If Wishes Were Magic

by Barbara Baldwin

“Nice to meet you, Miss Chantilly Lace.” He set his hat on his head then touched the brim. Of course he wore a cowboy hat.

  “Don’t your ears get cold in the winter?” she asked the idiotic question, if only to keep him there just a little longer.

  He grinned. “It’s not cold in Texas,” he said and walked past her toward the door. Chanti started to swivel to watch him leave when she felt his warm breath at her ear. “But you can come with me now and find out how they fare in Hattiesville.”

  When she spun around, his back was to her, his long strides taking him quickly to the door. He was letting her choose, but in a way neither would lose face since chances were they would never see each other again. She turned back to Charlie, her gaze searching her friend’s face for the answer even before she asked the question.

  “Is he an okay guy?”

  Charlie didn’t answer right away, his gaze on the departing AJ. When he finally turned her way, his eyes were serious but a hint of a smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, silly-Tilly. I think he might be just what you need.”

  She didn’t stop to analyze his words. She grabbed her coat off the back of her chair, tugging it on as she hurried through the crowd that suddenly seemed intent on blocking her path.

  Chapter 2

  AJ jerked the collar of his coat up against the cold and biting wind. Damn, he wished he were back in Texas.

  “Wait!” The throaty command sounded behind him and his heart sped up. Okay, so maybe Chicago in winter wasn’t going to be so bad after all. He slowly turned to see Chanti hurrying toward him, tugging on her stocking cap and mittens.

  When she came abreast of him, she tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, and he felt the sizzle of her touch, even through the thick coat he wore. She tugged and he turned and started walking again.

  “Hey,” she said softly.

  “Hey, yourself. Did Charlie vouch for me?” He could see the slight color on her cheeks and knew it wasn’t from the cold.

  “A gal can’t be too careful, even in a town like Hattiesville,” she said.

  “Understandable,” he replied, “but who vouches for you?” He smiled down at her.

  Her eyes widened. “Gosh, are you saying a tall, strong Texan like yourself worries about someone taking advantage of him?”

  “It is my fervent hope.” His gaze captured hers with the request. He was usually straight spoken and didn’t beat around the bush. He was attracted to her; of that there was no doubt.

  But he inherently felt Chanti was going to be the exception to every rule he knew about women. It was more than the blonde hair and voluptuous figure. Her smile beckoned him, and her sassy mouth definitely kept him on his toes.

  “There’s a coffee shop around the corner,” she said as they walked.

  “Sounds like a plan.” They crossed at the light and turned down the street to where a neon light blinked open.

  “So, you’re here on business?” she asked as she slid into a booth next to the window.

  AJ’s business depended on being discrete and at times invisible. Unsuspecting people were often more free with the information he needed for his clients. While he didn’t want to lie to Chanti, neither did he want her knowing what he did. Yet he knew from past experience that the dating game usually started with the woman asking questions to show she was interested in the man. Because everyone knew men liked talking about themselves. That is, men other than AJ.

  “Charlie and I were college roommates,” he said instead. “When I’m in the area I usually stop by and see him.”

  She gave him a smile that he couldn’t quite interpret but didn’t say anything as the waitress came to deposit water glasses and menus on the table.

  “I’m starved,” Chanti said. “I just realized I left the house without eating dinner. You buying?” She gave him a grin.

  He turned to the waitress. “One of everything on the menu for the lady.”

  Chanti burst out laughing. “Starving is not the same as being a glutton.” She turned to the waitress. “Cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake.”

  “I’ll have just the burger and coffee,” AJ said. He handed the girl the menus and she walked away.

  “So, the Texan is evasive,” Chanti picked right back up with their conversation. “That does not bode well for our relationship.”

  “We have a relationship?”

  She reached across the table and put both hands on his ears. Her eyes closed and she appeared lost in thought. After a few seconds, she let go and sat back in the booth, shaking her head. “It doesn’t look good.”

  He scowled. “And you could tell that by my ears?”

  “They’re still cold. If your ears can’t acclimate to Chicago weather, there’s just no hope.”

  AJ grinned at her silliness. “You could move to Texas.”

  She placed a hand over her heart, her face a mask of mock horror. “You can’t be serious. What would I do with my business?”

  “What business?”

  “Cosmetics,” she replied automatically, and then quite suddenly her eyes narrowed. “How very clever of you to turn the conversation around.”

  He smirked. “I thought so.”

  “If you don’t want to tell me what you do, that’s fine. I completely understand. Just don’t expect me to share my fries.”

  “I guess that means this is just a one night stand?”

  She frowned at his comment and AJ could have kicked himself. Nothing like telling the lady you want to jump into bed with her after only knowing her a couple of hours.

  She looked down at where she doodled in a drop of water from her glass; her lips puckered. When she glanced back at him, her green eyes shimmered. “I’m not very good with relationships anyway. It seems I have too much…education for most men.”

  AJ sensed her hesitation but refrained from commenting on it. “I like smart women.”

  “And I don’t do one night stands.”

  For all AJ’s prowess with the fairer sex and the fact he was rarely not in a relationship, her answer pleased him. He reached across the table and captured her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. “I’m glad,” he whispered gently but didn’t have time to say more since their food arrived.

  Chanti ended up sharing her fries with AJ after all. They talked about their families and he told her some stories about Charlie in college. Chanti shared a little of her vision for Mori Cosmetics, referring to it only as “the company” so he wouldn’t connect the fact that she actually owned it instead of just working there.

  “I had a really nice time tonight, AJ,” she said as they left the coffee shop. She put out her hand.

  Instead of shaking it in farewell, AJ enclosed it in his much larger one and tugged her close to his side.

  “I’ll walk you to your car,” he said.

  “That’s not necessary. I know this town like the back of my hand.”

  He slowly shook his head. “Did you already forget I’m from Texas, where hospitality is paramount and ungentlemanly manners are tantamount to treason?”

  “Really, it’s okay. I won’t tell anyone from Texas.”

  He tucked her arm through his. “I’m not arguing the point with you.”

  As they walked, it began to snow, the flakes large and wet. Chanti tilted her face upward, sticking her tongue out to catch the cold wet flakes. When she glanced at AJ, he was watching her closely, a curious expression on his face.

  “Don’t tell me you’ve never eaten snowflakes?”

  He shook his head.

  “Snow ice cream? Made a snow angel?”

  Again the shake of his head. “I’m from—”

  “I know, I know. But surely sometime in your youth you were somewhere with snow?”

  “Texas born and bred.” She watched him shiver then scrunch his shoulders so his coat collar tucked up under his cowboy hat.

  She started to suggest he hang around long enough for the snow to amount to something when she realized they were at he
r car.

  “Well, here we are.” She was disappointed because she had thoroughly enjoyed her time with AJ and didn’t want it to end.

  “Nice car,” he commented. “The cosmetics business must pay pretty well.”

  Then Chanti remembered why she didn’t get involved with men. He was probably already calculating her net worth. She clicked the remote lock and opened the door.

  “Whoa there, missy.” AJ hooked her arm and turned her to face him. Before she could decide whether she wanted him to or not, he bent his head and kissed her. She promptly forgot her reasons for not getting involved as his warm lips covered hers. As she surrendered to the potent power of his kiss, he wrapped his arms around her and tugged her closer. She relaxed in his embrace, thoroughly enjoying the tingles that shot from her lips to her heart and outward. When he lifted his head, all she could do was sigh.

  “Can I see you again?”

  “You didn’t talk to me tonight to start a relationship.”

  He gave her a sexy grin. “Well, no, not in the beginning.”

  “And you live in Texas, remember?”

  “Not at the moment.”

  “AJ, I told you—” He silenced her with a finger to her lips.

  “You don’t have to say yes. Just don’t say no right away.” He then replaced his finger with his lips.

  This time Chanti wrapped her arms around his neck and gave herself over completely to his kiss. She couldn’t recall anyone’s kisses as being so spine tingling and scrumptious. That was the only word for it.

  “You’d better get while the getting’s good,” he said gruffly before giving her one more light kiss on the nose. He released her to open her door.

  She slid onto the seat and started the engine. When she reached to close the door, he stopped her with a hand on the window frame.

  “I’ll be checking in with Charlie.” Then he quietly shut her door and stood there with hands tucked in his coat pockets, just watching her.

  Chanti blew him a kiss as she put the car in gear and pulled away. There were definitely times when she would part with her money and position just to be an ordinary girl, looking for romance with an ordinary man. She glanced in her rearview mirror to see AJ still standing in the same spot, watching her. Revising her thoughts, she somehow knew AJ was no ordinary man.

  * * *

  The next week flew as Chanti sealed deals with additional retail outlets to carry the Chantilly Frost line of cosmetics. Her marketing department would handle the negotiations and details, but Chanti had learned early on that no matter how small the retailer was, he or she was more likely to purchase if the CEO contacted them personally. How large the business was had nothing to do with a person wanting personal service, and Chanti made sure every one on her growing client list got that and more. She often called on businesses just to see how her product lines were selling. That usually led to pictures by the product display, coffee with the owners of the smaller stores, and many, many new friends. It was the way her dad had run his sporting goods company, and it was one tradition Chanti tried very hard to continue.

  From her mother, she had gotten an introduction to the fashion world because she had run a modeling agency. So when Chanti had started Mori, all the top models in the country had worn her cosmetics and that had caused Mori to soar to the top of the cosmetics line in the fashion world. But Chanti wanted to offer a product that all women would like – one that was reasonably priced and would complement women’s skin tones and eye color.

  Thus, she had come up with the Chantilly Frost Fantasies Can Come True contest. Tillman, the head of her public relations department, had assured her everything for the contest had been included in the ads. The advertisements would promote the new line, but would also have a notice that women could write a Dear Santa letter with their fantasies and Mori would choose several to make happen.

  A special post office box had been rented for the contest, and every woman who entered would receive a coupon for some free cosmetics, even if their letters weren’t chosen to make their fantasy come true. Chanti envisioned doing makeovers to take years off a woman’s appearance, teaching a woman how to complement her eyes with the soft cream eye shadows and liners.

  The plan behind the campaign was that all the women chosen from the letters would be brought to corporate headquarters in Chicago. While here, they would be photographed and interviewed, with the idea being to run a ‘before and after’ advertising campaign to show the benefits of Frost. Chanti wanted the ‘everyday’ woman – wife, mother, career girl, even grandmother. There was more money to be had in mainstream department stores and discount pharmacies than selling strictly to an elite group of models, which was the group wearing Mori Cosmetics at the present time.

  Everything was set, and Chanti couldn’t wait to start getting the letters. She thought that even more than selling the new line, she wanted to help women make the most of their assets. It was all about making the world a little better place and women a little happier.

  With a satisfied sigh, Chanti swiveled around in her desk chair and watched the snow swirl outside. She loved winter in Chicago, regardless of the crazy drivers who often frequented the roads. There was something about the silent power of all that white wetness that enthralled her.

  Sort of like the kiss AJ had given her – the thought flashed across her mind from nowhere. She closed her eyes; finally letting thoughts of AJ invade. She had managed all week not to think of him – well, at least not to spend an inordinate amount of time thinking of him. She had spent most of the week in the city, so hadn’t been tempted to go to Charlie’s to see if he was still in town. The picture in her mind was as she had last seen him when she pulled away that night – tall, broad shouldered with his cowboy hat at a sexy angle and that heart-stopping smile on his face. And hands tucked under his arms as he shivered in the cold snow that had started falling.

  Chanti laughed. As much as she had liked his hot kisses, she thought she liked the fact that he made her laugh more. All the high-powered men of her acquaintance were anything but lighthearted. Although she didn’t know what AJ did for a living, she knew he enjoyed life. It showed in the relaxed set of his shoulders and the laugh lines that crinkled the corners of his eyes.

  Perhaps now that the campaign was running, things would settle down around the office. She could drop by Charlie’s and see if his friend was still around. It was one of those times when she wished she had better instincts where men where concerned. She had been burnt often enough that now she was leery of even liking a man. And while Charlie had said AJ was an okay guy, and her heart told her he could turn her inside out if she let him, her brain was still telling her to be cautious.

  “Pooh, cautious,” she grumbled. “Where would this business be if I was always cautious?” Yet she knew her heart was a lot more vulnerable than her profit and loss statement.

  “Oh my gosh, Ms Morrison, just look!” Annie rushed in, disrupting her thoughts. Her assistant held the door wide for a young man pushing a two shelf, wheeled cart with three plastic tubs sitting on it that she knew were from the mailroom.

  “Annie, what on earth?” Chanti stood and rounded her desk.

  “It’s the contest mail. Can you believe it – all these letters from women wanting you to make their fantasies come true?”

  “Not me; Chantilly Frost, the ultimate makeup for the uncommon woman.” Chanti automatically recited the tag line that the PR department had created.

  Annie gave a dramatic sigh. She tended to react dramatically in most situations. “Whatever. Tillman’s ad campaign is really going to pay off. No matter how many women you choose, the rest of them are going to get gift certificates and once they try Frost, they’ll be hooked.” Dramatic or not, Annie was truly dedicated to Mori Cosmetics and Chanti valued her opinions.

  “Well, considering that’s the whole purpose behind the advertising, let’s hope it does work.”

  She turned to the young man hovering behind the cart. As usua
l, Jake was staring at her. He was sweet, but very young, having graduated from Northwestern University just a few years ago. Almost immediately from the day he was hired, he had hit on her. Of course, at the time he hadn’t known who she was since they had met in the atrium cafeteria downstairs. Rather than fire him on the spot, she had taken him aside, explained a few facts of corporate life to him, and let him keep his job. In return, she had his undying gratitude and worship.

  “Jake, how’s it going?” She gave him a smile and he blushed to the top of his hairline.

  “Just fine, Ms M,” he said. “Still waiting for my big break.”

  Chanti recalled from reading his resume that he had a degree in marketing and public relations. It was a pity he had to start in the mailroom, but it hadn’t seemed to bother him at all. He said he had studied Mori Cosmetics for a project at Northwestern and the company’s growth and entrepreneurship were such he knew that was where he wanted to work. Like Annie, he was dedicated and Chanti hoped she had a position for him before long.

  She looked at the three tubs and then up to Jake in amazement. “All this mail is for the Frost campaign?”

  “Yes, ma’am. It’s all addressed to the special post office box you rented. I went down this morning and picked it up.” He reached out with two manila envelopes and a magazine. “This was all that came to you today.”

  Chanti absently took the mail and tossed it on her desk. “I can’t believe there are all these letters after only a week. How on earth are we going to sort them all?”

  Jake turned to leave, his job complete. “Just buzz me when you’re done with the cart and tubs. I’ll come and get them.”

  Chanti hoped he wasn’t using that as an excuse to see her because she had been very explicit when she told him…She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and covertly glanced sideways to see Jake squeeze Annie’s hand.

  Amazing. She had egotistically thought Jake still had a thing for her when all the time he came up here to see Annie. At the same time she felt somewhat piqued, she was actually relieved.