All the men knew that Colorado winters could have minimal snow or blizzards galore. Would it be cold? Yes, count on it. But the amount of snow and resulting accumulation of that snow, was about as predictable as the Broncos making the playoffs with a new coach.
Cole cleared his throat. “Thanks for going in on this with me.”
“Francesca deserves nothing less,” Justin said easily.
“Thanks, man. Boxing tonight?” Cole looked at Zander.
“Sure. You’re the only guy I know who gets his ass kicked and keeps coming back. Meet me at the gym at eight.”
“You guys still acting like Neanderthals?” Dylan’s mouth quirked into a small grin.
“Why don’t you join us sometime? Afraid that pretty little face of yours will get scratched?” Cole said.
Dylan made a show of rubbing his hair-covered jaw. “Gotta keep this beauty in tip-top shape for all the ladies.”
“Really? How many ladies has it been since Kristina broke your heart?” Justin asked.
“Fuck off. She didn’t break my heart.” Dylan growled.
“Ladies, ladies. Please.” Michael interrupted. “I have to get back to work. Tomorrow Together is releasing a new update—video chat—and frankly, I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to censor all the porn that I’m sure is bound to take place. Sophia brought up a great idea to thwart all the millionaire members from going to the competition by creating a special VIP access where only millionaires can join. We need to brainstorm and see if something like that is feasible and if so, release it fucking yesterday.”
Sophia Baldwin was Michael’s significant other. Not yet married, but Cole surmised that was going to come soon. Michael had used his own website and found himself a match made in heaven. Being the CEO of the company, he and Sophia were also the newest faces for the marketing department to prove to Together.com’s members that the matchmaking website worked.
“Good luck with that one, my friend.” Cole stood. “When’s the last time anyone did anything for fun? Seriously, I think we should go camping. Or fly to the South Pacific. Maybe Vietnam for the week.”
“Do they even like Americans?” Justin asked.
Since Cole had taken Francesca there when she’d graduated with her Master’s, he knew full well about the Vietnamese’ feelings toward Americans. “They’re cool. It was their grandparent’s war. They like Americans more than the Chinese.”
“Why?” Zander asked.
“We’re not pushy and trying to take over their country.” Cole replied. “We don’t send them fake eggs.”
“When? When can any of us manage to coordinate our schedules?” Michael asked.
“I don’t know, but let’s figure it out. Ben can fly us there anytime we want to go,” Cole said.
“Let’s make a pact right now, when The Francesca Project is complete, we’ll take the 350 and go.” Zander said. Which surprised Cole because like Michael, Zander enjoyed working way too much. Cole was certain his only drive on Earth was to win, win, win. Designing buildings all over the country and managing an architectural app that had won App of the Year for Businesses, three times in a row, had Zander eating and breathing work.
“What the fuck’s up with you?” Cole asked.
Zander frowned. “Nothing.”
“Nothing my ass,” Michael said. “Why don’t you tell them?”
“Why don’t you shut the hell up?” Zander replied.
“Fine. I’ll tell them. He’d like to get away.” Michael used his fingers to make air quotes when he said away. “He met someone.”
“Who?” Cole asked.
“No one. I don’t like her-”
“He doesn’t like her because she took all his money,” Justin said.
“She’s a hustler.” Zander turned to Justin. “She’s a hustler.”
Dylan glanced at Zander, then back to the other men. “She’s good at poker. Took Zander’s paycheck. What, twice now? And she’s smokin’.”
“Damn right,” Justin agreed.
“More like she pulls shit out of her ass. I thought I had the nuts until the flop. Both times.” Zander fisted his hands.
“She had it all along. Anyway, let’s do it. A trip. No matter our woes.” Justin gave a pointed look to Zander. “It’ll be fun. We just have to agree; no annoying and whiny women.”
“That’s Dylan’s problem,” Cole said.
Dylan frowned. “I don’t date annoying women.”
“Yeah, you do,” the four other men said in unison.
“Fine,” Dylan gave them all a dirty look.
“Besides, Vietnamese women are gorgeous. And plentiful.”
“What about Sophia? Can’t she come? She’s not annoying.”
“No!” the other four men said in unison.
“Let’s get back to business,” Zander said. “The general contractor will be here in about five minutes, so get your questions and whatever else you have on your mind, in order.”
A few minutes later, the guys’ general contractor, Louie Dardano, showed up. He went through the construction schedule and answered their questions. By the time he was finished, it was pushing four o’clock. Louie gave each man a folder as well as his contact information before he left.
“Good. Now that that is settled, I gotta jet.” Michael stood from his seat and patted Cole on his back. “Good luck, Levi.”
“Shit, I gotta put these itchy earrings back on.” Cole dug them out of his pocket and attempted to attach them to his lobes. “I can’t wait to get back in a suit.”
“Look’s kinda growing on me.” Justin joked as he too stood and buttoned his suit jacket.
“I say we go grab a beer. It’s too late to work now,” Zander said.
“I have to get back to Together,” Michael said. “Have one without me.”
“There’s nothing I need to do at the hotel, I planned to be gone all day. Let’s go.” Justin looked at Dylan and Cole. Dylan nodded.
Cole shrugged. He wanted to go but he also wanted to make his way back to Lacie’s Lingerie, where a cute, not-so-annoying brunette who had him knots, was waiting for him.
“I’ll catch one with you guys another time,” Cole said as he headed out the door and over to Lacie’s.
Lately, he only had one sweet woman on his mind and he would be a fool not to take advantage of her company as often as he could.
Chapter Nine
Jillian smiled to herself, proud at having completed the entire inventory process she’d set out to do two days ago. With the help of Levi, the two of them managed to go through every item, take garments off the shelves that didn’t fit at Lacie’s, and organize what was left into appropriate sections throughout the store.
Levi was off today and as she placed the needle on an old Frank Sinatra record, she couldn’t help but wish he was there with her. Levi made her laugh – something it hadn’t felt like she’d done much of since the closing of The Peekeasy. He didn’t criticize her for her marketing ideas or for the way she understood Deluxe Posh’s vision for Lacie’s Lingerie. In fact, it was almost as if he purposefully stepped back and allowed her to bring her ideas to fruition. As if he was just waiting for her to succeed.
And why wouldn’t he?
He was here for another month before he was going back to Nevada for more training in the hopes that he would open his own franchise. There was no reason he wouldn’t want her to succeed at this. When he did offer an opinion, it was valuable. Like yesterday, when they were brainstorming ideas about how to get Lacie’s image back to a solid luxury brand instead of what Rebekah had portrayed, he suggested she start by using Lacie’s client database and inviting those clients to an open house.
Brilliant.
“Those names are ours for a reason, right?” His mouth tilted up into a grin that she began to distinguish as his challenge-me-if-you-dare grin.
“They are,” she agreed. “We could print off postcards and send them out, order mini cupcakes from To Eat or Wear down the st
reet.” Her hand reached out and gripped his forearm amidst her excitement. “Maybe I could contact Raymond or Cole or someone higher up and see what they’d say about running a promotion like twenty percent off their purchase or something.”
She’d let out a squeal and squeezed his forearm. That was when her fingertips and her palm had perked up at the feel of him. Coarse hair and firm, solid strength that she’d definitely noticed before, just had never touched. Had never squeezed like she had then.
A few thoughts ran through her mind when that happened. The first being what in the hell did he look like everywhere else? How did he feel, if that small touchy-feel perked her fingertips up, what else was he packing that could perk her up? Then she registered the fact that it was silent, except for The Beatles singing “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and when she risked a glance up at Levi, his eyes had gone molten chocolate on her and she was certain he was staring at her mouth.
Fine. One time. She was going to let her mind wander into the naughty section—hello, Red Light Special—and think about what it would feel like to kiss Levi. The perfect arch of his mouth and the way it tugged up at the corners in an almost-smirk when she said something silly, she was sure he knew how to maneuver them just so, in order to deliver the kiss of perfection. She’d never kissed a guy with a beard. What would that feel like? Would it be any different from a man without? What would it feel like to have him kiss other places of her body?
Heat spread from her cheeks and straight south in between her legs as she envisioned the feel of his beard scratching against her chin and neck as he devoured her. The bristly sensations as he traveled south down her navel and across her pelvis only to settle deep in between her thighs. How would it feel to have his large hands roaming over her body in a possessive manner as he pulled her against his body. What he would feel like as he pressed his denim jeans against her flimsy skirt – how hard and thick the bulge in his jeans would be as his mouth continued its assault against her panting mouth.
She jumped at the blunt ringing of her phone. Goodness. A light sheen dampened her forehead and chest as she was brought back to reality. The ache between her legs, the roughness of her lacy panties as they rubbed against her while she raced toward her phone, however, was an annoying little reminder that she was wet and horny from day-dreaming about her assistant.
“Hello?” Oh, man, even her voice was breathy and quiet.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” Cole Carrington’s deep voice rumbled over the line and her lady parts clenched in an odd turn of desire. This was crazy. Both men? Cole—whom she hadn’t even seen for almost three months—whose voice was like honey and had the looks of a man who knew his way around the bedroom and Levi. Ahem. Her assistant. Temporary assistant. She had about three reviews waiting for her at home tonight, and decided they were going to be a priority the second she walked in the door.
“No. Not at all. I was just…” Her voice trailed. She was just what? Leaning against one of the tables that she and Levi had laid out fishnet stockings and a variety of garter belts on day-dreaming about what it would feel like to have an orgasm from a man? She was half tempted to stick her hand inside her panties to mimic the sweet assault.
Dang, it’d been too long since she’d felt a man’s rough hands against her skin.
“Listening to Frank Sinatra while you work?” He helped her out.
“Ah, yes. It must have been part of the exchange that Tasha leave the records? I was happy to find that hadn’t changed.”
“I’m a sucker for great music and when I saw the collection, I knew it had to be part of the agreement.”
Cole enjoyed music too? Was it the bone-deep kind where music was life, and there was a song out there for every moment in life? Where every memory could be recalled when a certain song played? Did he wake up with a random song stuck in his head every morning too?
Or did he just like listening to it?
“Well, I’m glad about that. I must admit, it’s as if my thoughts summoned your call.” She told him.
“Dare I ask? Were you thinking about me?” His voice took on a low drawl and once again she was reminded that she was in definite need of some orgasms. Toy reviews notwithstanding.
“Caught red-handed.” She laughed. “I wanted to run something by Raymond or you, since you’re calling.” She went into Levi’s idea about an open house and her idea to send exclusive postcards for twenty percent off to the client list as a way to get them back into the store and reintroduce the newer undergarments to them.
Without hesitation, he answered quickly. “I think it’s a great idea, Jillian.”
“So you’re good with that?” Jillian asked.
“You surprised?” Cole asked.
“A little, yeah. I thought you might balk at the twenty-percent idea,” she said. “Especially, since Lacie’s is fairly new in the downtown area and we haven’t turned a profit yet.”
“You’d think I’d want to make top profit?” Cole asked.
“Well, yes. And sometimes sales or discounts can give people the idea that the items are cheap or out-of-date.”
“Let me tell you a little secret, Jillian.” His voice got low again and she couldn’t help the idea that she wanted to know a lot of his little secrets. One being, was he single?
“What’s that?”
“I have faith in you. I know that you’re going to turn this store around.”
His praise and faith in her shouldn’t have made her want to jump up and down in delight like a cheerleader. But it did. Maybe it was because she wanted to prove to him that she knew what she was doing in this area, even if her store had closed. Maybe it was because she wanted his approval. Maybe, on a deeper level, she was hoping he’d see her as more than just an employee – that he would mingle with her outside of work.
“That’s nice of you to say,” she said evenly, even though her heart was beating a wild thump to Sinatra’s low key voice as he sang.
“It’s the truth. Would you like me to have someone send over some designs for the postcards and you can pick what you’d like?”
“That’d be fantastic!” she exclaimed.
“Good. Now that that’s out of the way, and I know you enjoy music, what else do you like to do, Jillian?”
There was no doubt in her mind that he was intrigued with her. Not after that question. Not when it would be so easy to say, “hey, gotta go.” Multi-tasking, she folded up piles of clothes that she and Levi had convinced a few of the retailers to take back and loaded them into boxes, her shoulder holding her phone to her ear.
“I enjoy dancing. I like yoga. And I love books,” she said.
“Dancing, huh?”
“Yeah, dancing. Do you dance?” she asked.
“I can hold my own. It’s been an awful long time since I’ve danced though.”
“Why? You’re not the type that dances naked in the shower or around your house?” she asked, making him laugh.
“Now that’s a sight – me, dancing in the shower.” He chuckled at himself.
Jillian sighed, dreamily. “Yeah, I can imagine it would be.”
“Is that what you do?” he asked.
Jillian nodded and smiled to herself. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
“The answer would be worth dying for,” he murmured.
Her toes curled at the underlying sexiness in his voice and the heat of where this conversation was going.
“I’m not that special,” she remarked.
“You seem pretty special to me,” he said.
A blush crept along her cheeks at his words and it suddenly didn’t matter to her if he was technically her boss. She wanted to know more about him. Wanted him to keep flirting with her the way he was.
It’d been so long.
And with Cole, the way it easily rolled off his tongue, it felt so right.
“Did I stun you into silence?” he asked.
“No. It’s just been a while since uh…I’ve flirted with a man,�
� she said.
“Is that what this is? Flirting? It’s been a long time since I’ve flirted too. With a woman, that is.”
She laughed. “I knew what you meant. Why is that?”
“I haven’t found a woman that’s appealed to me in quite a while.”
“And here I thought women threw themselves at you.”
He chuckled into the phone and it sent tingles down her spine. “Oh, they do. But none that I’ve found as intriguing as you.”
The bell above her shop door rang breaking the moment between them. “Sorry, I have a client that just walked in. I have to go.”
“A pity,” he said.
“Yeah, well, Cole, you can call me again, okay? You have my number and I always have my phone.”
“I plan to, Jillian. And if there’s anything you need, anything at all – regarding Lacie’s or not, you have my personal line. Don’t be afraid to call.”
She hung up and turned her attention toward the woman. It was almost closing time and she quickly sized the woman up.
“Good evening. Is there anything I can help you find?” Jillian asked.
“Just looking,” the woman replied.
“Have you shopped here before?”
“No, I haven’t. Just noticed the sign. I’m not from around here,” the woman said as she looked through the rack of chemises.
“Oh, on vacation?”
“Here with my husband who’s here for work. Vacation for me, work for him.”
“Lucky you. What kind of work does your husband do?” Jillian asked.
“He works in the hotel business. He’s a food and beverage manager in Idaho. But there is a hotel that has an opening here and we both have family here, so we thought we’d give it a go.”
“What hotel?” Jillian asked. The woman was selecting a few items and Jillian was hoping that she might buy something. If not one thing, all the things she’d selected and had slung over her arm.
“The Hollinsworth.”
“That’ll be nice. Those are nice hotels. Well, at least that’s what I’ve heard. I’ve never personally stayed at one.”
The woman smiled. “They’re pretty nice. Nice and expensive. But we find that we like the boutique feel of the hotel rather than the commercialized ones. These hotels, while large, really work at making you feel like they know you. That you’re not just another check-in. Plus, we have a daughter who suffers epileptic seizures. The move would be good for us with the Marijuana industry.”
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