by Nikki Duvall
“There,” said Cameron, slapping his hands together. “All your worries to the wayside. Time to plan on how you’re going to bring the stud to his knees.”
“I don’t know…”
Stephen took her hand. “Do you want him, or not?”
Halee smiled into her marguerite. “He’s a lot of trouble.”
Cameron winked at Stephen. “The good ones always are.”
Stephen jumped up from the sofa. “Oooh, this is going to be so fun! So, here’s the plan…”
~FOURTEEN~
“You’re wearing that?” Stephen circled Halee in her skirt and sweater outfit and frowned. Ty sat perched on Cameron’s hip and played with the lapel of his satin bathrobe.
“It’s mostly cotton,” said Halee. “Ty proof. Washable,” she added.
“It’s early virgin,” said Cameron.
“Virgin can be sexy,” said Stephen. He studied her a little longer and shook his head. “J.D. doesn’t strike me as too complex. I’m guessing he prefers cleavage.”
“Phase One is cleavage,” agreed Cameron.
Stephen began to unbutton Halee’s starched white blouse.
“Whoa!”
“Relax, Girlfriend. You’re not my type.”
“I’m going to the office,” Halee protested. “I can’t go as a slut. None of my staff will respect me.”
“The men will.”
“You’re sharing a limo with J.D., right?”
“Yes…”
“Just the two of you?” Cameron grinned. “You need to look dangerous. You need to drop things. You know, lean over and give him the full view.”
“What kind of bra are you wearing?” Stephen hooked his finger into her blouse and peered in.
“I don’t know.”
“Problem number one,” said Stephen to Cameron. “We need to go shopping. Leave us your measurements and we’ll take care of everything while you’re at work.”
“I really can’t afford anything right now…”
Stephen held up one hand and closed his eyes. “Our treat. Welcome to the neighborhood.”
“You guys…”
“You don’t know how sterile this city can be, Halee. Cam and I need a little romance in our lives. We could barely sleep last night, planning this little adventure.”
Cameron walked to the wall of curtains and drew them back slightly, peering across the courtyard. “We’re tired of the bad girl winning. You’re doing this for us. Oh- there he is now.”
Stephen joined him at the window. “Mmmm. Nobody has to tell Stud how to dress.”
“Thanks, guys.”
“It’s ok. You’re just a little behind. You’ll catch up.”
“Looks like the bitch is bringing out the big guns. That’s a Wonderbra, for sure.”
Halee took a few tentative steps toward the window, contrary to her better judgment, and peered over Stephen’s shoulder. Catrina leaned against the kitchen counter dressed in nothing but a red satin push up bra and matching panties, deep in conversation with J.D. who sat at a small table eating from a china bowl. “Wow,” said Halee in a defeated tone. “She doesn’t mind showing it off, does she?”
“At least they’re not touching,” said Cameron.
Halee’s phone vibrated. “My driver is here,” she said. She leaned over and kissed Ty on his chubby cheek, grabbed her briefcase and headed for the door. “Wish me luck.”
“Luck!” Stephen called after her.
She raced to the elevator and ran through a mental checklist of everything she’d meant to bring this morning. Laptop, pens, cell phone, chargers, small salad, coffee cup…Checklist complete. Catching her reflection in the mirrored wall of the elevator, she practiced her best new-girl-at-the-office smile and grimaced at her unbuttoned shirt. Quickly she buttoned two more buttons and took a deep edifying breath. The door opened at the lobby and she hurried out past the doorman and up to the waiting limo.
“Marcus, Ma’am,” said the large man in uniform, tipping his hat. His smile was as wide as Manhattan.
“Thank you, Marcus,” she said, sliding onto the cool black leather seat. “I’m Halee.”
“Yes, Miss McCarthy. I have strict orders to deliver you safely to Mrs. Pryor’s office. Would you like a refreshment this morning? I have mineral water, coffee, juice…”
“Please call me Halee. And mineral water sounds perfect.”
“Yes, Miss Halee.” Marcus poured the contents of an elegant blue bottle of water over ice and handed the fizzing glass to Halee. “We’re waiting on Mr. Johnny and then we’ll be on our way.”
Ten seconds later J.D. slipped onto the opposite seat. He wore a freshly pressed pair of grey linen trousers and a short sleeved black silk shirt that fit his muscular frame like a second skin. He grinned her way. She placed the cold drink against her cheek and simply stared.
“You look beautiful for your first day.”
“Not too matronly?”
J.D. leaned over and slowly undid the top two buttons on her blouse, brushing his fingers across her breastbone, then along her neck and under her hair. A wave of heat washed over her. “Not anymore.”
Marcus put the limo in gear and started to pull out into morning rush traffic. A dozen horns honked and a blonde stepped off the curb in front of them, waving her arms madly. Marcus slammed on his brakes. Cat pulled open the limo door and slid in next to Halee with a crash, spilling Halee’s mineral water across her white shirt. Halee stared down at her white lace bra showing through the wet fabric and gasped.
“Getting less matronly by the minute,” said J.D. with a wicked grin.
“Ahh!” screamed Cat, moving over to J.D.’s side of the backseat. “No, no, no!” She checked her outfit for any collateral damage and brushed off drops of water from her short skirt and exposed thigh. “I can’t go anywhere like this!”
“You’re right,” said J.D. in his typical relaxed fashion. “Marcus, please pull over and let Miss Catrina out.”
“Yes, Mr. Johnny.” Marcus pulled to the curb and waited.
“No!” cried Cat. “I have an appointment at Rodolfo Valentin in thirty minutes. If I lose the appointment I’ll have to wait months to get back in.” She glared at Halee. “I’ll just have to go this way.”
Halee pulled her sweater tighter around her. The ice water soaking through her blouse was giving her chills. The way J.D. was leering at her lacy bra with a cocky let-me-take-that-off smile was giving her hot flashes.
“Would you like me to drop you there first, Miss Catrina?” asked Marcus.
“Yes.” She leaned her head on J.D.’s shoulder and focused a satisfied smirk on Halee. “Are you meeting me for lunch, Honey?”
J.D. cast a disinterested look out at the passing buildings. “With the trainers all day, Cat. I told you that.”
“What am I supposed to do in this city all day by myself?”
“Take a tour or something,” said J.D. “Marcus, can you arrange a tour of the city for Cat? We don’t want her to get bored or nothin’.”
“Yes, Sir, Mr. Johnny. Tour bus leaves every hour from downtown Manhattan.”
“Bus?” Catrina winced. “I don’t do busses.”
“They do a fashion tour down in the garment district, might be of interest to ya, Miss Catrina,” Marcus offered.
“Maybe,” said Cat with a toss of her blonde head.
Halee glanced at Cat’s tight dress and wondered whether she still wore the satin duo underneath, wondered why a woman with underwear that fine still felt compelled to shop all day.
“Here we are,” said Marcus, pulling up in front of a tinted glass storefront.
Cat leaned over and planted a long, passionate kiss on J.D.’s lips while Marcus patiently held the door. She pushed her diamond clad hand against his strong chest in a too familiar way. J.D. didn’t flinch. “See you tonight, Baby,” she whispered. She slid out of the limo, turning one last time to sneer at Halee. She fixed her cold blue eyes on Halee’s unbuttoned blouse. “If that�
��s all you’ve got,” she said, “you might as well keep it to yourself.” She slammed the door and strutted to the salon’s entrance.
Marcus pulled away from the curb. Halee shifted uncomfortably, wondering why the lump in her throat was threatening to burst into a torrent of tears. What did she care what Catrina Hiett thought about her? Why was she embarrassed to be Halee McCarthy?
She stared out the limo window. Minutes went by without a word as they headed deeper into New York traffic. She could feel J.D. watching her.
“How’s Ty liking the new place?” he said at last.
Halee thought a minute. “He sleeps well,” she said without looking at him. “It’s quiet.”
J.D. nodded and continued to watch her. “Quiet at our place, too. Too quiet.”
Halee pulled out her phone, ostensibly checking for messages. The lump in her throat was growing larger. She felt the urge to run.
“I miss you, Halee.”
Halee peered over her phone and felt a stampede of hateful words break through the civility barrier she had constructed ever since J.D. had told her he didn’t want her in New York. “Cut the crap, J.D.,” she hissed. “Don’t even think of using me or Ty in your little scheme to get rich and famous. You can walk all over the Catrina Hietts of the world, but we’re not for sale.” She tapped on the glass and motioned for Marcus to lower the window that separated the driver from the passengers. “Let me out at the next block,” she said. "Please."
She slid out of the limo, grabbed her briefcase and walked briskly toward Federals Charities, never looking back.
***
“Did you get my list of guests?” asked Victoria. “I emailed it to you this morning.”
Halee nodded over her second cup of coffee. She’d spent the better part of her first day on the job scanning the New York skyline from her seventeenth floor office window, wondering if Ty was crying for her, and feeling badly about what she’d said to J.D. She’d hated the look on his face, hated the jealousy that seemed to creep out of nowhere and change her into a person she didn’t want to be. Her eyes still burned from the rush of hot tears that had finally broken free between the cab and the office. The brisk walk had felt good, brought her back to the edge of sanity. Now she was feeling antsy again.
“I want you to work with the designers and come up with a clever invitation,” said Victoria. “Two lives, two hearts joined in love…” she said in a dramatic voice. “Tying the knot…She said yes… the most precious day of her life.” She clasped her hands to her chest as if auditioning for a Broadway play. “John asked Catrina to be his wife...you get the drift,” she said, waving her hands. “Something sweet, something to drag the sentimental millionaires to the Waldorf. I want the event on the Starlight Roof. Seven o’clock. We can watch the sunset. The hotel has caterers. I’ll leave the menu in your hands.”
Halee finished her notes and looked up.
“How do you like the apartment?”
“It’s beautiful, Mrs. Pryor,” she said with a soft smile. “I feel like I’m living in a magazine.”
“J.D. and what’s-her-name bothering you?”
Halee cleared her throat. “I hardly see them, actually. Stephen and Cameron are terrific,” she said, changing the subject. “They’ve been great about showing me the city, getting me acclimated.”
“Good. How about the office?”
“Perfect.”
“Well, don’t get too comfortable. I want you to take a little trip.”
“A trip?”
“Yes. I want you to go to J.D’s home town and invite his family to the party. Personally.”
Halee dropped her pen. “I don’t understand.”
“His mother doesn’t have email and mail delivery is sporadic. She doesn’t own a cell phone and never answers her land line. From what I understand, she didn’t even know about J.D.’s contract until it hit the papers. I want her at the party.”
“I’m sure J.D. will invite her if he wants her there.”
Victoria held up her hand. “Non-negotiable. Karen has already made your travel arrangements. You leave at the end of the week.”
“Friday?”
“Is that a problem?”
Halee blew out an exasperated breath. “I’m barely settled into the apartment. There are a million details to arrange for the party…”
“All doable by phone.”
"It isn't easy to travel with Ty."
"Is the child going to get in the way of you performing your job?"
"No… I mean, to be honest, I just don't see the connection between the literacy office and my recruiting J.D.'s relatives to attend his engagement party."
"It's simple, Halee. This party will establish you as one of the top event planners in New York. People will be dying to come to any charity event you put on for us in the future."
"And J.D.'s estranged relatives fit in how?"
"Simple psychology, Darling. Right now J.D. is just another pretty boy in a fancy suit. For all we know, he's a rich kid who grew up with private lessons in the backyard of his father's mansion. New York can take him or leave him. Introduce a little small town flavor, a single mother, a dead father, a hand me down baseball mitt, and he's suddenly a human being New York can get behind, the personification of the American Dream. Now he's a phenomenon." Victoria leaned closer and lowered her voice. "And we sell tickets."
She jumped up, satisfied with her own brilliance. “Keep me posted on the invitations,” she sang, exiting the office.
Halee stared at her computer screen and typed in a search for invitation designers in New York, pushing back the low wave of nausea rising to the surface. She dialed the first number on her screen and rubbed her temples. Something was nagging at her, something beyond J.D.’s relationship with Catrina, whatever relationship that was. Her mind drifted back to the night when she and Tony had dragged J.D. back to his penthouse after his scuffle with Roudy. Just another deal to line his pockets. That’s how Tony had described J.D. Now she’d just had the same conversation with Victoria Pryor. It didn’t seem to matter to Victoria that J.D. might not like his history spread across the tabloids. It didn’t make any difference whether he wanted his mother to be at the party or not. The Federals owned J.D. lock stock and barrel.
“This isn’t what I signed up for,” she moaned, dropping her head into her hands.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I just want to teach poor women to read.”
“Sorry?” said a male voice on the other end of the phone. “This is Bailey’s Cards. You must have the wrong number…”
“You sound like a reasonable guy,” said Halee. “What’s your name?”
“Marvin.”
“Hi, Marvin. Can I ask you a question?”
“Um…I’m kind of busy…”
“If you fell in love with a woman, would you plan her engagement party?”
“Are you marrying her?”
“It’s a him.”
“I’d hire a wedding planner. Too many details.”
“I’m not marrying him. He’s marrying some bimbo who wears a red satin Wonderbra to breakfast.”
“And you need invitations.”
“I need a life, Marvin. I have a baby who belongs to someone else, a boyfriend who belongs to someone else; I live in an apartment that belongs to someone else…”
“Oh, Dear.” Marvin sighed. “Come down to the shop, Honey. I’ll make you a cup of tea. We’ll pick out the ugliest invitations in the book.”
***
Victoria Pryor settled back inside her office, kicking back in the plush red leather chair set behind an eight foot sheet of glass with nothing on it but a set of monographed ivory pens and a stack of business cards. Gazing out onto the skyline of Manhattan, she reached for her Blackberry and tapped out a number.
“You think J.D. is stubborn,” she said, studying her nails, “you should try dealing with Halee. I pity their children.”
Tony King laughed in his usual disingenu
ous way. “You mean you pity whoever marries their children. Is she on her way to the great state of Oklahoma?”
“Yes, of course. She’s leaving Friday. You underestimate me, as always.”
“No one underestimates you, my dear. At least not twice.”
Victoria stared at her perfect manicure and smiled. “Are you stroking my ego?”
“For starters.”
“Mmm. How delightful. And when will you be serving the second course?”
“I’ve made a reservation.”
“The usual?”
“Your favorite.”
“I’ll be working late again.”
“I’m counting on it.”
King disconnected and tapped J.D.’s number. “Where are you?”
“With the trainers. What’s up?”
“Your mother’s been trying to reach you all day. Says it’s urgent.”
J.D. snapped to attention. “What’s wrong? Why didn’t you call me sooner?”
“She something about a ranch hand getting hurt. Said she needed you down there pronto.”
J.D. hesitated. “Sonofa…”
“Don’t try to call her, either,” Tony added. “She said she won’t be home for a while.”
“Look, Tony, I know it looks bad, me just starting and all…”
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Tony reassured him. “Victoria knows all about it. Said to take all the time you need.”
“I’ll call you when I get there.” J.D. disconnected.
Tony tossed his phone on his desk and leaned back with a satisfied grin. “Let the fireworks begin.”
~FIFTEEN~
The line through security at LaGuardia International Airport snaked out toward ticketing, looping back on itself for what looked like a quarter mile. It seemed like half the city of New York had the same idea to get away for the weekend. After five long days on the job and away from Ty, Halee just couldn’t stomach the idea of leaving him behind while she flew off in search of J.D.’s relatives. She’d sent Stephen and Cam off on their own weekend getaway, packed two overnight bags, and called a cab. Thirty minutes later, after a wild cab ride through New York rush hour traffic that resulted in Ty throwing up dinner on her perfect white blouse and yanking her favorite necklace from her body, she was beginning to question her decision.
