Tailored for Trouble

by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

  It made her think that whatever happened tonight must’ve been bad. All the more reason to put an end to this ridiculous sham.

  “I’m sure you do,” she agreed. “But what I wanted to say was that I can’t go through with this.”

  He stopped chewing, set down his chopsticks, and leaned back in his chair, eyeing her cautiously. “If this is about that kiss—”

  Taylor held up her hand. “No. It has nothing to do with that.”

  “Then what?” Now he looked like he just might reach across the table and throttle her with those large nimble hands. “You want more money, is that it?”

  Taylor’s jaw dropped. “What? No! Bennett, how can you say that?”

  He reached for the sake, poured himself another mug, and drank it down. “That’s what they all want.”

  Taylor bit back her irritation. She wasn’t a gold digger. “I don’t want your goddamned money, Bennett. In fact, I’m giving you back your check, which I haven’t even deposited yet. I just don’t think I can be of service to you.”

  He eyed her critically. “Seriously, Ms. Reed. You shock me.”

  “Why? Because I’m being honest? I can’t teach you anything you don’t already know.”

  “I think you’re afraid.”

  Yeah, that you’ll find out the truth about why I came on this trip. Now that she had really, really started to think things through she felt ashamed of herself. She was better than this. Or, at least, she should strive to be. However, none of that meant she had dismissed what Bennett had done. It simply meant she’d handled it the wrong way. “Think whatever you like. I’m going home tomorrow.”

  “Why don’t you let me be the judge of whether or not your program has merit?” he asked. There was an intimidating timbre to his deep voice that seemed to fill the room.

  Don’t let him shrink you, Tay. Stand your ground. “No, Bennett. I’ve already made up my mind.”

  His brows furrowed. “I suppose I was wrong about you—doesn’t happen often, but I was.”

  She sighed, knowing he was trying to egg her into debate. One she might lose because Bennett knew how to keep his cool and still get his way. “I don’t want to fight with you. I can’t give you what you want.”

  “How the hell do you know what I want?” He pierced her with his eyes. “You think you know me?”

  This conversation had headed in the wrong direction fast. It hadn’t helped that he was in a pissy mood to begin with and that she’d had too much to drink.

  “Nope. I don’t know you,” she replied, looking down at her empty mug, wondering if mixing sake and vodka had been a good choice. Sadka. Not going on my list of faves.

  “You think I’m some sleazy billionaire who goes around degrading women. That I manipulate people for my own gain.”

  Taylor didn’t know what had gotten into her—sadka—but fine; if he wanted to have this conversation, then they’d have it.

  “I don’t think that,” she replied evenly. “Not exactly.”

  “Then what exactly?” he sneered.

  “I can’t figure you out. I hear this story from Candy about how you helped her, and it makes me think you might be one of the most generous, kind people I’ve ever met. But then I saw how you treated Vera, how you yelled at that woman in the hotel just now, and it makes me wonder if you’re really fucking cruel.”

  He made a bitter laugh. “That all?”

  “You lied to me about why you wanted to hire me.”

  “And? You might as well lay it all on the table. After all, you’re leaving tomorrow.”

  He poured another drink and slugged it down.

  “Okay,” she laced her fingers and placed her hands on the table. “If you want to hear more—I know you’re engaged to that Victoria woman, but you kissed me. And then there’s the matter of the—” She was about to bring up the six million dollars he’d won by telling his friends they’d slept together, but he didn’t give her the chance.

  “I am not engaged to that woman, but if I were, I would never deceive her or cheat on her.”

  Taylor fished her cell from her purse and pulled up the photo. “Then what’s this photo all about?”

  He grinned. “I think you’re jealous, Ms. Reed.”

  “No. Why would I be? And don’t change the subject,” she snapped.

  His blue eyes flashed to her cell and then settled on her face. “That picture was from a charity auction. I donated the ring. She won it.”

  “Then why did you let them print such a big lie, especially when you’re dating her?”

  “I am not dating Victoria.”

  “Okay—having a relationship with her.”

  “I don’t do relationships.”

  “Fine—sleeping with her. Whatever,” Taylor snapped.

  “Victoria is an acquaintance, nothing more. And if I went around trying to correct all the misinformation in the tabloids, I’d spend my time doing nothing else. I attend a hell of a lot of events, conferences, and dinners. And every time my picture is taken with a beautiful woman, the gossip columns automatically assume I’m sleeping with her. That’s a lot of women—a new one every week.”

  “Well, now my brother thinks I’m hooking up with you, an engaged man.”

  “Which part bothers you more? That he thinks you’re sleeping with me or that he thinks I’m about to be married?”

  Taylor stared from across the table into his icy blue eyes, trimmed with those silky dark lashes. She felt like he was looking right through her, like it was impossible for him to see anything but the truth on her face. “I’m not ashamed that he thinks we’re involved if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “You’re lying.”

  She sighed. “You’re right. I am. Because I haven’t even told him about your misleading me yet, and my family already think you’re an asshole for getting me fired.”

  “You got yourself fired,” he pointed out.

  She leaned in and hissed, “You acted like an ass, and I defended Vera.”

  “Why?” He folded his arms over his chest. “Didn’t seem like she needed defending, and I certainly don’t think she was the type of woman to stand up for you.”

  The waiter appeared and patiently waited for Bennett to look at him. Taylor felt grateful for the interruption.

  “Would you like some more sake, Mr. Wade? Or one of our fine specials.” He gestured toward the chalkboard on the wall with the menu written in French and Japanese.

  “No, thank you. Just the check, Okomoto-san.”

  The man bowed and backed away from the table before turning to fetch the check.

  Bennett took a quick breath. “I treated Vera like that because she was bad-mouthing you before you entered the room.”

  “She did what?”

  “She implied you were to blame for my mishaps that morning and that you would be pulled off the account if it made me happy. I believe her exact words were ‘I will handle you directly so you know everything will be done right.’ ”

  That backstabbing bitch.

  “I can’t believe it,” Taylor muttered.

  “Believe it,” he snarled. “And it just so happens I have a pet peeve about people who abuse their positions or throw their staff under the bus. It pisses me off. My father used to cut me off, take credit for my work, and belittle me in front of his board members and colleagues. I’m finally in a position where not only do I not have to stand for that sort of high-handedness, but I feel obligated to give a little back when I witness that kind of behavior. Vera got what was coming to her.”

  Taylor didn’t know whether to feel flattered or insulted. On one hand, she didn’t need him standing up for her. On the other, it was touching that he’d gone after her ex-boss because he hadn’t appreciated how Vera treated her—a complete stranger. It was frightfully aggressive yet sweet at the same time.

  Kind of like Bennett?

  He emptied the bottle of sake into his cup as Okomoto-san arrived with the check and a tiny dish of raw fish and
some very elaborately carved vegetables, made to look like roses.

  Okomoto-san bowed. “Your fugu, Mr. Wade.”

  Bennett bowed his head appreciatively. “Thank you. It looks delicious.”

  Taylor waited for the man to leave. “You’re seriously going to eat that?”

  Bennett pulled a few bills—exact change, no tip—from his wallet and placed them on the tray. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  Taylor shook her head and watched him pluck a pale white piece of meat from the small rectangular plate.

  “You only live once.” He popped it in his mouth and chewed. “Mmmm…”

  Taylor winced in revulsion and maybe a bit of fear. Yummy. I ate a grenade, which may or may not detonate inside me, but hey…what doesn’t kill ya…

  After he finished, they both got up from the table, and Taylor followed Bennett’s lead, making a little bow in the direction of the waiter behind the counter.

  He bowed back. “See you next time, Mr. Wade.”

  Thankfully Bennett didn’t start sprinting again once they were back outside, but he still walked a little fast, like something had set him off.

  “So you’re really leaving tomorrow?” he asked briskly.

  “I think it’s best.”

  “I’m disappointed.” He looked ahead down the street and not at her.

  You’ll be a thousand times more disappointed if you find out what I’d planned to do to you. And no way was she about to tell him. Not after she saw how he’d chewed that woman out earlier. For what? She still didn’t know. And ultimately it didn’t matter. It’s time to grow the hell up and move on.

  “We both know you don’t really need me.” She glanced over at Bennett, but he wasn’t there. She stopped and gasped, realizing he was flat on his back on the sidewalk. “Oh, shit!” She ran to him. “Bennett!!” Ohmygod. Ohmygod. He was out cold.

  She scurried back to the restaurant to find Oko…darn it. What was his name? She could never remember unusual last names. As he appeared from behind the counter, she skipped the name and just yelled for someone to call an ambulance, then rushed back to Bennett.

  She hovered her ear over his chest and listened. “He’s still breathing,” she said to the waiter, who’d run out to see what had happened. She was about to feel relieved when she noticed a dark red stain spreading on the light gray sidewalk. Blood! Her knees went all woozy, and she nearly fainted. The sight of blood had always done that to her. Even a paper cut on her finger made her heart race in a bad way.

  Pull it together, Tay, she whispered to herself as she removed her sweater, bunching it up and pressing it gently to the back of his head.

  He gave a little groan.

  “Bennett? Can you hear me?”

  He groaned again.

  “Just hang on, okay? The ambulance is on its way.”

  “He can’t be dead,” Bennett mumbled. “Wayan? Wayan?”

  Wayan? It was the same word he’d said when he’d been asleep on the plane. So Wayan was…a person? Who’d died? And clearly Bennett wasn’t lucid, which could only mean one thing…“You just had to eat the goddamned fugu, didn’t you, tough guy? And now you’re going to die! For what? Huh? You pigheaded, macho—”

  “He no die of fugu,” said Oko-I-so-can’t-remember-his-name-because-I’m-freaking-the-hell-out, as he hovered next to her.

  “How can you be so sure?” Taylor asked.

  The man’s mouth bent to one side. “I did not give Wade-san puffer fish. I never give him real fugu.”

  Taylor shook her head. “Well, thank God you didn’t. He’d probably be dead by now.”

  “Oh, this is why. Mr. Wade is very fine man,” he said. “Help my business when things not so great. I would never live with myself if anything happened to him just for silly fish.”

  Taylor blinked and smiled at the man. He obviously cared about Bennett. “You’re a very good friend.”

  He bowed his head as Taylor continued applying pressure, wondering what the hell was the matter with Bennett if it wasn’t fish-poisoning. She felt truly worried. What if he died or something? Then they’d never get to fight again and she really happened to enjoy their fighting.

  Five minutes later, the ambulance pulled up. Taylor moved out of the way, and the paramedics in their white hardhats and jumpsuits went to work. They tried to ask her a few questions, but Taylor shook her head. “I don’t speak Japanese.” She looked up at Oko…I’ll just call him Oko. “Can you tell them we were walking, and he fell over? I don’t know what happened.”

  He repeated what she said to the paramedics who nodded and carefully loaded Bennett onto a gurney.

  Just then Bennett’s cellphone rang in his pocket—Mozart’s No. 13. His mother! She’d never forget that because it was the same tone that had come from his pocket before the plane crash. Every moment of that event was forever seared in her memory.

  Taylor pointed. “I need to answer that.”

  One of the paramedics handed her the phone and then went immediately back to getting Bennett strapped in with an oxygen mask on his face. The other paramedic was busy applying a bandage to the back of Bennett’s head.

  Taylor stared at the illuminated screen for a moment, wondering what she was going to say. She didn’t want to alarm his mother, but she couldn’t lie either.

  She placed the phone to her ear. “He-hello?”

  “Taylor, dear. Is that you?”

  How did she know? “Hi, Mrs. Wade. Yeah, it’s me,” she said with a shaky breath.

  “Oh, dear. Don’t tell me another one of his planes is having issues.”

  “Uh. No. He uh—” Mr. Oko-guy, who stood at the door of the ambulance, waved at Taylor. “Hold on one moment, Mrs. Wade.” She looked up. “Yes?”

  “They only take one person, and you do not speak Japanese.”

  Meaning, she couldn’t be of any help if the doctors had questions. “Okay. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

  He told her they’d be at St. Jude’s so as the ambulance pulled away, she started walking at a brisk pace back toward the hotel. It took a moment to realize that Mrs. Wade was still in her hand.

  Oh God. “Mrs. Wade? I’m so sorry. We’re in Tokyo, and Bennett passed out in the middle of the street.”

  “What? Again? Damned that mule-headed son of mine. If he’s not careful, he’s going to beat me to the grave!”

  “It’s happened before?” Taylor asked, panting as she half jogged, wishing she had not had those sadkas. She wanted to hurl.

  “He works himself to the bone and hardly sleeps. This is the third time this year.”

  “So there’s nothing wrong with him?”

  “Of course there is; he’s an ass! Thinks he’s a damned superhero! And I told him to let someone else handle the Bali project, but no. Does he listen to his mother? Does he? That’s why he needs a woman. A strong-headed, feisty as hell, take no prisoners sort of woman to talk some sense into him and get him to hand off that project before it kills him.”

  “What’s the Bali project?”

  “Didn’t he tell you?” Mrs. Wade sounded surprised.

  “No,” Taylor replied.

  “But you’re going with him to Bali, yes?” she asked.

  “Yes, but he never told me why we’re going.”

  “Stubborn, paranoid…He probably thinks you’re a gold digger like all the rest,” she grumbled. “You listen to me, Taylor Reed; don’t you let my son push you around. You hear? He’s nothing but a thick-skulled man-child who’s used to getting his way. I take the blame for that. I really do. But I won’t live forever, and it’s time for him to grow up and let go of the past.”

  Taylor could practically see the woman shaking her finger. There was far too much cryptic-emotional-mother-son stuff going on. “Uh. Okay. So you’re sure he doesn’t have some sort of medical condition or anything?” She turned the corner and came upon the hotel’s main entrance.

  “No, dear. And when you see him, tell him that I got the tin of cookies. Very thoug
htful. I also heard that you got a cookie of your own.”

  How did she know that?

  “I did,” Taylor said hesitantly, afraid of where this conversation might go. “I shared it with Bennett. Why?”

  “Oh, Taylor. You don’t know how happy you’ve just made me.” The woman started to sob on the other end of the phone. “I just knew Ms. Luci would help.”

  “I know what you’re thinking, but we’re not—”

  “No need to pretend with me, dear. My son is the perfect catch,” she sniffed.

  Hadn’t she just called him a thick-skulled, mule-headed man-child?

  She continued, “You have no idea of the kindness and generosity he’s capable of. His big heart is exactly the reason he carries an equally large shield. That last one, Kate, nearly did him in. Too many have hurt him, but I have a feeling, Taylor, that you’ll teach him to trust again and then there’ll be no stopping him.”

  Now Taylor wanted to cry. Why? She didn’t know. Probably because she’d gone from feeling like the scorned to the victimizer. How the hell had that happened? And seriously—what had Kate done to him?

  She drew in a shaky breath. “I really don’t think—”

  “Bennett’s father was the same way when we first met. His outside was rough and intimidating. But once you took the time to know him, you found yourself at the mercy of his charms. Then money and ambition poisoned the man I loved—I think that’s what eventually stopped his heart. And now Bennett will find himself in an early grave, too, if he doesn’t stop behaving like such a workaholic ass who’s got something to prove to the world. Do me a favor Taylor? Promise me that you’ll succeed where I failed—you’ll make him see what he’s doing to himself is wrong. He can’t pay for his father’s mistakes. He has to let go of the past. He needs to move on with his life and settle down. It’s the only thing I want.”

  Let go of what exactly? And what had his father done? And why do I feel like this woman has already checked out?

  Taylor then remembered Bennett mentioning that his mother had been “off” lately. In fact, he’d mentioned it twice. “Mrs. Wade, are you…uh, sick?”