OPERATION BABE-MAGNET / OPERATION BEAUTY

by Kristin Gabriel

  Amy nodded, then reached for the blow-dryer. "Relax, Dexter," she said, flipping on the switch. "This won't hurt a bit."

  He closed his eyes, his tension easing as she finger-styled his hair. Despite his initial reaction when Kylie suggested a makeover, he really didn't mind all the changes. They were only temporary, after all. Anyway, the fewer people who recognized him as Dexter Kane, the better. In exactly one month, he'd take over the helm of the Kane Corporation and leave this farce behind him. Fulfilling his dream was all that really mattered. Although the thought of spending the next four weeks with Kylie made him drift into a very different sort of dream…

  "Wake up, sleepyhead," Amy said, gently shaking his shoulder.

  Dexter started in his chair, opening his eyes to see her wrapping the cord around the blow-dryer. His body still throbbed with the erotic images that had danced in his head and he was thankful he still wore the plastic drape to keep the hair dye from staining his clothes. "Are you finished already?"

  "With your hair," Amy replied. "We still need to work on the wardrobe."

  "Can I see it?" he asked, as she spritzed him with hairspray.

  "Not until we're all done. I want you to experience the full effect."

  He looked around the living room. "Where's Kylie?"

  "Still on the phone." Amy walked over to the clothes rack, once again perusing the choices. "That girl never stops working."

  He leaned back in his chair, forcing himself to relax. "I'm surprised she told you about the Harry Hanover masquerade. I thought it was supposed to be a big secret."

  "It is, but Kylie was a little nervous about pulling it off and needed someone to talk to about it. She knows she can trust me."

  Dexter wondered if there was anyone in his life he'd trust that much. He loved his brother, but Sam always seemed too laid back to take life's problems seriously. There was always his grandfather, whom he trusted implicitly. But Dexter had always been so determined to prove he could handle any situation that he'd never allowed his grandfather see any of his fears or insecurities. Besides, the key to being an effective business owner was maintaining complete control at all times.

  "How do you feel about silk?" Amy asked, pulling out an orange shirt with long puffy sleeves and draping it over the dressmaker's dummy standing in the corner.

  "I'll sleep on silk, but I won't wear it."

  She frowned. "You know, you could be a little more cooperative. Kylie is paying for all of this and she could use a few breaks."

  "She seems fine to me."

  "Of course, she's fine. Nothing can bring that girl down. And believe me, she has had plenty of reason to start popping anti-depressants."

  "Like what?" he asked, surprised by this revelation. He would have guessed a woman with Kylie's vivacity had lived a life full of sunshine and roses.

  "Well, for one thing, she gave up a great job in Hollywood a year ago so she could come home and take care of her brother."

  "Was he sick?"

  Amy nodded. "Hodgkin's disease. It looks like he'll make a full recovery, but it was scary there for a while. And now that Kylie's nursed her little brother back to health she's determined to do the same for his business. Handy Press has been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy for years. So instead of going back to work for her famous clients, she's staying in Pittsburgh and working for peanuts until Handy Press is in the black."

  "Famous clients?" Dexter asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

  "I'm not supposed to name names, but one of her clients was just chosen as People magazine's Sexiest Man of the Year. And he thinks the world of Kylie." She dropped her voice a notch. "Both professionally and personally, if you know what I mean."

  He nodded. Dexter didn't have time to read People magazine but he'd seen enough pictures of Hollywood hotshots to imagine the type of man who had hired Kylie. The kind of man who dazzled all the women. The kind of man who was the complete opposite of Dexter Dependable Kane.

  "Actually, Kylie and I met in Hollywood," Amy continued. "I was doing makeup for a movie of the week and she was on the set to lend moral support to one of her clients. He was her high school sweetheart and she'd followed him to California and helped arrange his big break. He repaid her by breaking her heart. But he kept her on as his publicist."

  "He sounds like a real winner."

  Amy nodded. "She's better off without him. She's got good, midwestern integrity along with a wild imagination. That's one reason she was such a hit with the glitterati. That, combined with her tendency to take risks."

  "Such as?"

  "Such as volunteering to be the target when one of her clients performed a knife-throwing exhibition on 'Circus of the Stars.' Fortunately, Kylie only needed twelve stitches when it was over. Then there was the time she wagered a month's salary to get her client a part on a television miniseries."

  "What did she wager?"

  "That the guy would make it to work on time every day. She lost the bet, but her client was a big hit on the show."

  "Did he ever reimburse her?"

  Amy smiled. "It doesn't work that way in Hollywood. She'd probably still be there, trying to salvage her heart and her bank account, if her brother hadn't gotten sick. Kylie would do anything for Evan."

  At least now he knew why his successful portrayal of Harry Hanover was so important to her. "So that's what this book tour is all about? Saving her brother's business?"

  "That's right," Amy replied, studying the clothes on the rack.

  He tried to imagine giving up his dream of owning the Kane Corporation. "Sounds like she's throwing away a great career opportunity for a hopeless cause."

  "Yeah, you tell her that," Amy said with a laugh. "Tell her not to breathe, too, while you're at it."

  He shrugged, then removed the plastic drape. "I just believe a person should have a good career strategy. Otherwise you end up drifting though life without any purpose." Like his parents.

  Amy squealed. "I found it!" She pulled an outfit off the rack. "Put it on."

  He stood up, frowning at the clothes she'd selected. "That's not really me."

  "It will be." She snatched his glasses off his face, then pushed him toward the bathroom. "Change in there, then come out and show us the new Dexter Kane."

  "Harry Hanover," he reminded her.

  "Whatever."

  Ten minutes later, Dexter stepped out of the bathroom, then walked down the hallway to the living room.

  Amy and Kylie sat chatting on the sofa. They both looked up at the same time.

  "Oh, boy," Amy breathed.

  Kylie just stared up at him with her mouth open.

  Dexter shifted self-consciously on his feet. No doubt he looked ridiculous in this outfit. He'd tried to tell Kylie this makeover wouldn't work.

  "Don't move," Amy said, jumping off the sofa and running toward her bedroom.

  He looked at Kylie, his heart pounding in his chest. "Well?"

  She swallowed. "I don't know what to say."

  Her brown eyes looked large and luminous as she stared up at him. He wondered if she ever resented the fact that she'd put her life and career on hold.

  Amy ran back into the living room, camera in hand. "Okay, I've got to have a shot of this for my portfolio."

  The camera flashed, making Dexter blink. "You mean you like this look?"

  "Don't you?" Kylie and Amy said in unison.

  He shrugged. "The bathroom mirror was too small for me to get a good luck. Besides, you've got my glasses, remember? Everything is a little blurry."

  Amy picked up Dexter's glasses off the coffee table and handed them to him. He put them on, then Kylie steered him toward the long wall mirror in the dining room.

  "Say hello to the new, improved you," Amy said.

  Dexter stared in the mirror. His hair looked completely different. Slightly windblown and carefree, as if he'd just hopped off a motorcycle. The black muscle shirt Amy had picked out was just a tad too small, accentuating the broad build of
his shoulders. The snug black denim jeans hung low on his narrow waist and hugged his hips, leaving very little to the imagination.

  "It's amazing," Kylie breathed, staring at Dexter in the mirror.

  Amy clapped her hands together. "I knew there was an Adonis underneath all that tweed. Congratulations, girl." She turned to high-five Kylie. "Your Harry Hanover is a hunk!"

  Kylie took a deep breath. "Are you sure this is the look we want? He seems so … different."

  "Exactly," Amy exclaimed. "He's perfect."

  Dexter didn't say anything, because he completely agreed. The man in the mirror was perfect.

  He was also the spitting image of his brother, Sam.

  * * *

  3

  « ^ »

  The next day, Dexter walked into Riley's Bar and Grill, a popular restaurant located in downtown Pittsburgh. He saw Kylie waving at him from a corner booth. As he walked toward her, he noticed several women turning to look at him. It had been like that ever since Amy had worked her magic.

  He still wasn't sure if he liked it.

  "Where are your glasses?" Kylie asked, as he slid into the booth across from her.

  "I stopped by a one-hour optical store at the mall and picked up some contact lenses." He blinked twice. "They take a little getting used to, but at least I can see. What do you think?"

  "They're fine, I guess." She opened up her menu as the waitress approached their table. "But I liked your glasses better."

  "I'll have the quarter-pound burger with all the extras," he ordered, "and a side of fries." He handed the waitress his menu. She gave him a smile and a saucy wink before turning to Kylie.

  Dexter looked down at the green Formica table-top, unaccustomed to such blatant flirting. He could feel a blush burning in his cheeks. It was amazing to him that a simple change of hairstyle and wardrobe could completely alter the way women reacted to him. Especially since he was the same man on the inside that he'd always been.

  For the first time he wondered if Kylie was attracted to the new Dexter Kane. She certainly hadn't treated him any differently since his transformation. If anything, she was more businesslike than before.

  "I've written up an itinerary," she announced after the waitress walked off with their order. Opening her brown suede briefcase, she pulled out an array of multicolored file folders. "The tour officially starts tomorrow, but I've got a book signing scheduled for this afternoon as a trial run. Hopefully we can work out any kinks before we embark on the real thing."

  "This afternoon?" His stomach flip-flopped. "Where?"

  "In New Castle. The manager is expecting us at three o'clock, so we should have plenty of time to get there. I'll drive."

  Dexter wondered if there was enough time for her to find a new Harry Hanover. He reached up to loosen his tie, then remembered that he wasn't wearing one. So why did he feel like he was choking?

  "Then tomorrow we go on the road," she continued, sliding a yellow file folder across the table. "We've got book signings scheduled in Ohio, including the cities of Columbus, Cleveland and Youngstown. Plus a couple of radio and newspaper interviews. Then we'll circle back into Pennsylvania and hit Altoona, Harrisburg, Allentown and Philadelphia. And I'll be setting up more appearances during the tour. I'm hoping you'll be in high demand."

  He opened the folder and looked down at the itinerary. "Looks like we'll keep busy for the next few weeks."

  "Definitely." She bent over her briefcase, sorting through more files.

  Dexter looked at her, admiring the way her curly brown hair was tamed into a loose French braid, with silky tendrils spilling over her cheeks and forehead. The style accentuated the alluring curve of her neck.

  She snapped her briefcase shut, then looked up at him. "I've already made reservations at hotels along the route. They're nothing fancy, but a couple do have pools if you want to pack some swimming trunks."

  He nodded, turning his attention to the detailed schedule in front of him. Kylie was definitely thorough. It looked as if she'd accounted for every possible contingency. The businessman in him was impressed.

  The other part of him was impressed by the clingy, hot-pink sweater she was wearing. It had a scooped neckline that drew his gaze to her generous breasts.

  "Dexter?"

  He bunked and looked up. "What?"

  "Do you have any questions about the book tour or the itinerary?"

  He sat up and cleared his throat, focusing his attention back where it belonged. "Just one. Who's paying for all of this?"

  Her gaze dropped to her briefcase. "Handy Press is sponsoring the tour."

  "Amy told me that they were pretty strapped financially." He fluttered the schedule in the air. "An excursion like this can't come cheap."

  "I'm covering the costs initially," she explained, stirring her soda with a straw. "Then Handy Press will reimburse me when the profits on How To Jump-Start Your Love Life start rolling in."

  He stared at her. "You're not serious?"

  She picked up her soda. "It's a perfectly acceptable business practice. So tell me what the D in your middle name stands for?"

  "I think you're trying to change the subject."

  "David?" she guessed. "Dennis? Durwood? Dastardly?"

  "You're close with that last one," he replied. "The D stands for Dependable."

  She smiled. "Now you're the one not being serious."

  "It's the truth. I'm Dexter Dependable Kane. Thanks to some zealot in my family tree who thought all the Kanes should be given a virtuous middle name to live up to."

  "So are you dependable?"

  "Through and through," he replied. "That's why you should listen to my advice about forking out your own money for this book tour. Most businesses give you an expense account. They don't expect you to shell out your own money."

  "This is different," she countered. "I've already volunteered to cover all the expenses." She took a long sip of soda. "Besides, the owner is my brother. I'm sure he'll repay me as soon as he can."

  Dexter rubbed one hand over his chin, amazed at her naiveté. "He won't have to pay you a dime if his business declares bankruptcy. You'll just be one in a long line of creditors."

  She set her briefcase on the floor. "I'm not sure why we're even having this discussion. If the book is a hit, bankruptcy won't be an issue."

  "If," he echoed, leaning forward. "A great big if, in my opinion. If everyone believes I'm Harry Hanover, if the book sells big. If I don't blow it."

  She smiled. "Don't worry, Dex. I have faith in you."

  An hour later, they climbed into Kylie's car. She unspooled her seat belt and snapped it in place. "Are you ready, Dex?" She switched on the ignition.

  He nodded, squinting into the afternoon sun. The glare was giving him a headache. "It's Dexter."

  "What?"

  "You've called me Dex several times," he shouted over the roar of the engine. "I prefer Dexter."

  She shook her head.

  "I can't hear you." With a quick glance in the rearview mirror, she shot out of the parking space. A horn blasted behind them.

  "Oops," she said, waving behind her. "Sorry."

  Dexter reached out to grip the dashboard. "Maybe I should drive."

  She glanced at him, then back at the road, braking suddenly to make a left turn. Another horn sounded. "I need to get the muffler fixed. But the car should quiet down once we hit the highway."

  "If we make it to the highway," Dexter muttered to himself. Recklessness seemed to be in her blood, whether it was driving a car or extending credit to an insolvent business. Both could prove dangerous.

  The breeze from the open windows fluttered the neckline of her sweater. He looked away, but not before catching a delicious glimpse of her lacy white bra and the luscious curve of her breast.

  As he stared out the window, he found himself wondering if she was as unabandoned in bed as she was behind the wheel. Not that he'd ever find out, Dexter sternly reminded himself. The Studs-R-Us no-sex policy put any
potential fantasies to rest. He could never put his future at risk for a woman.

  Not even a woman as enticing as Kylie.

  They turned onto the highway and to Dexter's surprise the car's roar did die down just enough to make normal conversation possible.

  "I'm going to call you Harry from now on," Kylie said, edging the car into the passing lane. "That way we won't get confused."

  He pointed to the digital clock on the dashboard.

  "I don't think we're going to make it to New Castle by three."

  "Sure we will."

  "Only if you drive ten miles over the speed limit."

  "That's the plan, Harry."

  Dexter didn't say anything else for the rest of the trip. The woman next to him was obviously delusional. There would be no way they could pull this off. A hundred things could go wrong. Just thinking of all the possibilities was making him dizzy.

  Or maybe it was her perfume. A light, airy scent that teased his nostrils. It smelled like summer. In fact, everything about her was bright and fresh and cheerful. She wasn't flashy or even classically beautiful. But there was something about Kylie, a natural warmth that drew you to her.

  Not that he intended to draw any closer. For one thing, this whole charade would probably fall apart before the day was out. Then he'd have to find some way to convince Mrs. Brubaker to keep him on staff.

  "We're here," she said at last, speeding past the New Castle city limits.

  Perspiration broke out on Dexter's forehead. "Has it occurred to you that I haven't even read the book I'm supposed to have written?"

  "Don't worry about it, Harry." She slowed the car as they approached a stoplight, then turned to him. "This is a rehearsal more than anything else. We'll be lucky if five customers show up. Just smile and sign your name. Harry Hanover, not Dexter Kane."

  He had a premonition of impending disaster. Pulling off this charade couldn't be as easy as Kylie believed. "But I don't even know what this Harry Hanover's signature looks like."

  "It doesn't matter," she assured him, turning the corner, then pulling into the parking lot of a store called The Book Attic. The lot was packed with cars, but she finally found an empty space. "The public doesn't know what it looks like, either. Now that I think about it, I don't even know what it looks like."