If The Shoe Fits (15 page)

“
But you already hired me for a
job,” said Staci with a pout she’d perfected years ago. Bella knew;
she’d caught her practicing it in the mirror when they were
younger. “This is just the next step and since it’s Casteleoni’s
and I’m—”

“
You are
not
a Casteleoni,
Staci Fontaine. And even if you were, that doesn’t entitle you to
just declare yourself my partner. I only gave you a job because you
insisted.”

Madeleine’s fire engine red lips formed her
famed feral grin as she patted Staci’s arm. “And
I’m
insisting that you take her on as your partner. I know she’s a bit
rough around the edges, but we’ll work on her. After all, she does
have a degree in public relations.”

“
That’s because she’d thought she
could get a TV anchor position with it.” Bella was so angry she
wanted to storm off, but Jake was sitting there, watching. It
wouldn’t look very professional of her to pitch the fit she wanted
to. “She just wants the glitz and glamour. There’s no substance to
her. She doesn’t know the first thing about catering, and the last
thing I’d do is let her talk to a client.”

“
Now, Lucinda.” Madeleine turned
on what she apparently thought was charm, but in reality was
completely fake and saccharine-sweet. “Just think how busy you’re
going to be with all these catering clients. You couldn’t possibly
care for Sophia as well, now, could you? We’d just have to send her
off to that boarding school where there are people to take care of
her and help her with schoolwork.” Madeleine wiped a non-existent
crumb from the corner of her mouth, letting the threat sink in. “Of
course, if Anastasia were to help you…”

Bella looked between the two mistresses of
evil. What could Madeleine possibly want with Reese? And, Staci?
She already had Luke under her spell; surely she wasn’t after Reese
as well?

“
Is there a problem?” Jake walked
toward them.

He and Reese ought to re-think the name of
their business. She’d vote for Prince Charming, Inc., Rescuers of
Damsels-in-Disgust.

Madeline turned around, her viper eyes taking
him in quickly. “Hello.” She held out her hand with such
noblesse oblige
Bella almost laughed.

Almost.

“
Bella?” Jake ignored Madeleine’s
hand. “Is everything all right?”

She nodded, both to clear it and to answer
him. “Everything’s fine. This is my stepmother, Madeleine Fon—er,
Casteleoni—”yeah, that name still stuck in Bella’s craw—”and this
is her daughter, Staci Fontaine.”

“
Hello,” Staci purred.

See? The inside hadn’t changed.

“
Are you hiring Bella for
something?” Madeleine let go of the booth and sidled up next to
Jake.

Carlo Marinelli exhaled and mopped his
forehead with a napkin.

“
Yes, I am. Well,
we
are.
I’m Jake Adams. Of Promotional Sports.”

“
Oh, you’re Reese’s partner.”
Staci perked up at that. “Is Luke here?”

Staci
didn’t want Reese;
Madeleine
did. The question was, why? Surely she didn’t
think she had a shot with him?

That time Bella did snort a little.

Madeleine’s eyes narrowed.

“
No, Luke’s not here.” Jake
disengaged himself from Madeleine’s clutches—a very impressive
move—and handed Bella the papers she’d signed before Hurricane
Madeleine had blown in. “Thanks for this, Bella. I’ll be in
touch.”

Madeleine clenched Bella’s arm as Jake left.
“Why did you let him leave?”

Bella held up the papers. “Because our
business is done. Now I have to get back to work. We’ll discuss
this later.”

“
There will be no discussion,
Lucinda.” Madeleine’s hissed whisper could have frosted an entire
day’s worth of fountain sodas. “Staci will be partnering with you.
I want her to learn everything about running this business. Or
Sophia will be going on a very long trip.”

Bella kept quiet. This was odd, even for
Madeleine. To put Staci on the job… She wanted something.
Badly.

Bella was going to figure out what Madeleine
wanted, why she wanted it, and how to beat her at her own
game.

***

“
She signed, then?” Reese asked
Jake when he picked him up around the corner from Casteleoni’s.
Yeah, it was a cop-out having Jake deliver the paperwork, but he
had to make the break and the only way was to keep his
distance.

“
What asinine thing did you do to
think she wouldn’t?”

“
Nothing.” He certainly couldn’t
tell Jake that he was lusting after their new caterer. His partner
already wanted to take Luke to court for the ten grand and was
skeptical that Luke would actually work it off.

“
Yeah, right. I’ve known you since
we were kids, Reese. You can’t pull one over on me. What’d you do?
Why’d you have me do this? Oh, and by the way? That family of hers
is whacked. The stepmother is unbelievable and the
sister—”

“
Stepsister.”

“
Yeah, an important distinction.
But you still haven’t answered my question.” Jake quarter turned
and stared him down with his “lawyer glare.” “What’d you
do?”

Reese checked the rearview mirror, then
crossed to the left lane. He’d drop Jake off at the office before
heading to the other side of town. “Nothing. Really. You were the
logical person since you’re the lawyer. You handle the paperwork; I
handle the staff. That’s why we work so well, remember?”

“
I remember that you could
bullshit yourself out of pretty much any situation. But not with
me.” Jake drummed his fingers on the dash. “Is there something I
need to know?”

“
If there is, you’ll be the first
to know it.”

Jake exhaled and turned back in his seat.
“Just promise me we’re not going to run into another Luke
situation.”

“
I can definitely promise you
that.”

“
Good. Then it’s your problem,
man. Just make sure it doesn’t interfere in our
business.”

“
You got it.”

Now if only he could make his libido remember
that.

Chapter
Fourteen

“
My prince has come.”

The singing voice greeted Reese as he entered
the house. Wincing, he looked up as a cloud of diaphanous female
floated down the stairs and flung herself at him, slender arms
slipping around his waist.

He expelled an amused breath at the theatrical
entrance. “Hello, Mom.”

Carolyn Charmant looked up, all five feet
nothing of her, with a smile bright enough to light up an entire
block for a month. “My darling son, I am so glad to see you.” She
disengaged herself from the hug, grabbed his hand, and tugged him
into the living room, half prancing in her haste to get
there.

She patted the seat next to her, tucked her
legs to the side, ankles crossed, and folded her arms gracefully in
her lap, her back ramrod straight. The perfect lady.

He couldn’t help but smile. Five children, six
grandkids, and she still looked like the movie star she’d been. No
wonder his father had talked her into early retirement.

“
You look beautiful,
Mom.”

She waved her hand dismissively, but she still
blushed. “You must want something to try to flatter me.”

“
Geez. Can’t a guy compliment his
mother without a reason?”

“
Some can, my darling, but you’ve
always had an ulterior motive with your flattery.” She brushed his
cheek. “Usually it was to get yourself out of trouble. Or if you
had girl trouble. Not that you had much of that, unless you call
being able to take your pick trouble.” She folded her hands in her
lap again. “So which is it?”

His mother had always been able to read him.
It’d been pretty annoying in high school; he’d barely been able to
get away with anything. “Not trouble, exactly. Just an unhealthy
interest in someone else’s wife.”

“
That’s not trouble?”

“
Only if I act on it. Which I’d
never do.” Well,
again.
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I just can’t get her out of my head.”

“
Oh, Reese, honey.” His mother
might embrace her movie star image, but when it came to life’s ups
and downs, there was no one more practical. “I don’t think I can
fix this one for you. But you know you can’t act on it, so you’ll
have to stay away from her. Find someone else. Bury yourself in
work.” She winced. “Clichés, I know, but I don’t know what else to
tell you that you don’t already know. I’m sorry.”

He scrubbed his face, then stood up and walked
to the fireplace. “They’re clichés for a reason, Mom, but they’re
easier said than done. She’s working for me as a subcontractor. I
hired her for a function next month.”

“
Before or after checking her
references?”

“
Before I knew she was married.”
He faced the fireplace and grasped the mantle. “And she has a
daughter.”

He met Mom’s gaze in the picture above the
fireplace.

“
You really care for her.” It
wasn’t a question.

He spun around. “How can I? How can I feel
like this for another guy’s wife? Mother of his child?” He sank
into a side chair and dropped his head into his hands. “I know I
should stay away from her. I know I should forget her.” He raised
his head, hands flung between his knees. “Hell, I’ve only known her
a few days and I can’t stop thinking about her. Can’t get her out
of my head.”

His mom walked over and hugged him. “I’m
sorry, honey.” She wore the perfume he’d been buying her ever since
he’d been old enough to shop for Christmas gifts. She stroked his
hair just like she’d done when he was a child. God, it was nice to
come home. “Do you want to tell me about her?”

He shook his head and removed her arms. “No,
I’ve got to let it—her—go, but thanks for listening. I’ll be all
right.” He kissed her cheek, then smiled the smile he’d inherited
from her. “But I didn’t come to talk about Bella. I came to take
you to lunch if you’re free.”

“
You must really want something
badly if you drove all the way here to take me to
lunch.”

He feigned offense. “I can’t take my mom to
lunch?”

“
In the middle of the week with an
hour drive from one side of our fair metropolis to the other?” Her
slate eyes sparkled beneath her raised eyebrows. “Try another
one.”

“
You got me.” Yeah, he’d never
been able to pull one over on her. “But it was only forty-five
minutes.”

“
Reese, just because your car has
that stallion logo, doesn’t mean you have to treat it like a
racehorse. You’re lucky you didn’t get pulled over. Or
worse.”

“
Mom. I’m thirty-four years old. I
don’t need driving lessons.” He grinned again. “But you’re right. I
do want something.”

“
I knew it.”

“
I want you to come with me to
lunch.”

She shrugged and took his arm. “Well, then, I
guess I’ll have to go. After all, who can resist Prince
Charming?”

“
Mom, please.” He exhaled. “Don’t
you think we’re a little old to believe in fairy tales and
happily-ever-afters?”

She pretended to look put out, but Reese knew
better. His mother was an Academy award-winning actress for a
reason.

“
You’re never too old for dreams,
my darling.”

***

Bella felt as if she were in the middle of a
nightmare.

Madeleine had insisted that Staci begin her
education that very minute. The problem was that if it didn’t come
from a national restaurant chain, Staci couldn’t grasp the
subtleties of the food. To her, pigs-in-a-blanket were
gourmet.

Bella winced. Not that she had anything
against pigs-in-a-blanket, but she wanted upscale for the
auction.

Madeleine couldn’t really believe this was a
good idea. Why sic Staci on her? It made no sense.
Unless
Madeleine was trying to sabotage the event. Which also made no
sense. If Casteleoni’s failed, Madeleine’s bid for the Board could
as well. Not to mention her bank balance. And Bella didn’t even
want to consider the effect on Reese’s business.

The thoughts whirled around in her head,
mingling with that damn threat. Just once she should call Madeleine
on it. She’d thought about doing so many times, but she couldn’t
risk it. Sophia would suffer.

Then a call had come from Reese’s assistant
that he’d had a cancellation tomorrow and could she make a two
o’clock appointment? She’d have to finalize all of the plans, cover
her shift at the restaurant, and find a friend for Sophia to get
off the bus with, but it was business; she’d make it.

Staci had taken off the moment Giac had hung
up the phone, declaring a “shopping emergency” for a new outfit.
Bella wasn’t sure what was wrong with the one she was wearing, but
she was fine with Staci leaving. She’d had more than enough of the
Fontaine family.