There was a laundry list of things Will wanted to say to prove to his sisters he was a grown man but Dana’s phone rang.
“No,” Dana sighed. “We’re up in his room. No, he’s awake.”
For a moment Will wondered who his sister was on the phone with, but he heard Donovan’s distinct deep voice on the other end of the call. “Get out of his room so he can get ready.”
“Fine, whatever,” Dana huffed.
The next time he went out with his brother, Will was buying for the night. He strolled over to the bedroom door and yanked it open. “Tell Donovan I owe him.”
The girls began to leave, but not before Eva sized him up. “We’re not done here, mister.”
And somehow Will knew they weren’t. Once the girls left, Will pressed his ear against the door to make sure his nosy sisters’ voices traveled down the stairs. The first thing he needed to do was make sure Zoe was okay and, hopefully, still asleep. He pulled open the bathroom door and found Zoe leaning against the double sink with her arms folded. Long, dark strands of hair spilled over her shoulders. A yellow-and-white polka-dot towel was wrapped around her succulent brown body. Jealous of the terrycloth material, Will forgot what he wanted to say.
“So,” Zoe sighed with a grin. “You wore diapers longer than the average child, huh?”
“You heard that?” Will bit his bottom lip to keep from cursing and quite possibly blushing over this revealed secret.
“Just the most important part.” Zoe giggled. “I bet you were a cute kid. I can’t wait to see pictures of you when you were younger. Did they dress you up, too?”
“My sisters are crazy.”
“They sound like fun,” Zoe said, “and concerned.”
“That concern is called being nosy.” Will reached out and stuck his finger into the crease in Zoe’s towel. He tugged but she stood her ground.
Zoe shook her head. She pulled away and Will issued a silent prayer that the towel would fall. He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of seeing her body. The curves. The softness. The wetness.
“In less than thirty-six hours…” Zoe began.
“We’ll be on our first date?” Will dropped his hand and stroked his face again, remembering he needed to shave. “Or are we going for round six tonight?”
“I believe we made it to round seven,” Zoe said with a wink. “I see why you have this TOP tattoo.” Soft fingers brushed against the space above his heart.
“That’s my fraternity.”
Her perfect lips formed an O.
“Didn’t you pledge anything in college?” There was something about the striped tube socks Zoe wore that gave him the image of her in a pledge line.
More of Zoe’s hair spilled over her shoulders when she shook her head. “Did you forget I was a nerd?”
A nerd was the furthest thing from his mind.
“Well, I was. There weren’t too many sorority girls asking me to join or any frat guys banging on my door to date me. The Greek life didn’t work out for me.”
The only person who was going to bang on her door from here on out was going to be him. He couldn’t wait to see what her place looked like. Did she have the same kind of posters on her walls as she did in her childhood bedroom? “I’m looking forward to our date tonight.”
“Tonight?” Zoe perked up.
“We can have our first date when we return to Miami,” Will clarified. “And perhaps tonight I’ll keep better track of how many times you climax.”
“But then again, if tonight is our first date, I ought to behave. I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong impression of me.”
“You’ve already made an impression, baby.”
Zoe stepped up and gave him a kiss on his chin. The soft feel of her tongue and nibble of her teeth fueled his erection. “I’ll impress you more this afternoon.”
“Speaking of this afternoon,” Will groaned, “I am afraid my brothers are here, as well.”
“A family affair?”
“Well, we are sponsoring all the makeup.” Will lifted the lavender jar of lotion and opened the top. Slowly he dipped his finger into the creamy white center and pulled out a dollop on his finger, then swiped it across her bare shoulder. “Which means the only products you can use are Ravens.”
“I can make that work.” Zoe leaned her head to the side and kissed his thumb.
“And it should mean the only products on you should be Ravens.”
Zoe dropped the towel. “What about putting a Ravens body part in me?”
And who was he to say no?
* * *
After a quick tryst in the shower, Zoe kissed Will goodbye and headed next door to the pageant. There was a nice-sized building off to the side of the hotel that was home to small concerts. Today it held fifty girls, all aiming to win the crown of Miss Southwood. Parents and children, fans and talent scouts already filled the seats. Children in fluffy dresses practiced their dance moves in the hallway and aisles. Older teens fiddled with their cell phones as they stood around in line, waiting for hair and makeup.
Zoe waved to her new friends, the production crew. Her feet barely hit the ground on her way to the beauty room. She and Will had plans for tonight. Zoe pushed the job out of her mind for now. Their future held nothing but excitement.
“Hey, Zoe,” Lily exclaimed. “We’re stuck over here.” She waved a metallic fingernail file with a cream-colored handle in the air to catch Zoe’s attention.
All the nail accessories and products at Lily’s station bore the signature cream, gold and lavender colors of Ravens Cosmetics, but the dozens of bottles were filled with various bright colors, stemming from the brightest of pinks and neon blues, to the soft classic pale pink and even to a black. It was refreshing to see Ravens stepping to the plate to meet their competitors.
“Swanky digs you’ve got here,” Zoe said with a low whistle. Ravens Cosmetics had gone all out to make sure their name was seen.
Lily nodded her head in agreement. “As is y’all’s.”
“Y’all’s?”
“Sorry,” Lily blushed. Zoe loved the shade of red on her cheeks. She clearly did not need any makeup. “I’ve been in Southwood too long. I meant you guys have a nice setup over there.”
“Over there” meant a long station with at least six black chairs in front of makeup mirrors. Confusion clouded Zoe’s head. She was under the impression she’d be the only makeup artist today. The pageant started at noon and she would have been working nonstop until at least four. A part of her was relieved to know she’d be able to give each contestant her full attention. As a professional she could get a job done in ten minutes.
“Zoe.” Rebecca waved a gold curling iron with a pearl handle in Zoe’s direction. “Hey, girl.”
Zoe was in midwave when the man standing next to Rebecca turned around. She snarled when their eyes locked. “Titus.”
“Zoe,” he mouthed with utter disdain, then turned his attention to Rebecca. “So, you two are supposed to be friends now?”
Rebecca’s soft smile didn’t ease the situation. “We’re friends, Titus. Stop being rude.”
“I’ll stop being rude when she stops thinking she brought eighties makeup back by telling everyone I copied her.”
Her upper lip curled, Zoe’s body heated from the blood boiling in anger and with her fists clenched she stalked forward. “Why are you even here?”
“Uh, it looks like I’m about to show Ravens Cosmetics that I’m their new Creative Design Director.” In usual Titus fashion, he did a dramatic spin. His black smock twirled around his large frame.
“I don’t understand,” Zoe snapped.
“You didn’t think you were going to keep the CEO’s attention all to yourself?” Titus asked with his hands on his hip. “Luckily for me, the board found out about
this little trip.”
Suddenly Zoe remembered what Will had told her about half the board at Ravens. They wanted to see the company fail. Bringing Titus on certainly would do the job. She needed to talk to Will. Did he know what they were trying to do? Zoe absentmindedly reached to touch her good-luck pearls and remembered again that she hadn’t brought them with her.
“Don’t look so lost.” Titus continued to gloat. “Once I am the CDD, I may hire you to consult on the Halloween special I plan on hosting.”
Rebecca elbowed Titus in the gut and offered Zoe an apologetic smile. “Go gather your girls, Titus. Let Zoe get settled in her station.”
It was then Zoe realized that her station was right next to Titus’s. Photographs of the contestants were taped against their mirrors, lining the frames. Zoe went over to her spot and peeked inside her beauty box. Any bit of anger washed away. Lying in the center of the lavender satin box was the soon-to-be-released glitter lipstick from Ravens Zoe had been dying to get her hands on. The lipstick was a two-part design, one containing color, the other glitter. This was the idea she’d been concocting for a while now, but it had taken using several different products for one ultimate look. Someone at Ravens had a great mind like her. She couldn’t wait to collaborate. A few celebrity faces popped into mind, women who would love buying this in one tube rather than combining lipsticks. Renewed energy gushed through her veins. Zoe was armed with all the tools she needed and was headed into battle.
The girls Zoe had been given were all under the age of twenty. As with most pageants, there were age divisions. All of the makeup artists were given girls from each group. The Wee Peaches were between the ages of one and five. Everyone had at least one Wee Peach but Lexi insisted those girls be as natural as possible. The next division was the six-to-eleven age group. These girls were given full glitz makeup if they wanted it. This meant they could wear false lashes and false teeth—or flippers, as they were called. Zoe hated to admit that Titus’s work was heavy but good. Zoe was not too comfortable putting her signature wingtip on. They were still little girls.
The contestants were broken down in ages somewhere between twelve and fifteen, and then sixteen to twenty-six. All were dazzled with the makeup and wanted more. Some of them were eager to sit in Zoe’s chair because their sisters had gotten their makeup done for prom yesterday. Occasionally Titus stood by and sneered. It didn’t help that during her downtime, Rebecca shared photographs from last night’s dinner. He muttered under his breath about how, if Zoe was given the position, he was sure he knew why. Titus even commented about the time stamp on each photograph and noticed that, at some point, Zoe and Will disappeared. This was exactly the kind of thing Lexi had warned her about.
By noon, the beauty portion of the pageant was on its way for the sixteen-to twenty-three-year-olds. Zoe enjoyed getting to know her girls and learning about them. She wanted each girl’s makeup to be an expression of herself, rather than a painted face. In Zoe’s eyes, none of the other artists were competition. But Titus went for the kill. He didn’t care about the ages of the girls. He used the glitter gloss on each girl. Zoe was tempted, but she knew the colors were too mature for clients. And, unlike Titus, Zoe’s groups of contestants were all under the age of sixteen. She overheard one of Titus’s girls say she was twenty-six. A part of her wondered if this was part of the competition. Was Ravens Cosmetics looking for a way for the interviewees to integrate their new makeup line?
Everyone was able to take thirty to forty-five minutes for lunch. Everyone who worked backstage gathered around the long buffet table. Riddled with guilt, Zoe decided to give Lexi a call. She needed to know what she should do. Did she go against her morals of keeping young girls looking young or did she go full out to get the job? The cell service in the back was horrible.
Zoe went outside to get better reception. She headed over to the bridge for privacy and clarity. Lexi’s phone went straight to voice mail, so Zoe decided to finish her walk, then she’d try again. She wondered if her father had ever made it out here to check out the view. At any point now, Zoe expected a call from him to give the go-ahead to bring her mom back. It wasn’t like her mother didn’t know about the proposal. He did it every year, just in different places.
The summer sun felt good on her face. Freezing air conditioning blasted in Zoe’s station. It had to, in order to keep the girls from melting. Green leaves littered the walkway of the bridge over the lake. With everything there was to do this week, there hadn’t been a lot of time for long strolls over the water. A low limb of a weeping willow blocked part of the way. As she grew closer the clear sound of a conversation grew louder. Zoe hesitated and wondered if she should turn around or try to walk through the group talking.
“So, how did Will take it when he found out we’re backing his choice for the director by whomever he votes to win the pageant?”
Will? Zoe decided to stand still. Whoever was talking about Will—her Will—did not have a caring pitch to his tone. Through the leaves she spied three people: two men and a woman. All three had the height of the Ravens family. She wondered if these were some of the cousins Will warned her about.
“Charles, can you believe he told me and Dixon it was fine?” the woman said. She spoke as if her head were held high in the air, very snooty. “As if he has things under control. I can’t stand him.”
“Katie,” the man named Charles answered, clapping his hands together, “we are so close to being done with this company, once and for all. We just need to focus.”
“I promise you guys—forcing Will to choose this quickly is going to throw his game,” said the man Zoe guessed was Dixon.
“I can’t believe he has no idea we found Octavia.” Charles rubbed his hands together manically.
A row of hairs rose on the back of Zoe’s neck. Octavia Ravens? The missing heir?
“We’ll just keep her under wraps until after the final vote. Grandma will be upset with the company, but we’ll be the ones softening the blow when we bring our long-lost aunt home.” Charles chuckled. “Let Grandma’s favorite continue thinking he knows what he’s doing.”
“And we owe this to my fabulous sis.” Dixon gave a silent round of applause. “If you hadn’t broken your nail after trying to negotiate things at Pink Stilettos Cosmetics, we might never have had this opportunity.” He gave a harrumph. “Will ain’t the only one who can play hero.”
“Oh, my God, don’t get me started,” Katie gasped. “Did you hear him talking about beat-faces and winged eyeliner? You would have thought he took a class.”
Through the seething anger, Zoe’s heart swelled with pride. So Will had been listening to her all this time.
“Whatever,” a male voice said. “He still thinks he’s going to be Grandma’s savior.”
“That’s because he never had to work hard a day in his life,” the woman sneered.
Well, Zoe shrugged, before knowing Will, she might have agreed there. But that didn’t mean she agreed with whatever these people were saying. They truly were trying to ruin the company. Zoe turned around and headed back toward the pageant. She spied Will’s broad shoulders immediately. He sat heads above the rest of the judges at their own booth with his back to her. A red velvet rope separated them from everyone else roaming around. If she had superpowers right now she’d use telepathy to get Will to turn around.
“You know I can’t let you get any closer,” said a security guard.
Zoe read the name tag of the man-wall. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Anderson, it’s imperative that I speak with Will Ravens.”
“And you can,” the giant man turned Zoe around, “after the pageant.”
“Fine.” Zoe scooted off and realized she didn’t have Will’s cell phone number. She had last week, but was sure she’d thrown it away after her interview. Zoe swam upstream in the sea of mothers and daughters. A cloud of hairspray choked her and she had t
o stop and catch her breath for a moment.
“Zoe, right?”
Zoe glanced down at the beefy hand on her shoulder. She glanced up and tilted her head to the side, trying to recall the name of the man who’d let Will land his plane on his property. When she had met him he was wearing a pair of greasy overalls and now he wore a tailor-made dark-blue suit. Sharp, Zoe thought to herself.
“Dominic,” he offered. “Will’s frat brother. You guys were at my place earlier this week.”
Earlier this week seemed more like a lifetime ago. “Hi, yes. How are you?”
“A bit out of place.” Dominic chuckled. He slid his hands into his pockets and looked around. “This isn’t really my speed.”
“Yet, here you are.” Zoe widened her eyes. She decided to skip the obvious. The man was here supporting his friend and checking out the women. “Are you enjoying yourself?”
“It’s a bit insane,” Dominic admitted with a quick nod of his head. He fanned away another cloud of hairspray from a mother spraying her young daughter as they rushed by. “I can’t believe people willingly put themselves through an ordeal like this.”
“All in the name of the crown,” Zoe offered.
“That is the end game, right?”
“Say, how much do you know about what Will’s going through at his company?”
Dominic extracted his hand from his pocket to scratch his chin. “You mean, about half the family wanting to shut down the operations?”
“That would be it,” said Zoe. “Well, his cousins are here and I just overheard them plotting about his decision for today’s contestant.” She relayed the story, and Dominic listened with fierce intent. Clearly he cared for his friend. “And I can’t get close enough to warn him.”
“So you’re afraid if he doesn’t select your work as the overall winner, he’s going to lose the company?”
The tone of his voice changed more into an accusation. Zoe took a step back. “Well, I…”
“Sounds to me like you may care more about your future job than his.”
Harlequin Kimani Romance June 2017 Box Set Page 51