Work was the panacea. After several hours at the office, she no longer felt tired and she no longer thought of Carter more than three or four times a minute.
She called Wanda into her office, and the two of them spent the rest of the day developing something unique that could help when they launched the magazine. Eventually the day ended, and she headed home. In the lobby, Carter emerged from his elevator bank just as her elevator door opened. He fell into step with her near the front entrance, and the two of them passed through the building’s exit at the same time. Neither spoke a word to the other, yet the look that passed between them spoke volumes.
Once she was in the crowd on the sidewalk, she decided to change her routine. She quickly lost sight of him and went to a deli in the opposite direction of the one she usually frequented. Carter must have had the same idea—she saw him the moment she walked through the door.
“In our attempt not to run into each other, we keep running into each other,” he said.
“I’m beginning to think you’re stalking me.” She didn’t really believe that, but she did wonder if he was baiting her, forcing her to remember and relive the scene that had taken place in his apartment.
Renee ordered her food. She hoped Carter would leave, but he remained and they left together, almost as if they’d planned to meet there.
“How are things going?” he asked. She knew his question was just to fill the silence. They weren’t the small-talk types.
“If you mean how my magazine is coming along, it’s right on schedule.”
When they got to the subway station they had to part ways, and Renee turned to say goodnight.
“I suppose running into you is something I can’t control,” she said.
“And I’m not stalking you,” he said.
“You said I couldn’t win. Did you mean that you don’t think I can make my magazine a success?”
Carter stepped closer to her. Leaning down, he kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear.
“Winning has nothing to do with any magazine.”
* * *
As Renee turned and bounded down the subway stairs, heat radiated through her. Why did he have the ability to render her speechless? With anyone else she was articulate, intelligent and logical, but the moment Carter entered the room she became awkward and unable to formulate complete sentences.
“Maybe it wasn’t about winning,” she said aloud. Checking around her, no one seemed to notice that she was talking to herself.
She would win. She was unsure of what the rules were, but she would devise her own. She knew a lot about Carter, and anticipating his playbook wouldn’t be that hard. The problem was that he knew hers, too.
By the time Renee got home, she was too tired to prepare a meal. But having meals at home would keep her from bumping into Carter at local delis again and again. She sighed.
So winning wasn’t about the magazine. It was about them. Yet there was nothing between them. If she didn’t participate in his games, there could be no outcome. And she could resist that. She’d concentrate on the magazine. She’d show him. And in the place it would hurt the most—business.
She and Wanda were planning a revolutionary change to the way brides viewed their gowns. No one had anything like it. It might take some time for her to win the game he was playing, but this one would set him back a step or two.
* * *
Carter hated dinner parties, especially those given by his parents. While his father had retired from Hampshire Publications when Carter returned from Afghanistan, he still liked to keep track of the movers and shakers in the magazine business. His mother just liked entertaining. She had her own set of industry people who came to their house in the Hamptons two to three times a year. Her expertise was in the fashion business, which complemented the magazines.
Usually his mother was either trying to push someone into the spotlight or she was parading possible future daughters-in-law for his benefit. But it never worked. Carter was perfectly capable of finding his own bride, if and when he wanted one.
“Mother.” Carter grasped her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. She went into his arms and hugged him. She was short, only three inches over five feet. There was a time when she’d had hair long enough to reach her waist. He used to brush it before his younger sister took over the task and Carter grew old enough to want to play baseball instead of do girly things. Now her hair was salt and pepper, and had been cut into a chic style that tapered at her neck.
“No date?” she asked instead of saying hello.
“What, and have you making wedding plans before I even get a drink?”
“I wouldn’t do that,” she said. “I’d wait until after you got a drink.” Both of them laughed.
“I see you have quite a turnout from the city,” Carter commented. “Which one have you singled out for me?” He looked over the crowd of dressed-to-the-nines females. Most people he either knew by name or recognized.
“Darling, I thought you might come with Renee Hart. I hear she’s back in the trade.”
“Who’s back in the trade?” His father joined them. Dressed in his white tie and tuxedo, few people would know Joseph had been in the hospital recently. Thankfully, his diagnosis hadn’t been very serious. However, he did need to take things easy.
“Renee Hart,” his mother said.
“I liked her.” His father didn’t hesitate. “I could live with her.”
“It wouldn’t be you who would live with her,” Carter told his dad. His father was the one person who knew how he felt about Renee.
“I’ve heard she’s back,” Carter said, hedging.
“Between the two of you, I’m surprised she isn’t here.” The look that passed between his parents told him they knew something. “She isn’t here, right?”
“Right,” his mother answered.
Carter let a breath out.
“But...she’s expected,” his father finished.
“I can’t believe you two. I’m thirty-two, not thirteen.”
“We didn’t invite her just for you,” his mother said. “She’s an up-and-coming force in the industry. When she worked for you, she was invited. It would be a slight not to invite her now that she’s back in the industry.”
There were other competitive publishers in the room, and while Renee had not launched her magazine yet, she was still causing a buzz in the backrooms and boardrooms along publisher’s row.
“Let’s get a drink,” Carter said. I think I’m going to need one.
The three of them headed toward one of the bars, but his dad was stopped halfway by a guest and his mother paused to greet one of her fashion models, Melanie Esterbrook. Carter continued walking. He didn’t want to get caught up with his mother introducing someone beautiful, thin and unmarried. Carter already knew Melanie, but that wouldn’t keep his mother from reintroducing them and beginning her sales pitch on the woman’s attributes. Not that he wouldn’t hear it later in private, but it was much easier to fend off if Melanie wasn’t standing in front of him.
The bartender was as much a regular at these parties as his parents. He knew exactly what Carter preferred and reached for a glass when he saw him coming.
The bartender smiled, poured a finger of scotch in a glass, added water and handed it to Carter.
Moving away from the bar, Carter circled the room, talking to the guests, but always aware of the door and that Renee had yet to appear.
“How’s it going?” someone from behind him asked.
Carter turned to see another one of his mother’s models. She must’ve been new since Carter didn’t recognize her. But then, the faces of models sometimes merged together. He’d been around beautiful women all his life and he supposed he’d built an internal immunity to them and the admiration they expected.
“JoAnna Snow,” she said, and offered her hand. She wore a one-shoulder chiffon gown that showed off her creamy skin. She’d pulled her hair to the side, and she looked like she was ready for a photo shoot.
“Carter Hampshire,” he said, taking her hand.
“I know.” Her voice had just the right amount of sultriness to it.
He knew what was coming, but he smiled and decided to try and sidetrack her request to be on the cover of one of his magazines. “Snow? Is that a real last name or a model identity?”
“It’s real. And I’m not a model.”
Carter’s brows rose. “Most of the people here are either in the fashion business or publishing. Where do you fit?”
“Fit?” She said it as if it was a dirty word. “I hope I’m not being put into a box.”
“I apologize. My word choice was poor. It’s that my parents usually invite people within the same industry to their parties.”
“Apology accepted,” she said with a winning smile. “I’m with The Women’s Project. We’re a nonprofit group that helps women restart their lives.”
Carter nodded. It was a noble career.
“Your mother has been very influential in getting donors for us.”
Carter glanced across the room at his mother. “She’s like that.”
JoAnna nodded.
“Did she by any chance tell you that Hampshire Publications would donate to your cause?”
“She did.” JoAnna smiled.
“Did she also give you the amount of our donation?”
JoAnna shook her head. Her curls bounced. Carter thought of how Renee’s hair bounced when she walked.
“Why don’t you call me on Monday, and we’ll work something out?” He could see his mother smiling from across the room. She probably knew exactly what had just transpired between them. “In the meantime, would you like to dance?”
That would satisfy his mother, seeing the two of them together. They stepped to the dance floor and circled it a couple of times before Carter saw Renee enter the room. A man came up behind Renee and placed his hands on her arms. The gesture was intimate. Losing his focus, he stepped on JoAnna’s foot.
Carter hadn’t realized he’d stopped moving and now just stood staring at Renee.
* * *
What a reception, Renee thought. She looked around the huge house—it was brightly lit and filled with people. Renee had been surprised the Hampshires still included her among their guests. But when the invitation had arrived, she couldn’t refuse it. And she couldn’t go alone. She needed to convince Carter that there was nothing and there would be nothing between them. But there was no one she could ask to escort her who wouldn’t read more into it than was there. So she called the only person she knew would fill the bill: her twin brother, Roger.
Renee knew where the bar was, and taking Roger’s hand, she headed that way. The bartender recognized her.
“Sweet white wine?” he asked.
Renee smiled. “You remembered.”
He nodded, but the smile on his face said more. Roger’s presence probably stopped him from the flirting that she knew would have come. From the other room, the band started to play “Night and Day.” Carter stood in the doorway, his arms wrapped around a tall woman with dark hair.
Had Carter asked the band to play that song? She wasn’t sure how to read his expression. Roger took her elbow and she snapped out of her trance. They walked toward a group of people Renee knew, although she was unsure if she’d be capable of coherent speech.
“Night and Day” had played over and over on the first night they’d spent in bed. Renee had it on a CD and somehow she’d hit the repeat button. Images of them in bed accosted her. She slipped her arm through Roger’s and held on tightly.
“You all right?” he whispered.
Releasing her viselike hold on him, she looked up and nodded. For that night, Renee wasn’t going to tell anyone Roger was her brother. She’d only introduced him as a biomedical investor, which was technically the truth. Roger did invest in biomedical research. He was the researcher and had his own business that was supported by venture capitalists. Biomedical research was about as far from publishing and fashion as you could get, but he enjoyed explaining it to whomever asked for more information.
“Maybe I’ll get some donations from this,” he told Renee as they walked into the ballroom and began greeting people. Most of the conversation centered around Roger, since he was the only one there not part of the trade.
Renee’s mind was on Carter and the woman he was dancing with. Renee didn’t recognize her, but why would she? She was Carter’s date. Renee was silently thankful her brother had agreed to escort her.
As they circled the ballroom, Carter suddenly appeared in front of them. Renee was forced to introduce him. The urge to blurt out the truth was on the tip of her tongue, but Roger interrupted her and offered his hand.
“Nice to meet you,” Carter said. “I hope you’re enjoying yourself.”
“So far it’s been good,” Roger stated.
Carter checked over his shoulder. “Mind if I ask Renee to dance?”
Roger shook his head and Carter took her hand, giving her no chance to refuse.
“Who is he?” Carter asked, shuttling her around the room.
“My date,” she answered. “Someone you don’t know.”
“Where did you meet him?”
“I think that would fall under the heading of none of your business,” Renee said. She had a smile on her face. No one looking at them could have gauged the tension that wrapped around them like shrink-wrap. “Who was the long-haired woman who captured your fancy?”
Renee saw him frown a moment as if he didn’t remember the woman. “That was one of my mother’s charity directors.”
“And you’re the charity?” Renee asked, regretting her words the moment they came out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
She stopped dancing, and Carter bumped into her. “I am not the charity, but I will be donating to her cause.”
Realizing they were standing in the middle of the dance floor, Renee stepped back. Another couple bumped into them. The music ended and she excused herself. She wove through the crowd looking for her brother. He was nowhere in sight. Forcing herself to walk slowly, she went to the bar and ordered another glass of wine. She moved through the crowd and ended up in a quiet room where many of the current Hampshire magazines were lying on the tables. Renee was naturally drawn to the bridal ones, of which there were three issues.
“Fantastic, aren’t they?” a man said near her.
Renee looked at him. She recognized the photographer, but she couldn’t remember his name. He’d joined the company just as she was leaving.
“The cover is mine, but the layout inside is a work of art. Are you one of the models?”
Renee shook her head as she opened the magazine and found something she had done in the past.
“I tell you, the last three issues of Hampshire Bridal have really rocked,” the photographer said.
Renee looked closely and saw that all three issues had used her interior layouts. The gowns inside were new, but everything else had simply been slipped into an existing template she had originally created. She tried to act as if it didn’t matter to her, but in fact it did. She was surprised that Carter was allowing this to happen.
“They’re not really that new,” she said.
“I know. I mean, nothing is really ‘new.’” He used both hands to symbolize quote marks. “But the way these have been laid out, the entire flow is stunning.”
Renee took her wine glass and excused herself. She passed Carter’s father on her way out, and he stopped her.
“Renee, how nice to see you.”
He caught her in a bear hug. Joseph Carter had a
lways been friendly. His smile was wide and genuine. Renee liked him.
“I heard you were back at the magazine,” he said. “I know it’ll be back on top with you in charge.”
For a moment, Renee was unsure what magazine he was talking about. “You mean Hampshire Bridal? No, I’m not back there.”
Joseph Hampshire looked confused. “Then where are you?”
“I’m starting my own magazine.”
“You are?”
She nodded.
“Don’t you want to head up our division?”
Thankfully, she was saved from answering. Joseph was abruptly pulled away into another conversation.
She stared after him. She’d met Joe Hampshire a few times, mainly at parties and trade events. He was a joker, but always happy. Renee assumed it was his marriage that made him seem as if he walked on clouds. She smiled, hoping one day she’d have someone that made her that happy.
Turning around, she found Roger talking to Carter and her heart stopped. Before she got close to them, they shook hands and Carter left.
“What was that about?” she asked as she joined Roger.
“He was just asking some questions about investing.”
“Really?”
“He could have been testing me to see if I knew my stuff, or he could be genuine.”
“What did you think?”
“Genuine,” Roger said.
Renee felt good about that. She wouldn’t want to find out that Carter had been interrogating her brother. But why should she care? Carter was nothing to her. So why had seeing the tall woman in his arms bothered her? The thought came unexpectedly. And why had she felt like Cinderella dancing in his arms?
“Are you ready to go?”
Roger’s head turned too quickly. “I’m enjoying this.”
“As you are enjoying following that woman in the green dress around.”
“You noticed that?”
“Roger, I’m your twin. I just know.”
“Well, don’t get lost.” She leaned close to him and whispered in his ear. “And don’t blow my cover.”
All He Needs Page 8
