once upon a romance 07 - finding mr right

by leclair, laurie

  “Holy penguins and potato chips,” Peg said. “The mad scientist?”

  Coming back to the moment, Dex pointed at her. “Don’t move a muscle. You’ve got what’s left of my perfume on you and you’ve got to come see Charlie with me.”

  “Charlotte King? The owner of King’s?” Her hand shook as she went to touch her neck.

  “Stop! It could be the last drop.”

  Rico clapped. “A love child. King’s very own. Born and raised here. How sweet.”

  “I’m serious, Rico. I’ve been working on this for weeks, down to the last second to get it just right. Do you know how many batches I threw out before I got this one? It’s due to go into full production in a few days. The launch is next month.”

  “Intense,” Rico murmured, touching his arm.

  He calmed down. A little. “Madison, is it? You have to do this for me.”

  She frowned. Her green eyes seemed to be filled with mixed emotions.

  Something in him tugged. Hard. And sharp. He dismissed it as another whim, another beautiful woman, who happened to look stunningly like the picture his dear old late dad had in the garage, still rolled up in the cardboard tube. Growing up, he’d sneak in there for a peek from time to time. “Please. I know you don’t know me. But this means everything to me.” Stop begging, Dex!

  “Intense with a capital I,” Peg said to Rico.

  “How?” Madison glanced down at the now ruined dress and back up at him again.

  “Better make it snappy, Dex. Charlie’s got appointments lined up for the rest of the day and tomorrow and the day after that,” Peg chimed in.

  “Come with me,” Dex said, taking the paper towels Rico handed him blindly from behind the desk and wiped the trickle of blood from his fingers.

  “Go. Shoo!” Rico sighed. “I’ll clean up the rest of this. Can’t have our beautiful hot pink carpet ruined! We’ve got people coming in zero point zero seconds. Can’t have King’s looking like a mess, now can we?”

  “Hurry,” Peg said. To Rico, she slammed the resume into his chest and nodded to the computer behind her. “Fix this. And pronto.”

  “I don’t type.” At her warning look, he held up his hands. “Alright already! I’ll try. Moi? Type?” He shivered.

  Peg rolled her eyes at Rico. “I’ll squeeze you in. But you owe me, Dex.”

  “Got it, Peg. Whatever you want.” He took Madison’s elbow and steered her toward the makeshift conference room. She was petite and dainty and he shouldn’t be thinking about how good it felt to be this close to her.

  “Create something superduper for Austin for his birthday in a couple of months,” Peg said. “That man of mine smells like heaven already, but you come up with some magic and you’re my bestie for life.”

  “Hey, that’s my job,” Rico called after them.

  “Oops! Second bestie. Don’t forget I got you front row seats at my sweetie’s next Dallas concert.”

  “Are we done here?” Dex raised his eyebrows, looking at her.

  “Aye-aye!” She saluted him and charged down the hall, leading the way.

  “Ah…Dex, right?” Madison asked, trying to keep up with his long strides. “I don’t really have to take off my dress, do I?”

  Slowing a little, Dex smiled at the thought. He would love to know what she was wearing under that outfit. “That would be ideal, but, we’ll just have her smell you. Your neck. Where you touched.” Nodding to her breasts, he said, “And the rest of you. Where the perfume is, of course.” Wish I could be the one to try it, he thought.

  Concentrate, he warned himself.

  Promotion. Heading the product development department: that was the goal. “No distractions,” he muttered. “No veering off course. Never again.”

  Chapter 3

  It was heady, literally and figuratively, standing in front of the owner of King’s Department Store, Charlotte King, and the head of King’s, her brother-in-law, Griffin James.

  They were legends. Giants in the industry.

  If it hadn’t been for their meteoric rise in the last few years and bringing King’s back from the brink of closure and creating it into a world-renowned enterprise, Madison would never have this fixation with coming here. Splashed in the news, papers, and online, it had caught and held her rapt attention.

  Surely, it couldn’t be the same store? But she researched and found there had been and still was only one King’s Department Store in Dallas. The one and same where her baby blanket had originated from.

  Now, finally meeting the daughter of the original owner, Charles King, Madison felt like she faced true royalty.

  Her head swooned. Her breaths hitched. Would she pass out? Thank goodness, Dex, strong and solid, still held her upright.

  The two were going through the stacks of applicants and discussing the merits of one or the downside of another.

  “Boss 1 and 3.” Peg held up her fingers and snapped them. “Got a second?”

  “Not really,” Griffin said, meaning it. He barely spared Peg a glance.

  “You need to lighten up. Smile more. You know, joke. J-o-k-e. You’ve heard that word before, right?”

  There, she drew a slight grin for a split second. “After all this time working with you, Peg, why am I still surprised at your wit?”

  “At least you don’t scowl at me anymore. Well, not much.” She reached back and clutched Madison’s arm, half dragging, half pulling her forward. Madison wobbled on her heels. Dex drew closer, apparently protecting his precious scent. “Before you say a word, I know, you’re booked solid. Front to back and back to front. But Rico and I think Madison here needs to have a shot.”

  Charlie glanced up quickly and then did a double take. “Dex? You all right?” Her frown didn’t take away any of her beauty.

  “I got the formula down, Charlie! Unfortunately, Madison is wearing the last of it.” As he caught both her and Griffin’s full attention, Dex rushed out, “Peg can fill you in later.” He tugged on Madison’s other arm. “Just smell her…ah…” he waved a hand at her. “Neck and breasts…I mean chest area.”

  “Dex, are you sure the fumes aren’t getting to you?” Griff asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Come on, Griff. This is a breakthrough. It’s the scent for Priscilla’s perfume.”

  Peg jabbed Madison with an elbow. “Each sis, starting with Charlie, and then Francie, got their own perfume—both smash hits, may I add—now it’s Prissy’s turn. Oh yeah, also known as Griff’s wife.”

  Dex turned to her, his blue eyes holding her stare. Somehow she sensed he needed her to say something. Madison gulped hard. “It’s divine.” It was. Light. Floral. Intoxicating. Holding up her right hand, she said, “I swear.”

  His wide smile snatched her breath away. Or was it just the perfume vapors? She yanked her gaze to the head honchos. Gluing a smile on her lips, she faced the bosses.

  “Five minutes for the perfume,” Griff said, shoving back his chair and standing up.

  “Stretch and smell break,” Charlie agreed, grinning and following his lead.

  With Charlie’s dark hair held back and impeccable outfit of a classic pencil thin charcoal gray skirt and lavender silk blouse and matching high heel shoes, Madison felt almost starstruck at her presence. Her warm smile was trained on her and her hand held out.

  “Charlotte King, but please call me Charlie.”

  “Madison Avenue.” She wished she’d wiped her clammy palm before shaking first Charlie’s hand and then Griffin’s.

  “Madison Avenue?” Dex, Charlie, and Griffin asked in unison.

  Peg giggled. “Yep, that’s her name. Don’t wear it out.”

  “Your mom had a sense of humor.” Dex grinned.

  All she could do was nod. No, her wonderful adoptive mother did. She’d longed to work on the famed street, but working as a church secretary she could never quite get the funds together to move to New York. The closest she got was naming the child she’d found after the place she’d read so much about.<
br />
  “So, Madison,” Charlie began, “let’s get a closer whiff of you.” She moved near, taking it in. “Hmm…Nice blend, Dex. The notes…”

  “Thanks. I merged Prissy’s favorite scents to her personality.”

  Griffin, big and imposing, stepped up. Leaning down near her temple, he inhaled. “Subtle.” He backed away. For a tall man he moved with ease and grace. “In my vast experience, that is not a word I would use for my wife.”

  They chuckled.

  “You’re right, Griff.” Charlie turned to Dex. “Has she had the opportunity to sample this? Not just a sniff test, but a wearing?”

  Madison felt him stiffen at her side. “Not yet.”

  She cringed for him, realizing she wore the sample. He seemed like a nice guy: studious, dedicated, and eager to please. In her book, she liked his passion about his work along with his good looks and blond hair. Pulling her stare away from his profile, she glanced at Charlie and Griffin shaking their heads.

  “Sorry, Dex, can’t sign off on something so important to the King brand and Priscilla’s name, with so little.” Griffin delivered the bad news.

  “At the very least, run this by Prissy,” Charlie agreed. “If she likes it, we let the perfume rest to merge all the scents. And then we can pick this up next week after we’re through with interviewing job candidates and settled back in our own offices.”

  “But, Charlie. I know this is the one.”

  “If you feel that passionate about it, then follow the process and prove it’s the one, Dex.”

  ***

  Madison sat in a straight back chair on the opposite side of the table from the duo. Her palms were damp, her throat parched, and her heart hammering.

  This was her chance. Don’t mess it up!

  Rico stormed in, waving a piece of paper. “Here it is! How silly we misplaced Madison’s resume.” He displayed it on the table as if it were a secret treasure map, gently smoothing out the wrinkles and pointing to certain sections.

  “We get it, Rico,” Griffin said. His unspoken words of now get out of here hung in the air.

  “I’m going! You don’t have to be pushy about it.” Walking out, he halted in front of Madison with his back to them, giving her a wink and a thumbs-up sign.

  She forced a smile and nodded. Why would the woman named Peg and Rico go to all the trouble of recreating and retyping her resume for her? Hopefully, it would be the key to opening the door to get into the great King’s Department Store.

  Charlie scanned the one page first and then slid it to Griffin. “Madison Avenue?” Charlie asked. “Is that really your name?”

  She giggled. “I get that a lot. It’s real.” Why couldn’t she stop giggling?

  Griffin frowned. “Are you all right?”

  “Nerv…nerves. I just want to work for King’s so badly that I’m anxious.” Groan. I’m blowing this.

  “I didn’t know there were vintage clothing awards.” Charlie pointed to an item.

  “There is?” No, there wasn’t! What had they done? “Oh, that. Nothing.” She chewed her bottom lip to stop the constant giggling, thinking not only would she have to reapply the lipstick now, she’d have to get a new lip, too. I wonder if King’s sells those!

  “Start-up company…” He scowled now. “You’re an entrepreneur, Ms. Avenue. Why would you want to be a clerk at King’s? It’s an entry-level job at best, while you have a business.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. Unless, you’re here for ulterior motives.”

  Madison felt the blood drain from her face. Stall! “What?” Her giggles returned in full force. “Of course…not.” Liar! “King’s is top of the line in retail. I’m a huge fan.” Double groan.

  “Look, Madison,” Charlie said, taking over. “Your skills and capabilities on paper, at least, are impeccable for a business owner. Not a department store clerk. You are seriously overqualified for the position. I’m sorry. The answer is no.”

  “No? But this means everything to me.” How can I find my birth mother if I don’t start here first? And not as a customer, either.

  “No from me, also,” Griffin added.

  What was this? American Idol or something? “Isn’t there someone else I could talk to?”

  “Francie is on a buying trip. So there’s no one. Thank you for coming in. Now, if you could please walk yourself to the door, our next appointment is waiting.” Griffin’s words were all businesslike, but there was a steel thread in his voice.

  Getting up on trembling legs, Madison went to shake their hands, and then realized how clammy her palms were. Instead, she waved and nodded. A wave? Seriously. Save me from myself! Slowly, she forced her unsteady legs to carry her to the door.

  How could this have happened? How could she just take this and walk away from her only chance at delving into King’s records to discover who her birth mother was?

  At the door, she turned, asking, “No second chances? Pretty please.” Heat rushed to her cheeks, burning twin spots there. Begging now?

  Charlie smiled sadly, shaking her head. “Thank you for your time.”

  With her head down, Madison slunk out of the room and down the hallway. A hollow ache thrummed to life in her chest. Tears stung her eyes. She blinked fast, trying to stop them from falling.

  Brick wall.

  Another rejection.

  Was she ever going to find her birth mother?

  Chapter 4

  Dex paced the small area, dodging people as they came in the door, checked in with Rico or Peg, and took one of the seats lining the perimeter of the area. “Full house,” he muttered, skimming over the many gazes trained on him. The young men and women soon lost interest and dug out their cell phones, staring blindly at the screen.

  “Come on, Dex—hop, skip, and skaddle,” Peg chirped. “You’re a distraction. What, did all that perfume go to your head or something?”

  Rico snorted at that as he accepted the paper from the latest arrival. Young. Somewhat nice-looking. Business suit. She smiled, the fake plastic one Dex had glimpsed from the others behind him. They looked the same to him. Stale. Boring. Duplicates. Or was it copycats? Either way, there was nothing unique about any one of them.

  He shivered. Where was originality when you needed it the most? King’s didn’t hire fresh-faced college grads who didn’t know the first thing about making change or how to treat a valued customer.

  Down-to-earth, hardworking people who truly cared about why they were here at the great King’s store: that’s who they needed to hire, just like they always had.

  “What’s Charlie thinking?” he hissed to the duo, checking off the names on the forms with the names on Peg’s roster.

  “Beats me,” Peg said. “Not our usual types.” She frowned, suddenly looking concerned. “Rico, take over for me. I got to give Boss 1 and Boss 3 the heads-up.”

  “Better you than me. Griff’s not going to be happy. Nope, not one bit.” Rico tsked. “There’s more to someone than what they present, he says. Yeah, right? This bunch?”

  Dex went to resume his pacing, took three steps, and then halted at the dejected Madison dragging her feet down the hall.

  A poker of hurt stabbed him; she looked so tiny and wounded. “They didn’t.”

  She lifted her head. Her eyes, wide and green, were filled with unshed tears. He felt something hard and primitive crash through him, like a sucker punch. That beautiful smile, well, it was gone. Vanished. And her chin wobbled. “They hated me,” she whispered hoarsely.

  “They said that?” Shock vibrated through him. Oh, Griff could be direct, a little too direct and straightforward at times, but never mean or cruel. And Charlie didn’t have an ounce of hate in her entire body.

  “Close enough,” she said, swiping at the fast falling tears.

  “”But you have I-T!” Peg threw her head in the direction of the makeshift lobby. “Heads over shoulders or is it shoulders above…”

  “Never mind,” Madison said, sniffing. “If only there were a
nother way.”

  “Today, you can help me.” Dex touched her upper arm. Warm. Soft. He shook his head. “Come with me to see Priscilla. She can take a whiff of the perfume you’re wearing. If she gives the okay, then Charlie and Griff will agree. You’re my only chance.”

  “And she is?”

  “Youngest King sister. Griff’s wife.”

  “Great idea, Dex,” Rico said. “She’s at the barracuda’s house today. Still trying to please that woman’s idea of design.” He shivered in revulsion. “No taste.”

  “Who’s the barracuda?” Madison took a small step back.

  “Don’t blame you. She’s as bad as it sounds. Well, she used to be,” Dex amended. “Mrs. King. Now, Mrs. King-Baxter. But she ran this place for years.”

  “Geez Louise, almost into the ground,” Peg muttered, and then plastered a fake grin on her pretty face.

  “The former owner?” Madison’s eyes grew wide, her tears gone now. She sucked in a shaky breath. “Dex, I’d be happy to go with you.”

  Something warm and wonderful spread in his chest. “Thanks. My angel.” Why did he say that? This is business. “I mean, my hero.” Too late.

  A delicate pink bathed her high cheekbones. If possible, it made her look even more beautiful than she already did.

  Peg and Rico exchanged looks and raised eyebrows. He scowled at the pair.

  They knew what he’d escaped months ago. With barely minutes to spare, he’d finally woken up and realized marrying a friend to help raise her unborn child—not his baby—was honorable and noble, but stupid. He wanted so much more from a marriage. Like the marriage his folks had had. He’d wait for just the right woman. “Don’t get any ideas,” he said to the duo. Why did everyone want to set him up lately?

  They snickered. “Whatever you say, Dex,” Rico said, fluffing his hair.

  “I know that look.”

  “Relax, hunk in disguise. Let Papa Rico do his magic.” He waved a hand to encompass Dex from head to toe. “They’ll be lining up for you in droves.”

  Dex cringed, glancing around. “Cattle call? Like this fiasco? As Peg would say, no way, Jose.” He tossed them a grin and turned to Madison, sticking out his elbow. “Shall we?”