Enticing Winter

by Sherelle Green

  “Are you finished?”

  Winter jumped at the sound of his voice and placed her hand over her heart.

  “Yes, I’m done.” What was she supposed to say? There was no use denying that she had been checking him out. She’d been so busy staring at his backside she hadn’t expected to catch him looking over his shoulder at her.

  “Why haven’t you been inspired today?” he asked as he leaned against the table and crossed his arms over his chest. She wasn’t used to this Taheim. They had been together for more than ten minutes and an argument hadn’t broke out yet. That’s because you could cut this sexual tension with a knife. But you CAN’T. GO. THERE. Why, oh why, was her body not listening to what her mind was telling her?

  “I don’t know,” she finally said with a shrug. “The part of my brain directly connected to my inspiration must be clogged tonight.”

  Maybe if I start talking about my ideas for the fashion show, we can get down to business. Although it would be so much easier if he didn’t look so sexy leaning up against the table. But at the end of the day, he was just a man. A man who had annoyed her more than any man she’d ever met. She would have to be professional around him, ignore her attraction to him and definitely ignore the butterflies swarming around in her stomach.

  His mouth lifted in a side smile that she wished didn’t look so suggestive. “Maybe I can help unclog your inspiration.”

  Crap. So much for ignoring the butterflies.

  * * *

  What are you doing, man? he asked himself. This was the complete opposite of ignoring his attraction to Winter.

  When he’d gotten into his car after leaving his firm, he hadn’t noticed that he wasn’t headed home until he was parking down the street from Bare Sophistication.

  The lack of parking in front of the store should have been enough to make him turn around and go home. And when he didn’t see Winter through the store window, he really should have brought his ass home. But then he remembered that every time he walked into his bedroom, he thought about Winter. Next thing he knew, he was walking into her store asking for her.

  From the look on her face right now, he could tell that his statement intrigued her. He openly looked her up and down. The way she was wearing those navy heels was making it hard for him to remember to be a gentleman. Navy was his favorite color. Always had been. When his eyes made their way to her breasts, he had to remind himself that he had just decided to be a gentleman moments prior. But his eyes had a mind of their own and the way her nipples peaked beneath her white shirt made it hard for him to tear his gaze away.

  “Are you finished?” she asked, throwing his words back at him.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked as he lifted his hands in an innocent gesture. “I saw more than just your nipples hardening that night I caught you in my bedroom.”

  Her eyes squinted together and Taheim swore he could see the heat seeping off her neck in frustration.

  She lifted her hands to the ceiling. “Thank you for reminding me why I dislike you so much.”

  She walked closer to him and looked him dead in the eye. “For a minute, I forgot the cocky jerk you are.”

  He welcomed her change in attitude because he wasn’t too keen on the direction his thoughts were headed. Now that they had to work together, he really needed to find a way to ignore his attraction to her.

  “How about we exchange the ideas we’ve had for the fashion show so far.”

  She squinted her eyes together as if trying to gauge if he was serious. “Okay,” she finally said. “We can sit over here.”

  He followed her to a set of matching teal chairs that had a black coffee table in between them.

  “So, I thought about what your brother said about the masquerade gala, and since masquerade lingerie fashion shows are kinda my thing, I already know the perfect place to get winter-wonderland masks for the models. Also, I’ve already spoken to Elite Events and gotten the details on how they are decorating Inferno for the gala.”

  “Perfect.” He pulled out his small notebook from his pocket to review the notes he’d written. “I met with Ajay this morning, and he wants us each to show at least ten pieces. But I’m also showing about five or six pieces from Collegiate Life, so if you want to show five extra lingerie pieces from your other collection, Ajay said that’d be cool.”

  “I can definitely do that,” Winter said as she clasped her hands together. “How about I pick pieces that coincide with the Collegiate Life pieces you choose so that everything will be cohesive.”

  “I like that. I think it would be great if we have at least 30 models. Fifteen men and fifteen women.”

  “I’ll start composing the language for a model search,” Winter said as she stood to get her notebook off the wooden table.

  They discussed several more ideas and Taheim was surprised that they seemed to be on the same page with the way they wanted the fashion show to go. But there was still a lot more planning to do and only time would tell if their ideas continued to complement each other.

  Chapter 5

  Taheim grabbed the medium-sized basketball from under his glass desk and tossed it in the air. Tossing the ball around had always helped him clear his mind. He wasn’t sure when he started finding the act so therapeutic, but lately it seemed he couldn’t shuffle through his thoughts without it.

  It had been four days since he’d discussed business with Winter and it seemed he couldn’t stop thinking about her. It wasn’t just because his attraction to her seemed to grow every time they were in the same room. It actually had a lot to do with the reoccurring dream he’d had about debuting his new line. Usually his creative ideas were flowing, but lately he’d felt stuck.

  T.R. Night was supposed to be the nightwear collection that redefined the type of clothing men should sleep in. He wanted to be the designer that everyone had been labeling him to be since he’d released Collegiate Life. But nightwear wasn’t the same as apparel. Although it might seem as if lounge pants, boxers and V-neck shirts were simple to design, he needed to create designs that represented T.R. Night to the fullest. And the pieces he’d been staring at in his condo that morning definitely weren’t it.

  You should just ask her for her design expertise. He’d had that thought more than once, but every time he glanced at his phone to give her a call, he remembered that he had something to prove. She thought he was just an egotistical jerk, and although a part of her belief might have been right, based off how he’d treated her on their blind date, that wasn’t the way he wanted her to see him.

  But there is nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it, right?

  His smartphone chimed, jarring him from his thoughts. He tucked the basketball under his arm and glanced at the screen. His eyes squinted in surprise as he answered.

  “Hey, Winter.”

  “Hey, Taheim, are you free to chat?”

  “Sure, what’s up?”

  “Well, since the fashion show is six weeks away, we really need to solidify the models. So I was thinking that we should probably hold a casting call this Saturday.”

  He leaned up in his chair. “That soon? That’s four days away.”

  “Yeah, are you free?”

  “I can be.”

  “Great! I have a lot of contacts in the industry and on social media, so I’ll send something out. I already talked to your brother and he said he’s fine with us having the models audition at Inferno Saturday afternoon. If it’s not a success, we’ll plan a second model call, but I have a feeling we’ll have no problem finding all the models we need.”

  “That’s good. I’ll send something out on social media, as well. Do you want to text me what wordage you’re using? Or better yet, I can text you what I think we can use on Twitter and Facebook and you tell me if you’re okay with the message.”

&nbs
p; “Hmm, I’m better with concise words, so maybe you should come up with the Facebook messaging and I should come up with the Twitter messaging.”

  He smiled into the phone. “Is that a challenge I hear in your voice?”

  “Not a challenge,” she said with a laugh. “More like an observation.”

  “Have you forgotten what I do for a living?” he asked, referring to R&W Advertising. “Marketing and advertising are kinda my thing.”

  “Well, fashion shows and models are kinda my thing.”

  There was nothing that thrilled Taheim more than being underestimated. “Tell you what,” he said as an idea suddenly popped into his head. “How about you and I both create targeted messaging for the model call and we post the info on all our social media pages. Every model who comes to the call must state where they heard about it and we’ll track our retweets, comments and likes to see who gets more hits. My company specializes in tracking social media campaigns, so this will be a breeze.”

  The other line grew quiet, and for a second, he thought she’d decline his challenge.

  “You’re on,” she said confidently. “And to up the ante, the loser has to be the other’s bitch for a week.”

  “Say what?” Taheim glanced at his phone as if he’d heard her wrong. “And what exactly would that include? Because my mind is already thinking of things I need you to do.” He was sure her idea and his idea were completely opposite. Her thoughts probably involved him cooking her dinner or bringing her coffee, and while his ideas included those same duties, he’d be adding a few more not-so-innocent things to that list.

  “First off, get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about bringing the other one coffee and picking up their clothes from the cleaner’s. Maybe bringing them lunch on days we have practice for the fashion show. Those sorts of things.”

  “Chicken,” he said, still smiling. “You’re on. I never back down from a challenge.”

  After they hung up, he still had a smile on his face. What the heck is wrong with me? He wasn’t the type to smile after hanging up with a woman and he definitely didn’t want to think about how much he had been smiling when they were on the phone.

  “Man, why the hell do you have that stupid smile on your face?”

  Taheim looked up to find Jaleen in the doorway.

  “It’s nothing. Just got some good news about the city tour for Collegiate Life in the spring.”

  Jaleen looked at him suspiciously. “Naw, man, I know that look. You must have been talking to a woman.”

  Taheim stood from his desk and continued throwing the basketball into the air. “Why are you all in my business?”

  “Can’t a friend just be concerned?”

  Taheim stopped throwing the ball. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  Jaleen laughed as he plopped down in a chair. “Actually, I came in here because I overheard you on the phone when I was passing in the hallway. You were talking to Winter, right?”

  “Yeah, it was her. We had to discuss some plans for that fashion show I was telling you about.” Taheim sat back in his desk chair and waited for Jaleen to mock him. He’d been teasing him about Winter for months, so he was ready for a jab or two.

  “From what I heard, you two placed a bet on who could get the most models to your first model call, right?”

  “You really need to let private conversations remain private.”

  “Next time, you should shut your door.” Jaleen lifted his left foot and bent it over his right knee. “And I hope you know that you have to win this. It would look bad if the cofounder of a firm that specializes in advertising and marketing lost.”

  Taheim gave him a look of disbelief. “Man, I got this. You know I’ve got the social media game on lock. Besides, Winter has only been in Chicago for a couple years and I spent my entire life here. She may have a lot of connections outside Illinois, but I’m sure my Chicago connections will help spread the word to more models.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Jaleen said, giving him a sly smile.

  “Yeah, I’m sure,” he said hesitantly. He never did like when Jaleen looked at him that way.

  “I wouldn’t underestimate Winter,” Jaleen said as he pulled his smartphone out of his pocket and tapped a few buttons before giving Taheim his phone. “Just like you, she aims to win.”

  Taheim shook his head as he read aloud the Twitter message that Winter had sent. “‘They can imitate your style, but not your walk. Calling all models. Saturday @ 1pm @ Inferno. Be there. #InfernoChicago #LingerieFashionShow.’”

  Damn. She wasted no time. “She must have put this up right after we hung up.”

  “Nope,” Jaleen said as he took back his phone. “Like I said, I was outside the door, so I looked at her page right after y’all made the bet. She was probably typing as you were talking. She already has thirty retweets and it’s only been a couple of minutes.”

  “So that’s how she wants to play,” he said as he picked up his phone, which he’d placed on his desk.

  He began typing his tweet.

  Blurring the lines between reality & fantasy. Join our fantasy. Model call. Inferno. Saturday @ 1pm.

  #CollegiateLife #TRNight #InfernoChicago

  “There we go,” Taheim said as he sat back and watched the retweets trickle in.

  * * *

  “Oh, he’s good,” Winter told Autumn as she watched the number of retweets rise on Taheim’s tweet.

  “Is he getting more retweets than you?”

  “Crap, I see why. I forgot to hashtag Bare Sophistication. He hashtagged both of his clothing lines.”

  “Well, then, post another tweet. I know you want to win and I’m competitive, too. Your first tweet was inspiring and I liked it. But now you need to hit back harder.”

  As Autumn went to help a customer who had entered their store, Winter’s lips quirked to the side in thought. How can I allude to the fact that one-of-a-kind Bare Sophistication pieces will be shown at this fashion show? She needed something catchy. Something that would make women swoon and men drool.

  Her fingers began typing, and when they stopped moving, she smiled in satisfaction at accomplishing her goal.

  “Did you come up with something?” Autumn asked as she walked back over to the checkout counter. Instead of responding, Winter handed Autumn her phone.

  Autumn read the tweet aloud. “‘Exclusive. Chic. Delicious. Do you have what it takes to bare your sophistication? Saturday 1pm. Model call. #InfernoChicago #BareSophistication.’”

  Autumn nodded her head before speaking. “That’s perfect,” she said before going back to tend to customers.

  Within minutes, she already had double the amount of retweets she’d had before. Then she remembered that she hadn’t written anything on her Facebook or Instagram pages and immediately wrote similar statements on both pages and accompanied the messages with an image that they’d taken for Bare Sophistication’s website.

  Her phone dinged, signaling that she had a notification on Twitter. It took all her energy not to grind her teeth together in frustration when she saw Taheim’s latest tweet.

  @TRNight + @BareSophistication = explosive chemistry. Model call @InfernoChicago. Sat. 1pm. Rip the runway this winter.

  “Ugh,” Winter said aloud in frustration. She’d been really trying to beat Taheim to the punch and tweet about both of their lines before he got the chance to do so. When Danni got back from lunch, she left the counter and walked around the store to get inspiration for her next tweet.

  She didn’t care that Taheim was great at marketing and developing taglines. She still wanted to win the bet. She bit her bottom lip as she went to the far right of the store, where they featured pieces from their holiday collection.

  She ran her fingers over the delicate red, silver, black an
d pink garments, paying extra-close attention to the seductive pink skirt and midriff halter trimmed in white fur. The piece was called Santa’s Little Helper and they recommended that customers pair it with their candy-cane thigh-highs.

  Just like that, she was inspired for her next tweet.

  Are you on Santa’s naughty list? Changing the face of lingerie/nightwear. Get caught on the runway

  @InfernoChicago @BareSophistication @TRNight

  She didn’t have enough characters to add the day and time of the model call, but she expanded her message on her other social media sites and paired it with an image of the Santa’s Little Helper piece. Just like with the other messages and tweets, she received retweets, comments and likes within minutes.

  She strode to her design studio with extra pep in her step. When she’d called Taheim an hour or so prior, her only intention had been to tell him that they needed to have a model call that weekend. She really hadn’t expected them to get into a Twitter war.

  She slowed her stride as she walked over to a chair in her studio. She hadn’t looked in a mirror, but she could feel herself smiling widely and it wasn’t just because Taheim hadn’t tweeted in the past few minutes. She was cheesing extra hard just at the thought of him, which didn’t make any sense. Yeah, they had been getting along recently, but she couldn’t allow herself to forget how they’d first met. Thinking of him as Taheim the arrogant jerk was a helluva lot easier than thinking of him as Taheim the sexy charmer whose deep voice often lured her to sleep, resulting in the most seductive fantasies she’d ever had in her life.

  As she sat down, her phone dinged and she noticed it was a text message from Taheim.

  So since we’re changing the face of lingerie and nightwear, are we on this so-called naughty list?

  She smiled, again, before responding.

  I guess you can say that. To get everyone to indulge in this masquerade lingerie fashion show, I’d say we all have to get a little naughty, don’t you think?

  As she was texting Taheim back, another tweet sparked in her mind, so she typed the tweet as quickly as she could.