Tangled: Contemporary Romance Trilogy

by Dee Bridgnorth

  I gave him an arch look as we ascended the steps to the entrance of the Jewel Box. I could hear music playing. Generic rock. There were people dancing, people eating, and people talking. But then this was a gathering of real estate professionals, so the talking thing was a given.

  “Oh my God! Lena!” Tansy spotted us just as soon as we walked in. I was wearing a sort of half mask that only covered my eyes. It apparently did nothing to hide my identity. But then not many people were wearing masks at all anyway.

  Tansy grabbed me in a fierce hug. “I’m so glad to see you. Ray was sure you weren’t going to come after the, ah—the incident.”

  “Incident,” Damion snorted. “You mean the closing table disaster where Lena called him out for trying to cheat me out of ten thousand dollars?”

  Tansy bit her lip and shook her head no. She was dressed as a Greek goddess, a fitting costume for a woman with Greek roots. “Actually. No. I meant the other incident.”

  “Okay, Tansy, you’re going to have to spell it out for me,” I finally told her. “I really have no clue what you’re talking about.” And honestly I didn’t want to stand here trying to guess.

  Ray appeared by Tansy’s arm. At least I’m pretty sure it was Ray. He was dressed in drag as Queen Anne Boleyn. He had even painted a red bloody line across his neck. Unfortunately, the Adam’s apple kind of gave his gender away, but still. It was a stunning costume. Ray pointed at me and then paused for one dramatic moment before belting out his sentence. “Gail took the office from him.”

  I had to let that sink in for a moment. It almost didn’t make any sense. There had to be a broker attached to every real estate office. Last I knew, Gail had let her broker license go. And then I thought of the one other person in the office who could be considered a woman scorned. “Candace,” I guessed. “Candace Longmeyer is the broker there now. Am I right? Is Gail taking a percentage?”

  “Yes!” Tansy and Ray were both grabbing my arms as though they were going to rip my cute little cap sleeves off. Tansy glared at Ray. He had stolen her thunder. “Gail kicked him out of the house. She kicked him out of the office and I think he’s living in his car.”

  “That’s sad.” I actually meant it too.

  Damion snorted. He slipped his arms around my waist and held me as close as was probably decent. But then it was a masquerade. We could have made out on the floor all Trinity and Karl style and just called it part of our characters.

  “The guy cheats in his personal life, in his business life, and probably on his taxes,” Damion grunted irritably. “I think he’s getting what he deserved.”

  “The poor guy.” I almost managed to say it with a totally straight face. “I do mean that. I’m sure it’s a huge blow to his ego. Not to mention his wallet. But he was such an ass. I can’t even believe that he managed to keep Gail in the dark all these years. I honestly thought she must have at least some idea.”

  Tansy was already shaking her head. “No. She told us she had no idea until you said something.”

  “Great. I’m sure that makes me popular,” I muttered. I could not imagine how I would feel about the woman who brought my house of cards down. Even if it was a house of cards, it was still the only one she had known.

  Ray clucked his tongue. It was so weird to see his face peeking out from beneath an old school Tudor-era French hood. “Girlfriend, you’re totally wrong about that. Gail is grateful that you were honest with her. She said she wished you’d been honest from the beginning since nobody deserves to be all perved out for four years.”

  “She said that?” I felt my mouth pop open. “Perved out?”

  “Okay, that’s my ad lib, but still.” Ray tossed his head and his train went sailing around and nearly smacked another guest in the face.

  “Ray!” Tansy giggled and slapped his arm. “You have to stop being such a girl! I don’t even think Anne Boleyn was that dramatic.”

  I’d had enough of this for right now. I took hold of Damion’s hand. Tansy and Ray were now squabbling over who was the most feminine. I looked up at my handsome steampunk cowboy and smiled. “Let’s dance. Shall we?”

  He was already smiling. Then he lifted my hand to his lips and led me out toward the dance floor where several people were twirling and whirling to the beat of the music pounding off the glass walls. As Damion skillfully held me close and spun around and around to the beat, I wondered if this place was eventually going to fall down just from the sheer vibrations.

  The more time I spent with Damion, the more I knew that this was the perfect guy for me. Who else could I count on to be silly with at a function like this? He didn’t care what anyone else around us thought. He was too busy mixing his disco moves with his Charleston and his running man. After a few minutes we were even pretending to grind like real clubbers on the scene. I was laughing as though the world wasn’t watching and I felt sexier and happier than I had ever felt before in my life.

  “This is the moment!” Damion threw back his head and pretended to sing even though he was adlibbing words like mad. “The moment I’ve waited for all my liiiiife!”

  And then we turned and found ourselves face to face with Sherisse Anderson. For one second I was actually afraid that I was going to pop trying to hold in the laugh that wanted to slip out. Then I managed to exhale and find my composure.

  “Hello, Sherisse. It’s nice to see you here this evening.” I even sounded normal. Kudos to me, right? “Happy Halloween.”

  “And to you.” Sherisse was standing at the edge of the dance floor in a medieval style ballgown with a white lace covered mask. She looked at me. She looked at Damion. Then she seemed to make a decision about something though I could not have guessed what it might be. “Lena Schulte, I wondered if you might still be interested in a career in real estate?”

  I couldn’t help it. I automatically glanced over at Damion. We had been talking about this off and on over the last few weeks. I hadn’t taken a job yet. I had been helping Zelda with a few odds and ends at the Gateway IT Staffing office over the last few weeks. Both Damion and Zelda wanted me to come on board full time as a salaried employee. The salary was great, but it wasn’t really what I wanted to do. And I didn’t want people to start whispering that I only had the great pay and benefits because I was the boss’s girlfriend—ahem—significant other either.

  “She’s still interested in real estate,” Damion finally told Sherisse. There was a smile on his lips as he glanced at me. “She’s not going to say it because she doesn’t want to hurt my feelings, but she’d rather be selling houses than working at my office any day.”

  “That’s kind of what I thought.” Sherisse shook her head. Then she put her hands on her hips. I wondered if she realized how ridiculous she looked in that brilliant blue medieval ballgown with her hands propped on her hips and a very modern thoughtful expression on her face. “So what I would like to say is that I’ve worked with you and with Bob Abernathy several times before. And I always thought that you were a fabulous assistant and that he was a great agent.”

  “I think that was the impression that most people had,” I allowed. It wasn’t like I’d done anything to change that perception either. I’d let Bob use me plain and simple. “I appreciate your acknowledgement.”

  “Yes, well, I need to acknowledge you a little more. I am really impressed with how you handled that whole sale. My seller was impressed. My office staff was impressed. And I would like to offer you a position on my real estate team.”

  “I don’t want to be an office admin anymore. But thank you for thinking of me.” Wow. I did not have a single hesitation about saying that. In the past I would have had trouble not jumping at that lukewarm opportunity. Not now.

  Sherisse shook her head and smiled. “I was going to offer to sponsor you beginning in January. I think you’re going to make an amazing agent in your own right, maybe even a broker someday if you want to go that route. But I would be thrilled to have someone like you working in my office. You know this
city and the market in ways that will help us all. And considering the fact that we live in a county with just short of a hundred separate townships, cities, villages, and municipalities with their own services, permit requirements and other bullshit to deal with, that is saying something.”

  “Well, I think she’s going to be the best agent in your office.” There was a note of both humor and blind loyalty in Damion’s statement. I could absolutely tell that he believed every word he was saying.

  Sherisse smiled at him too. “Oh, Mr. Alvarez, believe me when I say that your association with Ms. Lena Schulte makes her an extremely hot commodity in the real estate market. We pretty much love agents who have a warm market that includes some of the most highly paid IT people in the city. Not to mention that Lena could do an amazing amount of business just putting together relocation packages for people you hire.”

  “Hadn’t thought of that.” Damion winked at me from behind his goofy steampunk lenses. “But I might just be hiring you away from Sherisse’s office in a few years when I finish my plan to take over the world.”

  “And to think everyone is just so sure that you’re going to sell out and run away to the beltway,” I reminded him sarcastically.

  Sherisse suddenly looked like a dog on point. “So is there any truth behind that rumor? The corporate real estate market was practically salivating at the idea your company might be moving or expanding or something.”

  “Nope. We’re not going anywhere. And I have no real credible information about who is,” Damion added. “So please don’t try to interrogate me. I’m getting more than a little tired of that.”

  “Got it.” Sherisse wiggled her fingers at me. “Call me on Monday, Lena. We can talk details. And I want to introduce you to my staff as soon as possible. Oh. And don’t forget that we had this conversation. I have a feeling I’m not going to be the only one offering to sponsor you.”

  I felt my eyebrows shoot up in surprise, but Sherisse had already melted into the crowd. Damion was smiling at me. I could feel the heat of his regard and I loved that it was aimed right at me.

  “Well, that was unexpected!” I told him happily. “Now I can stop mooching off you for a job.”

  “You were never mooching, Lena.” He slipped his arms around my waist and the two of us swayed to a beat that we could not hear. “You are an incredible woman. And I have to say that my goal is to make sure that I spend my life proving that to you over and over again until you never doubt it again.”

  “I suppose I’m only as incredible as the man who makes me feel like a million bucks,” I whispered in his ear. “But if you want to convince me, I’ve got a really good idea how you can do it.”

  Damion took hold of my left hand. And before I could say a word, he slipped a very sparkling, but not too blingy, diamond ring on my fourth finger. “This is how I’m going to start. Will you marry me?”

  Oh my God yes! Yes! Yes!

  I cleared my throat and wondered if he could hear me screaming with joy inside. “Damion Alvarez, I would be thrilled to marry you. You know, especially if you think we can rent these costumes again for the best steampunk-themed wedding ever.”

  “I could get on board with that,” Damion told me with a wink. “And I can’t wait to see what steampunk lingerie looks like.”

  Life would never, ever be dull. I couldn’t wait to see what could happen next!

  BOOK TWO

  Chapter One

  Kevin

  There are few things better than attending a five-star corporate gathering where you are the guest of honor. I’d gotten a new sweet black suit for the occasion. The doorman at my building had done a stellar job spit shining my dress shoes. My grandfather’s cufflinks winked in the soft light coming from the massive chandelier hanging overhead. The trendy hangar-style ceiling was studded with spotlights that all seemed to lead back to a center aisle that had been created using twenty-eight sixty-inch round tables hung with pristine white linen.

  “Kevin Landau! Come on down to the head table here, Kevin! Midwest IT Consulting Services top producer for the fifth year in a row!” Dan Hopper waved at everyone else in the room. “What’s wrong with you guys? Huh? You’ve got to knock this guy off his pedestal. Pretty soon he’s going to be selling high end watches on Ebay!”

  There were a lot of chuckles from the other members of our company staff at the joke. But the truth was that they were the kind of obligatory chuckles that happen when people are trying to kiss up to the CEO without making it too obvious. These people weren’t happy for me. They probably hated me. I didn’t care. And the fact that I didn’t? Well, that’s why I had been the company’s top producer again for the fifth year in a row. It wasn’t the kind of position you achieved by helping everyone else in your department. I didn’t give a shit about department goals. I didn’t care if I wound up the only recruiter at Midwest IT. That just meant more money for me, right?

  I pasted a broad smile on my face and shook Dan Hopper’s hand. He was giving me an equally wide and totally fake smile. Ah, Dan. He was the CEO, but his brother Todd was the CFO. Todd was my favorite person at the company and Dan knew it. They squabbled constantly behind the scenes. But Todd was the one who knew his shit and kept our company at the top of the game with the guys we recruited and the companies who hired them.

  Dan held out a yellow box with a folding lid opened to reveal an expensive gold watch studded with diamonds. This was my fifth one. He wasn’t lying. I liked trinkets, but if they’d have brought me a decent amount of cash I would have sold them in a heartbeat.

  I started to take the box. Dan held onto it. “Wait just a second, you arrogant bastard. We need a photo op for the business page.”

  Dan spoke the words through his teeth. I didn’t particularly care. If they needed a good photograph for the newspaper that was fine by me. I held onto the box, shook Dan’s hand, and smiled pretty for the local people of Kansas City. Flashes went off in the low light room and the glare from the white floor-to-ceiling subway tile was blinding.

  Dinner had already been served at the buffet tables. The caterer was standing by to start moving people through the dessert tables just as soon as the presentation was done. The bar was seeing a constant flow of people. The tip jars were packed full and the bartenders were looking pleased with their take. Dan and Todd had spent a small fortune on this get-together. It was like paying for a wedding every damn year.

  If I had been CEO there wouldn’t have been a party. Or a watch. Or an open bar. In my opinion people should be motivated by the bottom line and not winning a trinket that they can brag about to their friends. So, while I appreciated the kudos because I’m just as arrogant and stuck on myself as the next guy, I sure as hell didn’t think it worth the outlay of capital.

  The applause had died down. People were glaring at me once again. The camera flashes had stopped. So why were we all still standing here awkwardly in front of the assembled guests? Dan finally dropped my hand and let go of my watch, thank God. Then I noticed Todd picking up a microphone.

  Todd took a deep breath and addressed the assembly. Quite a feat considering his crippling case of stage fight. I wondered how much beer he’d consumed before coming up here. The guy had a problem. The two of us had been friends for long enough that I knew Todd Hopper had a drinking problem. I just knew I couldn’t do something about it for him. And lately, he’d been drinking more and letting his brother do more and more of the decision making. It wasn’t a good thing for the company. Not in the least.

  Todd cleared his throat. “We thought that this end of the year get-together that we hold every November would be the best time to announce a new and exciting change for our company.”

  New and exciting change? It’s probably no surprise to you that I felt more than mildly pissed off that I didn’t know anything about this. In fact, this moment was the absolute first time I’d heard anything about some kind of supposed exciting change. That was bullshit. It’s like changing up your playbook and forgetti
ng to mention anything to your star quarterback.

  I was not amused. Todd almost always ran this kind of stuff past me. Big decisions weren’t ever arbitrary and I was the top producer at the firm. I vetted, hired, and placed thirty percent more new hires in permanent IT positions all over the country than any other recruiter Todd and Dan Hopper had. Half the time I was the one banging on corporate doors out there because our sales teams were a bunch of milk toast idiots who couldn’t put together an employment proposal package to save their lives. Why was any of this a surprise to me?

  “Our flagship office has always been here in Kansas City,” Todd continued. “This is where Dan and I grew up. This is the city that we love. But we have other offices in Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Sacramento, and Cincinnati. Now we are expanding to the east. That’s right. We are taking the first step toward gaining ground in the eastern portion of the United States.”

  Oh really? I briefly considered that this might be a good thing. I’d been nagging at them to start pushing into the beltway of the DC area for years. Finally they were taking my advice. That was good. I just couldn’t understand why Todd wouldn’t have just mentioned this change at some point in the last few weeks. He’d had ample opportunity.

  The crowd was clapping. Why? It’s not like they gave a shit about the company or our growth and development. Most of them met their quotas, did the minimum amount of work necessary to keep their jobs, and then went about their merry way drinking after work and drinking on the weekends and clubbing with friends like a bunch of adolescents.

  Dan beamed at the crowd. He obviously thought that they were super happy for him. “That’s right, folks!” Then Dan turned and made a grand gesture at me. “Our company’s top producer, Kevin Landau, will be moving to St. Louis in the next few weeks in order to oversee the acquisition of St. Louis Software Staffing Solutions. It is an old company there in St. Louis with a fantastic reputation and a lot of clout in the local market. We intend to not only grow our business there in the gateway city, but to push farther east so that we will soon become the number one name in IT recruiting in the United States!”