Not that I was complaining. It could have been worse. I could have been back at the office ducking Renee, who was there for the final campaign sign-off for the BellaRich joint venture with Royal Mahogany cosmetics. There wasn’t a single time when she walked into the office that she didn’t try and stir some flavor of bullshit up, just because she could. I was thoroughly sick of it, but Belle said not to make a thing of it until we closed this deal. So I left it alone.
“Mr. Montgomery, can I ask you a question about this suit?” an attractive female buyer from a small chain of stores in the Midwest asked in a flirty tone. It was her tenth question, and she kept coming up with reasons to touch me when I came within a foot of her. Time was I would have encouraged her and taken her up on her offer. But I was now one of those guys who was completely satisfied with what he had at home. I wasn’t even the slightest bit tempted.
But as it was in my modeling days, sex sold clothing. I dialed up my smile and walked over to her. She brushed her breast against my arm as she held up the jacket.
“You had a question? J’ai la réponse,” I said silkily, taking a small step back while keeping my smile firmly in place.
“I bet you have all the answers,” she said, peering up through her lashes to see if I was taking any of the bait.
“Ask away, ma’am,” I prompted, resisting the urge to glance at my watch again.
“Oh, you can call me Helen. Does this material breathe and move? You know, with the wearer? Whatever he happens to be doing?”
Jesus, let me not roll my eyes at this woman. The fact that I used to find this banter entertaining was a bit shaming. Actually, you know what? I was never this lame. I blinked innocently at her and decided to play dumb. “Most silks do. Especially with the additional engineered threading we’ve added in. The wearer could go skydiving in this suit, land, and go straight to a business meeting.”
“Not quite the movement I had in mind. But I’ll place an order anyway,” she said with a slide of her hand against mine.
“Honey, he knows what you had in mind,” Renee’s voice rang out from the doorway.
I stifled a groan. Would this day never end? My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, turning my back on both irritating women. A text message came up on the screen.
Suspect Renee on her way there.
I typed back:
You suspect correct. She just walked in.
Deal is done. Feel free to get snarky.
I’m going in.
Need reinforcements?
Care to defend my honor?
I was heading that way anyway. CU soon.
Hurry.
“Helen, do you have any more questions?” I turned back with a pleasant smile fixed on my face.
She slid a look Renee’s way before stepping in front of her. “Any chance you’ll be visiting the stores once the merchandise comes in?”
I placed some regret in my tone. “Oh, I doubt I’ll have time for that. We’re starting work on the next season’s line and planning some runway shows in Europe.”
“Are you going to be doing any more modeling? I saw footage of your work; I’m a huge fan.” She drew the word huge out in a long syllable.
“Well, thank you, but I think my runway days are behind me. I’ll leave that to the youngsters. Can I take your order form?”
She handed me the form, and I keyed it into the system before handing it back to her. She put it back in my hands. “You hold onto it. It has my information in case you have any questions about anything. Anything at all.”
“Well, thank you. I’ll just tuck that away for future reference.” I took her hand and airkissed the back of it. “Enchanté.”
She giggled and waggled her fingers on her way out of the store.
“So I see you’re still slaying ’em in the eyes, killer,” Renee smirked.
With the other customers being handled by staff, I was free to give my undivided attention to Renee. I had to give her credit, she kept herself looking good if not a little bit obvious. True to form, she was shrink-wrapped into a dress that showed off all of her boom-boom-pow and strapped into some heels that were just a little too sexy to be professional. She always stayed a few shades above skanky. But she wasn’t getting any younger and the sophisticated “it girl” act wasn’t going to work for her too much longer. Where before she’d been edgy, she was now coming across as hard and brittle.
I sighed and dipped into my patience reserve. “What can I do for you, Renee?”
Her eyes flicked around the store. “Can we go somewhere just a little more private for this discussion?”
Since I didn’t want the other staff members to hear what I had to say, I agreed. I escorted her to the storage room in the back of the store and ignored the smug smile on her face.
Stepping in after her, I gestured for her to sit in the chair. I leaned against the wall. “So what is it, Renee? What is it that has you sniffing around now?” My tone was far less warm than before.
She started. “I like to think that you and I are different sides of the same coin.”
I tried not to look as appalled and insulted as I felt. “Do you really?”
“I think we understand each other,” she continued.
“I definitely understand you,” I countered.
“I think there’s a reason that we stay in each other’s orbit.”
“Besides the fact that we know the same people and live in the same city?”
“You know how it is. We said the rain check is never off the table between you and me.” She got up and leaned against me. “I think there’s rain in the forecast.”
I had to give it to her: that was a good line. I might have used something similar back in my player days. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t working at all but it was a damn good line. I had to give credit where credit was due.
She pressed herself against me and placed her hand against my pants. “Can little Beau come out and play?” She pressed and stroked with more than a tinge of desperation.
Ignoring the fact that I hated penis nicknames, little Beau didn’t even stir. Not even the tiniest twinge of interest. Hmm. That was noteworthy. I had a beautiful woman plastered against me rubbing me the right way and I felt . . . nothing. “Renee, I don’t think little Beau wants to come out and play.”
She paused. “What?”
“He said, he doesn’t think little Beau wants to come out and play,” Belle repeated as she stormed into the backroom.
Renee took a step back. “Hey, don’t get mad at me because your man was putting the moves on me. You know how Beau is.”
Belle nodded. “Yes, yes I do. This is why I’m positive he never touched you.”
“Yes!” I pumped my fist in the air. “That’s what I’m talking about! Validation at last.”
Belle giggled. “You’re so easy, sugar.”
“Seulement pour vous, only for you, Mirabella.”
She walked over to me, and I wrapped my arms around her from behind, pulling her tight against me. “I’ve been noticing that. Funny, I never have any problem getting little Beau to come out and play. As a matter of fact, our problem is getting him to stay inside.”
“You know you love it,” I murmured and nipped her ear lightly with my teeth.
We cackled until Renee cleared her throat behind us. I spun around.
“Oh, are you still here? My bad. I forgot you were standing there. Listen, chérie, it’s not gonna happen. You can assume that rain check has expired. Nothing personal, we’ve had some good times, you and me. But I’m not that guy any more. And God willing, never again.”
“You’re seriously trying to be a one-woman man?” Renee sneered with blatant skepticism.
“I already am,” I answered unswervingly.
Belle’s eyes snapped with fire. “And he’s going to stay that way, thank you very much.”
Renee added, “Girlfriend, come on. Do you have any idea what it takes to get and keep a man like Beauregard Montgomery?
”
“What’s ‘a man like me’?” I was mystified at the direction this conversation had taken.
Belle snuggled in closer. “Oh sugar, I’m sure she means hardworking, considerate, and silver-tongued in all the right ways.”
“Chérie, you make me blush.” I grinned.
“Avery Beauregard, you haven’t blushed a single day in your natural life.”
Renee interrupted our repartee. “You really think you’ve got him?”
“If I don’t, I’ll figure out. But darlin’, I will tell you one thing . . .”
“What?”
“I won’t be taking man-keeping advice from the likes of you!” Baby Girl was taking no prisoners.
After a heated moment, Renee snarled, “It won’t last.” She whirled around and stomped away. The storage room door slammed shut behind her.
Belle let out a pent-up breath. “What is wrong with that woman? It’s like she’s incapable of having a grown-up conversation. Not to mention, she’s relationship poison.”
I shrugged. “Boggles the mind.”
Belle changed the subject. “I saw the orders for today. How many women did you flash the pearly whites at to reach these numbers?”
“Ma douce, you have no idea how hard it is being me.”
She rolled her eyes. “There you go with those pretty boy problems again.”
“Mais oui.”
33
We Can Go Again
Belle—Saturday, November 7, 11:29 AM (one month later)
Beau and I sat in the airport lounge in New York. We had been in Paris and Milan and were heading back home after closing up my SoHo apartment and downsizing the New York office. Nothing but the storefront and a small staff would remain. I’d finally made the decision to move the bulk of BellaRich operations to Dallas. Labor was cheaper, taxes were lower, and most importantly, I was happier there.
I didn’t have to prove I could make it in the big city anymore. I was there. I had done it. Without patting myself on the back, I could honestly call myself a success. Professionally, everything was happening for me as I’d always dreamed. Now it was time to get my personal house in order.
A few weeks ago, I finally opened up the package that my father had given me. It was a scrapbook of all my accomplishments dating as far back as my first runway show at age sixteen. My mother had started keeping the book, and after she passed, my father had taken over. I had no idea he’d been paying attention for all those years.
The other item in the package was a letter my mother had written before she died. It was mostly addressed to my father, with advice on how to raise us after she was gone, but there was a small section in there that she had written just to me. She said she knew I planned to be a very different woman with a different life than the one she’d led. But she wanted me to know that she lived exactly the way she wanted and if she had it to do all over again, she wouldn’t change a thing. Her only wish for me was to live a life filled with love and no regrets.
I already had a few regrets, but I was determined not to have too many more. Reading that letter had kind of unlocked the last door I had in my mind about what marriage was and could be. When we got back home, I planned to tell Beau that I was ready. Ready to be his wife, ready to get this happily ever after thing kicked into overdrive. I couldn’t wait to see his face when I told him.
Bless his heart, he’d stopped even bringing it up, and I knew he wasn’t expecting it. The man let me redecorate his dream house without a single conversation about whether I would be there long term. He traded in his Porsche and bought a Benz. Granted, it was still a convertible, but it sat four and my father could climb in and out of it without the Jaws of Life to assist him. Now if that wasn’t unconditional love, I didn’t know what was.
Digging around in the side pockets of my purse, I found what I was looking for. I took the ring out of the zippered compartment in my purse and slid it on. I wondered how long it would take him to notice I was wearing it.
“Are we there yet?” he said moodily, shifting on the sofa. He was dressed in black jeans, a plum buttoned shirt, and a leather jacket. Even sulky, he was giving off the caramel sexy.
“You’re so bougie,” I teased him.
“I’m just saying, if we took the jet like I wanted to, not only would we be almost home by now, we could be naked in the back cabin.”
“I wasn’t going to spend that kind of money just so we could play bouncy-bouncy at 30,000 feet. We are flying first class; it’s not as though we’re in the peanut section.”
“We can afford to splurge every now and then,” he reminded me.
That prompted me to ask about something that had me curious. “Just how much money do you have stashed, anyway?”
“Enough that we don’t have to sit in this airport lounge right now.”
“Enough that you’re spoiled, you mean.”
Beau just rolled his eyes and picked up another magazine to flip through. That meant he was through talking about it.
“Belle?” a male voice said from over my left shoulder.
From the look on Beau’s face, it wasn’t anyone either of us wanted to see. I turned my head to see Lucas Turner smiling down at me. He was about six feet two, light-skinned, broad-shouldered with almost delicate features and close-cropped hair. His eyes were hazel. I looked at him and felt ashamed that I had ever thought he and Beau favored one another in any which way, shape, or form.
“Hello, Lucas, how have you been?” I responded dully.
“What kind of way is that to greet the man you almost married?” He reached out and tugged me out of my chair and into his arms. I felt nothing except impatience and a little irritation.
I watched Beau’s face turn feral as he stood up to his full height. Oh hell. This could get messy. I pushed out of Lucas’ embrace and turned into Beau, lodging myself under his arm.
“Turner,” Beau said.
“Montgomery.”
Lucas looked at me. “I thought you said you were through with hangers on and pretty boys?”
“Oh I am.”
“Well, what is he?” He gestured toward Beau disdainfully.
“The best thing that ever happened to me, thanks for asking.”
Lucas took a step forward and Beau did the same. Lucas frowned. “What? You’re gonna kick my ass just for speaking?”
Beau let a slow, dangerous smile ease onto his face. “I’m sure you’ve done something to deserve it. It’s not like I haven’t done it before. We can go again. Just say when.”
Lucas looked at me. “Seriously, how is he better than me?”
I broke it down. “Uh—in every way possible, but I assume you want specifics. How about the fact that he’s hardworking, honest, conscientious, puts me first, and is more into me than he’s into himself?”
Lucas looked at both of us with disgust. “Well, I guess all those rumors are true. He’s got you wide open. He’ll toss you aside when he’s used you up. Hope you don’t think he’ll ever marry you. His kind never do.”
I raised my hand and flashed the ring. “We’ll just add this to the long list of things that you are wrong about. The wedding is next summer. Your invitation will unfortunately be lost in the mail.”
Lucas curled his lip in a way that was so unattractive I wondered what I’d seen in him to begin with. Thank God, I hadn’t tried to build a life with this foolish boy. He sniffed, “I don’t know what I ever saw in you. You’re not that hot.”
Funny, I was just thinking the exact same thing about him. “So, did you want something?” I asked.
“I guess not.”
“Aw petit garçon, don’t be mad that you dropped a dime and I picked it up,” Beau said in the snarkiest tone ever.
“You two deserve each other,” Lucas tacked on.
“Yes. We do. Thank you so much for noticing,” I retorted, leaning back against Beau as he walked away. Beau’s arms came around me.
“Mirabella?” Beau murmured in my ear.
&n
bsp; “Beauregard?”
“You gonna marry me, chérie?”
I turned in his arms. “Well, if you’re fool enough to still want me, I’m smart enough to say yes.”
He picked me off my feet as he kissed me and whirled me around. Setting me down, he threw his head back and laughed. “When did you put the ring on?”
“Right before you started bitchin’ about the private plane, sugar.”
He guffawed again. “Bet you wish we were on it now, don’t you?”
“You know, I think this lounge has a sleeping room,” I whispered mischievously.
“Woman, I like the way you think.”
“You’ve corrupted me; what can I say?”
“You love it.” He started easing toward the back of the lounge.
With a sigh, I grabbed my purse and let him lead me toward what would no doubt be shameless behavior. “I do, I really do.”
“Bon, cuz you’re stuck with me now.”
Glossary of Terms
’Tite chat Little cat
À ce qu’il paraît, mon ami So it would seem, my friend
Absolument Absolutely
Allons manger Let’s eat
Apparemment Apparently
Au revoir Good-bye
Avec plaisir With pleasure/My pleasure
Bébé Baby
Bon appétit Happy eating
Bon nuit Good night
Ça se comprend It’s understood
Ça suffit That’s enough
Calmez-vous Chill out/Calm down
Ce que tu veux Whatever you like
Ce soir This evening/tonight
Certainement Certainly
C’est formidable It’s incredible/amazing
C’est inconcevable That’s impossible/ inconceivable
C’est rien It’s nothing
C’est tout That’s all
C’est très aimable à vous How very kind of you
Cette fille est différente. Elle est spéciale. This girl is different. She’s special.
Vous l’aimez, n’est-ce pas? You like her, right?
Pretty Boy Problems Page 20