Sultry in Stilettos (7 page)

“Shoot, I wish she had gotten him to
come looking for me. Shirtless would have been
preferable.”

“That’s ’cause you think he looks like
that werewolf from that vampire show.”

“You got a point?” Ricca drew in a
deep breath as she waited in line for her coffee. “So um, did you
talk to Beckett this weekend?”

“No, why?”

“He didn’t say anything to you about
Friday night?”

Jaya was silent for a beat. “Something
happen I don’t know about?”

Ricca struggled with what to tell her
friend. Normally, she told Jaya everything, but what was she going
to say this time? Jaya and Micha were already worried enough about
her with the whole Charles thing. She didn’t want to add the
Beckett situation. Lest they fit her for a snug white
jacket.

“No, he called a couple of
times too yesterday, and he’s been hovering over me all day today.”
Beckett and Jaya were close, yet he hadn’t mentioned the kiss, nor
had he told her about Friday.
He’s
protecting me. Just like always
. Moments
like this made her think he’d be great in a relationship. But then
she remembered his model-dating, man-whore ways, and it brought her
back to reality again.

“Well, he’s a little over protective.
You know how he is.”

“Yeah, I got that.” Ricca sighed. "You
know how they say, when it rains it pours?"

"Shit, what the hell else
happened?"

"So I’m on coffee duty for Beckett
today, and I get into the elevator as usual, and there’s
Angel."

"That crazy bitch from your
office?"

"That’s the one, and she starts
teasing me about being dumped."

"You know what, normally I'm not one
for killing people, but maybe Micha is right about this
one."

Ricca continued as if she hadn’t heard
her. "And there’s this other woman in there who overhears
everything. All the while I'm thinking, she's this mousy plain
girl. Turns out she's a potential client."

"Shit. Did you say anything
damaging?"

"Nothing too bad, I don’t think, but
God…It could have been so much worse. She was actually the one who
called Angel a bitch."

Jaya chuckled. "I like her
already."

"Yeah, me too. Her husband is one
hottie Mcbillionaire."

Jaya gasped. "You mean Alec already
has a wife?"

"It's not nice to brag about your good
fortune." Ricca snickered.

“Chill, I’m only teasing."

"Well, might not happen anyway, given
that Serena was flirting with the guy. I’m not holding my breath
that I’ll get her as a client.” Ricca paid for the coffee and
tucked her change purse into the pocked of her jacket. Walking
briskly back to the office she added, "You should see this guy,
honestly. I'd be freaked to be with someone that good
looking."

Jaya chuckled. "It does have some
perks."

"Again with the bragging."

"Again, joking—mostly."

"I get it. I get it. You’re in
luuurrrvvv. You still need me tomorrow for my bridesmaid
fitting?"

"Yep. I’m bringing the shoes too. I
think it’s time I handed those off. You never know when you're
going to get lucky."

Ricca had to smile. If Jaya thought
those ridiculously expensive Louboutins would change her life, who
was she to argue?

When Ricca returned to the office, she
was corralled into the conference room with the rest of the team
for an impromptu meeting. The way this day was going, she’d be
lucky if she even made it through half her calls before close of
business. Some of her vendors wouldn’t be too pleased to get calls
after closing hours, but she brought enough business their way to
soften the intrusion. Unfortunately, this meant a late night for
her tonight. Though it wasn’t like she would be doing anything else
besides flipping back and forth between the Lakers’ game and
Scandal. She had to get a life, pronto. Either that or a
cat.

She tapped her foot in
rapid rhythm as she leaned up against the wall in the back of the
conference room, waiting for Serena to start. Beckett leaned back
in one of the chairs, looking cool as ever. His pale blue,
Marc Jacobs
sweater made
his eyes stand out even more than usual. Even just slouching in his
seat, he could have been modeling a campaign for that
sweater.

The rest of the room was busy
gossiping about what Serena wanted to discuss, but not Beckett. He
looked—bored. She’d never seen him in actual panic mode. Not once.
Not ever. The only time she’d ever even seen him lose it was when
he got into a fight with his brother—over her. Or rather what
Braedon had done to her.

Serena leaned her palms against the
conference room table and surveyed the teams. Beckett's adventure
team, of course, took longer to quiet down. Those guys had been
going through sports options for the ideal fantasy. Some of the
guys were pushing for a day with Beckham on the field. A few others
were more into a baseball thing. No one mentioned basketball, and
Beckett was in full-on pout.

The women were even less successful,
and Ricca could only roll her eyes. They'd been given a full list
of the client’s likes and dislikes. On that list had been
historical romances. It was a no brainer. Ricca's idea had been to
go for something way over the top and put her in the fantasies as
one of her heroines or something. A full-on, regency-type setting
with picnic, ball—the whole nine. But she'd been shot down. Fair
enough—Angel's funeral. Ricca could live with that.

"If you guys are done now, I have an
announcement to make.” Zach walked in and took position by his
wife. Angel practically preened, and Ricca fought the urge to roll
her eyes. The result was what felt like an eye tick.

Zach interjected. "There’s been a
change in plans. No longer will the two teams be working
separately, but the loving couple has decided they want to do a
joint fantasy. One that incorporates things they both like to do,
with some singular elements too."

Serena scowled at him. He'd
stolen her thunder. And Serena did enjoy her moments of flourish.
She stiffened her back. "There’s been another change as well. The
Vice President position is still up for grabs, but we are changing
leadership on the romance angle.” Ricca immediately stood straight
and held her breath.
What the what?
Angel was no longer in charge? She had an
overwhelming urge to dance, but even she knew better.

"And before I get the angry pleading,
the client requested these modifications. Ricca Munroe is now our
Fantasy romance lead."

Ricca's skin grew hot and prickly when
the Bitch Brigade whipped their heads around to glare at her. She
tilted her chin up and met Angel 's stare. She wasn't going to let
boobs-too-big-for-my-blouse-Barbie intimidate her
anymore.

"Ricca, you and Beckett will have to
come up with a theme and concept and present by Monday. Not much
time, but that's what you have."

The one thing Ricca wanted, handed to
her on a silver platter. And she could prove finally that she was a
risk taker. She could think out of the box. Now Serena had to
consider her for the job.

"Understood. We won’t let you down."
Ricca hoped to God that was right. Her lower belly tingled when she
glanced at Beckett, and she quelled them right away. No tingles.
Tingles bad. Tingles meant she showed up on homeboy's doorstep with
a fifth of Kentucky bourbon in her bloodstream.

After several moments, she
also realized what this meant—she and Beckett were now officially
in the race for Vice President.
Fantastic
. Just what she needed. She
had the hots for the competition.

His voice was low when he turned
around to whisper. "Congratulations. This doesn’t mean I’ll take it
easy on you though. I intend on getting that VP job. So I'm sorry
I'll have to beat you.”

Her competitive nature piqued, and she
had the irrational urge to both kiss him and stab him in the hand
with her pen. Through a sickly sweet smile, she said, "Cocky. Just
like an adventure jock. You’re going to have to learn some finesse,
if we're going to work together."

The room was silent, and Ricca looked
up to find everyone staring at the two of them. She blushed.
"Sorry."

"If the two of you are done, I'd like
to introduce to you the clients now. Roberto and Lila Serritti.
Close personal friends of mine and Zachary’s."

When the conference room
door opened, Ricca gasped. In walked hottie McBillionaire from the
lobby, and next to him, holding his hand, walked an almost too-thin
woman with mousy brown hair and a terrific smile.
Lila
. Not just any
client, but the biggest client of Ricca’s career.
Holy hell.

“Ricca, I’d like to speak
to you in private please.”

Ricca gazed at the
conference room door longingly as everyone departed. She had a ton
of work to do, but she also needed to call her girl-talk committee
and tell them the news. They’d come up with a strategy to beat
Beckett for sure. Either that, or they’d come up with a plan to
dispose of his body.

“What’s up, Serena? I need
to—”

Serena put up a hand.
“Look, I know you were upset before about Angel having this
fantasy. You’ve worked hard, and the VP job is something you’ve
always wanted.”

Ricca squared her
shoulders. “I know you don’t think I can take risks. I only wanted
the chance to prove you wrong. And I have that now. So I’ll take it
and show you what I’m capable of.”

Serena nodded as she
studied Ricca. “If it were up to me, I would say that with a little
seasoning and maturity, the job could be yours. Unfortunately,
Zachary also thinks the job belongs to the Neanderthal.”

Annoyance pricked Ricca’s
nerve endings. Sure, she could call Beckett a Neanderthal, but no
one else could. “He’s not a Neanderthal. I just—” She wasn’t great
at tooting her own horn. “I’m just better qualified.”

Serena’s smile was quick
and elusive. “You won’t play dirty. I like that, but we’re going to
need a plan for you to get this job, and we’re going to need one
quick.”

“You planning on giving me
some insider information to help me win?” Serena had always been
hard to read. Ricca liked her boss, but the two of them had never
been chummy.

“Something like that.
Think of it as a little woman-to-woman advice.”

Ricca raised an eyebrow.
“Um, okay.”

“You need to change your
look.”

Ricca recoiled—all her
organs shrinking into tight little balls. All her life, she’d dealt
with mean girls teasing her about her size, her height, her skin
color. She didn’t need it from her boss. “I beg your pardon?” she
mumbled through gritted teeth.

Serena held up her hands.
“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that how it came out. I’m
sorry.”

Ricca relaxed by
degrees.

“But what I mean is,
Beckett is Zachary’s pick. Angel was also Zachary’s pick for this
fantasy. He thinks she looks the part, and he wants to impress
Roberto and Lila. If I’d had my way, you’d be the one doing the job
solo and having the promotion. You’re more experienced, you’re
creative, and you never say die. But I’m not making the decision on
my own. All hiring has to pass the board, and Zachary has a strong
belief in Beckett. But I can help you win.”

“B-but you said I’m not a
risk taker,” Ricca muttered, confused.

“You haven’t been. But you
are creative and can problem-solve without going over the top.
That’s the kind of person I want to grow the business. Not a
cowboy.”

Ricca bit her lip. Just
once, she didn’t want to be the nice girl, the one worried about
other people’s feelings. For once, she wanted to be the winner.
“How do I win?”

Serena let out a breath.
“First of all, you need to start acting like you are ass bad.
Beckett walks around here like he owns the joint. I need to see
more of that in you. Not just the head down, getting your shit done
kind of attitude, the making it look effortless attitude, but the I
know I’m good attitude.”

“You sound like a friend
of mine.”

“Your friend is
right.”

Ricca drew her brows in.
“Wait, I thought you and Zach were supposed to be
impartial.”

Serena scoffed. “Are you
kidding me? I’m Romanian. I thrive on competition. Besides, you’d
be a fool to think Zachary isn’t prepping Beckett as we speak. So
let’s hear it. How do you plan to outwit the
competition?”

Outwit the—well damn, she
hadn’t thought about outwitting Beckett. “I, um—haven’t given it
much thought.” Should she have been planning for this eventuality
all along?

Serena rolled her eyes.
“God save me from stubborn, unprepared women. Look, you have to
have an angle that makes you shine. You’re excellent at your job.
Every
T
crossed
and
I
dotted. But
you have to have a way to shine. No one is going to be looking at
best plan. You have to stand out.”