Martinez, Mary - Classic Murder: Mr. Romance (BookStrand Publishing Romance)

by Mary Martinez

  Katie knew it was because she loved him and wanted him to see through to her inner self, past the physical. She was afraid he never would. God, she sounded conceited. Forcing her pity-party thoughts down to the depths of her being, she pulled her mind back to the task at hand.

  “I’m glad you told me before we got to the meeting. It could have proved to be awkward, me not knowing that my own assistant was his daughter.”

  “Believe me, he would have understood.” Katie smiled and looked out the window for the rest of the ride.

  * * * *

  “Good to see you again.” Adam shook the hand of the tall, well-dressed man when they entered the conference room.

  “Katie, this is Joseph Fillerman, CEO of Twelve Day Investments.” Then he turned toward the other three. “And these are the board members—Suzanne Gilmore, Candace Jones, and Harold Potts. Everyone, this is my assistant, Katie. I’m expecting one more person and then we can begin the meeting.”

  “Sorry I’m late, Adam, you know the traffic.” Logan Sinclair walked in as if he had all the time in the world, belying the fact that he was in a hurry. “Fillerman, nice to see you again.”

  “Sinclair, I didn’t know you were going to be here or I may have reconsidered my association with Russo,” Joseph stated angrily, then turned his attention to Adam.

  Adam raised his eyebrow at Katie, wondering what that last statement meant. Katie just shrugged, so he turned to everyone when all had taken their seats. After more introductions, for Logan’s benefit, the meeting finally commenced. Two hours of arguing about the merits of an acquisition and the meeting was over. Fillerman and the board left in a huff, leaving Adam, Katie, and Logan alone in the conference room.

  “Well, that was interesting. They don’t seem to be the least grateful that you’re trying to bail them out before the company claims bankruptcy,” Katie commented to Adam.

  “That’s because I’m trying to tie their hands so they can’t do it again. They want me to bail them out, then hand them their company back on a platter to run it into the ground. More money in their pockets and slave wages in their employees’ pockets. Blackmailing them into thinking the only way to save the company and more importantly, their jobs, is for them to take a cut in salary,” Adam said in disgust.

  “I agree. I’m not sure your helping this company out of its present situation is the best thing for the employees. Those board members will milk it dry and be on the verge of bankruptcy again within a year.” Logan gave a disgusted sigh.

  “I’d like to discuss this further, but not here. Do you want to go back to my office?” Adam asked.

  “I’m starving. I missed breakfast. There’s a good little deli around the corner, why don’t we go there?” Logan asked.

  “That sounds good, Dad.” Katie smiled at her dad when he looked at her in surprise, then continued. “Yes, Dad, Mr. Russo knows you’re my father.”

  “Well, it’s about time. It will be nice not to have to pretend you’re not my daughter.”

  “I’ve never asked you to do that. I just don’t advertise it,” Katie admonished.

  “Why?” Adam broke into their conversation.

  “Long story, but Dad’s right, I’m hungry. Let’s go.” Katie wasn’t going to explain her reasons to Adam. He’d just have to be curious.

  “Okay, let’s go,” Logan said, taking a hold of Katie’s arm. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Now if you’d just get rid of the god-awful glasses.”

  Katie smiled knowing how happy her dad would be the next time he saw her. She had called her eye doctor the evening before and ordered contacts with her current prescription. She should be able to pick them up in a day or two.

  * * * *

  Katie walked into her apartment, turned, and locked the deadbolt. As she tossed her briefcase onto the table by the door, she realized she’d forgotten to leave her notes on Adam’s desk. Blast. Oh well, he’s just going to have to wait until morning to get them.

  Oscar stood patiently at her feet, waiting to be noticed. After she pulled off her glasses, took her baggy cardigan off and hung it in the closet, she bent down to give him some attention.

  “Hey, Oscar dude, how’s it going? Were you bored here all day?” Katie stood and walked into the kitchen, grabbing some dog food out of the cupboard. Looking to where the dog dish usually sat, she raised her eyebrow in question at the dog.

  Oscar seemed to smirk at her a moment, then she could have sworn she heard a sigh as the dog turned to go back to the hall. A moment later, he returned with his dish hanging from his mouth.

  “I just don’t understand why you have to move the darn thing every day.” She hadn’t expected an answer. But Oscar barked, picked the bowl back up and turned to leave, so she followed him.

  Oscar led her through the hall to the living room and dropped the dish by the wall. She looked from the dish to Oscar in bewilderment, and then raised her eyes to the shelf above. It had a small framed photo taken of her and Oscar in Central Park by one of her friends. Bending, she gathered the dog up in her embrace.

  “Well, you old softy. You want to have your dish where you can see me during the day. Okay, I’ll let you have your way.” After kissing his furry head, she went back to the kitchen to retrieve the dog food. She filled his bowl, then sat on the nearby chair.

  “Guess what, Oscar? We’re going to have a good time tonight.” Katie laughed when the dog stopped eating and swung his gaze to hers in question.

  “It’s girl’s night. Everyone’s coming over for chick flicks and pedicures.”

  Oscar whined, plopped his head on the floor, and covered his head with his paws. Katie laughed and stood up, bending to pat the dog as she passed him on her way to her bedroom.

  Katie went to her bathroom, where she combed her hair out of its braid. Then, reaching into the cabinet, she brought out her spare glasses. As she put them on, she sighed in relief. The frames were lighter and didn’t really look like frames, more like two small rectangular pieces of glass in front of her eyes. Looking in the mirror, Katie admitted she looked almost like her old self.

  In her room, she took off her long brown skirt, pulled on some flannel lounge pants, and then changed her loose blouse for a T-shirt with a big pair of lips on it. Leaving her feet bare, she padded back to the living room. She’d have to straighten up the slight mess she and Oscar had made over the last several days. Mostly dishes and wadded-up tissues from watching sentimental old movies.

  Promptly at seven, the doorbell rang. Then seconds later, a knock was heard because Katie had forgotten to unlock the deadbolt so everyone could just walk in. Racing to the door, she threw the bolt to allow entrance to her friend.

  “Hey, what’s up?” Dottie asked as she bustled in with her footbath. Looking around for a spot, she finally set up by the chair closest to the television set.

  “Hi, Dottie, nothing out of the usual is happening. I’ve got my footbath in the other room. The others should be here soon.”

  “Except for Charlene. She’ll have some excuse about the lighting being bad, so she had to take several more pictures or something.”

  “Charlene does work hard,” Katie stated as she returned to the room with her footbath and set it up next to Dottie’s.

  “Hello, Katherine, Dorothy. Can one of you help me with this?” Francine asked.

  Katie rushed to help as Francine struggled through the door with her arm full of essentials for their monthly ritual.

  “What have you got in this bag?” Katie could barely lift the duffle bag.

  “Just things we need. Set it right here. So I see Charlene’s late as usual.”

  “I am not. I pulled in right behind you, Francine,” Charlene said from the doorway, causing everyone to jump.

  “Do you have to sneak up on people?” Francine complained as she put her hand to her chest.

  “I didn’t sneak up. I was right behind you.” Charlene’s voice was laced with exasperation.

  “Hi, everyone.
I’m so glad you guys invited me. It’s been too long.” They all swung around to stare at Janie.

  After graduation, Katie hadn’t kept up with Janie. She’d been too embarrassed about what had happened in high school. She wondered which one of her friends had decided to invite her.

  “Come on in. I see you brought everything you’ll need for our pedicure night.”

  The time to let go of the past was long overdue. It felt right to have Janie there for what Katie had planned.

  “Katie, you’re looking...” Janie paused, looking for words.

  “Same as usual?” Katie laughed out the question. She’d find out later who invited Janie and thank them.

  “I wouldn’t say that. I haven’t seen you with your hair down since high school.” Janie gasped and threw her hand over her mouth and stared at Katie.

  “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Let’s get you settled in so we can get started. Guys, what are we watching tonight?” Katie asked, trying to breeze over the awkward moment.

  “How ‘bout Love Actually, with Hugh Grant?” Dottie suggested.

  “Perfect!” Francine and Charlene exclaimed at the same time.

  “Everyone, get your water ready and I’ll throw in the take n’ bake pizza I picked up just for tonight. And I have a surprise.” Katie picked up her footbath to take into the kitchen with her. Setting it by the sink, she pulled open the fridge and took out the large vegetable pizza.

  “What?” She heard the girls’ chorus from the other room.

  “I said it was a surprise,” she called back.

  Chapter Four

  Half an hour later, they had an array of taboo snack foods and drinks arranged on the coffee table. While all of their feet soaked, Katie had added a metal candle tray to the collection. When she saw all of their questioning looks, she explained, “I think Janie being here is a sign.”

  “What do you mean?” Janie asked.

  “As you said, it’s time to let go of the past. Dottie, pause the movie.” Katie waited until the sound had stopped. “We’ll put an end to the past once and for all.”

  “Katie, you’re the one who won’t let go,” Francine admonished.

  Katie ignored her friend. Francine would understand, as would the rest of them soon.

  “You’re right. Janie’s boyfriend, now husband, was just a kid with raging hormones. It wasn’t his fault that he stereotyped me into the proverbial blonde bimbo cheerleader. We were all young and emotional, things got out of hand. It’s my own fault I’ve stewed so long about it. What? Am I sixteen or something?” She grinned at her friends, but then brought herself to a more sobering thought. “Today I’m going to let go of that fateful day after cheerleading practice.” Katie waited as Janie shifted in her seat and looked miserable.

  Katie didn’t blame her. After all these years, Janie joins them and Katie wants to take her back to one of the worst days of her life. “I promise, and I’ve kept this hanging over all our heads, not just mine. In order to let go, I need you to help me do this,” she begged. Her stomach rolled at the thought of dredging up the past, especially with Janie sitting across from her. So she’d wouldn’t, they all remembered what happened, they didn’t need her to take them through it step by step.

  “Janie, I’m so sorry, I accepted his date. I had no idea you were engaged to Jason.” Katie held her breath, waited for Janie to look at her. “I know I should have known. Unfortunately, I didn’t pay attention to things like the latest gossip about who’s with who, etc.” Silence fell over the room while everyone waited for Janie to respond. Katie swallowed, torn between anticipating she’d leave and hope that finally everything would be put away for good.

  Janie’s throat worked as she swallowed, then in a voice barely above a whisper she said, “Katie, you’re right, we were all young and looking back I know you are sincere. You wouldn’t have hurt me by going out with Jason if you’d known.” Francine handed Janie a handkerchief, as she had that day.

  A sigh escaped, and Katie smiled at everyone. “Now we have that ugly day behind us. Almost.” With a flourish, Katie pulled her ugly black frames from her pocket and set them on the candle tray.

  “Because of my own stupidity I used these glasses to hide behind. Hiding from the world who I really am. That’s over.” It felt as if a weight had lifted off her shoulders by just saying the words aloud to her friends.

  She motioned for everyone to lean closer, which was a little awkward since through the whole discussion they’d kept their feet in the footbaths. Then she solemnly said, “I burn these glasses, along with the past. From now on, I’ll dress however I want.” Katie knew it sounded childish, but she felt liberated for the first time in years. Free. “And you’ll all be glad to know I’ll be getting my new contacts tomorrow or the next day.” Everyone clapped at her news.

  Then they fell silent and watched as if mesmerized. The black plastic withered in the heat and the glass popped as it cracked and burned. Katie sniffed, and then one by one they all did. Her eyes began to mist and she started to gag. Katie looked around, and all of them seemed about to toss up the pizza they’d all had before their trip through the halls of memory lane. The smell was horrific.

  “Man, talk about killing a moment,” Katie complained.

  Still kneeling by Janie, she reached up and gave Janie a quick hug. Then Katie pulled herself up and ran to the kitchen to turn the fan on. Then, not knowing what else to do, she found a can of air freshener. That helped for about a nanosecond. After they got used to the smell, their eyes dried up and the moment was over.

  “Okay, want to talk about guys?” Katie giggled. It felt as if a ton of bricks had been lifted off her chest.

  “Is the Pope Catholic?” Dottie laughed.

  “I know—dumb question. Who has any news about their love life?” Katie asked everyone.

  “Why don’t you tell us about your ‘Mr. Romance’?” Francine requested. “At least you get to live vicariously through his love life. Mine is dull with a capital ‘D’.”

  “There’s nothing to tell, other than what everyone can read in the papers.” Katie wished she hadn’t brought up the subject.

  “We all know that you’re in love with him. Now that you’ve ditched the high school drama image I bet he’s going to ask you out. I want to know what you have planned for him.” Charlene bent down and adjusted the heat on the footbath.

  “I’m not going to accept any date with Adam. And I’m not in love with him. Where on earth did you get that idea?” Katie looked around the room at her friends.

  She was mortified when no one answered. But everyone laughed as if she had just told the funniest joke in the world. “I’m not!”

  “Just skip the denial and go right to your plans when you get him in the bedroom,” Dottie insisted.

  “No one is going to let this drop, are they?”

  “Nope. We aren’t,” Francine agreed.

  “Okay, I’m just going to humor you guys. Because I’m never going to find myself in ‘Mr. Romance’s’ bedroom!” Katie exclaimed in exasperation.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, you’re in the sexiest nightgown you have and you’re sitting in the center of his bed. What is the first thing you want to do?” Charlene slumped into her chair as if waiting to hear a bedtime story.

  “Mmm…” Katie closed her eyes and thought hard. She pictured Adam standing at the foot of the bed, and then he moved toward her. When she heard someone giggle, she opened her eyes a little, embarrassed about being caught in a daydream. “Well, the first thing I’d do is get up to go to the end of the bed. There I’d help him undress, starting with his shirt.”

  “Oh yes, then you could lick his little nipples. Don’t you just love to do that?” Dottie asked everyone.

  “Yes, I love it when they turn to hard little pebbles. You can pinch them, and oh I need to stop—I’m getting myself all hot and bothered.” Francine fanned her face with a cloth.

  Everyone laughed and the topic turned to other things,
mostly girl chatter. Oscar decided to retreat to another room, being outnumbered by females. The doorbell interrupted the girl talk. Katie wondering who it could be, and remembered they hadn’t bolted the door.

  “Come on in, it’s open,” she hollered, not wanting to go to the trouble of pulling her feet out of the nice hot water again and tromping to the door. A bang on the wall from next door interrupted them. All turned to Katie with raised eyebrows.

  “Mrs. Newcomb, the old bat,” Katie said, as if that explained everything.

  * * * *

  Adam pushed open the door and stopped at the sight that greeted him. There was Katie, surrounded by women he’d never seen before. They all sat with their pant legs rolled up and feet in tubs of bubbling water. The smell that emanated from the room should have been totally female.

  He closed the door behind him and walked further into the room. “What in God’s name is that smell?”

  “I seem to have burned my glasses. I won’t be wearing them anymore.”

  Adam regarded her for a moment and gave a half smile. “Better,” was the only comment he could manage to say without groaning. Her loose hair fell freely over her shoulders and down her back. She had smaller and more attractive glasses on. It confirmed what he had thought when she had dropped her ugly glasses the day before. She was a beauty. What she said about her taking after her mother came back to him, and he could now see that her words were true. And not just in their baby pictures.

  He had to pause to marshal his thoughts. For a moment, the reason he was there completely left his mind blank. He took a deep breath, and thank God, it came back to him.

  “Hello ladies, looks like I’ve interrupted a girls’ night. I’m really sorry about that.” His smile encompassed them all. “Katie, I’m sorry to disturb your party, but I need those papers you were going to leave on my desk.”