Making her Smile
By Elizabeth Lennox
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Copyright 2017
ISBN13: 9781944078676
All rights reserved
Chapter 1
“Your fiancée is here to see you,” Marie announced, standing in the doorway while maintaining as much distance between the two of them as possible.
Phillip barely glanced up from whatever he was looking at on the computer screen and her fingers tightened angrily on the doorknob. The man was completely oblivious! If it didn’t have a number in it or didn’t have the potential to make a million dollars, Phillip didn’t acknowledge it.
Marie had known this from the beginning, so there was absolutely no reason she should feel jealous. She also knew that Phillip had no feelings, other than familial obligations when it came to his fiancée. But Lillian was a lovely woman, kind and generous, courteous and warm. She didn’t deserve this kind of negligence on the part of her fiancé.
“Phillip!” she snapped. When his hands froze on the keyboard and he looked over at her, she knew that she finally had his full attention.
“Yes, Marie?” he asked, his voice smooth and sexy.
She glared at him, furious that he was doing his “thing”. It was his way of making her feel silly, but a long time ago, she’d learned to counter that look. She suspected that her retaliation amused him, but she got her point across so that was positive.
Looking at him with raised eyebrows and her own “look” that told him he was being a jerk, she patiently repeated, “Your fiancée?” she repeated. “Lillian? The woman you’re going to marry in a few days?” she prompted sarcastically.
Another chuckle and she wanted to slap him, but she knew that she needed to stay far away from him. She’d learned her lesson and wasn’t stupid enough to ignore that lesson.
“I’m fully aware of my future wife’s name, Marie,” he pointed out, leaning back in his leather chair.
Marie glared at his sarcasm, wondering if he really did know who his fiancée was. Lifting her chin, she glared across the wide expanse of carpet at her boss. “She’s here and she wants to speak with you.”
He looked at his computer once again, typing something on the keyboard. “She doesn’t have an appointment.”
Marie rolled her eyes, furious that he would dare to say something so outrageous. Was the man even in love with Lillian? Sometimes, she doubted it. No way could he love Lillian the way that Marie…well, he didn’t act like a man in love. “Phillip! She’s your fiancée! She shouldn’t need an appointment. Lillian should be able to stop in any time she wants!” She took a deep breath, trying to calm her temper. “You’re just trying to rile me again, aren’t you?”
He laughed once more, nodding his head. “Yes. But you know I love it when you think you can boss me around.”
Stiffening, Marie refused to look at him. If she looked into those beautiful, chocolate eyes of his, she’d be lost. Again!
“I’ll tell her that you were…”
“Just open the door and let her come in, Marie. There’s no need to give her any explanation. She knows me pretty well.”
Marie stood there glaring at him for another long moment, but when he simply lifted a brown eyebrow in amusement, she knew that her anger wasn’t making an impact and she gave up.
Pulling the door open, she smiled at Lillian, and held the door open for her. When the sweet, beautiful blonde was inside Phillip’s office, Marie pulled the door closed, not wanting to see or hear anything that Phillip might say to Lillian.
Jealousy was not pretty and it wasn’t kind, she thought. She’d been working for Phillip for the past year and, over the months, she’d gotten to know the man. He might be completely focused on numbers and strategy, but he was good at it. Damn good! She never understood how he could anticipate market trends so perfectly, but he did and she was amazed. But even more than that, she listened to him, talked to him. She’d gotten to know him. He was funny and charming, his southern manners coming out in unexpected ways.
He might be oblivious to the subtle nuances of romancing a woman, but he always held the door for her, he was aware of her efforts assisting him during the day and never failed to thank her for her work, even though he paid her an extravagant salary. When she made a mistake, he rarely pointed it out to her and even admonished her for being too hard on herself for those mistakes.
Sitting at her desk, she pulled up the schedule for the rest of the day, her eyes immediately drawn to the evening. Breathing a sigh of relief, she was glad to see that there were no wedding events planned for tonight. In fact, there wasn’t anything else until Friday night when Phillip was scheduled for the rehearsal dinner.
Of course, his bachelor party wasn’t on her schedule. She was fairly sure that his college buddies would be taking him out. Her phone ringing at her elbow interrupted her thoughts, but she looked at the number and smiled. Speak of the devil, she thought.
“Good morning, Detective Shaw. How can I help you today?” she asked the devilishly handsome man. The hottie detective was one of Phillip’s best men and a sweetheart to boot. The man was an incorrigible flirt, but unlike when Phillip teased her, Tony’s efforts only made her laugh.
“You can tell me that one of my best friends has come to his senses and isn’t doing anything crazy next weekend, like getting married.”
She chuckled, knowing that the man was only half joking. “I’m sorry to say, Detective, but the wedding is still on his schedule.”
The man sighed and she could just picture the sparkle in the incorrigible man’s eye, even though he was miles away. “Poor guy. But that just means…”
“You’re not organizing the bachelor party, are you?” she asked, wary now. It would be one thing if one of the other men organized it. But if Tony Shaw was in charge…? This could be dangerous. Especially since Tony really did know all of the dangerous and decadent places in New Orleans.
His deep chuckle immediately banished all hope. “I am definitely organizing the bachelor party, my beauty. Are you joining us?” he teased.
“Not even if you could prevent me from being arrested, Detective.” Marie turned to her computer, ignoring his husky laughter. “When did you want to have this evening of debauchery?”
“Me and the guys are looking at tomorrow night.”
“Will he need that much time to recover?” she asked, clicking her mouse on that day to check his calendar.
“He definitely will!”
She smiled. “He’s free that day after six o’clock.”
“Got it!” He paused and she heard him typing something. “Okay, e-mail sent out. Don’t read his. You’ll blush.”
She laughed, but clicked on the message anyway when it appeared in Phillip’s in-box.
“You just read it, didn’t you?” Tony teased.
She didn’t bother to answer, too shocked by what she was reading. “Really? You’re taking Phillip out for cigars and a whisky night?”
“Hey, it’s what the old man wanted.”
She could sort of believe that. Phillip wasn’t one for a whole bunch of debauchery. “What about strip clubs and hookers?”
Tony laughed. “Seriously, Marie? Could you imagine Phillip in a strip club?”
She tried to picture her formal, staid boss in a strip club and shook her head. “Nope. You’re right. But then again, I can’t imagine him smoking a cigar either.”
Tony chuckled again. “Yeah, well, you might be right about that.”
Marie typed the time
into Phillip’s calendar, shaking her head as she did it. “Still…I thought the traditional bachelor party was a night filled with sexy ladies and drinking until the groom can’t stand at the altar any longer?”
“Are you volunteering to join us after all?”
“I know you’re joking. Goodbye, Detective.”
“You’re going to have to call me Tony eventually, Marie. I’m breaking down all of those formal barricades you hide behind. You know that right?”
Marie smiled, relieved that he couldn’t see her. He really was a heart-breaker. “Goodbye, Detective,” she repeated with more emphasis and laughed when she heard his deep chuckle on the other end of the line. They both hung up though and she turned back to her computer with a smile.
As soon as she hung up, the phone rang again and she looked at the number. This was the call Phillip had been waiting for this morning. The man was an investigator. “Mr. Mathews. Do you have the information?”
“I’m here in the building now, coming up from the lobby. Does Phillip have time for me? He’s going to want to see this.”
Marie looked over her shoulder at the door behind her, cringing because she knew that Lillian was in there with Phillip. But she also knew that this information might be critical to Phillip’s next move. If he didn’t get this cleared up, he wouldn’t be able to relax on his honeymoon.
“I’ll get him for you.”
“I’ll be in the conference room.”
Marie nodded, even though the man couldn’t see her, then buzzed Phillip. “I’m sorry, Phillip, but Mr. Mathews is heading to the conference room and he says he has information that you need to hear immediately.”
“He’s here now?”
Marie mentally cringed at the surprise in his voice. “Yes. He said he wanted to give you this information in person.”
“Got it. Okay, I’ll be there in a moment.”
Marie hung up, then hurried over to the table where she kept all of the active files Phillip was working on. She pulled out the relevant documents and had them ready when he pulled open the door.
“Here’s the case file. I don’t know if Mr. Mathews will have information on this one as well, but I pulled it, just in case.”
“Thanks Marie. Hopefully, we’ll know which way to move after I talk with Dan.”
Chapter 2
Wednesday night, Phillip lifted his glass of whiskey up to admire the light that shined through it. His friends were reveling in the night, but all he wanted to do was give Marie a call to see how…
He stopped, and froze…stunned when he realized where his mind was going. He wanted to call his assistant to find out if she had recovered from the stressful day? Why wasn’t his mind thinking about Lillian? In fact, his fiancée had come to his office yesterday, needing to talk to him, but they hadn’t even gotten around to whatever she needed to discuss with him. And ever since that moment when he’d walked out of his office, he hadn’t thought about her at all. Not once.
And yet, Marie…he thought about her constantly. They talked at night, discussing his schedule for the next day. He called her in the morning, teasing her during his morning run because he knew he’d woken her up. He liked doing that. He loved thinking about her long lashes fluttering against her white skin and...
Hell! He was not in love with his assistant! He acknowledged that he wasn’t in love with Lillian either, but he and his fiancée would make a good pair. Their upcoming marriage was solid, based on mutual interests and families that had known each other for generations. He and Lillian shared a history together. They’d attended each other’s high school graduations…although separate years since he was older than she was. He’d even attended her college graduation celebration several years ago. They had the same social circles, knew the same people, enjoyed the same activities…on paper, they were a perfect match. Which is why they were getting married.
So…why was he thinking about Marie? His assistant would legitimately kick his butt if she knew that he’d suddenly been having sexual fantasies about…
“What’s wrong?” Stephen Markum, one of his groomsmen and college buddies asked, his hand frozen midway to his mouth.
“You okay, Phillip?” Tony chimed in as well, both of them noticing that he’d jerked upright.
Phillip ignored his friends, not sure what was going on. “What the hell?!” Phillip muttered. He’d never fantasized about Marie before! Where had that thought from?
And yet, hadn’t he woken up with a raging hard-on the other morning? And it certainly wasn’t Lillian’s blonde beauty that had invaded his dream. No, he distinctly remembered dark brown hair and…hell! Pink nipples!
Damn, he realized that he had no idea what color Lillian’s nipples were. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t had sex with his fiancée! In this day and age, waiting until after the wedding to make love was…well, it was antiquated! And yet, neither he nor Lillian seemed to have any urge to rectify that situation.
He suddenly realized that he wasn’t even remotely sexually attracted to his fiancée!
Looking around, his friends were all laughing and joking about something. He had no idea what because he was too immersed in his own shocking realizations to pay attention. How the hell could he be mere days away from his wedding, and only now realizing that he had no sexual feelings for the woman he was about to marry?!
He’d been too wrapped up in work to really pay attention to the wedding plans, which, again, was ridiculous. Until Marie mentioned it about a month ago, he hadn’t even realized his wedding was on his calendar. All of the arrangements had gone through Marie.
How the hell had he gotten to this point in his wedding planning and not realized the primary issue? He didn’t want to marry Lillian. He’d never even questioned marrying her. From the first moment his mother had mentioned the possibility, it had all made sense. Not that he’d ever really thought about getting married before his mother had brought up the subject, but after his agreement, it seemed as if the dating and engagement had created a life of its own. One that he hadn’t been in control of.
Even the engagement ring had been given to Lillian by his mother. It had been his grandmother’s engagement ring, but his mother had taken it to be reset into a more modern setting and then just couriered over to Lillian’s office. He hadn’t even seen it until Lillian had shown up for dinner that evening.
What an ass he’d been! His mother had gotten him engaged! What kind of man allowed something like that to happen? Granted, he’d been incredibly busy lately, preoccupied with several mergers that had added significant value to his hedge fund. But there was no excuse for being more intimately involved in a business merger than he was with his fiancée!
If any of his friends had told him something like that, he would have ridiculed them. Looking around, he realized that his friends were all celebrating his upcoming wedding a whole lot more than he was. Granted, he’d just realized that he was marrying the wrong woman, but…
Woah!
The wrong woman?
Phillip blinked, but he still couldn’t focus on anything around him.
Shouldn’t he say that he shouldn’t be getting married? Why did Marie’s face pop into his mind? Well, actually, at this particular moment, it wasn’t her face that he was thinking about. He was visualizing her full breasts in the soft, cotton sweater she’d worn to the office today. And those points that had…had she been cold this morning during their meeting? He’d thought it had been a bit warm but…her cheeks had been flushed, her lips soft.
A jealous rage unlike anything he’d ever experienced hit him as he realized that Marie had been fantasizing about some guy! His Marie had been…
No, she wasn’t his. Lillian was his woman!
“You okay, old man?” Tony asked, sitting down next to Phillip.
“I’m fine,” he snapped, then tried to relax his shoulders when Tony’s eyebrows lifted in question at the sharp tone.
“You don’t look fine,” he replied, lifting his gl
ass of whiskey to his lips. “You look like someone just gave you a kitten and you have no clue what to do with it.”
Phillip stared at his friend, shocked that Tony was so astute. “What makes you say that?” he asked carefully, Tony was an amazingly perceptive guy. His parents were pretty wealthy too, and had been horrified that their son had decided to join the police force instead of a law firm. They’d argued until they were blue in the face that a police officer was not worthy of their blue blooded heritage. Since Tony held a law degree, and had even passed the bar exam, they constantly urged to him to at least join the FBI. He argued right back that they weren’t in charge of his life and he was going to do what he wanted. He even threatened to give up his trust fund if they didn’t stop bothering him about it.
Tony considered being a homicide detective a bit like putting together pieces of a puzzle, with the added excitement of the danger involved. The three of them, Tony, Stephen, and himself had been friends since college. They’d all been in the same fraternity together and had done a lot of stupid stuff over the years. But he doubted either of his best friends had ever become engaged to the wrong woman.
In this case, Phillip didn’t want Tony to realize that there was a mystery. The man was as tenacious as a pit bull and wouldn’t relent until he’d figured out what was going on.
“Are you even listening to me?” Tony demanded, pouring more amber liquid into Phillip’s glass.
“Of course,” he replied, lying through his teeth.
Tony looked at him as if he didn’t believe him. Smart man. “What did I just say?”
Phillip rolled his eyes, pretending that he was irritated, when in reality, he hadn’t a clue. “You were hounding me about not marrying Lillian because you don’t like her.”
“My comments had absolutely nothing to do with your wedding. And I like Lillian. If you were to pick any random stranger off the street, you wouldn’t find any woman who fit you and your life better than Lillian.”
Phillip turned his head towards his best friend. “Why would you say that?”
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