All Shook Up

by Ashley Bostock

  “Well for starters, what do you know?” she asked.

  “I’m more familiar with the buying end of things, not actual store front. Why don’t you walk me through the process of what you do here and I’ll ask questions as we go?” he suggested.

  “To be honest, I have no process. No, that’s not true. See––” She shook more hair away from her face and Cole was dying to pull it back and knot it up into a ponytail for her.

  “Go ahead.” He prodded.

  Jillian glanced around the store and she blew out a deep breath. “Since it doesn’t appear that you or I are going anywhere and we don’t have any clients, I’ll tell you the whole story. I used to rent this building for my business. The Peekeasy – it was a women’s lingerie store.”

  “And you’re here? I’m sure that was tough.” Cole didn’t have to pretend to be sympathetic toward her story, because even after two months had passed, he still felt like a dick.

  “It was by happenstance. My sister saw they were hiring and she dragged me over here and forced me to apply. Rebekah hardly glanced at me as she hired me on. That was almost a week ago.”

  “So Lacie’s Lingerie forced you out of business?” Cole asked, seeking out answers about what she thought about him and what happened with her store.

  She started folding all the panties she’d pulled from the box and kept her gaze on them as she spoke. “No. As much as I want to call him a corporate prick and blame him for putting me out of business—well, it was his fault some—I didn’t have the proper resources to relocate.”

  Cole quirked his eyebrow in amusement. Did she seriously just call him that? “A corporate prick, huh?”

  Jillian giggled and the sound hit Cole right in the ribs. It was a joyous sound. Melodic. Charming. And beautiful. God, she was beautiful.

  “Yeah, a corporate prick. I’d love to see the look on Cole Carrington’s face if he heard that!” She giggled again and he realized that he wouldn’t mind being called a corporate prick if he could at least see that smile touch her mouth.

  “Anyway, everything was going okay with Rebekah. At least I thought it was. She and I didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things and because I had a fairly successful business, I tried to point out to her all the things she was doing wrong. I think I’m the one that made her leave.”

  “You didn’t make her leave. Here, let me help you.” Cole took a few panties from the pile and began folding them the same way she was.

  “Easy for you to say. So, I’ve been running the place since yesterday when I opened. It’s like being back at The Peekeasy, but nothing’s mine.”

  He reached out and touched her arm. “The Peekeasy sounds like it was a great store. I’m sure you will do wonderful things here. Look, you’re already teaching me things.”

  “Yeah? Like what?” she asked.

  “Like it takes a whole hell of a lot of commitment to stay somewhere,” Cole said. He meant it, too. He knew her heart was broken about The Peekeasy, but the fact that she’d wound up here, showed commitment and love. Love for this business and love for each client that walked through the door. “And that whether or not it’s The Peekeasy, you love what you do.”

  “I do. I love helping clients finding the right lingerie. Problem is, the regional manager may send someone over to take Rebekah’s place. I have so many ideas for this place.”

  Cole’s hand slid down her arm and tightened around her slender wrist. “I’ll just bet you do, Jillian.”

  Their eyes locked and something stirred in the air between them. The gray of her eyes called to him, promising something he couldn’t figure out. The front door swung open, breaking the moment and Cole decided that was probably a good thing. Jillian’s eyes sparkled as she greeted the client.

  “Jillian? What are you doing here?” asked the customer. She had straight blonde hair and Cole knew instantly by the lines in her clothes that she was wealthy. Her leather shoulder-strap purse was designed by a good friend of his. This was the kind of client he wanted at Lacie’s Lingerie. Not the fact that she had money, but the fact that she cared about what she was wearing. He suspected her thoughts were the same for undergarments, too.

  “Chelsea! It’s so good to see a familiar face.”

  “I’m so sorry about The Peekeasy, Hon. You look fabulous. I miss it. It’s different in here, you know?”

  “I know. I’m trying to fix that though. And I have a new assistant. Or maybe we’re both assistants.” She glanced at him from over her shoulder and winked.

  “Good. That other woman was…” Chelsea’s shoulders visibly quivered.

  “I know. I’ve only been here a week, but I can promise you that I’m working on it,” Jillian said.

  And Cole believed her.

  So did Chelsea by the wide smile on her face.

  There was something about Jillian that was comforting. Believable. Being near her when she believed Cole to be Levi Clark, gave him the chance to see her in her true element and not as a feisty, broken-hearted woman who had to close her store.

  He was beginning to think it was fate.

  There was a reason Rebekah left—he’d have to call Rocky later—but in her place, was Jillian. And when he watched her interact with Chelsea—helping her pick out the “perfect nightgown for their ten-year anniversary”—he couldn’t help the small part of him that thought Jillian Winters was exactly what Lacie’s Lingerie needed.

  Chapter Five

  Jillian struggled with how much she should tell Levi. The guy was a stranger, yet they were going to be working closely together for the foreseeable future. That caused her to feel like she should be honest with him about Rebekah and the odd vision she was projecting for Lacie’s. It didn’t jive with the way Lacie’s projected itself as a whole.

  She’d looked.

  She’d checked out their website as well as their North Denver location. Her friend happily scoped out the store too and put Jillian’s questions to rest.

  Like Jillian suspected, Rebekah’s vision wasn’t in line with Lacie’s Lingerie. Which was evident by some of the garments currently in the store. Jillian hadn’t managed to get the full story from Rebekah the few days the woman was there, but the way she understood it was that Deluxe Posh AKA Cole Carrington, designed all sorts of women’s fashions, but not every store was exclusive to his brand – whichever one that may be. Some held his exclusive brands and only his—those were the more expensive lines Jillian could never afford—then he had lines like this where he sold his brand and others as well.

  Okay, after she got the job, Jillian had done some Googling on Cole Carrington and had learned a lot more about him than the day her sister had done it. It wasn’t clear—what she could find online anyway—how many entities were owned by Deluxe Posh or the man himself. But what was known was that he also carried other fashion lines and the only problem, as far as Jillian could see, was that not all those lines’ products coincided with Lacie’s vision. Clean, elegant, and only a wee bit naughty. So of course, Rebekah would have buying power over all of that, even if that wasn’t what it was about.

  In short, Rebekah had ordered what she liked and wasn’t following the brand of Lacie’s Lingerie. Which was why Jillian was currently staring at a crotchless unitard with holes for where the boobs went and, yes, she was going to look, a buttless back for easy access to the buttho-

  “Holy crap, you scared me!” Jillian told Levi when his firm arm brushed against hers while she stood staring disapprovingly at the out-of-place unitard.

  “That’s something, isn’t it?” Levi said.

  She peeked at him to see what kind of something he was thinking. Did he like the idea or was he disgusted? His almost-hazel eyes didn’t reveal answers, but the quirk in his mouth suggested he was not opposed to all the holes in the fishnet get-up. She didn’t have a problem with the garment itself, only with the fact that it was here.

  His hand reached out and slid across the netting, sending a lurch of unexplainable excitement throug
h her. She couldn’t deny that Levi was good-looking. Especially when his mouth turned up the way it was now. His glasses gave him a mysterious edge. His eyes glittered with an emotion that was really close to attraction, but surely that couldn’t be the case. Could it?

  “It’s something alright. But it doesn’t belong at Lacie’s. It’s a little too risqué for here.” She pulled the item off the rack, as well as the other two behind it and carried them to the counter, with Levi trailing behind.

  “What are you going to do with them?” he asked.

  “See if the company will take them back. Unfortunately, Rebekah wasn’t making the best choices for the company so there are a lot of items that need to go.”

  “I get what you’re saying. It’s almost a good kind of fate that you wound up back here. Isn’t it?”

  She wasn’t sure if it was fate, necessarily, but whatever it was, she was determined to make the best of it. She knew how to run a lingerie business and she knew what Cole’s business brand was after for Lacie’s—she got it—and she was going to get it turned around.

  Speaking of Cole, how hard would it be to get ahold of a man like him? Did he know she was working for him? What would he think if he found out she was? Would he look at her as an asset or a hindrance?

  “Somehow working for someone else’s lingerie company instead of your own doesn’t seem like good fate.”

  “I’m confused,” he said as he moved the now-empty panty box on the counter. “Are you or aren’t you happy to be here?”

  Jillian sighed and pulled herself up onto the back counter so she was sitting on top and her legs dangled over the side. She gazed around the store—new layout and colors that made it different—but everything was very much the same. She had this driving need to see where she went wrong with her store and why she hadn’t been able to have a stockpile of cash to relocate. Even though this was someone else’s company, she was looking forward to grabbing this challenge and seeing what she could do with the place. With Lacie’s Lingerie, their website claimed it trained all employees regarding everything they’d need to know about running the business successfully.

  She was looking forward to the education.

  Then maybe, someday, she could reopen The Peekeasy.

  “Yes, I’m mostly happy to be here. I wish it were The Peekeasy, but I need to accept that it’s not and move on. Be professional. If the regional manager will even call me back.”

  Levi’s head perked up. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, since he said you were coming, I’ve yet to talk to the guy. I truly don’t know if I’m coming or going. I’m not even sure I have a secure job. I’m just going with the flow for now because God knows, Cole Carrington is too busy to deal with this kind of day-to-day stuff.”

  “So you’ve met the mysterious man behind the scenes?” Levi asked her, clearly as intrigued about Cole as she was.

  “I met him just the one time that he told me I was moving a few months ago. I don’t know what he would think of the whole situation.”

  “Call him and find out.” Levi shrugged nonchalantly.

  “I have to find his number. A man with that type of status doesn’t just have his personal line lying around for the world to see,” Jillian said. “And I’m still hoping Raymond will call me back.”

  “He’ll call.” Levi assured her.

  “I hope soon. I don’t want to get my hopes up that I might be staying onboard only to have him hire someone else.”

  “Then we’ll just have to convince the guy otherwise.”

  “How so?” Jillian asked. “I haven’t met anyone behind Lacie’s Lingerie. It’s going to be a little hard to convince him that I’m the right woman for the job.”

  “If Rebekah was making as many wrong choices as you say she was, then it’s going to be proven in sales,” Levi said.

  Levi was right. Wasn’t he? There was hope. “I guess you’re right. Let’s get to it then. First things first; we need to talk about your scheduling. What had you worked out with Rebekah?” Jillian asked.

  “Uh, not much. Just that I’m supposed to be here for a few months.”

  “When are you available to work? Every day we’re open? Forty hours a week? Is that what you’re after?” Jillian pulled her planner out of her purse and began making notes while Levi pulled his phone out of his front pocket. The two of them rearranged a few things and then Jillian asked, “Lacie’s Lingerie is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. What’s your schedule like on the weekends?”

  “Mostly free. I have a few appointments that I won’t be able to miss but otherwise, I’m open.” He smiled.

  She was momentarily distracted by that smile. Once again, it left her feeling…slightly heated. There was no way she could feel attraction to her assistant. No way. He looked like he was about five years younger than her and he was here for business. Just like she was. Not to mention the fact that she was supposed to be his mentor. There was no way she should be enjoying his smile. Or anything else enjoyable of his.

  And when had she ever been attracted to men with full beards anyway?

  “I won’t make you work every weekend.” She smiled back. “We can switch. I’m sure there’ll be times we’ll both need to be here over the weekend.”

  “I’m yours whenever you need me,” he said. “Mostly.”

  She ignored the glint in his eyes. Was he purposefully flirting with her?

  “What about this weekend? There’s a festival going on and it usually gets pretty busy in here.”

  He checked his phone again. “I’ll be here.”

  “Great. Then we have some work to do. First, let me give you the grand tour of what I’ve figured out so far.” She locked the front door. “We need an Open and Closed sign. I don’t know about you, but I like to see whether a place is open before trying the door. And a bell. I can’t forget the bell.”

  “I hadn’t given the sign thing much thought to be honest.”

  “So you’ve already seen this floor. Let’s go upstairs,” Jillian said.

  Levi stepped aside and when she passed she caught a hint of something manly…something she’d forgotten. Spicy, warm male. Oh, boy. Day one and she was already heading for trouble. She ascended the stairs and couldn’t help her thoughts as they drifted toward Cole and the day he followed her up the steps. This time she made sure to walk with class and okay, added a little swing with each step too.

  “Here’s a kitchen to store your lunch or drinks. Whatever you’d like. There are dishes in the cupboards and utensils in the drawers. It’s basically a large break room.”

  “It’s nice,” Levi said. “Where’s the inventory?”

  “Inventory is kept in the basement, although sometimes I’ll bring items up here. Well, did. Before–” She stopped. She had to stop referring to The Peekeasy.

  “Jillian, it’s fine. For simplicities sake, let’s just pretend this is The Peekeasy. Then you don’t have to feel bad when you mention it, and I don’t have to feel bad about it not being your store.”

  Jillian smiled, relieved that he understood what she meant. “So, breakroom. Bathroom over there.”

  “Were these yours?” Levi asked as he slid his hand over the large silver table.

  “Yes. I didn’t have a need for it anymore. Up here looks pretty much how it did before I left. Let’s go back down and I’ll show you the basement. Why don’t you tell me about yourself along the way?”

  Levi’s eyes widened. “What do you want to know?”

  “Anything. Start from the beginning. What brings you out here besides this?”

  “I have family in the area. And I’m opening a store myself with a guy that’s worked with Raymond in the past. That’s why I’m here.”

  “When will your store open?” she asked.

  “Not for a while. Next year probably. It’s still somewhat of a pipe dream,” he said. “Aside from training, the building needs renovated.”

  “Trust me, I know all about pipe dreams. What’s it call
ed?”

  “What’s what called?” he asked with a confused look on his face.

  She laughed and tapped his shoulder. “The franchise.”

  “Oh. Um, it’s ah…Something Racy,” he said.

  Jillian racked her brain, but for the life of her, couldn’t remember Something Racy. Didn’t mean it didn’t exist, she just wasn’t coming up with anything. She gave up. “Hmm, I don’t think I’ve heard of that. It must be a smaller store, right?” she asked.

  “Yeah, it is. So this will give me good training. What about you? I know about The Peekeasy, so does that mean you live close?”

  “Tremont Row,” she said. “In Five Points.” She could have sworn his eyes got larger but he kept his composure in check.

  “Family?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Mom and Dad and my sister, Arabella. We’re all pretty close. And they all live around Denver so that’s nice for visits. Where’s your family?”

  “Around Denver,” he said.

  “What took you to Nevada?” she asked.

  “Work,” he said and turned the questions back to her. “Inventory doesn’t look real full down here; should it?”

  She propped the door open and pushed the stopper into the crack. “I don’t know. I haven’t been here long enough to figure this part out. I plan to attack it this week. You wanna help?”

  Levi brushed against her arm as he made his way to a row of boxes that lined the wall closest to them. The lighting was decent down there with new fixtures, but other than that, the carpet was threadbare, the walls were painted a marginal green and the door would swing shut if you didn’t prop it open. There was a folding table and a chair – both of which had boxes stacked every which way on top of them. And there were a few more boxes that remained unopened, lying on the floor.

  Had she been in charge, all this stuff would have been unpacked and hung on mobile clothing racks with wheels so she could easily move the racks around the room as she went through the inventory. She’d quickly learned how to be efficient with no one to teach her.