The Hourglass

by K. S. Smith

  He chose a petite black jacket from the rack and held it up in the air. “I think this should fit. Come try it on.” Stepping closer to him, I lifted my camera strap from around my neck and placed it on the tabletop, then slid my arms into the jacket and turned so we were facing each other. His hands slowly gripped the bottom of the jacket, one holding it in place as the other tugged the zipper, my eyes following his fingers as they made their way up the front of the jacket. Pressing his hands into his pockets, he whispered, “Perfect,” as I stared at his lips.

  Focusing in on him, I admired the sexy scruff that adorned his face. There was too much of it to be a five o’clock shadow, but it was just enough to be sexy. His skin held an olive complexion, which matched perfectly with his dark brown tousled hair. Licking my lips I continued admiring him, as he was only inches away from me. His dark blue jeans hugged his thighs and his thick sweater clung to his chest and arms in all the right places, leaving me wondering for a moment what it would feel like to have full access to his chiseled body.

  A feminine voice interrupted my dirty thoughts and I glanced over to see Amber standing in the doorway. “Savannah, we’re all ready for the next shoot.”

  Swiping my camera off of the table, I responded in a breathless voice. “Great, I’ll be right there.” Looking back into those delicious eyes I smiled. “Thanks for the jacket. It’s perfect.”

  The shoot went better than I could have ever imagined, so well that I went straight home and began editing the photos so I could have them back to Amber first thing in the morning. As I slipped into my chair in the office, I powered on my computer and gave my photos one last review before shooting them over to Amber. Then I called over to Brooke’s office. I was dying to tell her about my run in with Mr. Worthington, but she didn’t answer.

  I jumped up and hightailed it over to her assistant. “Where is Brooke?” I demanded.

  “I’m sorry Ms. Prescott, but she is out of the office this morning. She had a very important meeting with Mr. Worthington regarding the finalization of our partnership with their company.”

  Grinning from ear to ear, I leaned over Lisa’s desk. “As soon as she gets in, you let me know, okay?”

  Lisa smiled. “Certainly. And if I may, it is so good to see you two working together again.”

  Brooke was taking forever at her meeting and I’d yet to hear back from Amber, so I tried distracting myself with a snack downstairs at the cafe. Sitting down in a bright red chair I sipped my latte and picked at the giant cinnamon bun I’d just ordered. I was just glancing at the other patrons when my cell phone rang,

  “Hello?”

  A familiar voice on the other end spoke. “Savannah, this is Amber McCall, I just wanted to talk to you about these photographs.” My stomach flipped before she went on “They’re superb. Mr. Worthington commends your brilliant work, says they are the best photographs he’s seen in a very long time.” I grinned from ear to ear, licking a glob of icing off of my finger as Amber continued. “In fact he is so impressed with your work he has agreed to partner with Hourglass.”

  My heart almost burst out of my chest. “Oh Amber, this is wonderful news, I promise you will not be disappointed with this decision. Thank you so much.”

  I went to press the end button when I heard Amber one last time. “Savannah, wait, before you go Mr. Worthington would like a word with you.”

  I froze for a split second. “Okay, sure,” and she transferred the call.

  “Savannah, congratulations,” his deep voice echoed through the speakers of my phone. “I’m glad we were able to agree on a mutually beneficial partnership with Hourglass.”

  My smile radiated through the phone. “As am I, I’d like to thank you for your confidence in Hourglass.”

  Clearing his throat he went on. “One more thing before I let you go. I was hoping you’d allow me to take you out one evening this week, to celebrate?”

  Butterflies exploded from deep within me, but I pushed them away as fast as I could. Shit, I shouldn’t be mixing business with pleasure. If Monica finds out she’ll flip and so will Brooke; especially after everything that just went down with Luke. Taking in a deep breath, I went with my gut and in typical Savannah fashion, I responded. “I’d love to.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Brooke

  AS I RODE back to the office from Worthington Squared I couldn’t help the smile growing on my face. Not only had I got the final questions answered and the contract signed for the advertisement campaign with Hourglass, I also landed a date with the mouth-wateringly good looking CEO Mr. Worthington. “To celebrate,” I recalled his husky voice, making goose bumps cover my skin when he asked me out. Closing my eyes as I waited for the car to arrive at my destination, I recalled our meeting.

  Mr. Worthington exuded confidence behind his glass desk, with his tailored charcoal suit, dark hair and olive complexion he literally made my insides melt. While talking about our love of Denver, he moved to the seat beside me. I couldn’t help but admire his chiseled physique and toned form. Mid-meeting he ditched his tailored suit coat and hung it over the back of his chair. Next, he loosened his tie and rolled his sleeves as the warmth in the room made our skin glisten.

  I grabbed the copy of the contract and began to fan myself. “Is it getting warm in here?”

  One more signature and I could flee, this man had me a bundle of nerves, and I eyed the door ready to escape despite my heart staying firmly planted in the chair. Leaning back he flexed his arms behind his head, closing his eyes briefly. “It is getting a bit warm. Do you want to go grab a drink?” I quickly checked my phone, realizing I had been gone longer than I’d planned and needed to get back to the office to tell Monica that Savannah and I had sealed the deal.

  As I slipped into the car he had sent over, I fell against the cool leather and let out a sigh,

  “Wait!” a masculine voice called out that had my body alert and ready. Turning to look at the entrance of the offices I saw Mr. Worthington hustling out after me. Looking down I made sure I had everything with me, thinking how embarrassing that would be if I had forgotten something. Grabbing the door, he bent down and came so close to me I could smell his woodsy cologne.

  “Do you want to go grab a drink with me to celebrate? It will give me a chance to get to know you better.” He flashed me a smile that made it impossible to say no.

  “I would be delighted,” I answered without a second thought letting a coy grin take over my face.

  Back at Hourglass I went to Monica’s office first to give her the great news.

  “Well I suppose, your job is safe.” She seemed unimpressed as she waved her hand to dismiss me, giving me a final scolding as I retreated. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, you are through. And I can assure you when you are done here, you are done in this business. I will blackball you in the industry, do you understand?” Nodding, I was absolutely terrified of the woman, but as I exited the office I saw the corners of her lips turn up in a smile.

  She has a heart!

  Next stop, Savannah! I rushed into her office and shut the door and then fell into a chair. “First off, I just gave Monica the contract. We’re safe! And you will never guess what else happened at the meeting!” I began bubbling with excitement.

  Spinning away from her computer where she was working on edits, her eyes met mine lit with excitement as well. “I have great news too!” she squealed.

  “Mr. Worthington asked me out!” we both yelled simultaneously.

  “Wait, what!” I shrieked as Savannah’s face fell in dismay.

  “Tall guy, ruggedly handsome, olive complexion?” she asked as I nodded my head in response. “Oh no, not again. You have got to be kidding me.” Savannah leaned back in her chair covering her face with both her hands. “I’m not doing this again. That worthless piece of— Is there no decent man in Denver, Colorado? Seriously!” Savannah continued ranting as she scooped up her cell phone and dialed a number.

  Putting it to he
r ear, in no time she must have got a response because she began spewing out her anger. “Look, I don’t know what you are playing at, but I was under the impression you were asking me out on a date.” She paused, listening to the party on the other end of the line. “Uh huh, so why, pray tell, did you also ask Brooke Reid out just now when she left your office? News flash buddy, she is not only my coworker but my best friend. Are you best buds with Luke Wellington or something?”

  I could hear a boisterous laugh come through the cell phone speaker, leaving us both sitting there with puzzled expressions on our faces as he told Savannah something.

  “Hold on, I need to put this on speaker phone, and even then I will need corroboration from him,” she said a little hesitantly. She pressed a few buttons on her phone then set it on her desk and a suave masculine voice spoke.

  “You see, there are two of us. I’m a twin. Brooke had a meeting with my brother, Josh. He handles the corporate end of things, money, planning, that crap. I’m Jake, and I do the marketing and design end of things, work with the beautiful photographers and hope they don’t cut off my balls.”

  Savannah and I both looked at one another, disbelieving his claim.

  “Look I promise. Josh told me about the auction, so I can only imagine how this looked to the two of you,” he said, laughing again, such a carefree laugh that made me want to trust him.

  “So this night out, let’s double it up. Why don’t both of you meet us here at five when we get off?” I asked, figuring if he was lying he would bail immediately, or make some excuse.

  “Perfect! I’ll call Josh now and let him know the plan,” he agreed before hanging up.

  As the screen on the phone went dark Savannah and I stared at each other, unsure how to proceed. Pressing a button on her phone, Savannah’s assistant came over. “Yes Ms. Prescott?”

  “Get me the Worthington file, now,” she demanded. Within seconds her assistant brought the file in, and quickly backed back out. Flipping it open Savannah searched for information about the CEO of the company, but all we had pulled was information about the company’s ideas and presentation in the past.

  Turning her monitor to where I could see it, Savannah minimized the edits from a photo shoot of bikini-clad models. Pulling up a search engine, she typed in Josh Worthington and instantly there were a hundred pictures of the suave man that had captured my attention. Savannah instantly began smiling as she scrolled through photos. “Oh yes, he is dreamy, huh?”

  “Hey, now. Don’t get attached and stop ogling him!” I hollered smacking at her arm.

  Savannah fell back in her chair, her body relaxed as her cheeks turned up with a smile. “It’s not him, he is a twin. Look see here.” She clicked a thumbnail photo blowing it up to display a large picture of two delicious Worthington men. “See here, this one with this scruff I just want to bury between my—” I made a gagging noise, and she spared me further details, “That is Jake. Well here they call him Jacob, but you get the picture. I can see why you liked Josh. He looks very sophisticated and in charge. Jake, was so much more carefree, and just…” She released a sigh, and her eyes got all dreamy.

  “Savannah Prescott, are you telling me you are attracted to a guy and… planning on dating? Holy shit, it’s the apocalypse!” I shrieked with a giggle.

  Savannah moved around her desk and took the chair beside me. “You know, Brooke, if Luke taught me anything it was that I want more. I’m ready for more. And Jake Worthington looks like a great place to start!”

  I took Savannah’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Well, let’s go to the closet and find the perfect outfits!”

  In no time at all we had both snatched dresses and heels and were ready to meet the guys downstairs. Waiting in the lobby, Savannah tensed up when a large Chevy Avalanche pulled up outside. “Is that him?” I asked still a bit skeptical that we were not after the same man, that history wasn’t repeating itself.

  The passenger’s door opened and out came a clean shaven, Josh Worthington, still in his dress shirt and slacks. He had lost the tie completely and undone the top button of his shirt, his sleeves remained rolled to his elbows. I was so focused on him, I missed the man who had joined him. As they walked in together though, I could see them both side by side and couldn’t help but let the laugh escape my lips. Beside Josh, was his twin in body but this man had the ‘scruff’ that made Savannah swoon and was dressed in the company gear, the personification of a rugged outdoorsman. Instantly, I felt at ease, deciding that we had found men who were similar, but unique, which seemed to fit us perfectly.

  “Sorry, I failed to mention I was a twin,” Josh apologized, a twinkle in his eyes as they met mine.

  “Ready for the double date?” Jake asked both of us, draping his arm around Savannah’s back.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Savannah

  TAKING MY HAND, Jake helped me out of the front seat then laced our fingers, leading me into the first floor of a downtown high rise. Brooke and Josh followed closely behind. Glancing over my shoulder I noted Brooke was consumed in conversation with Josh, who had her tucked snugly against his side. Jake held the elevator doors open, and we all entered into the tight space, Brooke pressed up against Josh, and me against Jake.

  “What floor?” I asked, peeking up into Jake’s eyes. He smiled and leaned around me, pressing the button that read PH. Penthouse, I hid a secret grin. Then the doors opened and the four of us stepped out onto white marble floors. A beautiful woman in a skintight black dress stood behind a hostess desk. “The Worthington Brothers, what a nice surprise. Ladies, welcome to The Penthouse, Denver’s number one society club.”

  Jake and Josh acknowledged the hostess, introducing Brooke and me in the process. “Will the four of you be taking your usual spot at the bar this evening?” the lovely hostess asked while Josh and Jake glanced at each other Josh spoke this time as he tightened his grip around Brooke. “Not tonight, Elizabeth. We’d prefer a private room.”

  With a nod of her head, she led us down a narrow hallway and into a private room adorned with extravagant leather furniture and an ornate wooden bar, which was perfectly situated along the far east wall. Pulling the door closed behind her, she left the four of us alone to enjoy ourselves as Josh popped a bottle of champagne, the suds spilling over the top before he caught them with the white towel that hung over the ice bucket. As he filled our glasses I noticed that the two of them spared no expense this evening as I caught a glimpse of the gold label that accented the dark bottle, Dom Pérignon.

  We lifted our glasses in salute, and Josh began speaking. “A toast to Brooke and Savannah, and to our partnership with Hourglass.”

  Jake nodded and chimed in. “To beautiful women and the futures that come with them.”

  He winked at me, and Brooke lifted her glass a little higher. “And, most importantly, to twins!”

  We all four burst out in laughter as we clinked our glasses together. “Here, here,” I added, taking a sip, enjoying the bubbles that were popping inside of my throat.

  Sipping our champagne Josh and Jake separated the two of us so we were able to have some one-on-one time. Leaning against Jake’s massive frame, I glanced over at Brooke, who was blissfully caught up in all that was Josh. “He’s a good man, right? That woman is like my sister. She doesn’t deserve to be served a platter of crazy twice in a row.”

  Jake’s body shook in laughter underneath mine as he leaned in closer. “Neither do you.”

  Turning into him I peered into those magnificent eyes. “I’m not worried about me, I know how men work. I’m worried about her, so he’s a good guy, right?” I asked again, anxious to hear Jake’s response. Leaning toward me, he tightened his arms around my waist and kissed my forehead. “We both are.”

  Brooke and I spent an incredible evening with Jake and Josh, getting to know them better and agreeing that we’d definitely take them up on their offer of separate, second dates. After they delivered us back to the Hourglass offices Brooke and I
got into my car and headed home, deciding that we were utterly smitten with the Worthington twins as we spent the entire drive home talking about them like two young schoolgirls.

  As we strolled into the lobby of our condo, there was no sign that Brooke and I had ever let a man come between our friendship. It was as if Luke Wellington had never even existed. Carl greeted us. “Ladies, I am so happy to see you both together again, I was beginning to get a bit concerned.”

  We both chuckled lightly, leaning in to embrace Carl in a three-way hug. “Oh Carl, if you ever see Savannah and I meeting the same man in this lobby at different times, please promise us you’ll tell us?” Brooke begged, jokingly.

  Carl let out a nervous laugh. “I promise, I’ll have you know you both gave me mini heart attacks with that man, I’m so glad he’s out of your life for good.”

  Brooke and I smugly stared at each other and in unison we responded to Carl. “So are we.”

  Making our way upstairs in the elevator we hit my floor first. I hugged Brooke. “I love you Brooke Reid, best friends, forever.”

  Brooke squeezed me tight. “Forever, I love you too. So much.” Waving, I jumped out of the elevator and watched the doors close, thankful that I had my best friend back and we were finally rid of Luke Wellington, for good.

  EPILOGUE

  Six Months Later

  “CHEERS!” BROOKE TOASTED boisterously. “To the completion of the Hourglass winter issue, and our amazing partnership with Worthington Squared!”

  Glasses clinked together as the celebration began; the night was off to an amazing start. Brooke and Savannah smiled at each other, so overjoyed with where their lives had ended up after the last year. Lucas Wellington could have been the destruction of a lifelong friendship, but in the end, the tables had turned on him.