Sultry in Stilettos (18 page)

Over his father’s shoulder,
Beckett saw Ricca coming in with a stack of folders and a cake box
on top.
Of course. Someone’s
birthday
. Though, from the looks of it,
she'd bought a cake this time instead of making one from scratch.
Besides, they'd been in bed till six. There’s no way she could have
baked and still made her eight o’clock appointment with
Lila.

A moment of pure panic and anger
sliced through Beckett as Braedon made a beeline for Ricca.
Beckett’s heart squeezed as time slowed. Beckett tried to focus on
what his father was saying, but his eyes were glued to the
potential melodrama. Braedon reached her in a few short steps, and
her expression said it all. First her eyes widened with surprise,
then anger and annoyance warred for second.

Braedon put his arm on her shoulder,
and she shook it off. When Rica narrowed her eyes, and her lips
moved rapidly, Beckett couldn’t stand and watch any longer. The
urge to kill his brother was too strong. "I have to go, Dad. Sorry
you came all this way. But no matter what Braedon told you, I’m not
coming back to the fold."

"Beckett!"

He ignored his father and went to help
Ricca, even though he could hear the old man calling his name.
"Everything okay over here?"

Her gaze snapped to his. Fury. Oh
hell, she thought he deliberately hadn’t told her Braedon was going
to be here.

“I’m fine. But if you could tell your
asshole of a brother to not touch me, that would be
awesome.”

Beckett stepped between her and
Braedon, and Braedon stuffed his hands in the pockets of his
slacks, rolling back on his heels. “Stay out of it, baby brother.
Ricca and I need to talk some things out. She doesn’t need her
protector.”

Beckett shook his head. “Back off,
Braedon. This isn’t the time or the place for any kind of
conversation.” Without looking at Ricca, he added, “Ricca, why
don’t you head upstairs? I’ll catch up with you later.”

She tried to step around the two of
them when Braedon said, “Ricca, wait. I just want to talk to you.
Maybe dinner. Coffee. Shoot, I’ll come meet you in your office. Can
I call you?” He pursed his lips and rolled his eyes when he glanced
at Beckett. “Look. I’d rather talk in private, but if you want to
know the truth…Shit, I’ve missed you. I just want a chance to
talk.”

Ricca glared at Braedon with her chin
tipped up. “Yeah well, the feeling isn’t exactly mutual.” She tried
to step around him again, and again, he blocked her
path.

Fury pouring through him, Beckett
plastered a hand on his brother’s chest. “That’s enough, Braedon.
She clearly doesn’t want to talk to you.”

Braedon shoved his hand off. “Who the
fuck are you, her keeper? This is none of your fucking
business.”

Braedon reached out to take Ricca’s
arm again, and Beckett knocked it aside. “She is my business.” He
dropped his voice to a low growl. “Braedon, I’m not shitting you.
If you put your hands on her again, I’ll fucking kill
you.”

Ricca snatched her arm out of
Braedon’s grasp and scooted out of the middle of the fray. “Beckett
it’s okay, let’s just head upstairs.”

Braedon scowled, then narrowed his
eyes to stare first at Ricca, then back at Beckett. His face turned
beet red. He didn’t speak for several moments, but when he did,
fury and disdain tinged every low-toned word. “You’re fucking
sleeping with her. You know how I feel about her, and you’re
fucking sleeping with her.”

“You mean how you loved her so much
you systematically slept with every woman you came across? I know
where the fucking bodies are buried, Brae—”

Beckett heard Ricca’s soft gasp and
cringed. She’d only known about the one woman. Braedon had told him
about all the others.

“You knew?”

“Ricca, I—”

Before he could get a word in, pain
exploded above his right eye as flesh and knuckles connected with
his face. He staggered, but recovered his footing, ready to go
after his brother. But Braedon was already heading out the lobby
door.

Gingerly touching his
cheek, he went after Ricca.
"Ricca, wait
up."

She whirled on him. “I’m
not in the mood to talk to you right now.”

He frowned. “Look, I’m
sorry. That whole situation just got out of hand so quickly. I’m
sorry. I didn’t know they were going to be here.”

“You think I’m pissed
about that? I’m pissed because you lied to me.”

Fuck
. “He’s my brother, Ricca. I couldn’t tell you that I knew.
“

“That whole time I was
going out with him, you knew.”

“No. I made him tell you
about that waitress the moment I caught him. I didn’t know about
the others until after you guys broke up.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?
You know how hard that breakup was for me. You know I almost took
him back.”

“If I thought there was
any chance of that, I would have told you. But there was no point
in hurting you more. Ricca—”

The elevator doors opened,
and she stepped inside. “I mean it, Beckett. I don’t want to see
you. You better take the stairs.”

The elevator doors closed,
obscuring her from view.
Well,
fuck
.

Ricca checked and re-checked
everything for the Master Fantasy. From the tent, she went over the
transport. The camels were watered and prepped. The animal trainers
were on hand, as were the handlers. The oasis scene was
beautiful.

Given the craziness for the last
mission, the team had opted to keep this one as local as possible,
in case anything went wrong, so they'd gone for the desert hot
springs. For the fantasy, they’d also brought in water and fresh
green grass, as well as coconut trees to create a genuine oasis. At
the oasis watering hole, the desert animals that thrived in Death
Valley had actually come out to water, giving it an authentic feel.
So far, no rattlesnake sightings, but everyone was on the lookout,
including a doctor with anti-venom dosages for anyone unlucky
enough to be bitten.

The food was exquisite. She and the
team had planned dishes indigenous to the Middle East like dates,
couscous, stews, and mint tea. They had also included favorites of
the couple. Ricca had even gone so far as to locate an antique
storage container for ice and had worked with the team to keep
everything as authentic as possible, even though they weren’t
actually in the Middle East. Since the Master Fantasy was so long,
they’d broken things out. Ricca tested the ice maker herself and
sighed as the spray of shaved ice hit her arm.
Refreshing.

Serena moved the prep tent’s curtain
aside and strode in, wearing four-inch Jimmy Choos. So not the
shoes Ricca would have selected for this adventure, but hey,
whatever worked for Serena.

"How is everything, Ricca?"

Ricca watched the monitors. "So far,
so good. The couple has been picked up by the camels and will ride
the two miles to the Oasis. We've got all the food prepped and
already laid out. We’re holding the ice until we get confirmation
that they are about half a mile out, and then we'll deliver it. No
need to have it start melting. Food is prepared. The chef made the
minced lamb and mint just as specified, and each course is
ready."

Serena looked over everything on the
table. "You remembered her strawberry allergy, right? This isn’t
just a case of she doesn’t like strawberries. It'll be full
anaphylaxis if she’s even around a strawberry."

"Yes, understood. I have the same
allergy, so we’ve taken care."

Serna nodded. “And you have her juice
mix that Roberto had us prepare? It’s been several hours since
they’ve eaten. With her diabetes, she'll need it as soon as she
arrives."

"We have it all set up. It’s in the
fridge. Per Roberto, we made it pomegranate. We at least wanted to
stay in character of the region. We also mixed in some blueberries
and raspberries, as Lila herself said she was on a raspberry binge
lately."

"Wow, it looks like you have
everything all settled."

"I think so. I think it’ll be
beautiful. We've worked really hard on this.”

"I don’t have to tell you how
important it is to get this fantasy right, do I, Ricca?"

"Of course not. We’ve planned it
beautifully. It'll be fine." Ricca's warlike talkie went off.
"Clients have reached the half-mile marker. The animals are doing
well. Couple is happy. Over."

Ricca smiled. She loved it when a plan
came together. Even more, she loved seeing the grin on Lila’s face
as she rode on her camel. The team had set up several inconspicuous
cameras in what brush there was, to capture the look and feel for
photos later. There was a professional photographer waiting at the
tent, but they sometimes used candids for couples.

"Where is the adventure team?" Serena
asked.

"Beckett and Carter are at the tent
with the animal handlers. The rest of the team is back at the
office. We only really need the romance team." She turned back to
Lisa, the intern. "Can you please take out the ice and the juice so
Lila can drink it as soon as she arrives? Also make sure that the
doctor takes note of her insulin immediately. There’s some rich
food out there, and I don’t want her having a diabetic emergency.
Nothing is going to ruin this fantasy."

Serena raised her eyebrows. "It had
better not. Those are my friends. I don’t want something like what
happened the last time happening."

Ricca whirled on her boss. "Serena, I
know. If you leave me to do my job, I can get it done. If you
continue to look over my shoulder, that's when mistakes get
made."

Lisa grabbed the juice from the
fridge. "I'll just take this out to the tent."

“Wait.” Serna's voice was harsh. "Who
added the whipped cream? Roberto wants this to be authentic as
possible. Remove the whipped cream."

Ricca frowned. Who the hell had added
whipped cream? Maybe the assistant hadn’t been paying attention
when she picked up the juice. "Okay, Erica, give this one to me.
There are additional flutes in the spare box. And there's more
juice in the pitcher. Hurry."

Ricca watched the monitor anxiously.
Fantasy, Inc. was paid well for their seamless, fluid planning.
Nothing out of place. No wayward observers or people that shouldn’t
be present.

"Oh gosh, Ricca, I’m so sorry," Erica
apologized. She grabbed a flute and poured quickly, grabbing the
ice on her way back.

"It's fine, but get a move
on."

Serena stepped between them and tried
to remove the flute from Ricca’s hands. “Wait, don’t get a new one,
just take off the whipped cream. No need to be
wasteful.”

“Serena, it’s fine. We have more. It’s
no big deal. I’d rather have a cleaner presentation”. Ricca
shrugged. “Besides, I love whipped cream.” She took a sip and
sighed as the pomegranate cooled her dry throat. She’d just
realized she'd been going since five in the morning without eating
anything.

"What the hell are you doing?" Serena
scolded.

"Taking a drink. Lila's not going to
have it, you said it yourself. We have extra juice for her, if she
wants more."

Her boss’s brows drew down
sharply.

"Why are you so upset? I don’t
understand."

Serena shifted from foot to foot. "We
have to give an air of professionalism. You just can’t be back
here, hanging out, having a party. Eating and drinking the food
brought for the guests. It's unprofessional."

Ricca raised an eyebrow.
Unprofessional? Serena was usually the first one behind the scenes
at a fashion show fantasy, trying to snatch up free swag. Besides,
it was standard that everyone who worked the fantasy got fed and
watered.

Ricca ignored Serena and watched the
monitor intently. Dressed in Moroccan robes, the assistants helped
the couple off the camels. Lila was thrilled and grinning ear to
ear. Roberto looked like he was puffing out his chest. He'd made
her happy. Nothing beat that look. Ricca lived for that look. This
was why she loved the romance fantasies. To see couples trying to
make each other happy. It made her believe in happily ever after,
despite her train wreck of a love life.

Her brain automatically went to the
Fantasies lobby and Beckett's admission of knowing about Braedon's
cheating. Pain stabbed her heart. He hadn’t told her. He’d said he
didn't know. She shook her head to get rid of the memory. She'd
deal with Beckett later.

Ricca spoke into the walkie talkie.
"Couple has arrived. Please lay out the first course. Make sure to
present Lila with her juice as soon as she steps into the
tent."

The assistant at the tent replied.
"Understood, over."

Ricca cleared her throat and took
another sip of the juice. She was so thirsty. She really should
have had something to eat before she'd left home, but she'd almost
overslept after finally getting to sleep after a sleepless night.
She’d been thinking about Beckett of course.