Behind the Red Doors

by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Stephanie Bond

  Today, however, even the excellent coffee didn’t seem to be lifting anyone’s mood. Their expressions were grim as they studied something they’d found in the Tribune.

  Faith glanced up and saw Jamie. “Good. You’re here. You’d better come and take a look at this.”

  “Okay.” Jamie unwrapped her scarf and flipped back her hood as she wound her way through the groupings of leather chairs and chunky wooden tables. She combed her short red hair with her fingers, but doubted anything she did to it would matter to Dev. She assumed he liked long hair, as did most men. Faith had gorgeous long hair, but Jamie’s had so much natural curl that if she let it grow she’d look like Little Orphan Annie.

  Dev reached out and snagged a chair from the next table and pulled it over beside him. “Maybe we shouldn’t let Jamie see this until she’s had her caffeine.”

  “A double espresso won’t prepare her for this piece of Shinola,” Dixie said.

  Jamie stuck her purse under her chair and slipped out of her coat as she sat. Dev, raised as a gentleman, helped her with the coat. The casual way he managed it reminded her that, from his standpoint, there were no sparks. A guy with lust on his mind would allow his hand to linger, maybe only for a nanosecond, but Jamie would feel that pause. With Dev, there was no pause.

  As for Jamie, sitting next to Dev always changed the rate of her breathing. She had to adjust to his thigh brushing hers—ooh—and his aftershave tempting her—aah—before she could turn her attention to the full-page ad Dixie had shoved in front of her.

  And she still could barely focus, with such a hunk-a-munk right there beside her. Dev always smelled so sexy. After aromatherapy had become her hobby and she’d studied pheromones, she’d understood why. From her standpoint, he was mate material. It didn’t seem to work in reverse, though. She’d never caught him breathing deeply and sighing around her.

  She finally forced herself to concentrate on the Tribune ad that had upset everyone. Large type across the top of the page read Guys! Take The Guesswork Out Of Gifts For Her! A few cheesy graphics of women in lingerie followed, then came the words “Stumped for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift? Hate to shop in lingerie stores? Let our software help you choose her soft wear!”

  As rage slowly replaced her dreamy state, Jamie scanned the rest of the ad for a name and address. The place was called The Gift Program and it was about six blocks away. Almost close enough for lobbing a hand grenade. Someone had stolen her brilliant idea. “Talk about solid-brass cojones.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Dixie said. “Think you could hack your way into their database and give them a nasty virus?”

  “I’m thinking legal action.” Faith tapped at the paper with one manicured fingernail. “They can’t get away with this, can they, Dev?”

  “I’m pretty sure they can,” Dev said. “It’s hard to claim ownership of a general concept like this. Go ahead and ask Dad’s lawyers if you want, but I’ll bet they’ll tell you to ignore it.”

  “How are we supposed to ignore it?” Dixie asked. “We’ve been screwed without being kissed!”

  Alfred Willis, the distinguished-looking widower they’d hired to run The Red Bean, set an espresso down next to Jamie. He’d made a point of knowing what each of them liked and always brought it over whenever they appeared in his territory. The tinge of red on his ears meant he’d heard Dixie’s last remark.

  Dixie might have said it partly to get a rise out of him. Because he was so formal in his bearing, everyone except Dixie called him Mr. Willis. She insisted on using his first name and seemed to enjoy knocking him off-kilter.

  Jamie took pity on him and gave him a smile. “Thanks, Mr. Willis. I can really use this today. Did you notice that we have competition?”

  He gave the ad a disdainful glance. “I wouldn’t trouble myself with that lot.”

  “You wouldn’t?” Listening to his Britspeak always made her feel more civilized. “Why not?”

  He waved a hand at the ad. “It’s obviously an inferior establishment. The Red Doors’s clientele wouldn’t dream of popping in there. Now, may I offer anyone a bit more coffee?”

  “Thanks, but I have to get up to my office,” Dev said.

  “I think we all do,” Faith said, but she made no move to leave.

  “Then perhaps I’ll check on a bagel delivery that seems to have gone missing.” Mr. Willis headed back toward the counter area.

  “He has a point about the new store,” Dev said after he left. “They may be copycats, but from the looks of this ad, they’re underfunded copycats, so you may just have to outlast them. And if the store looks as cheap as this ad, customers won’t enjoy going there.”

  Jamie sighed. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Maybe your friends wouldn’t be caught dead in there, but I can picture my dad and two brothers giving it a shot.”

  Dixie frowned. “I think you’re wrong, sugar. They seemed to be enjoying themselves when they were here at Christmas.”

  “They did, but my dad commented on the overhead we must be paying. My family doesn’t mind a warehouse atmosphere if they think they’re getting a deal. And we can’t survive by attracting only upscale customers. We need the working-class shopper, too.”

  Faith nodded. “You’re right. So what can we do to make The Red Doors a better alternative to—” she glanced at the ad and grimaced “—The Gift Program?”

  “You go them one better,” Dixie said. “What if a woman could go into the kiosk, answer questions about her particular guy—like his hobbies, his job, his general attitude about life—and the computer would tell her what to buy for themselves to turn him on?”

  “So the women start using the kiosks, too,” Jamie said, liking the idea already. “But we’d have to gather some data on types of men and what gets them hot.”

  “Dev can help with that,” Faith said immediately.

  “Hey, wait a minute.” Dev pushed back his chair. “I agree that the idea has promise, but I do work for a living, you know. In fact, the stock market opens in ten minutes and I—”

  “It won’t take long.” Faith grabbed the sleeve of his suit jacket. “This doesn’t have to be totally scientific. It’s a fun thing. Lighthearted.”

  “It has to be sort of scientific,” Jamie said. “I mean, we don’t want to mislead—”

  “It’s simple,” Dixie said. “Men are much easier to figure out than women.”

  “Now I’m really leaving,” Dev said.

  “And I’m really leaving,” Dixie said. “I have several things to do before we open this morning. You kids fight this out, but I really think it would work.” She pushed back her chair, grabbed her fake chinchilla coat and headed for the winding staircase. “Just like Tara,” she said with a grin as she started up it.

  “Please, Dev,” Faith said to her brother after Dixie left. “This is a really good idea, and we don’t have much time. Think about your friends and what type of women they’re attracted to. I guarantee the men will fall into general categories.”

  “I think you’re right.” Jamie started getting excited about the concept. “If I take my brothers and their friends as examples, I can see patterns. The program should be easy to get up and running, and we can fine-tune it as we go.”

  “And when am I supposed to do all of this?” Dev asked. “With the market the way it’s been, I’m up to my ears dealing with my clients.”

  Faith waved away his protest. “The market closes every afternoon. You could get together with Jamie in the evenings. Jamie, you could meet with Dev at night to work on this, right?”

  Jamie opened her mouth and prayed that an answer would come out. Something light and breezy. Something about checking her calendar. Something—anything—that would keep Dev from suspecting that the idea of spending an evening alone with him had just fried her circuits.

  She gulped. “Uh, Faith, you’ll come over, too, right?”

  CHAPTER TWO

  SHE DIDN’T WANT to be alone with him. The truth hit Dev like a hock
ey puck to the gut. For weeks he’d been working up his courage to make a tiny move in her direction, such as suggesting they walk down to the deli together for a sandwich. He’d never been this nervous about asking a woman out, but Jamie was so damned smart that he figured he’d make a fool of himself if he ever had to carry on a solo conversation with her.

  He’d been almost ready to chance it, anyway, because there was this sexual thing that happened every time he looked at her. That sleek little body of hers turned him on, and he’d become obsessed with the idea of making love to her. He’d never been attracted to a tomboy before, but lately the image of being in bed with Jamie had become a major component of his fantasy life.

  If he could avoid acting too stupid when they were alone, then maybe eventually she’d let him kiss her. Once they got into that and moved beyond into getting naked, her superior brain power might not matter.

  But if she didn’t want to be alone with him, he’d never get out of the starting gate. “I, um, have stuff to do this week,” he said to salvage his pride. “Tonight I was supposed to—”

  “Never mind, then,” Jamie said too quickly. “I’ll just work with my brothers and their friends.”

  “Don’t let him back out now,” Faith said. “Turns out I’m busy tonight, but I think you should make the effort, Dev. Couldn’t you switch some things around so you can go over to Jamie’s?”

  Dev could cheerfully wring Faith’s neck. “I wouldn’t have time to talk to the guys by tonight.”

  “Really, Faith, I can get Justin and Brad to—”

  “Sure you can, but we have Dev in our sights. Why not start with him?”

  “Because I want a willing subject?”

  Jamie’s innocent comment started his engines all over again.

  “Dev will be willing, won’t you, Dev?”

  You have no idea, baby sister.

  “You wouldn’t jeopardize this chance to get a jump on the competition, would you?”

  Dev’s eyes narrowed as he gazed at Faith. Now his suspicions were aroused along with the rest of him. She was too damned eager about his participation. “Are you sure there’s not something else going on here?”

  She blinked, all innocence. “What else could be going on?”

  He’d seen that look too many times, and it always meant Faith was up to something. “You could be getting Jamie to be your stool pigeon.”

  “What?” Jamie and Faith said together.

  “It’s possible. The whole family wants to marry me off. They’re not even subtle about it anymore.”

  His sister relaxed back in her chair with a big grin. “I know what this is about. Helena.”

  “Who’s Helena?” Jamie asked.

  “I still say Mom and Aunt Judi sabotaged the motor on that boat,” Dev said, trying to stare Faith down, but she’d had a lot of practice in these staring contests of theirs and she held her ground.

  “That’s possible,” Faith said, still smiling.

  “What boat?” Jamie asked.

  Faith turned to her. “Last summer my mom and aunt Judi set Dev up with Helena Throckmorton.”

  “Set up being the operative term.” Dev scowled at her. “So, under protest, I took her out sailing, but the wind died.”

  “Which you can’t blame Mom for.”

  “No, but she sure as hell could’ve been listening to the weather reports and known that was due to happen. And she could have had something to do with the motor acting up.”

  Faith started laughing. “Poor boy.” She glanced over at Jamie. “He got stranded with a wild woman who tried to take advantage of him.”

  “Isn’t that every guy’s fantasy?” Jamie looked at Dev with an impish smile.

  If his sister hadn’t been there, he’d have leaned over and kissed that saucy expression right off her face.

  “Not my brother’s fantasy, apparently.”

  “I didn’t even know the woman! Just you try being stranded on a thirty-footer with a woman who’s flinging off her clothes.”

  Jamie’s eyes widened. “She really took off her clothes?”

  “So he claims,” Faith said. “I think she was planning to seduce him and then demand that he make an honest woman of her.”

  “Oh, do you think?” Dev folded his arms over his chest. “After that, you can’t call me paranoid for being wary of this latest project. If I give a list of my favorite turn-ons to Jamie and she passes them over to you, I can imagine that being used against me.”

  “Dev, Dev, Dev.” Faith shook her head. “As if I would ever go to that much trouble to find out your weak spots with women.”

  He decided not to look at Jamie, who still wore that cute little smile that made him want to kiss the living daylights out of her. “So none of you will make use of this information to set a trap for me?”

  Faith made an X over her heart. “Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. This info will not be used to create the perfect marriage candidate for my brother. Why should I want you to get married? Once you do, Mom and Dad will turn their attention to me and want to know why I don’t have a husband on the horizon. C’mon, Dev. This is important.”

  He couldn’t see any way to wiggle out of it. Jamie would have to tolerate his presence. He just hoped she wouldn’t smile like that tonight, or he might have trouble controlling himself. “Then I’ll do it.” He pushed back his chair. “I gotta go. Jamie, I’ll see you at seven-thirty tonight.”

  “You remember where I live, right?”

  He stood and retrieved his topcoat and briefcase. “Are you still in that apartment just off of Addison?”

  “Yep. Third floor, 6C.”

  “See you then.” He walked toward an exit on the far side of the coffee bar that opened onto the ground-floor lobby of the Sherman Building. From there he would take an elevator to his offices on the sixty-fifth floor. Technically he’d be far away from Jamie, but he knew he’d be thinking about her all day long.

  JAMIE WATCHED until he was out of sight. Then she turned to Faith. “Okay, is there something fishy going on?”

  “No.” But mischief danced in Faith’s blue eyes. “At least not yet.”

  “Faith Sherman, if you’re trying to get Dev married off on my watch, so help me—”

  “I wouldn’t do that.”

  Jamie sighed with relief. “Good.”

  “What I would do is use this perfectly legitimate excuse to get you two alone together.”

  Jamie stared at her, and all the blood left her brain. “What…what do you mean?”

  Faith leaned closer. “We’ve been friends for almost twelve years. I would have to be beyond dense not to know you have a thing for my brother.”

  Jamie could see there was no sense in denying it. She buried her face in her hands and groaned. “Does he know?”

  “Of course not. Guys don’t pick up on that stuff.”

  Jamie lifted her head. “You’re sure?”

  “Absolutely. Furthermore, he’s intrigued by you, too.”

  “He is not.”

  “He’s my brother, and I say he is. I’ve seen the looks he gives you, and I don’t think he comes for coffee every morning for Dixie’s and my company.”

  “Well, duh! He comes for the coffee. You’ve heard him rave about the cherry-bark blend.”

  “Okay, he likes the cherry-bark blend, but he also likes you. You scare him a little bit because you’re so bright, but that’s good for him. He thinks he wants somebody who won’t challenge him intellectually, but I think that’s why he’s bounced from woman to woman. He gets bored.”

  “Faith! You sound like you’re trying to set us up!”

  “Why not?” Faith smiled at her. “Why wouldn’t I want my best friend to date my brother?”

  “Oh, I dunno. Because I’m not remotely, by any stretch of the imagination, your brother’s type?”

  “I don’t think he knows his type. But his answers to the questions might give you some ideas.”

  “I’m su
pposed to be creating a program for The Red Doors!”

  “So, multitask!”

  Still unable to believe they were having this conversation, Jamie gazed at her friend in astonishment. “Okay, let’s try this discussion from a different angle. I don’t seem to be getting through. Here’s the deal. I don’t fit into Dev’s world.”

  Faith stared at her. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “You know perfectly well.” Jamie sighed impatiently. “I’m not glamorous. I’m not…”

  “Rich?”

  “There is that. The dot.com windfall was the first serious money I’ve ever seen in my life, and it’s all sunk into the business.”

  “You and I are friends.” There was an edge to Faith’s voice. “Has that been a problem for you?”

  “No, but—”

  “I don’t know what you’ve been telling yourself about Dev, but he’s no snob. If he dates women from a certain level of society, that’s probably because those are the ones he comes in contact with. But he values people, not social position. You’ve created something in that fertile brain of yours that isn’t even a problem.”

  Jamie couldn’t very well continue the argument without risk of insulting both Faith and her brother. “All that aside, I’ll guarantee he likes a woman who wears silk instead of cotton and who knows her way around the cosmetics counter.”

  “And that is exactly what you’re going to find out tonight.” Faith glanced at her watch. “Come on, partner. It’s time to get to work.”

  DURING A VERY LONG DAY at the office, Jamie’s lack of enthusiasm about seeing him tonight kept flashing into Dev’s mind like a brake light, warning him not to get too excited about the appointment. He wasn’t used to women shying away, and that’s what Jamie had done from the beginning.

  He’d kidded himself that she wasn’t skilled at the man-woman thing, but now he had to face the possibility that she didn’t like him much. So tonight would be complicated. He’d been attracted to Jamie ever since that Valentine’s dinner at the Pump Room.