Chasing Glory

by Galbraith, DeeAnna

  Pryce shook his head. “I made a luncheon engagement with Glory last night, but it seems she’ll be working through lunch with your Mr. Kingston. I was about to ask Ms. Winters to take her place.”

  Glory held her breath. Just their luck that Alyssia was sticking her nose in. The VP had a frozen smile for Glory that neither Tal nor Pryce saw.

  “Unfortunately, Catherine will have to watch the phones while Glory is working downstairs,” Alyssia said. “We can’t have our calls go unanswered. Can we?” She turned her attention to Pryce. “There’s a new bistro around the corner that I’m told is quite adequate. I’ll be glad to accompany you.”

  Tal’s face flickered with disappointment. Glory realized Alyssia couldn’t see him as he desperately wanted her to, as an available man.

  “I asked Shelly to cover the phones in case there was a problem,” he said.

  It was hard to tell if the VP thought this was good news or not as Catherine approached the group. “Alyssia, the lobby guard buzzed. Darren and Tricia McWhirter are waiting. You have lunch scheduled with them at twelve thirty.”

  The VP waivered. Glory and Catherine knew Alyssia couldn’t blow off the McWhirters: they were one of Kingston’s oldest clients. She turned to Catherine. “Let them know I’ll be right down.” She held out her hand to Pryce. “I’m sorry, but it looks like I’m unavailable today. Since you’ll be moving to the area, call me and we can reschedule.”

  Alyssia sucked at reading expressions. Pryce looked irked at her interruption, but was too polite to say so.

  Glory was impressed, though. She’d forgotten to take phone coverage into consideration in her eagerness to see her plot through. She joined Catherine and Pryce in giving Tal a look of thanks.

  He could have sided with Alyssia to make himself look good, but he didn’t. He kept his word. Glory decided loyalty was a very sexy trait.

  Alyssia spoke to Catherine. “See to it you don’t exceed an hour.”

  “I’ll be responsible if Ms. Winters incurs any extra time,” Pryce said. “Put it on my first bill.”

  Yes sir, Glory thought. Pryce Welker was used to getting his own way.

  Alyssia gave a curt nod and left.

  Shelly arrived and got the coverage information and Glory and Tal headed for the elevators. When they entered, Tal sighed. “Poor Alyssia.”

  Glory turned her head slowly and raised her eyebrows. She couldn’t help the sarcastic tone. “Poor Alyssia?”

  “Yes. She has so many responsibilities. It must be frustrating to try and balance them all and still remain fair.”

  “Yes, fair,” Glory said in bewilderment, checking the lenses of his glasses for a rose-colored hue.

  Tal snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot. Last night when I mentioned my wardrobe, I’d intended to ask you to help me out with something as part of our deal.” He paused, his gaze slipping away, and Glory felt her face flush. “Um, could you spend maybe a half hour tomorrow helping me shop for the type of clothes you think Alyssia would like?” he said.

  Glory considered the pleading hazel eyes and the fact that she loved her free time on weekends. She smothered a smile at Tal’s idea of the time it would take to make a major shift in his wardrobe, then caved. A deal was a deal. “I’ve got a friend coming in the morning to do some drywall work, but I could meet you downtown in front of Nordstrom’s at two.”

  That attractive grin showed itself and he rocked on the balls of his feet. “Great. Thanks.”

  She didn’t speak again until they were almost to Tal’s office door. “I left my lunch in the workout room and my key is in my purse upstairs. If I could borrow yours, I’ll eat there and not bother your meeting, I …” She stopped talking when Tal opened his door. A short, dark man sat at his desk with the biggest burger, fries and shake on McDonald’s menu. When he saw Glory he jumped up, and grinned giving her an obvious once-over. “Whoa, prime womanhood. Hey, babelicious.”

  Glory was taken aback. Had a construction worker lost his way?

  Tal frowned. “Knock it off, Rudy. Ms. Danvers is my guest. Glory, this is Rudy Soreno, one of the best noses in the business when it comes to blending flavors. His unacceptable behavior is the result of a wife who thinks every woman is after him and four little girls who rule him unmercifully.”

  The whys and wherefores of his lack of manners didn’t faze Rudy. He started to street strut around Tal’s desk toward Glory.

  “Enough,” Tal said. “Glory is leaving, and you and I are going over this month’s test results.” He walked around the other side of his desk and reached in the lap drawer for a key, handing it to Glory. Rudy started to speak, but Tal leaned toward him. “Say good-bye.”

  “My heart is broken,” Rudy said as he bowed to Glory. “If you ever decide to run away from it all, my life is yours.”

  Glory, still recovering from babelicious, mumbled “Nice to meet you,” as she made a hasty retreat.

  Tal turned to Rudy. “Someday your blatant flirting is going to get back to your wife, or you’re going to pick on the wrong woman. Either way, it won’t be pretty.”

  Rudy sat and took an enormous bite of the hamburger. As he chewed, his dark brown eyes crinkled. He swallowed. “It’s so much fun, though. And Ms. Danvers is very hot. Sure you wouldn’t rather spend lunch with her?”

  His first thought was that he certainly would, then Tal shook his head and remembered his goal. “Not letting you off the hook. I also meant it about your attitude. I’m not willing to risk losing an otherwise good man to a harassment suit. Clear?”

  The little guy tried to look contrite and failed as Tal signaled him out of the chair. “A man has only so many pleasures,” Rudy said. “But yes, that’s clear.”

  Tal tipped his head toward the food. “Speaking of pleasures, I thought your wife didn’t allow you to eat fast food.”

  The humor returned to Rudy’s eyes. “She doesn’t, but she’s not here.”

  Tal opened his email, then tapped a short stack of paper beside his monitor. “Enjoy your contraband, then. I’ll go through these before we review the tests.”

  His correspondence was predictable. Invoices, reports, memos, and questions from growers he favored for their high quality. He also had a second notification that an employee evaluation was due. His eyebrows furrowed as he read a handwritten letter forwarded from customer service.

  Dear quality control supervisor, I’m writing to let you know how disillusioned I am with Kingston Limited. I recently went on vacation to an expensive new resort in Antigua, Hotel Deux. The restaurant served my husband and me a dessert that was spoiled by a bitter fruit glaze. When I asked to speak to the chef, he admitted using one of your products that the hotel had recently purchased for the gift shop.

  I have used Kingston Limited products in the states for years, and am disappointed at the blatant lack of quality control in those you export. I will no longer buy your products. It was signed Claire Bothell, Providence, Rhode Island.

  Tal read it again. “What the hell?”

  Rudy peered over the top of the letter. “What’s wrong?”

  “Some woman is complaining about one of our sauces ruining her dessert at a resort in Antigua. None of our distributors exports to that island that I know of. How are they getting our products?”

  Rudy grinned and shrugged. “Why don’t you send me to find out? I could use some time on a beach with hot babes.”

  Tal flicked his hand at Rudy. “Not gonna happen. This is serious.”

  If there was some kind of illegal importation of his company’s foods and they were being used even though spoiled, his and his company’s reputations could be irreparably hurt. Even worse, if someone got sick, they could be sued. He turned the letter over and made some notes to go online and research the resort. He’d also have an expensive gift pack of Kingston products shipped to Ms. Bothell, with his apologies.

  Chapter Nine

  Glory grinned as Catherine and Pryce returned from lunch almost two hours later. I
nfatuation showed on both their faces. Fortunately, the McWhirters were keeping Alyssia out even longer. As soon as Pryce got on the elevator, Catherine came over to Glory’s desk.

  “Forget the dress, forget any favor you owe me, real or imagined. This covers it all.” She did a little dance. “We went to the new bistro Alyssia talked about, but I don’t think I tasted anything. We’re going out for dinner tonight and since tomorrow’s Saturday, were spending the day together. He’s perfect.”

  “It was the fact that you wouldn’t have to change any of your monograms that did it for me,” Glory said wryly.

  Catherine gave her a blank look.

  “Catherine W or Catherine W?” Glory teased, then handed her friend a piece of paper. “Thanks for helping with that memo.”

  “She just came back?”

  “Right.”

  “She has an hour-long meeting that starts in five minutes. Call me.”

  As soon as Alyssia went into the conference room, Glory rang her friend.

  Catherine talked on her headset as she typed. “What the heck happened last night?” she asked. “CTB has been shooting lasers out of those cold blue eyes ever since Pryce showed up.”

  Glory sighed. “All that time and energy schmoozing over Philip Welker and today she found out the account will be handled by Pryce. He let his parents get the royal treatment, knowing they enjoy being fussed over. Alyssia didn’t like being the last to know.”

  Catherine giggled. “I like the man’s style. Are Mom and Dad nice?”

  “Mom and Dad?” Glory asked. “Yes, they’re nice. Did Pryce tell you why he’s taking this on?”

  “You mean the whole ‘Dad’s retiring so I’m moving back and taking over?’ He told me.”

  “Play your cards right.”

  “I intend to. Something else happened, though. What?”

  Glory sighed. She couldn’t hide anything from Catherine. “Tal asked me to get Alyssia into a personal conversation. You know, girl talk. The minute I got her alone, she accused me of disrupting the function and changing the focus to myself. It could have gotten uglier, but Tal walked over.”

  Catherine’s head snapped up. “She what? How did she come to that conclusion? What did Tal say?”

  “When we came in and Tal introduced me to Pryce, he guessed my blog name and was sweet about being a fan. Alyssia was stressed because Philip Welker hadn’t begged to sign the contract yet, so it was easier to blame me.

  Tal didn’t hear anything between Alyssia and me, but he danced with her before we left, and she did not look happy.”

  “Wow. Do you think he yelled at her?”

  Glory considered the question. “I only saw the last little bit, but I don’t think yelling was involved. He knew I was upset and might have tried to set her straight, but since he still thinks she’s the woman for him, I don’t know if he tried very hard.”

  “From what I’ve seen,” Catherine said, “Tal’s not stupid, but he expects her to be something else, and for him, she is.”

  “Yeah. He looked bummed when she ignored him before lunch.”

  Catherine snorted. “She always puts herself in the most advantageous position, so she probably wasn’t ignoring him, just paying more attention to Pryce.”

  “Nevertheless, I’m going to practice invisibility until her mood improves.”

  “Might be hard to do since you’re trying to throw Tal in her path. Hey, maybe he could take some tips from our favorite CFO,” said Catherine.

  That didn’t make sense. Kingston’s Chief Financial Officer was a boring, straight-laced yuppie. “What does Jeff Lassiter have to do with Alyssia? Other than they work together.”

  “And have lunch together, and appear on each other’s calendars for weird meetings.”

  “Holy cats.You think CTB and CFO are merging letters outside the office?”

  Catherine laughed. “No chance. She’d be in a much better mood most of the time. I’m saying they spend a lot of what seems like unnecessary time together. Why do you think I’m always putting those winking emoticons on the emails when I ask you to put her on his schedule?”

  “Thought you were bored,” Glory said. “Now I have to poke out my eyes at the image that crept in.”

  “Yuck. Thanks for that. But don’t let Alyssia get you down. Tal stuck by you at lunch. I’m telling you, when the scales fall from his eyes, he could be yours.”

  Glory felt a pleasant wobble in her stomach at Catherine’s words, but ignored it. Even if it didn’t work out between Tal and Alyssia, which was likely, he had made it clear what he was looking for. And that little fantasy in no way matched her dream of traveling, writing her blog and her book, and finishing the work she’d started on her house. Not to mention that she wanted to be in love when she got married. That definitely wasn’t on Tal’s agenda.

  “Earth to Glory.”

  She sighed. “Don’t hold your breath. Tal wants the fairy tale to have a short, crisp, ending. I don’t even want to be in the story; the end.”

  “Plans change.”

  • •

  Tal glanced at his watch, then scanned the people strolling toward him on the wide sidewalk in front of Nordstrom’s. He was ten minutes early. Probably because he looked forward to her company. He could spend weeks researching ingredients and testing a new recipe, but the thought of shopping for shoes and clothes held no appeal. Heck, if he were honest, he was a little terrified. At least with Glory helping him, the end results would be quicker and less painful. If his new clothes impressed Alyssia too, as they hoped, so much the better.

  Glory was few minutes early, too. He recognized her shining hair and confident stride. She wore khakis that looked great on her slim legs, soft tan ankle boots, and a sweater the color of blackberry juice. His breath hitched.

  “Hi,” she said, grinning. “I hope you don’t have any other plans for this afternoon, because this is not going to take a half hour.”

  Tal squared his shoulders. “’Lay on, McDuff.’”

  Glory’s eyes widened. “Nothing like quoting Shakespeare correctly to win a writer’s heart.”

  “Accident,” he said, happy that he’d impressed her. “Stuck in a small hotel in French Guiana for a solid week during a deluge. His work was the only book in the library in English.”

  “Oh. Then I’ll try and keep my misquotes to a minimum.” She tipped her head toward Nordstrom’s storefront. “Ready?”

  Tall took a deep breath and nodded.

  They found their way to the men’s department, past the array of ties, dress shirts and suits. He let out another breath until Glory stopped and fingered some rough silk shirts and picked one, holding it up to him. The dark gold color and loose construction were not anything he would consider on his own, but he lifted his chin and stood still.

  “Andrea Valmarana is the hottest Italian designer of the season. We carry only a small selection of his shirts. That one would look very nice on you.”

  He and Glory turned at the sultry voice. The sales associate was beautiful, and he supposed she did very well in selling expensive clothes to men.

  Glory didn’t even blink. She handed the shirt to the woman. “Yes. Maybe some coffee, or dark olive-colored slacks, too.”

  The woman gave a slight nod. “My name is Caprielle.” She turned to lead the way.

  Tal held Glory’s arm as she started to follow. “Are you sure about this? I mean that shirt’s silk.”

  “Right,” she said. “This is going to cost you a fortune.”

  “It’s not the money,” he whispered, aware that the sales person had stopped and was waiting. “It’s the girly factor.”

  He watched as she arranged her features to suppress a laugh. “No one would ever think of you as girly. Now, are we going to have this conversation over every item?”

  Tal pulled in his lips, shook his head and surrendered. It also gave him a ridiculous lift that Glory considered him masculine.

  His senses went on overload for the next hour a
s Glory and Caprielle brought several outfits for him to try on. He felt foolish walking out of the changing room area each time to have the two women pluck at sleeves, hems, collars and cuffs. The sales woman shook her head over his comfortable loafers and best argyle socks.

  At last they made it to the register. He held the original shirt Glory had chosen, a pair of tailored khakis, a belt, cashmere socks, and a summer weight English wool jacket in a muted herringbone.

  Next stop was shoes. He cringed at the light, European slip-ons that shoe guy and Glory picked out. “Perfect,” she said.

  Tal balked. “These would last about five minutes in the testing kitchens. That band of linen inset would be ruined if a fruit glaze splattered on it.”

  She crossed her arms and lifted the right side of her mouth. “You can keep these things in your office and only wear them upstairs for meetings. Besides, in a pinch, you have protective shoe covers and coveralls, right?”

  He was surprised at how much he wanted to gain her approval. Suck it up Kingston. This was your idea, so take it like a man. Tal handed the shoe to shoe guy. “Eleven B.”

  Her elusive dimple flashed. “There. That wasn’t so bad.”

  Tal smiled back, mentally capitulating. She was right, of course.

  They shopped three more stores. None of which he would have entered because the clothes in their windows didn’t appeal to him. When they closed the last store at six, he’d purchased two more shirts, another pair of slacks and another belt.

  “We’ve been very successful,” Glory said. “The slacks will be hemmed by Wednesday, so you can catch Alyssia by surprise in Thursday’s officer and department head meeting.” She held out her hand. “My next bus is in ten minutes. See you on Monday.”

  Now that it was over, Tal realized he didn’t want it to end. He made a spur-of-the-moment decision. “May I cook a victory dinner for you at my place? It’s the least I can do to thank you for the extra help. I’ll take you home from there.”

  As if on cue, Glory’s stomach rumbled. He went in for the coup de grace. “I’ve been testing a new dessert sauce, chocolate praline. There’s some in my fridge.”