Playing Her Cards Right: Choose Me

Had she heard about Courtesan? It was a major motion picture from a major studio starring major movie stars, and she’d wanted to see it since she’d caught the first ad. Inside, she jumped about five feet off the ground. For him, she nodded and took a sip of tea. “I have.”

“I’ve got something else Saturday night but I’m not sure what. Either a perfume party or a book thing. Anyway, I’d need you, tentatively, through Saturday night. Maybe more, possibly less. It all depends on the number of hits, the comment activity. Could that work for you?”

To even pretend she had to think about it was useless. He’d know she was bluffing. “Scheduling wouldn’t be the issue. I’d make it work, even if I have to get Rebecca to make my frozen lunches.

“That’s the thing Rebecca does at St. Marks, right?”

“How we met.”

“She’s gonna love this.” Now he didn’t even try to hide his smile. It was the other Charlie, the charming cousin of her friend, the man who’d kissed her silly.

Bree cleared her throat before meeting his gaze. “What do you mean?”

“She’s going to think the series was her idea. She’ll be insufferable.”

“Ah.” Bree popped a fry as she fought against another pang. This one was even more foolish. She’d thought for a second there that Rebecca would love the fact that she and Charlie would continue seeing each other. Ridiculous.

But come on, this was better than dating. Sex for someone like Charlie lasted one night. He couldn’t even fake interest the next morning. In the long run, what he was offering was more than her paltry dreams had imagined. He’d just shortened her five-year plan by half. “I still want input.”

“It’s my blog, Bree. People read it for my take.”

“I don’t want to come off looking like a fool.”

“Is that how you read any of those articles?”

“No.”

“We can draw something up, something we can both agree to. If the series works, it will be because people like my take on seeing my world through your eyes. It’s in my best interest to make you relatable and sympathetic.”

“Okay. But I think I would be even more relatable if I write some of the blogs myself.”

He winced. “I don’t know. My name brings the party to the yard. Sorry.”

“Granted. Doesn’t mean there can’t be a sidebar. You’ve done that before.”

Charlie used his napkin, wiping off the mayo by chance. After a longish pause, he nodded. “No guarantees. I’ll read what you write, see how it works. I’ll have my attorney draw up something to cover the rest of the week, but I’d like to post the blog I wrote today. What do you say?”

She knew she was taking a risk, not signing on the dotted line, but what the hell. Rebecca would have something to say if Charlie messed with her, but even more than that, Bree’s gut told her to go for it. She held out her hand.

The shiver that ran through her body when they shook was strictly in response to the opportunity. Nothing more.

CHARLIE WALKED BREE TO HER office building, a giant among giants, blocking out most of the sky. It was windy in the street, and he put his arm around Bree’s shoulders, pulling her close. He liked keeping her warm, liked the way her hair tickled his chin.

“Charlie?” She had to raise her voice as they walked, so he bent his head a little.

“Yes?”

“Assuming the paperwork is fine and we end up going to … things. What are we going as?”

“Uh, oh. Like last night. Together, but not a couple. If someone asks, say we’re friends. They’ll all assume it’s more, but that’s not a bad thing. People like trying to figure things out, make connections, even if they’re false. And gossip pays the bills.”

She didn’t speak, but she did slow her step.

“Bree?”

She stopped. Charlie turned to face her, not liking the troubled look she wore. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s fine. I want to make sure we understand each other. If we do this, it’s a business arrangement.”

“Yeah.” The way she stared at him didn’t make sense. He was handing her a gift here. Sure, he was going to make money from the deal, but she would win, too. He should have asked her what she wanted. From her love of fashion, her work at the advertising agency, it wasn’t hard to figure her area of interest, but it was sloppy of him not to get specific.

“I keep my business life and my personal life separate,” she said.

It took him a beat too long to make the connection. Not because she was being unreasonable. On the contrary, she was being smart. He wasn’t used to it, though. The women who came home with him didn’t think of the sex as anything outside of the job. Neither had he, not since he’d started the blog, for God’s sake. Bree was not from his world. That was the point.

In fact, she was a romantic. Not simply around the issue of sex, but about designers, New York, glamour, beauty, all of it. Too bad it wouldn’t last.

Oddly, he didn’t rush to agree with her. He’d assumed they’d sleep together. He’d wanted to. If the series got results, they were looking at a week, maybe two. That would be a long stretch to go without. Especially when she would be with him most every night. In the car, at his place.

“Charlie?”

“Right. No, you’re right. Strictly professional. Good thinking.”

Her smile wasn’t very victorious. In fact, he was tempted to follow her as she backed away from him, just to see her better.

“I’m really late,” she said, calling out now, against the wind. “Send me the contract, and I’ll take a look at it. And the details about tonight. And, thanks,” she said, but the word was carried away as she got swallowed by dozens of people all heading for the same entrance.

He lost her before she went inside. He knew BBDA took up four floors of the skyscraper, could picture where the copywriters sat. But he didn’t go after her. He’d see her tonight. He pulled out his cell as he went to the corner to hail a cab. He needed to get the blog update done, call the attorney, make arrangements with the stylist.

After he told the cabbie his address, he looked back at Bree’s building. No more nights like last night. Well, damn.

BETWEEN THE PHOTOGRAPHERS blinding her and the constant tweets, Bree barely had time to enjoy the party. It would have been overwhelming regardless. This event was much smaller. Maybe five hundred people?

Put on by one of the most sought-after design celebrities, it was being held at The Lighthouse in Chelsea Piers. The huge room had been decked out in Asian-themed splendor with floating lanterns, Zen gardens artfully placed between tables and paper dragons so large and beautifully decorated they were works of art. Even the view of the Hudson River from the floor-to-ceiling windows stole her breath, and that was before she met a mind-boggling parade of fashion idols and A, B and C-list stars.

The good and bad news was that Charlie had been even more extraordinary, which she hadn’t thought possible. He hadn’t left her side, which was wonderful, but what got to her even more was how he’d introduced her to his people. And God, they really were his people. He made her sound as if she were the brightest new thing to hit the scene since Lady Gaga. It was totally over-the-top, but, and this went directly into the bad news category, it was totally to support the blog series. She wasn’t important; the image was important, the mystique, the hip-by-association coupled with her “innocence” to make her a mini celebrity.

The plan was working though because after dinner—which was to die for, and God, how she’d wanted a doggie bag—she’d been approached, over and over.

Not that she hadn’t realized before that celebrities were never what they appeared to be. They might feel as if they’re old friends, having been on her favorite TV series, or in so many movies she knew. But who they were had no relationship to the person she’d created in her head.

She knew that, and she was fine with it. People had always had icons. It made them feel connected. Twitter, Facebook, Naked New York, Perez Hilton, E!, People. They were watercoolers, the center of invisible towns where neighbors gathered.

Being one of the chosen, knowing everyone she met, whether they were famous or seeking fame, had already made up a story about who she was, what Charlie saw in her, what would happen next, was bizarre in a way she couldn’t have predicted. There was no preparation for this kind of exposure, and the strangeness of it was messing with her sense of time. One minute she was reeling from too many gazes centered on her, the next, she was standing beside a window staring out at the water without having any idea how she’d gotten there.

Charlie had helped. His hand on her arm was a steadying force, his presence, his introductions easing the way. But he was acclimated, and she was still gasping for oxygen.

It didn’t help that each time, every time, his touch gave her a frisson of excitement that made her breathless once again. It was ridiculous. She should be over it by now. Knowing this was a business arrangement and nothing more didn’t help. The disconnect between her brain and her desire worried her. It was as if she’d been given electric shocks all evening, each one immediately followed by a stab of regret.

“You ready?” he asked, his mouth so close to her ear she could feel his heat. It must have been a shout because the music was blaring all around them, but it felt like a caress.

She nodded, and he slipped his arm around her shoulders as they went from the steamy inside to the icy outdoors. Again, there were enough limos to fill a football field, but there were also dozens of valets, running off to find drivers in what must have been an underground madhouse.

“What did you think?” Charlie asked. “Better?

Worse?”

“You tell me,” she answered. “You were watching me like a hawk.”

He studied her expression, and she was struck yet again by how much she liked his face. It really was absurd how outsize his eyes were. They weren’t comicbook large or even unsettlingly out of proportion. They were definitely the first thing one noticed about him.

He raised one dramatic eyebrow. “You liked this one more, despite having to work. I think partly because you knew more about what to expect, and partly because you got to speak to some of your favorite designers.”

She smiled even though his conclusion wasn’t quite accurate. “You’re dead-on. Is that a problem?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m incrementally not as innocent. By Friday night, I’ll be a stone-cold cynic.”

Charlie laughed, and there were the lines on his face that made it impossible for her not to touch his jacket, touch him. Why lines? It’s not as if they were deep grooves or anything close to it. He was in his early thirties, and they didn’t make him look a minute older. Perhaps it was because lines of any kind, even laugh lines, were practically forbidden in this glamorous, youth-obsessed culture. She’d hate it if Charlie had Botoxed his out of existence. His lines made him seem genuine, made him seem attainable. Seem being the operative word.

“Trust me on this,” he said. “While you’re very savvy and not to be underestimated, you’re nowhere close to jaded. It won’t be as unbelievable to meet famous people in a week or two, but the thrill will still be there.”

“Good.” She wanted the thrill, at least as it pertained to celebrities. She could do with fewer thrills when it came to Charlie. “Sorry I’m making you leave so early. I imagine you close down these kinds of parties.”

“Not at all. I stay until I have enough material, then head home. I have to get up early to get the blog in on time.”

“So the photographers send their pictures before they crash for the night?”

“Yep. I go through them in the morning. I also get the freelance pieces and gossip tidbits. I put together the blog, send everything to my assistant Naomi, and she does her thing until it’s online by 10:00 a.m. If you’ve got a sidebar about tonight, I’ll need it by nine.”

She nodded, not wanting him to see how his mention of that aspect of the job terrified her. The words would be hers. Not an illusion, not a gimmick. She’d sink or swim based on talent. God, she needed to sit down.

“You okay?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask. The stylist? What are we aiming for here?” She looked down at the dress she’d worn, one she’d made back in college. It was a pretty green, a shade lighter than her eyes, and it was sleeveless with a purple-and-green bolero jacket. It would have been perfect for a night on the town with Rebecca and friends, but she was outclassed here by ten miles. She figured that was the point. Make her look like the hick she was.

“Ah. You’re going to like this part. Glam to the max. Everything from shoes to gowns. The whole shebang, complete with makeup, hair, body airbrushing, everything.”

“I don’t understand,” she said, unsure whether he was joking with her or not.

“Those sidebars? They should be about the entire experience. What it feels like to become a princess, to go to the ball. To be plucked out of obscurity and shot to the stars.”

She blinked at him as people pushed forward to get to their cars. Watched a smile bloom on his face. Wished like hell she could jump into his arms and hug him for yet another incredible surprise.

“And you get to keep all the swag.”

She shoved him. Kind of hard. “Do not mess with me, Winslow. I will hurt you if you’re lying.”

“Not lying. Yours to keep.”

Flashbulbs had been popping all night, but suddenly they were in her face, blinding her. Only for a moment, though, then they were gone, like a swarm of locusts with cameras. They’d done their job, however, and kept her from leaping into Charlie’s arms.

It was the most diabolical torture. Give her all her dreams with one hand, steal her desire with the other. Rinse. Repeat.

“So, we discussed that you’ll be meeting Sveta on Thursday, right? That you’re off the hook for tomorrow?”

“Yep,” she said, switching gears.

“You should sleep. You’ll need it.”

“I have to go make frozen lunches tomorrow night. Rebecca’s going to be there.”

“If I know her, she’ll keep you up later than I have. The woman is a slave to details.”

Before she hit the sack, she’d go through the pictures she’d taken. Those images were what she needed to focus on, not Charlie. Not his scent, not the resonance of his voice, not this wanting to be close to him.

By the time the series was finished, she’d be over her silly crush. Dammit, she would be.

9

“TASTE THIS AND TELL ME if you think it needs more salt.” Rebecca stood back so that Lilly could try the soup.

She obliged and faked a cough.

“Funny.” After elbowing her aside, Rebecca saw her cousin standing at the door of the St. Mark’s basement kitchen. He wasn’t looking at her, or, she imagined, for her. His gaze was on Bree.

Laughter still clung to the steam that swirled over the industrial stove. Rebecca was making a giant pot of split pea soup, Lilly was cooking a Texas chili and even with those pots and the 350° oven, the basement remained chilly. It wouldn’t be for long, though, not if what she thought was going to happen happened.

It was difficult to look away from Charlie. He was as unguarded as she’d ever seen him. As an adult, at least. There was a keen awareness in his eyes, a concentration that spoke of a hunger that had nothing to do with pea soup.

One of his hands braced against the door frame, the other held papers. He looked elegant in his bespoke coat: dark navy, midcalf, styled perfectly. How Charlie it was.

The man knew what looked good on him, what he could get away with, and what would cause eyebrows to raise. Nothing was unintentional. Not online, in person, in a walk to the corner grocer. Seeing him blatantly wanting Bree was seeing him naked. Not that she had any personal experience with that, but she’d been with Charlie in family situations, private moments of grief, in trouble, in failure, in success, and this was new.

Rebecca grinned at her own brilliance. She was awesome. She’d known he would like Bree. And Bree would like him, but even Rebecca at her most conniving hadn’t guessed they would have come so far so fast.

She’d have high-fived herself if she could have, for being just that clever. No one in the family believed Charlie would ever fall. He’d always have women, but never one woman. Not Charlie. His merry-go-round hadn’t stopped spinning since puberty, and he got bored so quickly. Nothing could have suited her cousin quite as perfectly as this age of instant gratification. Charlie was born for it, breathed it, worked it. Everything lightning fast, and rest was for the weak and dull.

Bree wasn’t dull in the least.

Rebecca turned to her friend. They’d played phone tag all day, then arrived at the kitchen as Lilly had come in, so all Rebecca knew was that Bree had gone with Charlie to a big fancy party last night, a heck of a second date, and she’d written a firsthand account of the party that had been in this morning’s blog.

If that wasn’t testimony to Rebecca’s genius, she didn’t know what was.

Things got really interesting when Bree shifted and sighted the man standing in the doorway.

If only the door had been closer to the prep area. It was difficult to know where to look. Bree now was a living demonstration of Modern Woman In Full Lust Mode. Her back straightened, her breath caught, showing off her chest in the most positive light possible. The thrift-store cashmere sweater she wore cupped her boobs perfectly, and Rebecca knew Charlie was having a little heart attack at the view.

Then there was the flush that swept across Bree’s cheeks. Good lord, it couldn’t have been more artfully painted by Renoir. Her eyes got wide and her lips parted and her pheromones were positively dripping.

The only sounds were the slow gurgle of thick simmering from the stove, the hiss of the radiator. Even Lilly, who’d come tonight for the company and the after-cooking drinks, had caught on that Something Was Happening.

Rebecca turned to Charlie again, and he’d dropped his hand, taking a single step inside the kitchen. He seemed to be fighting a smile. It would start to form at the corners of his lips, then flatten, but a second later the grin would start again.

Back to Bree, and it was like the slowest tennis match ever, the invisible ball staying well within the boundaries, the lobs back and forth languid and electric at the same time.

Rebecca’s soup would burn in a minute if she didn’t stir the pot. “Charlie,” she said. “What’s up?”

Rebecca almost laughed at how he jerked at her voice. And when she glanced at Bree, the blush had spread over her cheeks and down her neck, and there was a great deal of blinking.

“I came to show Bree her blog.” He held up the papers as if proof had been required.

“Kind of hard for her to see it across the room.”

Charlie’s grin finally broke free as did his legs. He came inside, crossed the basement to Bree.

“That’s Charlie Winslow,” Lilly whispered, and Rebecca hadn’t heard her approach. Luckily, no one saw Rebecca jump because everybody’s gaze was on center stage. Even Lilly’s.

“Yes, it is.”

“Why is Charlie Winslow in the kitchen? With Bree?”

“Because she’s seeing him.”

“What?”

The word came out loud. Very loud. Loud enough that it halted the action.

Lilly smiled, gave a little wave. “Lilly Denton. Hey.”

“Charlie Winslow,” Charlie said. “Hey.”

The moment passed. Rebecca dragged Lilly to the stove, Charlie went back to mooning at Bree.

“She’s seeing him?” Lilly asked, her voice back down to a stage whisper. “Since when?”

“Not long.”

“How do you know this?”

“Obviously you don’t read his blog.”

“I do, but I’ve been too busy the past few days.” Lilly sneaked another peek. “That’ll teach me for putting work first.”

“Okay, it’s not because of his blog, I know because Charlie’s my cousin, and your chili is burning.”

Both of them took up spoons, the industrial-size ones, and stirred like the witches in Macbeth. “Seriously, what the hell?” Lilly said.

“I set them up.”

Lilly, who was something of a mystery to Rebecca, a friend in the making, but guarded, so very guarded, opened her mouth, then must have reconsidered. She did, however, step closer to Rebecca. “Explain. In detail, please. And remember, I have a large spoon in my hand, and I swear to God I’ll use it if you keep being cryptic.”

“I don’t usually set people up,” Rebecca replied. “Especially not Charlie because he’s got hot-and-cold running women in his life, but he and Bree … they fit.”

“Before the trading cards? During? Because if Charlie Winslow was a trading card then I want my money back.”

“You didn’t pay for anything.”

“Rebecca.”

“Right. He wasn’t a card. Technically.”

“I’ve been out with two trading cards. The first one was a wonderful guy, as long as you were willing to put up with his ardent love for his mother. The second guy’s card said he wanted a relationship, but his actions were completely one-night stand.”

“I know. My dates haven’t been life shattering, either, although I hear Paulie met someone fantastic, and that Tess’s one-night stand has turned into three.”

“Which still doesn’t explain Charlie Winslow,” Lilly said, frowning.

“It’s complicated, and we’ll discuss it more when we go for drinks, but if I’m talking to you, my eavesdropping sucks, so let’s keep stirring and shut the hell up.”

CHARLIE SWALLOWED, WONDERING for the fiftieth time what he was doing in the basement of a church kitchen fumbling around like a teenager on his first date. Bree was reading the blog pages he’d printed out, and she was kind enough not to mention that he hadn’t needed to come see her or print out the pages as the blog would be online first thing in the morning.

He’d asked her to do a little bio piece and tomorrow morning it would run. She’d already given a tease—her first sidebar about the Chelsea Piers party—and it could have ended right there. But blog hits had been up, and she’d gotten more than seven hundred comments on her column. Very encouraging.

So he’d moved forward. Tomorrow morning there would be more pictures of Bree, some from college days, one from here in New York in casual wear. He hoped it would start a dialogue.

His gaze went to Rebecca, whom he caught in mid-smirk, and he touched Bree’s arm, interrupting her reading. “I’ll be back in a few.”

She nodded, and he went over to Rebecca. He smiled at her friend, then turned to his cousin. “A minute? Outside?”

Her eyes narrowed, but she put down her spoon and walked with him to the door. Once they were outside, she shivered at the cold, but didn’t go back for her coat. “You can thank me now,” she said. “And later. I accept gifts, too. The more expensive the better.”

“We’re not dating.”

“I read NNY, you dope,” she said.

“You read what I write on NNY. And evidently you haven’t spoken to your friend since yesterday before lunch.”

“That’s true. We’re going out after the meals are in the freezer.”

As Charlie stuck his hands in his pockets, she grimaced. The bastard should have given her his coat. “Why did you set me up with her?” he asked.

“Why did you bring me out here to freeze to death?”

He rolled his eyes dramatically and took off his coat with a sigh that would have done a Broadway diva proud.

She curled herself into the heavy wool coat, the lining as luxurious as the tailoring. “Because she’s your type.”

“No, she’s not. She’s not vaguely my type. Do you even know me?”

“Yeah. I do. And those skeletons you go out with every night are a joke. I imagine you can count the ones you actually like on one hand.”

“It doesn’t matter if I like them.”