married