Breathless on the Beach

by Wendy Etherington

  “If you crossbred him with the right Lhasa apso, you never know.”

  Richard pursed his lips. “Do you think now is the right time for jokes?”

  “Do you think now is the time to call the police?”

  When an insulted look washed over his face and he started to rise, she grabbed his arm and held him in place. “Sorry.” She let go of him and stood herself, then paced in a circle before facing him. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m beginning to think I’m in over my head with this theft.”

  “I see.”

  “The police are better equipped to handle this kind of thing. I’m sure if we explained the need for discretion, they’d support that effort. This is Southampton, for heaven’s sake. They’re used to citizens who demand privacy.”

  “I thought I made it clear,” Richard said, his voice hard, “that if you don’t find the necklace and expose the thief, I’m taking my business elsewhere.”

  “To Peter.”

  He shrugged. “Probably not.”

  “You just called him a brilliant PR man.”

  “I was being kind.”

  Victoria tamped down her temper as dread took over. “So you’re saying Coleman will lose your business completely?”

  “That’s a definite possibility.”

  And that statement made no sense. “Will we or won’t we lose Rutherford Securities as a client if I don’t produce the necklace?” she demanded.

  “I haven’t decided, but you can be assured an unhappy client is not a secure one.”

  She couldn’t believe how fast everything was falling apart. She was regretting this entire weekend more by the second.

  Except for Jared…

  But she wasn’t thinking about him now. Or ever, if she could manage.

  “One more thing,” Richard said, rising. “I’m not one to normally pry into people’s personal lives… .”

  But let me guess—you’re going to, anyway?

  “Do you think it’s wise to get involved with a man like Jared?” he finished.

  He had to be kidding. “Involved?” she echoed.

  “I saw you returning from your boat ride last night.”

  “Did you?”

  “Jared’s not a bad guy or anything, but he’s transient. Always running off to this part of the world or that one. And do you honestly think you could take him to a formal event in the city? He rarely wears shoes.”

  Despite her own outrage concerning her lover, she wouldn’t let Richard put him down that way. “Jared could fit in anywhere he wanted.”

  “I’m sure you think so.” Richard’s smile was condescending. “He seems perfectly comfortable charming women into believing anything he wants them to.”

  She longed to tell him to get lost, but instead bit her tongue. An important Coleman client was on the verge of leaving the agency. Forget her corner office; she could lose her job with this blunder.

  “Thank you so much for the advice,” she said, forcing fake sweetness into her voice as she escorted him out. “I’ll be careful.”

  Ridiculously, when she pressed her back to the door, tears flooded her eyes.

  Why was she devastated over some guy’s lies? And she didn’t mean Richard. Clients were generally difficult, unreasonable and demanding, and they always acted in their own best interest. At least Richard had the sense to recognize Peter wasn’t up to the task of handling the Rutherford Securities contract.

  Lovers were different. They were supposed to offer refuge from her fast-paced life. They were supposed to be a release.

  And since intimacy was often difficult for her, Victoria liked rules and predictability. Usually, if men were going to be deceitful, they overestimated their power, status or finances. Who downplayed them? Was that noble or nuts?

  All she knew right now was that her meticulous plans, her perfect assent to the top of her profession, had been destroyed by a few hunks of rock and an ego the size of…well, those big hunks of rocks.

  Not to mention she had a body-hugging red satin dress to wear through an interminably lousy dinner with her ex-lover and her might-never-be-realized client.

  She wondered how her mother dealt with lost deals.

  Knowing her, The Legend rolled her shoulders and geared up for the next one. The woman didn’t make too many mistakes, after all.

  Rolling her own shoulders with a confidence that might even impress the renowned Joanne, Victoria headed to the bathroom to finish getting ready.

  After carefully dabbing away the black smear Richard had caused with his abrupt knock, she leaned toward the mirror and again picked up her mascara wand.

  At yet another tap on her door, causing a fresh black smear on her cheek, she let loose an entire string of curses. Not taking any chances this time, she stalked to the den and opened the door a crack.

  And saw a martini glass with two giant speared olives floating in clear liquid.

  She flung open the door to find Shelby and Calla behind the offering of solace. “Bless you,” she said, plucking the crystal from Shelby’s tray and stepping back to invite her friends inside.

  They were already dressed in their costumes. Calla made a great flapper in her silver satin with black fringe. Shelby wore a tarty French maid outfit.

  At Victoria’s scrutiny, Shelby said, “Rose wanted Mrs. K to wear a matching one, but Mrs. K turned so pale I thought she was going to faint, so I suggested an alternative. She looks like a prison matron, but at least she’s covered.”

  Victoria turned to Calla. Even though her legs were exposed, the top was flouncy around her waist.

  “Wanna switch?” Victoria asked her, knowing she probably wouldn’t be able to breathe in hers.

  “No way.” As Calla shook her head, her feathered headband brushed her cheek and her wheat-colored, corkscrew curls framed her face like a porcelain doll. “I may look like I escaped from a Broadway show, but my generous curves would never fit in that red tube Rose gave you to wear.”

  Victoria sincerely hoped she didn’t look as pitiful as she felt. “I don’t feel like eating, anyway.” After taking a sip of her cocktail, she acknowledged her buddies’ sympathetic expressions with a shake of her head. “I’m fine.”

  “No,” Shelby said, wrapping her arm around Victoria’s shoulder, “you’re not.”

  They escorted her into the bedroom, where they all plopped at the end of the bed. Nobody said anything. The disappointment Victoria felt was one they’d all dealt with at times over the years. Life in the city could be tough and even cruel. Men were disappointing, jobs often sucked and bosses were unreasonable. Finding a way to survive was a matter of pride.

  “You know you have a mascara stain on your cheek,” Shelby said finally, dabbing away the smudge with a tissue she grabbed from the dresser.

  “Don’t be too hard on Jared,” Calla said. “Especially since it’s sort of my fault he lied.”

  “How do you figure that?” Victoria asked.

  “I told him about the rich, insensitive guys you usually go out with and suggested you needed a regular guy.”

  Victoria blinked in shock. “So he lied based on your lousy advice?”

  Calla’s face flushed. “Hey, it wasn’t lousy. You were happy as a clam a couple of hours ago.”

  Maybe, Victoria conceded silently. “And what guy did I date that you found so insensitive?”

  “Come on, V,” Shelby said. “The last two, the surgeon and the tax atto
rney? Their egos were off the charts.”

  “Jerks,” Calla asserted.

  “Yeah, well…” Victoria fell silent. Jared was worth twenty of either of those two. No use arguing about the facts.

  She wanted to hold on to her fury and righteous indignation, she really did. But she knew the apprehension inside her wasn’t only because of his deception; it was much, much worse. “I don’t want to talk about him.”

  Shelby slid her hand down Victoria’s arm. “But, V—”

  “Please. Save it for later.” She took a final sip of the chilly martini before rising to set the glass on the desk. She needed now more than ever to be clearheaded. Facing her friends, she told them the one thing they could help her fix. “We have to find that necklace or Coleman’s going to lose the Rutherford contract completely.”

  Her friends exchanged a look, not surprised, but resigned.

  “That Richard is a piece of work,” Shelby said.

  “Yeah.” Given that he’d invited her nemesis to challenge her, she’d known Richard’s loyalty wasn’t something to count on. But she had to admit, she hadn’t seen his absolute desertion coming. No doubt because she was more focused on Jared than her job. “Any sleuthing ideas we haven’t already tried?”

  “We can still follow up with Peter and Emily on their debt,” Shelby said encouragingly.

  “True.” The idea gave Victoria a spark of hope.

  “Are you sure you want to do this at all?” Calla asked frankly. “You once talked about opening your own agency, having a small, focused client list. Why settle for playing Richard’s fall girl?”

  Victoria cast a sideways glance at Shelby. “I recall saying that after a lot of pizza, wine, ice cream and too many chick flick DVDs.”

  “That doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea,” Shelby said.

  “I’m supposed to follow my mother’s success,” Victoria reminded them, and herself, albeit reluctantly.

  Calla surged to her feet. “Supposed to is crap. You don’t need to follow her path. Make your own.”

  The notion had crossed Victoria’s mind many times, but she’d always been too proud to be labeled a quitter. Or marked as too scared to live up to The Legend.

  “I’ve always wanted to do more with charities.” Victoria shrugged, though she felt anything but casual. “But Coleman has always kept the philanthropic budget strict, and he didn’t want his best directors on the write-off stuff.”

  “It’s not like you need the money,” Calla reminded her.

  “Starting a PR business is a lot of work,” Victoria argued.

  Calla raised her eyebrows. “You’re afraid of hard work now?”

  “It’s not about working hard, it’s working smart,” Victoria said. “Coleman has an impeccable reputation they’ve been building for more than sixty years. You don’t jump into this market with a one-woman show and expect to compete with that caliber of a company.”

  “So don’t compete, be unique,” Shelby said, then grinned.

  “Boy,” Victoria said drily, “I can’t wait to put that on a business card.” Considering the bleak state of her career, she added, “As I’m in imminent danger of losing my job, we’ll likely broach this subject again soon. So feel free to hold on to your proposals until then.”

  Her friends exchanged a worried glance. “You’re not going to lose it, are you?” Calla asked.

  Victoria forced a fake smile. “Who knows? The night’s young.”

  Shelby guided her toward the closet. “Let’s get you in that dress. You never know, if the thief’s one of the guys, he might confess the second he sees you.”

  She doubted that would happen, but she was looking forward to seeing Jared’s reaction. If he hadn’t turned out to be a big fat fibber, he could have been the one to help her out of the dress later. As a vision of that fantasy wavered before her, desire slid through her belly.

  Who was she kidding? She’d probably take one look into those melted-chocolate-brown eyes and throw herself in his arms.

  After stepping into the fluid length of red satin, she sucked in her belly as tight as it would go while Calla inched up the zipper. In the mirror, Victoria surveyed her black hair, matching swoop of cat-eye black liner and bright red lips. She might feel lousy, but she at least looked the part of a 1920s vamp.

  “Wowee,” Shelby said. “You can be the bad cop when we interrogate. Jazz Hands over there can be good cop.”

  Calla swept her hand down her ensemble. “I like it. I’m wearing it the next time we go out to a club.”

  Victoria slid on a pair of silver heels. “Let’s get on with this.”

  Maybe Jared would throw himself at her feet.

  On the way down the hall, she silently conceded that she’d overreacted to his lie, particularly as Calla had given him the idea. They’d met two days ago. Why did she have the right to know his personal financial information? Why did it matter that he hadn’t admitted he owned the company he worked for? The fact that he’d called out Richard for his lack of ethics might be treading the line of hypocritical, but that didn’t make him less accurate.

  Besides, the real reason she was so angry was because Jared was getting too close. Because all she could think about was the fact that they were going their separate ways tomorrow. Her feelings for him were much deeper than she wanted to admit. Was she finding a reason to push him away?

  Would her necklace challenge have been easier if she’d kept her distance? No. But would she regret letting him go without one last night together? Definitely.

  Their plan to search Richard’s concealed room was still pending. She had to somehow get a key to the office. Ruthanne, maybe? The idea of learning the secret contents could swing everything in a new direction.

  And if Victoria found something illicit, would she use that knowledge to strong-arm him into giving her the contract?

  Yesterday, she wouldn’t have hesitated to use any advantage. A few hours ago, during her mad search, she’d still been determined to push and sacrifice.

  Now, she wasn’t so sure.

  As her friends—and Jared—had reminded her, integrity was worth a great deal. Maybe she wasn’t destined to be The Legend, Second Generation. Maybe this was her opportunity to find her own success, live as she wanted, not as was expected.

  When she reached the top of the stairs, she smoothed her hand over her hair. She’d spent the day fuming and regretting. It was time to make something happen.

  * * *

  AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS, Jared paced. He’d reluctantly donned his historical costume, even though he’d never felt less like attending a party in his life.

  He had no idea how to fix the mess he’d made of his and Victoria’s affair, but he knew he had to try.

  It didn’t seem possible that he loved her after knowing her for so short a time, but it was true nonetheless. He’d been kind of in love during high school a couple times, then once in college, but never as an adult.

  He’d never felt anything like this.

  Even though hope of a real relationship seemed as far from his grasp as the necklace was from everybody else.

  A movement at the corner of his eye drew his attention. Glancing up, he felt his heart literally stop before zooming into motion again like a rocket taking flight.

  As he’d imagined it would, the red satin gown fit Victoria perfectly, the tiny straps exposing her sleek shoulders, while the dress itself glided down her tall, lean body with the rapt attention of a lover’s adorin
g hands.

  He wanted to be those hands.

  Flanked by her friends, Victoria stopped at the base of the stairs. Her gaze roved over him. “The suit’s nice.”

  “Mrs. K let out the hem in the pants,” he said nervously and unnecessarily.

  When he looked into Victoria’s eyes, every intimate touch, gesture and word that had passed between them flickered through his memory like a movie at triple speed. He shouldn’t try to fix things between them, he had to.

  Briefly forgetting how far apart they truly were, he reached for her hand.

  She froze him with her icy stare, stepped around him and, elegant as a queen, strolled toward the living room.

  “I need to get back to the kitchen and direct the waitstaff Rose hired for the party,” Shelby said, making a quick, uncomfortable exit.

  Calla raced after her. “I’ll help.”

  Jared was left standing in the hallway like an idiot, with his hand extended toward nothing.

  He barely caught the identical and encouraging smiles Shelby and Calla sent him over their shoulders. He was too busy noticing Victoria’s gown dipping low in the back, exposing miles of creamy skin, highlighting the bright red bow tied just above her backside.

  A cold sweat broke out on his brow.

  Additional correction: if he didn’t fix the resentment between them, he was going to implode.

  By the time he found the strength to head into the living room, Rose and Sal had also descended the staircase. After gaining a new appreciation for the other man, who loved a woman determined to keep him at a distance, Jared briefly kissed Rose’s cheek, bowed, then stepped back, allowing the couple to enter the room arm in arm.

  When he crossed the threshold, a waiter offered a glass of champagne from his tray. So far, only the weekend guests and residents of the house were present, though the friends and neighbors were due anytime.

  Noting that she stood between Peter and Emily, Jared wasn’t sure how to get Victoria to himself and not screw up her investigating, which she had to be doing to have purposely sought out that pair.