Maddie Fortune's Perfect Man

by Nancy Robards Thompson

  An e-newsletter from Robinson Computers caught her eye.

  She opened it.

  Carlo’s cousin Alejandro Mendoza was married to Olivia Fortune Robinson, one of the heiresses of Robinson Computers. Carlo had introduced Maddie to the couple and she had sold them a house.

  Based on something their grandmother had said to Schuyler before she passed away, Schuyler had a theory that their dad, Kenneth, and Olivia’s father, Gerald Robinson aka Jerome Fortune, were half brothers, which would make Olivia their half cousin. Kenneth hadn’t been very keen on Schuyler pursuing her hunch. Plus, at the time, Maddie had been more concerned with matching Olivia and Alejandro with their perfect house and making a sale. At best, it would’ve been unprofessional to ask a client if their grandfather had had an affair with her grandmother, making them related. So, Maddie hadn’t even been tempted to go down that path. Regardless of the intrigue, Maddie found Olivia, who was just as business savvy as she was beautiful, to be a fascinating woman.

  She’d read business and lifestyle profiles on her. If Maddie hadn’t had such a blinding case of tunnel vision, she might have noticed then that Olivia was a woman who had it all.

  She was the perfect combination of trophy wife beautiful (though she was by no means a helpless damsel) and whip smart. She was beautiful but men still took her seriously.

  Suddenly, realization dawned and opened her eyes to a whole world of possibility.

  Maddie sat up straight. Why hadn’t she thought of this before?

  “Hey, guys,” Maddie said. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure,” Schuyler said without taking her eyes off the screen.

  Val paused the movie and Schuyler blinked as if coming out of a trance.

  “I need you to be completely honest with me.”

  They nodded and Maddie braced herself for brutal honesty. “Do you think the way I look is keeping me from succeeding in business? I mean, do I need a makeover?”

  Maddie could hear virtual crickets during the silence as her sisters looked at each other, no doubt daring each other to speak first.

  “Well, I guess your silence speaks volumes,” Maddie said. “I asked you to be honest. You’re not going to hurt my feelings if you say I do. Because here’s what I’m thinking. Zach already has Dave Madison on his side. I need to pull out all the stops if I’m going to win the promotion. That includes making myself the very best I can be—in all areas.

  “I’ve always put so much energy into my work performance, believing that hard work was all that matters. But look at me. I’ve never put much effort into my appearance. Sure, I dress for business—smart, tailored separates that allow me to present a pulled-together, no-nonsense image. But I’ve never bothered with makeup. Actually, I’ve never had the patience to learn how to use it, and I guess I never wanted to attract the type of men who valued a woman for her looks. And more important, men don’t have to change their appearance to be taken seriously in business.” Before she went on a tangent about gender inequality, she brought herself back to the topic.

  “Look at me. I’m boring. I’m like a blank canvas that no one notices. But Zach... Last evening he came into the office all decked out in a rancher getup.”

  “What?” Schuyler asked. “What do you mean?”

  Val shook her head, looking disappointed. “How did I miss that?”

  “He had a lead that a rancher down in Sisterdale was looking to list his property. Not only did he buy Wranglers and cowboy boots, he rented a Ford F-150.”

  “Wranglers?” Schuyler mused. “God, I’ll bet he looked hot.”

  He did.

  “You see?” Maddie said. “He changed his appearance and you start objectifying him.”

  Schuyler and Val squinted at her, looking like they weren’t quite buying what she was trying to sell.

  “Okay, maybe that’s not quite the same thing, but—”

  “Did he get the listing?” Val asked.

  Maddie grumbled under her breath. “Yes, but that’s beside the point.”

  “No, it’s not,” said Val. “Not at all. Think about it. He wanted the listing. He did what he needed to do to get it—”

  “And now he can worry about being objectified all the way to the bank,” Schuyler added, looking pleased with herself.

  Val laughed. “Well, something like that. What I’m trying to say is just because you put on a little lipstick, it doesn’t mean you lose your integrity. You can change the words to the Eleanor Roosevelt quote to say, the only person who can make you feel objectified is you.”

  Obviously, Val wasn’t just the baby of the family. Right now, she seemed like the wisest of all her siblings. Her little sister was right.

  Maddie had never been insecure. In fact, before her father’s big shake-up that had her doubting everything, she would’ve considered herself the most confident of the siblings—or at least the most confident of her sisters. How was it that she was a mess contemplating mascara and blush?

  “So, I think I need a makeover,” she finally said.

  Schuyler nearly fell over herself getting off the couch. “I’m going to get my makeup bag. Don’t move.”

  “Sky, no,” Maddie protested. “Come back and watch the rest of the movie.”

  “No, how many times have we seen that movie?” she said. “And I’m sure we’ll end up watching it dozens of times in the future. But catching my big sister in the mood to let me put makeup on her face may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I need to strike while the iron is hot.”

  “We can do it tomorrow,” Maddie said. “I’m really not in the mood to do it tonight. Besides, this weekend is supposed to be about you. And it feels like all the attention has been focused on me. I’m really sorry about that.”

  “Nonsense,” said Sky. “This weekend is already turning into exactly the kind of weekend I wanted—time with my sisters. Now, it’s my party and I say we’re going to give you a makeover. So, sit tight. I’ll be right back.”

  * * *

  Since Maddie needed to stop by the office the next morning, she opted to go home for the night. She and her sisters were going to brunch Sunday morning, but Maddie decided it would be a good idea to sleep at her own house so that she could shower, change clothes and get an early start. Truth be told, she could probably shower, dress and get in and out of the office before her sisters were even ready to go.

  On her way home that night, wearing the makeover that Schuyler had given her, she wondered if she should stop by the twenty-four-hour drugstore and pick up the things that her sister had used on her.

  Maddie had to admit the makeup felt surprisingly good on her face and looked more natural than she’d thought possible. She’d envisioned makeup to feel heavy and irritating, like a mask or an unnatural coating of wax that would smudge and drip as she got hot and irritable under its weight.

  Not so.

  Maddie couldn’t even feel it.

  She looked like herself. Only better. More polished and pulled together than she’d ever looked in her entire life.

  Who knew?

  When Maddie had expressed her surprise and joy, her sisters had carefully made all the right noises, telling her she was beautiful just the way she was—only with a little help she was knockdown, drop-dead gorgeous.

  “Do you know who you look like?” Schuyler had asked. “Val, who does she look like? You must see it. OMG, tell me you see it. She looks like Blake Lively. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to put just a little bit of makeup on your face? Not that you’re not perfectly fine without it. But who wants to be perfectly fine when you can be gorgeous? Isn’t she gorgeous, Val?”

  In her exuberance, Schuyler hadn’t even given Val a chance to get a word in.

  “She looks just like Blake Lively. Wow! I can’t believe I never noticed your potential.”

  Maddie chuckled at the memory as she drove home. At a stoplight, she adjusted the rearview mirror so she could glance at herself. It wasn’t out of vanity as much as it wa
s disbelief and...happiness.

  What would Zach do if he could see me now? Would he be eager to take me to lunch with a guy like Dave Madison?

  The neon sign of a twenty-four-hour drugstore caught Maddie’s eye. She glanced at the clock on her dashboard. It was after midnight, but impulse had her flipping on her turn signal and steering her car into the parking lot.

  Schuyler had insisted that after brunch they were going to go shopping for cosmetics for Maddie. She was going to get a professional beauty advisor at one of the high-end department stores to recreate the look for her and teach her about good skin care.

  “You’ll need to remove your makeup every night and start with a nice fresh, moisturized face every morning,” Schuyler had said. “You need a lot of product. Oh, you are going to make some lucky beauty advisor very happy tomorrow. It’s going to be a great sale, because you need everything.”

  No. Not everything. Baby steps, Sky. Baby steps.

  She would remove her makeup every night because she didn’t want to ruin her skin, but she’d keep the mild cleansing bar her dermatologist had recommended. She didn’t have time for a complicated beauty regime that called for dozens of little jars, tubes and bottles and made her bathroom counter look like her own personal cosmetics department.

  Plus, with the way Schuyler was talking, it sounded like it would take hours to get everything redone. Tomorrow would be about Schuyler. Not about Maddie.

  As she entered the drugstore, she picked up a shopping basket to hold her treasures. On her way to the cosmetics aisle, she recalled the steps that Schuyler had painstakingly explained.

  Pheew, she thought as she surveyed the options that took up the entire length of mirrored wall and the shelves behind her. She believed in choice, but this was overwhelming.

  What was the brand that Schuyler had used?

  She looked around to see if she could spot a store clerk to help her, but remembered it was midnight. She was lucky the place was open. A couple of rows behind her a gaggle of girls who looked barely old enough to be out this late, much less old enough to buy wine, were giggling over the labels.

  Nope. If she was going to do this, she was in this alone.

  Come on. It can’t be that hard. You can do this. Just pick out some things and go home.

  She picked up a bottle of foundation that claimed it created a dewy glow.

  She matched a bottle to her inner arm. It was the lightest shade. That reinforced that she really needed to get out of the office and get some color. But this would have to do for now because she didn’t want an orangey ridge at the base of her jawline. She wanted to look natural.

  Like herself, only better.

  In addition to foundation, she chose a plum-brown eye shadow—because Schuyler said a slightly purplish brown would bring out the blue of her eyes. She put a black eyeliner pencil in her basket, along with black mascara—very simple.

  See, this wasn’t so hard.

  She decided that she wouldn’t mind a bolder color lipstick. She perused the different shades—every color under the rainbow. Literally.

  Who wore blue lipstick?

  She recalled the girl who worked the counter at the dry cleaner where Maddie took her clothes. Her lipstick had been an iridescent navy. In a strange, individualistic way, the girl wore it well. Obviously, that’s what makeup was about—discovering your comfort level and wearing the product with confidence.

  She needed a lipstick that conveyed she was a strong, powerful businesswoman.

  Red.

  Red was a power color.

  They didn’t have testers. She had to trust the color swatches on the end of the tubes. She chose one called Million Dollar Red.

  Blush. She chose a package of powder blusher she thought was the right shade.

  Schuyler had started to teach her how to use dark and shimmery light powders to contour her face—to give the illusion of sharper cheekbones and a smaller nose—but Maddie had called it quits.

  “Let me learn the basic techniques before you try to turn me into a master sculptor,” she had insisted.

  Remarkably, Schuyler had agreed.

  By the time she brought home her treasures, Maddie was too keyed up to sleep. She took one last lingering look at the way Schuyler had done her makeup. She even snapped a couple of selfies with her smartphone and then she washed her face.

  She had to get up early to get in and out of the office in time to meet Val and Schuyler for brunch. So, she put on her pajamas and went to bed even though she wasn’t the least bit tired.

  She did her breathing exercises, inhaling for four counts, holding the breath for seven counts, and exhaling for eight counts. Even after ten rounds, she couldn’t quiet her noisy mind.

  Thoughts kept jumping from kissing Zach, to arguing with Zach, to whether she would run into Zach at the office so they could smooth things out before their meeting on Monday morning. If Dave Madison sensed that there was tension in the air, it might compromise the deal. Dave would need to be sure that Zach and Maddie could work together, and while Maddie still didn’t appreciate Zach not being completely up front with her, she needed to get past it. She needed to turn it around to her advantage.

  She sat up in bed and turned on the lamp on the bedside table. Looking slightly annoyed, Ramona opened one sleepy eye but didn’t move from her pillow bed on the floor next to Maddie’s bed. There was no sense lying there stewing over it.

  “Sorry, girl. Go back to sleep. At least someone is getting some rest tonight.”

  Maddie swung her legs over the side of the bed and padded over to the en suite bath. Her cosmetics were lying on the built-in vanity counter still in the bag. She sat down at the vanity, opened the packages and lined them up till they looked like soldiers at the ready. Soldiers that would help her win this battle.

  She opened the bottle of foundation and poured a dab out onto the back of her hand, as she’d seen Schuyler do, and began applying the opaque liquid to her face.

  She’d purposely opted to go a little lighter to look more natural—but had she gone too light?

  It didn’t look like what Sky had put on her.

  It was late, but Maddie was wide-awake and eager to try on the rest so that she’d know what she was facing in the morning before she went into the office. Because, of course, if Zach was in the office, she’d want him to see the new her while she pretended that she was still the old her.

  She picked up the brown eye shadow next. In contrast to the base makeup, it looked much darker than it had appeared in the packaging.

  After poking herself in the eye with the mascara wand, which made her eyes water—and water—and water—and getting overzealous with the red lipstick, she couldn’t decide if she looked more like a scary clown or Heath Ledger’s Joker.

  Oh, this was bad.

  Obviously, it was that hard to make makeup look effortless and natural.

  As she scrubbed her face clean, she decided that maybe she needed more practice before she debuted her new look.

  She towel dried her face then rubbed her index finger over her red-tinged lips. The lipstick had feathered beyond the boundaries, forming a ring around her mouth that looked as if she’d been eating a cherry snow cone. She hoped she hadn’t permanently stained them. It was almost 2:00 a.m. At this rate, she’d do well to get five hours’ sleep if she got up in time to make it to the office and back to meet her sisters.

  She climbed back into bed and drifted asleep dreaming up a plan that would allow her to make things right with Zach and win the promotion.

  Chapter Seven

  Zach had a potential buyer for the Winters ranch in Sisterdale. He’d let Jim and Mary Ann know that he was bringing Joanna and Gary Everly by around eleven thirty. He’d rented the truck again. It comfortably seated six, so the three of them would have plenty of room for the long trip.

  The Everlys were meeting him at the office at seven thirty Sunday morning. He’d stopped by the bakery and picked up a dozen donuts and three cup
s of coffee for the trip. He was fifteen minutes early, which gave him just enough time to go inside and grab the spec sheet for the property. When he pulled into the parking lot and saw Maddie’s white Volvo, his stomach tightened—and not in an altogether bad way.

  She’d been right last night—or at least partially right—when she’d said he hadn’t been up front with her about meeting Dave Madison for lunch. He should’ve told her before he went. He was glad to have this opportunity to clear the air before seeing her tomorrow.

  He let himself in the office and announced himself so as not to scare her, since she probably wasn’t expecting anyone this early in the morning.

  “Maddie?” he called from the hallway. He could hear the clicking sound of someone working on a computer keyboard. The click-click-clickity-click stopped the moment he’d spoken, but she didn’t say anything.

  “Hey,” he said when he appeared in her office doorway. “I just wanted to let you know I was here. I’m meeting some clients. So, I’ll be leaving in a few minutes.”

  “Are you showing the property down in Sisterdale?” she asked, eyeing him up and down.

  “How did you know?” he asked.

  “The cowboy costume.”

  “Yeah. My Sisterdale uniform. I’m driving some potential buyers out there today.”

  Maddie’s gaze made a slow perusal of his body starting from his head, working its way down to his boots and back up again. When their gazes finally met, there was a hungry look in her eyes.

  “Well, now that you’ve undressed me with your eyes...” he said.

  “Zach,” she said. “Don’t.”

  “Don’t do what, Maddie?”

  The pink of her cheeks deepened. Her lips looked particularly alluring this morning. He wondered how he’d never noticed before, never seen her before. But now he couldn’t unsee her and he didn’t want to.

  That kiss had awakened something in him—an undeniable attraction, a dormant hunger. And he was dying for another taste. He was dying for her. He wanted to pull her close and strip away every barrier between them.

  “I should have told you about my meeting with Dave Madison before I went. I don’t know why I didn’t, other than I’m not used to considering others when I work. I’ve always flown solo—in work and in my personal life. Which brings me to the real point. I don’t think my lunch with Dave Madison is the problem here.”