Moonlight Kisses

by Phyllis Bourne

  “Speaking of gifts.” Loretta lifted her arm and shook the shiny gold bracelet around her wrist. “Tia brought me this from Hawaii last year. With all the crap I put up with, I’m expecting an even better gift when you return from Milan.”

  Cole snorted. “When it comes to selecting a present for you, crap is exactly what I had in mind.”

  Loretta frowned, but his cousin approached them before she could respond.

  “We’re all done here, cuz.” Riley Sinclair returned the screwdriver she’d been holding to the tool belt hanging from her waist. “Just wanted to make sure you were satisfied with everything before the boys and I took off.”

  Cole looked briefly at Loretta, who nodded her approval.

  “We’re good,” he told his cousin.

  He checked his watch. “Loretta, would you go upstairs to the hospitality suite to check on our guests? I don’t want any snafus this morning”

  “Yes, sir,” she said dutifully.

  Cole’s eyes widened...then realization dawned. It appeared his cantankerous secretary might be on her best behavior until he returned from Milan, gift in hand.

  “I appreciate y’all taking this on at the last minute,” he said, returning his attention to his cousin.

  Riley shrugged and pushed away a dreadlock that had escaped the ponytail holder. “No problem. We’re family.” She frowned. “Although I haven’t seen much of my favorite cousin since you’ve been back in town.”

  Cole felt a twinge of guilt. Riley was indeed his favorite cousin, too. Her easy, one-of-the-guys demeanor had made her one of his best friends, as well.

  Before he’d left Nashville, they used to meet after work at Jake’s sports bar the first Friday of every month. They would eat dinner, have a beer and catch whatever game was on the television.

  “Mom misses you. I do, too.” Riley punched his arm.

  Cole winced. He was no lightweight, but years of wielding power tools meant even a playful punch from his cousin packed a wallop.

  “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Riley grinned. “Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft from having your backside parked behind a desk all day?”

  Cole rubbed his arm. “Nah, it just tickled, that’s all.”

  His cousin’s laughter filled his ears.

  “I miss you all, too,” he said. “I’ve just been up to my eyeballs trying to straighten out the mess at Espresso...” He stopped talking, hating the way his reasoning sounded like excuses.

  “I’m under strict instructions from Mom not to leave here until I have your word you’ll come to Sunday dinner,” Riley said.

  His aunt had issued him a standing invitation to the weekly dinner with the family, however he’d only managed to make it once in the months since he’d returned.

  “I will, soon. Promise,” Cole said.

  “Nope.” Riley shook her head. “That’s not going to cut it. Mom said dinner will be served at six o’clock tomorrow evening, and she expects you to be at the table. No excuses.”

  Cole could tell by his cousin’s tone that if he didn’t show up to dinner tomorrow, his aunt would send her three daughters out like a posse to round him up.

  “I’ll be there.” His family had made his request their top priority. It was time he reciprocated and made them a priority. Besides, seeing his cousin had reminded him just how much he truly had missed them.

  Riley beamed up at him as if he’d given her a gift.

  “We can talk about reinstating our standing monthly date for a beer at Jake’s,” he said. Then he remembered he’d been gone a long time. More than likely, Riley had a better way to spend a Friday night than watching sports with a cousin. “Unless your boyfriend has you on lock down.”

  Riley snorted. “Boyfriend,” she said incredulously. “Things haven’t changed that much since you left. The men in this town still prefer their women to be like petite, delicate flower blossoms, which leaves a gal like me strictly in the buddy category.”

  “Their loss,” Cole said.

  His cousin shrugged, but he could see a flicker of sadness in her eyes.

  “Now, if there isn’t anything else you need, my men and I are going to take off,” she said. “I promised them a late breakfast at the Pancake Pantry if we got this job done on time.”

  Cole reached for his wallet. “Since it’s my job, I’ll cover it.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve already added it to your bill.” Riley stuck two fingers in her mouth and blew out an earsplitting whistle that commanded the attention of every workman in the room. “Let’s get out of here and get some pancakes, fellas.” She turned to Cole. “We’ll be back to take everything apart this evening.”

  Loretta returned to the temporarily renovated ballroom as Riley’s crew gathered up their equipment and began filing out of it.

  “Oh, good luck.” Riley stopped at the door and looked over her shoulder. “Hopefully, when that Matthews woman discovers what you’ve been up to, she won’t take you apart.”

  Cole glanced at Loretta, waiting for her to take advantage of the opportunity to deliver one of her smart-aleck zingers based on his cousin’s warning. She didn’t. However, he didn’t miss that the older woman’s lips were clamped together so hard the color had drained from them.

  “After needling me all week, no wisecracks about there being hell to pay when Sage finds out?”

  “Nope.” Loretta shrugged. “When she comes storming through those doors, as I expect she will at some point this morning, I intend to grab some popcorn and enjoy the show.”

  Images of Sage bursting into the ballroom popped into Cole’s head. Big Afro, a defiant pout on her pretty painted mouth and walking on impossibly high heels.

  He’d told himself repeatedly that this was business, not personal, but the thought of seeing her again excited him—in a very personal way.

  A trio of Espresso employees surrounded him, breaking into his reverie with a series of updates. Preston was telling him about the computer station, and another employee was rattling on about extra cases of blush and mascara.

  Their voices faded into the background as his thoughts once again centered on the impending explosion when Sage found out.

  A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Oh, she’d bring it all right, and he could hardly wait.

  Chapter 9

  Sage’s apprehension diminished as she mingled with the room full of internet beauty mavens. It had been silly to think Cole was lurking in the darkness plotting payback for the billboard episode.

  He’d come at her eventually, she thought. Fortunately, it didn’t appear he’d do it today.

  Sage grabbed a bottle of water and twisted off the cap. Talking nonstop to Stiletto’s guests had left her throat parched. She looked around the small ballroom at the clusters of young women gabbing excitedly. They were gushing over the items in the exclusive resort makeup collection, included in their swag bags, many of which would probably be up for sale on eBay by tomorrow.

  More importantly, photos were being snapped and fingers were typing away on mobile phones. Their fervor was spilling over into social media time lines under the hashtags #StilettoValentine and #IHeartStiletto, and the news was being spread like gossip by their fanatical followings.

  Sage took a long swig from the bottle. So far, her company’s first event appeared to be a success. She thought briefly of Cole and his proclamation that he’d do a better job running Stiletto.

  Too bad he wasn’t here now. He’d see exactly what she could accomplish.

  Maybe you just want to see him again?

  She tried to dismiss the notion, but images of the kiss they’d shared in her office flitted though her head. Images so vivid she could almost taste his sugar-tinged mouth, feel his large hands on her ass and the sizeable bulge in his pants pressed against her b
elly.

  Sage took another gulp of the cold water to cool off. Maybe the employees she’d annoyed earlier were right and she did need to find herself a man, preferably one that wasn’t after her company.

  Or didn’t make her lose control like Cole Sinclair.

  A young woman wearing smoky eye shadow and a nude lip gloss walked up to her. “Ms. Matthews, I’m...”

  “You’re Liptastic,” Sage said, grateful for the distraction. “I recognize you from your blog. I also follow you on Instagram.”

  The women’s eyes widened. “Really?”

  Sage nodded. “I adored the photo you posted of your holiday favorites that had a tube of Santa, I’ve Been Naughty positioned next to a red, high-heeled marabou feather slipper, mug of cocoa and a peppermint stick.”

  Liptastic nudged Sage’s side with her elbow. “I won’t even mention what my fiancé did with that peppermint stick after he saw me in that lipstick.”

  Sage’s eyes widened. “Oh, my.”

  “The name of that lip shade explains it better than I ever could.” Liptastic giggled and then winked. “Let’s just say I had a smile on my face for days.”

  Sage laughed along with her, wishing there was a way to press this moment between the pages of a scrapbook. Then she could revisit it after a long, frustrating workday and remind herself why she’d chosen this business.

  As her mother used to say when Sage was a little girl, “A little bit of makeup can change a woman’s life.”

  Moving through the crowd Sage chatted up a half dozen more beauty gurus including @MakeupandMojitos, who had amassed a fanatical following from simply uploading a daily photo of her lip print on a cocktail glass, @BudgetGlam, known for creating million-dollar looks with dollar-store cosmetics and @PrettyEverything, whose YouTube channel had over a million subscribers.

  She made her way over to the chocolate buffet, where Evie was restocking the candy. She grabbed a piece of milk chocolate shaped like a lipstick tube.

  “I hope you have some stashed away for us at home,” Sage said.

  “Nope.” Evie smiled. “It looks like your guests love chocolate as much as they do cosmetics. They’re going to clean me out.”

  Sage looked around the room. A feeling of unease crept over her, and she turned to her neighbor.

  “Is it just me, or does the crowd seem to have thinned out?” Sage looked at her watch. “We only started thirty minutes ago, and the event doesn’t end for another hour and a half.”

  Evie glanced up from the candy compacts she was arranging on a silver tray and surveyed their surroundings. “Looks the same to me.”

  “I dunno...” Sage looked toward the doors. Three women were walking out of them.

  Her neighbor followed her gaze. “You’re being paranoid,” she said. “Maybe they’re just visiting the ladies’ room.”

  Sage nodded. “You’re probably right.”

  Still, she couldn’t seem to shake the feeling something wasn’t quite right.

  “Stop worrying about nothing,” Evie said. “This event is a smashing success. You’re a success. This is your moment, hon. Try to enjoy it.”

  Sage nodded. She was just being silly. Then she glanced at the door. Two more of her guests were leaving. Maybe they had Valentine’s Day dates, she speculated. However, they’d scheduled the event for the morning to avoid potential conflicts with lunch and dinner dates.

  She glanced back at the door and saw another woman walk out of it. The chatter had also begun to shift. Hushed whispers intermingled with the bubbly conversations.

  No, Sage thought. She wasn’t being paranoid or imagining it. The crowd had definitely thinned out since her welcome speech.

  Both her eyes and her gut told her something was amiss—neither had ever let her down.

  Making her way through the diminishing crowd, Sage was at the door when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see a petite pixie of a woman she recognized instantly from YouTube.

  “I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to get to meet you today,” she said. “I’m...”

  “The Wicked Glam Mother,” Sage finished.

  “Oh, so you’ve heard of me.” The woman’s brown eyes twinkled with mischief.

  Who hadn’t heard of her? Sage thought. Known for her hilarious and brutally honest reviews of both prestige and drugstore makeup brands, the Wicked Glam Mother was an internet sensation. She’d uploaded over three hundred videos, many of which had gone viral.

  “Well, what did you think of the colors in our exclusive resort collection?” Sage asked.

  So far the woman’s reviews of Stiletto products had been overwhelmingly positive, but makeup lovers could be fickle, and a brand was only as good as the last collection.

  The woman flashed an impish grin. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” she said.

  “Yes, I would.” Sage said. “But I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me.”

  The popular vlogger wagged a finger as she shook her head. “You’ll find out later this afternoon, along with the rest of the world, when I upload my video.”

  Sage didn’t bother trying to cajole it out of her, like the woman had obviously hoped she would. It wasn’t her style. Besides, she recognized the deep berry shade on the Wicked Glam Mother’s mouth. It was a lipstick from the resort collection the Stiletto team had dubbed A Good Lay.

  As their conversation continued, Sage surreptitiously glanced at the door. Four of their guests had left, followed by another two.

  What in the world was going on?

  Finally, she was able to break free from the YouTube guru to investigate. However, Amelia and Stiletto’s director of social media stopped her before she got to the door.

  “I think we have a problem,” her assistant said.

  No kidding. “What’s wrong?” Sage asked.

  “People are walking out, and we’re not even halfway through the event. Meanwhile, there are two new hashtags overtaking ours on social media time lines.” Amelia inclined her head toward the social media director. “Show Sage what you just showed me.”

  Exhaling, Sage took the tablet and scanned the time line. The hashtags #EspressoTakeover and #EspressoCosmetics jumped out at her as she read.

  Free Valentine’s Day makeovers with celebrity makeup artists. #EspressoTakeover #EspressoCosmetics

  Get your Valentine’s Day pretty on with the artists who create makeup looks for Rihanna and Beyoncé—for FREE! #EspressoTakeover #EspressoCosmetics

  Cole, Sage thought. But he wouldn’t...

  She continued to glare at the tablet’s screen as more messages appeared on the time line. An image of Cole in her office came back to her. Not the one of them kissing that had dominated her days and nights, but the expression accompanying his reply to her question about them being even after the billboard ad.

  Not by a long shot. His words echoed in her head.

  Cole Sinclair definitely would, Sage thought. Anger began a slow simmer in her gut, eclipsing the dread she’d felt just moments ago.

  It kicked up a notch when she spotted a cell phone snapshot Liptastic had posted to social media showing off the results of her makeover with one of the celebrity makeup artists using Espresso cosmetics. She’d just talked to the woman, Sage thought. So much for brand loyalty.

  “I’m not sure where Espresso has set up, but it has to be near the hotel for them to steal our guests,” Amelia said.

  Realization dawned and Sage closed her eyes briefly. “I have a hunch where they may be set up.” A strong hunch, she thought.

  Her assistant at her side, Sage walked out of Stiletto’s event. They followed two beauty bloggers down a corridor and around the corner in the direction of the larger ballroom.

  The thumping beat of music vibrated the carpeted floor beneath their f
eet as the Grand Ballroom came into view. Sage immediately noticed the doors were wide-open, and a banner with the words Espresso Cosmetics Pop-Up Shop hung above them. Her eyes zeroed in on the sign that had replaced the orange construction cones she’d seen earlier. It boasted free Valentine’s Day makeovers by a list of ten celebrity makeup artists flown in from New York and Los Angeles.

  “Damn.” Sage muttered the word through clenched teeth.

  She should have checked this room the moment she’d seen the workmen, instead of assuming the hotel was doing renovations. How could she have been so stupid? She should have known something was up—and who was at the bottom of it.

  Sage stalked through the doors. She glanced around the huge room, which had been transformed into a temporary studio. Rows of tables were covered with lighted mirrors and stocked high with makeup, Espresso makeup.

  Lines had formed by each table as defecting beauty gurus waited to have their faces transformed by the same artists who worked on the world’s most beautiful faces.

  Sage continued to scan the room until she spotted Cole standing in the midst of it all. He appeared to be having a conversation, but stopped and turned in her direction as if he’d felt her gaze boring into his back.

  Their gazes connected, and even at a distance, Sage could see his brow raise and the slight incline of his head. He had been waiting on her.

  “Mutha...” Sage swore, but the pounding beat of the music and accompanying rapper cautioning someone not to mess with his money drowned out the rest of the word, and the string of curses that followed it.

  “General!” Amelia, who was within earshot, admonished her.

  Sage took a step forward, already anticipating giving Cole an earful. Her assistant caught her by the arm.

  “You’re not going to confront him, are you?” she asked.

  “You bet I am.” Sage practically salivated as she mentally calculated the steps between her and that infuriating man.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “Do you not see what’s happening? He sabotaged our event.”

  “Well, you did provoke him,” the young woman pointed out. “If we’re being completely honest, you started it.”