Star Crossed

by Jennifer Echols

  “But what if I just happen to skew Lorelei’s PR in a way that makes her look good and Colton look bad?” Tom asked.

  “And there are so many ways I could sabotage Colton’s PR without Daniel knowing,” Sarah added.

  “No,” Wendy said. “I don’t want to screw Daniel over.”

  “Why not?” Tom asked suspiciously.

  “He’s with the Blackstone Firm, in case you hadn’t noticed,” Sarah said. “Screwing them over is practically part of Stargazer’s mission statement.”

  “Daniel and I have been working together some since we’ve been here,” Wendy reminded them. “He’s had the opportunity to screw me over, and he hasn’t. I’ve had the opportunity to screw him over, and I haven’t.”

  “But now we’re here,” Tom pointed out.

  “And you need to screw him over if you can,” Sarah told Wendy. “Katelyn knows you called us to help you. With extra resources added to your tab, you’d better come through with something spectacular.”

  “That doesn’t have to include sabotaging Daniel,” Wendy protested. “It could simply be doing my job and getting Lorelei out of trouble.”

  “And getting her album nominated for a Grammy,” Tom said, “because at this point, I don’t think just doing your job is going to cut it.”

  “Nah.” Wendy waved away his concerns with a confidence she didn’t feel. “Lorelei will record a beautiful mini-concert in an hour, and she’ll do great at the awards show tomorrow night. Everything will turn around for her. You’ll see.”

  The salesman came out with the shoes then. He offered them to Wendy, but Wendy pointed to Sarah. After he left, Sarah held the box as if she wasn’t sure what to do with it. “These are for me? What’s wrong with what I have on? I just bought these.” She stuck out one sad Mary Jane with a hiking tread.

  “What’s wrong with them,” Wendy said, “is that you’re in Vegas, where everybody goes out of their way to look good. You’re part of my posse. You’re a reflection on me. You can’t dress like you teach kindergartners at a Montessori school. We’re getting a scarf and chunky earrings, too, to make what you’re wearing into something presentable. Or just cover it up. And then you are marching right back to your room to put on a bra.”

  With a grimace, Sarah tried the boots on. “They fit, but Wendy. I’m running a marathon in two weeks. I’m not willing to break my ankle in heels just because you’re embarrassed to be seen with me.”

  “Precisely because you run marathons, you could punch holes in steel plate with your ankles.” Remembering Tom, Wendy turned to him. “You’re very tolerant of us while we conduct this meeting in a women’s shoe store. Thank you.”

  “No problem.” He grinned.

  “Are you putting up with it, or are you kind of enjoying it?”

  “I’m kind of enjoying it. Taking notes like David Attenborough.”

  “You’ll make somebody an excellent husband.”

  Tom put up his hands. “Hold on there, cowgirl.”

  “Not for me, Scruffy! You’re just a baby.” Running her eye up and down him, she appraised his usual attire. “You just need to iron.”

  “I don’t iron.”

  “Send your clothes out to be pressed, then, and charge it to my room. Jesus.” She turned her sights on Sarah again. “Do you have something to wear to Lorelei’s birthday party tonight?”

  Sarah gestured to what she was wearing. “This?”

  Wendy took a deep breath and prayed to God for forbearance. Then she said, “I’ll give you a hint. Sequins.”

  “Then, no.” Sarah stuck out her bottom lip.

  Wendy shook her head in disgust. “When I get a minute this afternoon, I’ll buy you a dress and have it delivered to your room.”

  “I feel like your mistress.” Sarah grinned.

  “Speaking of inappropriate relationships,” Tom spoke up, “seriously, Wendy, what are you going to do about Daniel Blackstone?”

  Wendy glanced around the shoe store to make sure they wouldn’t be overheard, then scowled at him. “Why do I have to do anything about Daniel Blackstone?”

  “Because his head was in your lap!” Sarah exclaimed, exasperated.

  “You love saying that,” Wendy grumbled.

  “I’m just dishing it back out, girlfriend,” Sarah said. “I can’t believe this day has finally come. You and Daniel have both met your match. Only, you’re not really a match for him. Not long-term. If this is a fling that will be over when you go back to New York, that’s one thing. If you think you can keep meeting in New York without anybody finding out, I don’t know. That’s really iffy. And Stargazer cannot find out about this, Wendy.”

  Wendy’s stomach twisted. “It’s not against company policy to have a relationship with the Blackstone Firm,” she protested.

  “It might as well be,” Tom said. “That’s the first thing I learned in this job.”

  “And they already don’t like you, Wendy,” Sarah said. “In case you forgot, they fired you on Monday, but you clung to Archie’s leg and he couldn’t shake you off.”

  “Plus, I’ve been doing a really good job of keeping Zane Taylor clean,” Tom volunteered. “Maybe too good. I’ve told the bosses that you laid the groundwork, but they don’t listen when they don’t want to hear it. And now this photo of Lorelei is making the rounds.”

  “You can’t give them another excuse,” Sarah insisted. “You’ve got to get Lorelei out of this scrape, and you’ve got to dump Daniel.”

  Wendy grimaced. “What if I didn’t dump him? Isn’t there another way out of this?”

  “He can’t leave the Blackstone Firm,” Tom said. “It practically belongs to him. You could leave Stargazer and—”

  “No!”

  “—go to work for—”

  “No!”

  “It’s not that bad, Wendy,” Sarah broke in. “There are plenty of PR firms that—”

  “No!”

  “Hey!” Sarah put her hand on Wendy’s thigh. “We know you’re scared.”

  “I’m not.” Wendy rose and pointed to the counter, indicating that Sarah should pay for her shoes so they could move on to the next item of clothing. “There’s nothing to be scared of. The only reason I would lose my job is if Daniel and I really fell for each other. I’m not going to let that happen.”

  * * *

  Midafternoon, Daniel found Wendy in their room. She’d draped her suit jacket over the back of the desk chair, so he got a better look at her breasts than he had that morning. The sight heated his blood. He made a valiant effort to stare at her face instead while he waited for her to acknowledge him.

  She’d set up her laptop on the desk rather than balancing it on her thighs on the bed, which told him that things had gotten serious. She even held up one finger so he would hold his thoughts while she finished an e-mail. “There!” She tapped the trackpad with a flourish and spun in the desk chair to face him. “How are you feeling?” she asked, beaming at him.

  “Better, after eating,” he said. “How do you feel? I’ve stopped asking you, but you’re the one with stitches.”

  “A hundred percent. Lorelei’s TV appearance went so well. Did you see it?”

  He sat on the bed, very close to her chair, and tried not to stare at the tempting hem of her skirt as she crossed her toned legs in front of him. Wendy looked very sexy in skirts. “Colton and I both watched it, and then I watched it again online. You and your crew did a super job setting that up and getting the video out there.”

  “It turned out great,” Wendy agreed. “I could have kissed that girl right there in the studio, but PR professionals do not inadvertently start lesbian rumors about their clients.”

  Daniel laughed. “I can tell Lorelei’s public image is turning around because of that video, and people are getting excited about the fact that she and Colton might be back together. I only wish there was something else we could do.”

  “Something else?” Wendy exclaimed. “I don’t know how you work at the Blacks
tone Firm, but over at Stargazer we are tired. Maybe we’re underachieving.”

  Daniel shook his head. “It’s just that Lorelei and Colton’s bad PR has been incredibly bad. In order to counteract that, the good PR has to be over the top. Their apparent reunion and your video are steps in the right direction, but I’m not sure we’re there yet. I’m still thinking. Maybe I’ll come up with something.”

  Wendy was looking at him like he was insane, so he shrugged and changed the subject. “Thank you for bringing Sarah out here to help. I know it was really for Lorelei, and only incidentally for Colton or for me, but I appreciate it all the same. Sarah is good at what she does.”

  “She thinks the same thing about you,” Wendy said. “She told me you were like a master class in this business.”

  “Well,” he said quietly. “It’s second nature now. I grew up with it. Couldn’t get away from it. I . . . ”

  She raised her eyebrows, probably wondering why he’d stopped talking. And why he was talking about himself voluntarily. Good call.

  He started over. “I know it was just a big mistake to be asleep on your lap when your colleagues came into the room. I feel awful about it. Sarah gave me a talking-to.”

  “Yeah,” Wendy said regretfully, “Sarah does that.”

  “I, um . . . ” He was never tongue-tied, but Wendy had this effect on him. She watched him with concern in her blue eyes as his speech ground to a halt. He doubted he would have gotten himself in this fix with her if she’d only been kind. Or only brilliant at her job. Or only hilarious, making him laugh like he hadn’t laughed since high school.

  Or only sexy. He found his gaze drifting from her eyes down to her perfectly polished lips, and farther down to her breasts again. Two nights alone with her in this hotel room and he hadn’t seen her bare breasts, hadn’t even touched them. That was how smooth he was around her.

  He couldn’t be tongue-tied now, though. He had to tell her. Reaching across the space between them and taking her hands in his, he said, “I haven’t made any secret of how I feel about you. I think some of it has been welcome and some of it hasn’t, which I really regret. But I never, ever intended to get you in trouble at work. If that’s going to happen, but we’re still uneasy about this guy who likes your hair so much, maybe you could stay in Sarah’s room instead of mine.”

  “Oh,” Wendy said to their clasped hands.

  “I want to be honest about this,” Daniel said. “I’ve enjoyed living with you. I hope you’ll stay.” Of course, if he’d really been honest, he would have said a whole lot more.

  Wendy nodded. “Then I’ll be honest with you. We can’t have any kind of long-term relationship. Not while you’re with the Blackstone Firm and I’m with Stargazer.”

  His heart sank. He’d wanted to clear the air with her—to a point. But now that she’d stated her true feelings, ambiguity didn’t sound so bad.

  “Sarah and Tom won’t rat me out,” Wendy went on. “Stargazer has no way of knowing you and I are together out here. So as long as we’re in Vegas, as far as I’m concerned, we can do anything we want.”

  They shared a long, serious look. Daniel’s heart pulsed painfully in his chest. Sometimes clarity was very, very good.

  Wendy sat back in her chair and smiled craftily at him. “Guess what? While we’ve been chatting, I’ve come up with that over-the-top idea you wanted, the one that will rescue Lorelei and Colton once and for all.” Her words were businesslike, but her come-hither smile told him they were done with work for now.

  He whispered, “Do tell.”

  14

  It’s going to sound crazy,” Wendy said, “but hear me out.”

  “Mmmmm-kay,” Daniel said in such a knowing tone that she nearly jumped out of her skin in anticipation. Though he gave her the impression of consciousness of his own body and looks, he was un-self-consciously sexy, legs crossed casually on the edge of the bed in his dark suit pants, crisp white shirt open at the throat, dark hair perfect, dark eyes on her.

  “Lorelei is great at taking scandalous photos,” Wendy said. “She’s known for it. It’s never brought her anything but trouble, but if we brainstormed, maybe we could turn that around. The thing about Lorelei and her exhibitionism is . . . she’s got a killer body.”

  Daniel nodded. “If you have a thing for bony twenty-one-year-olds.”

  Wendy laughed. “Most people do. And if she were to post the right pictures of her elbow or her carefully pedicured big toe or worse, that might actually make for good PR. But that’s not what she does. She takes the grossest, most unflattering shot possible and posts that, making herself look like a drunken slob.”

  “Which she is,” Daniel pointed out. “It’s just that she’s a beautiful drunken slob, and her photos don’t do her justice.”

  “Exactly,” Wendy said. “See, you’re so difficult to work with—”

  “Me!” he exclaimed.

  “—but we really are on the same page. Because here’s what I was thinking. Maybe we could take some test shots to see what looks best on camera.”

  A smile crept across Daniel’s face as he caught her meaning. “And we don’t want to disturb her,” he said. “She’s probably doing something really important, like staring into space, or embroiling herself in an online battle with her high school choir director. We can take care of this ourselves.”

  He put his hands on Wendy’s knees and rolled her office chair to the edge of the bed, right in front of him.

  The sudden manhandling was so out of character for him, and so titillating for her, that she sat there dazed for a moment, staring at him without speaking, enjoying the tingles that still raced through her blood.

  He handed her his phone. “Try your cleavage first, and we’ll go from there.”

  Heart beating wildly, she examined his phone to figure out where the camera buttons were, then aimed the lens down her blouse and clicked.

  He took the phone back from her before she could even view the picture herself. Suddenly embarrassed, she tried to snatch it away from him. He held it above his head and gently slapped at her hands until she withdrew them. He peered at the screen, then at her. He tilted his head, considering her. She felt herself blushing, thinking of him examining her cleavage, waiting for his verdict.

  “A little higher, I think, and centered better. And we need to show a little more.” He placed the phone on the bed and reached both hands toward her neckline. She watched him coming, instinctively throwing her shoulders back to give him better access to her breasts.

  His hands stopped inches from her blouse. He was watching her. He asked softly, “May I?”

  “Of course,” she said casually. “Anything for Lorelei’s PR.”

  He bit his lip to keep from laughing. She suppressed a shudder as his fingers slipped past the neckline of her blouse to explore the lace edge of her bra. “I don’t know,” he whispered. “We’re probably going to have to adjust all this.” His fingers trailed down to unfasten the first button of her shirt.

  She tried to enjoy the warm waves of excitement that washed over her as his hands moved in slow motion. But relaxing was impossible with this tight thread of anticipation running through her and making her skin burn. He gently tugged the sides of her shirt apart and smoothed them back, deliberately pressing her breasts and stroking her nipples beneath the silk. He cupped her breasts in his palms as he tugged her bra lower to expose more of her cleavage. It was all she could do to hold in a groan of pleasure as he touched her through the lace.

  “There,” he said. Holding her gaze, he felt around for the phone. He glanced at it, adjusted the settings, and then reached over to point it down over her chest. The camera flashed, warming her bare skin, and the warmth seemed to remain and pool in the cups of her bra.

  This time he offered her the phone. They put their heads close together to look at the photo.

  “Wow,” Wendy said. “That’s an improvement.” It was amazing how buxom she looked with her breasts and lacy bra out
of context. She could hear Daniel breathing beside her, smell his cologne.

  He looked over at her, dark eyes questioning, asking her permission to go on.

  She winked at him.

  “Let’s try something different,” he said. “Switch places with me.”

  She let him have her chair, and she shifted to the edge of the bed.

  “Spread your legs a little,” he suggested.

  She laughed and felt her cheeks turn flaming red, but she obeyed him, inching her knees farther apart. He slid the phone under her skirt and up her thigh.

  “Hold still,” he said.

  This time she didn’t laugh, just watched him. He looked back at her, half smiling, eyes black.

  She blinked as the phone flashed. She wasn’t sure where the light in her eyes was coming from: out from under her skirt, up her blouse and out her neckline, or all in her own mind.

  Slowly he slid the phone out from between her legs. His grin gave away that he might be enjoying himself a little.

  “Is it a good picture?” she asked. “Let me see.”

  He turned the screen around and showed it to her. There were her panties all right, and the lining of her skirt, and her thighs looking unnaturally white in the bright flash.

  “Take a few more,” she suggested. “I’m not smiling in this one.”

  He burst into laughter, and she was so surprised that she forgot to laugh herself. “This job,” he grumbled, still chuckling. Without ceremony, he reached forward, grabbed her hips, and dragged her to the very edge of the bed. He put one hand on each of her knees and spread her legs wide.

  “Now,” he said, his voice more gentle than she’d ever heard it. He slipped his phone underneath the edge of her skirt. She strained to keep from jumping as she felt his whole hand on the inside of her thigh, very close to her panties. “A little farther apart. We want a good view this time.” Obediently she opened her legs further. She heard the phone click, saw the flash, and felt the heat, whether it was her imagination or not. “Hold still,” he said. He took several more photos and then drew the phone out to look at it.