by Cara Adams
Cam snorted. “I bet you hand out the designer’s business cards to everyone who smiles at you and haven’t had to pay that fee since the very first time.”
“Almost.”
“What’s the event tomorrow night?” asked Hammer.
* * * *
Allegra dropped the shower cap onto the floor, untied her hair, and worked her fingers through the braid, loosening all the strands until her hair fell free down her back. She shook her head, letting her hair settle itself naturally over her shoulders. Her brain was working as fast as her fingers.
Tomorrow night’s cocktail party was to promote a charity whose name was a mass of initials that meant nothing to her. However, the company said it was important to attend, so she’d accepted. Many people would be bringing partners or guests. It was the kind of event where everyone would be standing up and moving around all evening so an extra twenty or thirty people was a good thing, not a problem.
Did she want to bring them? Hammer had been born into the social circle for which these parties were the norm, but he’d left that background behind quite deliberately by choosing a career in construction. Cam had made it clear he wasn’t used to such events, although he was a very friendly person and would undoubtedly be able to talk to people and fit in with them.
Allegra had never been overly fond of such evenings. Much of the talk was quite artificial, and some of the people were downright hypocritical. However, there were nice people as well, people she’d like to consider her friends. Plus, there was the fact that if she was genuine about wanting to rise in her career—and she was—she did need to network with people in similar fields to her own. Until she became known, no one could be expected to be interested in her.
“It’s a cocktail party fundraiser for a charity. You could both come with me if you wanted to. But I need to warn you, I’m only going to work. I plan to be made partner as soon as I can, and a partner needs to know the other people who work in our field.”
She saw Cam shoot a glance at Hammer before he answered. “I’d like to go just to spend time with you. It was amazing seeing you in court, and I’d like to watch you interacting with your world. But what would it involve for me? I could try to memorize people’s names and jobs, but I don’t know how good I’d be at it. I can promise not to say anything rude to people though. My mama brought me up to have good manners.”
She smiled at him. “For some of these people, all you need to do is nod and smile. They’re happy to do all the talking. There’ll be plenty of alcohol, although I usually only have one glass and then switch to soda, and lots of tiny hors d’oeuvres to nibble on. I expect there’ll be music and dancing and a couple of speeches. That’s about it. I’ll read through the guest list and make a note of people I’d like to meet and talk to, but you wouldn’t have to stay by my side. You might find people you know or want to meet as well.”
Allegra looked at Hammer. He would be the one who would find this event unpalatable. But perhaps Cam would come with her and Hammer stay home.
“It’s been ten years since I walked away from my grandfather’s world. I’ve changed a lot over those years. I hope I’ve even grown up and matured somewhat. Maybe it’s time I took another look inside his world. If I don’t like it, I don’t have to go back again.”
“If you dislike the party, you don’t have to stay. I was planning to go by taxi anyway and can easily still do that.”
“Why go by taxi if you aren’t planning to drink?” asked Cam.
Allegra sighed. She hoped she wasn’t going to sound paranoid, to these men who were so kind and considerate. “There are still some older men around who don’t approve of successful women. Fortunately I’m still low enough on the totem pole to avoid most of their attention, but things can still happen. Men spike women’s drinks all the time. Every woman knows she can’t leave her glass unattended for a second. It’s also very easy for someone to let the air out of a woman’s tires and then offer to help her change the wheel or something like that. I try to eliminate any potential risk.”
“It sounds like you need us there to look after you just like Sierra Bond has her two werewolves,” said Hammer.
Cam flashed Hammer a worried look, but Allegra guessed the Dom had said it on purpose. Since Sierra was her mentor she would, of course, know about Sierra’s partners. She’d wondered how much they knew about their boss, Darcy, and Juliana and Jason’s partner, Beckett. The fact that they knew shape-shifters were real and that they were just like normal humans was a huge relief for Allegra. If she continued to be with Cam and Hammer, their acceptance of werewolves would increase the chance of their romance surviving. Although it much too soon yet for her to think of a future for the three of them.
She walked out into the bedroom and got dressed and then sat on the bed to tell them about the cocktail party.
* * * *
Hammer was still eating breakfast the next morning when Cam set down his empty coffee cup and asked, “Will you come with me to rent a tux? I’m likely to believe anything the salesman tells me, whereas I can rely on you to be brutally honest.”
“Sure. Although a tux is just a tux. I don’t think there’s much difference between one and the next one. Let me go and try mine on first though. I haven’t worn it for years, and it might not fit. I might need to rent a new one myself.”
The pants fit perfectly so clearly he hadn’t grown any taller in the past three or four years. The shirt was a fraction tight over the shoulders, but no one would really notice that once he put the jacket on. However the jacket was the problem. His upper arms were going to be strangled by the fabric.
“It looks like I need a new outfit as well,” he called to Cam.
At the formalwear store, they quickly found and tried on their tuxedos, and then the salesman asked, “What color cummerbund and vest do you need, gentleman?”
“Huh?” asked Cam.
“What color gowns are your ladies wearing tonight?” The salesman waved at the side wall of the store, where there was a row of vests in every color of the rainbow and then some more.
Hammer hadn’t even thought of that. His grandfather had never bothered to match what his grandmother wore. He pulled out his cell phone and texted Allegra.
At formalwear store. What color is your gown?
Almost immediately the reply came—
Which would you prefer?
Followed by two photographs. “Hey, Cam, she wants to know which dress we like best.”
Cam took the cell and looked at the two dresses and then handed it back to him. “They both look pretty. I suppose the blue, but you can decide.”
Hammer scrolled from one picture to the other and back again. He knew lots of women preferred black, but she wore navy blue and black suits for work. The blue would be a good contrast, and her eyes were blue.
“I agree. The blue.” He texted her back and then showed the dress to the salesman. “That color.”
The man clutched Hammer’s cell phone and stared at the blue dress. “That gown is amazing. Can I borrow your phone for a minute?”
Without waiting for Hammer’s answer, he raced to the rear of the store, leaving Hammer staring after him. “What the fuck?”
Cam shook his head. “Don’t look at me. This isn’t my world. I don’t know what’s normal here, remember?”
“Trust me. This isn’t normal.”
The salesman returned with an older, middle-aged man with thinning graying hair. “Where is she getting that gown? It’s perfect. I need more dresses like that for my store.”
Hammer and Cam stared at each other, and then they both laughed. It looked like, once again, Allegra wouldn’t be paying a fee to wear her gown. He dialed her number and handed his cell phone to the older man, presumably the manager or owner of the store and said to the salesman, “Please, can we have blue cummerbunds and vests?”
“I’m on it.”
By the time the owner had finished with Hammer’s cell, the salesman had put their g
arments into bags, and they’d paid their deposits.
“When you bring them back, as long as they’re undamaged, there’ll be no rental fee. To have found such gowns for the ladies is payment enough,” the owner said.
“Thank you very much,” said Cam.
“Yes, thanks indeed.”
As soon as they got home, he arranged a limo service to pick them and then Allegra up. “It’s better they get us first. It won’t take us as long to get ready as it will her. At least we don’t need to fuss with our nails and stuff, although some of my father’s friends used to get their fingernails polished,” he said.
“Did they get their legs waxed as well?” asked Cam.
Hammer laughed. “I have no idea. My father’s friends weren’t the kind of people to wear shorts even in hot weather. They were suit and necktie types.”
Cam turned to face him full-on. “I want Allegra, and that means accepting her world. Are you going to be okay with that? I know you really hated it before.”
Hammer rubbed a hand over his face while he thought hard. “I’m coming to believe that my grandfather is not only part of an outdated methodology but that he was always at the extreme end of it. He’s always surrounded himself with people just like him. He never held a conversation with me where we each presented ideas and discussed them. He told me what would happen, and then sent me off to do it. That might have been how families and businesses operated when he first started work, but it hasn’t been like that for a very long time.”
“You haven’t answered the question.”
“I’m getting there. I know there’s misogyny in big business. The facts are clear that women are overlooked for promotion or expected to be sexy, not just good at their job, and men with less ability get promoted faster and higher. But I also think successful businesses are becoming much more aware that companies that promote women simply do better. My grandfather will never admit that. I doubt I’ll ever agree with him, but maybe it’s time to take another look at Allegra’s and my family’s world. Now I’m an adult and not beholden to anyone.”
Cam punched his shoulder. “Thanks, Hammer. If it’s too hard and horrible for you, I’ll understand, I really will.”
But Hammer shook his head. He wanted Allegra, and if it meant stepping back into society, he’d just have to do it. For her.
* * * *
Usually Allegra didn’t look forward to these events. They were work, pure and simple, something she had to do to get ahead. Although wearing a glamorous dress and having her hair and nails done by a beautician was a great way to blackmail herself into going to such parties. She always insisted on wearing a floor-length gown so it wasn’t as obvious that the shoes she wore didn’t have high heels. Standing for hours and walking through crowds wasn’t possible for her if she was worried about her ankle giving way. So low heels were all she’d ever wear.
She peeked down at her pretty red toenails then lowered her gown to cover her feet. No, much better to keep them hidden and hope anyone who saw her glittery silver sandals would be distracted by the sparkles and her toenails instead of by the fact they weren’t miles-high fuck-me shoes.
Not being a tall person, who was also going to be escorted by two men who were both over six feet tall, she’d been able to have her hair done in a graceful updo with a riot of curls falling from a topknot. That made her look several inches taller and several pounds leaner. Besides, she liked it. It suited the dress. And the men were right. Blue was a better color choice for her skin, hair, and eyes than black.
She clasped her only really nice piece of jewelry, an eternity necklace, around her throat and was ready and waiting in the foyer of her apartment building when the limo pulled up at the door and both men climbed out of it. They handed her into the classy vehicle, and she sat back in the buttery-soft leather seat with a sigh of pure luxury. “This is wonderful. Thank you both so much.”
“You look stunning,” said Cam, squeezing her hand gently.
“Breathtaking,” added Hammer.
“Did you get your homework done?” asked Cam.
“Yes, I did. I’m sorry, there’s quite a long list of people I want to speak to, if I get the opportunity.”
“That’s not a problem. Tonight is all about your career. We know that,” said Hammer.
She looked at him, hoping this evening wasn’t going to be too difficult for him. “Are you okay with this?” she asked softly.
“I am. I’m not a kid to be pushed around anymore.”
She was still a little bit worried. He’d chosen to leave this world, which could be hard and horrible at times. But then people could be douche bags in every level of society, not just at the top.
For the first hour, she walked through the crowds, greeting people and stopping to talk to friends, associates, and people who she wanted to meet. After that she indulged herself by dancing once with each man and sat for a while as they ate some tiny finger foods.
“Time to get back to work,” she said softly, standing up. The men followed her as she entered the crowd again, working her way steadily from one end of the room to the other and then moving to the other side of the room for the return journey.
She was congratulating herself mentally on having spoken to most of the people on her list when she came to a group that included the man she’d opposed in court just the day before. His nose and cheeks were red, indicating that he’d been over-indulging in the abundant, high quality liquor being handed around.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Little Miss Shit herself,” he said loudly.
If this had happened outside a courtroom, Allegra would have kept walking and pretended she hadn’t heard him, but here that wasn’t an option. The room was crowded, and likely twenty or more people would all know exactly what he’d said.
“Mr. Lillington-Hall, how nice to see you again.”
“What are you doing here all dressed up like that? Are you hoping to crawl into some rich judge’s bed? That’s the only use a real man has for a woman anyway. I bet that’s how you win all your cases.”
Some of the men around him were snorting and sniggering. Lillington-Hall himself had a huge, greasy smirk across his face. Evidently he thought he was being mighty clever with what he said. Allegra longed to slap him across the face and wipe the grin off it, but that would only ruin her reputation, not his, so she remained looking politely at him.
“See, you can’t answer me, can you? You’re not that clever without the puppeteers to tell you what to say. You’re just a stupid, worthless little bitch. You should leave the courtroom for mature men to take their place in it.”
Allegra smiled as sweetly as she could. “Mature men? What’s that saying about middle age? Something about when a man’s broad mind and narrow waist exchange places?” She flicked her gaze down to his potbelly and then looked up into his angry face again as the men who’d laughed at her now laughed at him.
“You fucking piece of shit. You’ll never defeat me in a courtroom again. I’ll smash that broken ankle of yours so thoroughly you’ll never walk again.”
Allegra’s enhanced senses were all hyper-alert. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl. She was aware of Cam and Hammer moving from behind her to either side of her and of Hammer giving the glass of wine he’d been holding to someone beside him. She felt the waves of anger rolling off Lillington-Hall and knew the moment he pulled back his right foot to kick her. His right foot, and he was standing opposite her, which meant he’d hit her good ankle, the left one.
Drawing on every lesson she’d ever learned in gymnastics, Allegra bent both knees and then launched herself up into the air and to her right, away from her opponent’s kick and into Hammer’s arms. She used all her muscles and agility to make the leap, pulling her legs up tight against her ass so Lillington-Hall wouldn’t hit them. Hammer took a step or two back, but he caught and held her safely and securely and then put her down and behind himself.
“I really don’t think attacking a defenseless woman
in a social gathering is a very clever move,” Hammer said firmly into the silence.
“Yeah, buddy. You’ve maybe had one or two vinos too many,” added one of Lillington-Hall’s friends.
Allegra was still breathing heavily as Judge Laughlin pushed her way to the front of the crowd. “I heard you, attorney, and I object to anyone suggesting that the way to win a case in my court is by sleeping with me. If you don’t want to appear as the plaintiff in a case against my husband, you’d better watch your mouth from now on.”
Loud chatter broke out all around them, and Cam was right there holding her in his arms as Hammer stood watching Lillington-Hall’s friends usher him out of the room.
And then she was surrounded by people congratulating her on not rising to his bait or attacking him first while others wanted to know all about the court case. Allegra pushed her nerves and feelings to the back of her mind and began smiling and answering questions. But all the time Cam and Hammer were only inches away from her body, reassuring her that they’d care for her by their silent presence. She couldn’t have stayed for the rest of the evening without their support.
Great sweating armpits! What will happen the next time I have to face Lillington-Hall in court? Or will he send someone into the parking lot with a baseball bat after me? However did I make him into an enemy?
Chapter Seven
When the cocktail party finally ended, around midnight, Hammer directed the limousine driver to take them back to his and Cam’s apartment. There was no way he was letting Allegra be alone until they’d had a long talk with her, and he could tell she was much too stressed for a discussion tonight. He was also almost certain her ankle was aching. Likely jumping up in the air as she’d done hadn’t helped either. But hell, getting it smashed again wasn’t an option.
