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  “Look, I won’t argue with you about it anymore. But today, for the first time, you felt really good about Y-O-U.” Simone spelled it out while poking Cara with her finger. “That’s more important than how any man feels about you. It’s like this aura that you give off, and now Alex has noticed it. As well as a few others, I should think.”

  Yes, her aura was in overdrive. Or was that her lust factor? She did feel really good. Better than she had in a long while, but most of it could be attributed to her makeover and those shoes.

  “For now, I will ‘just go with it’, Simone. But when it’s all over and you go back to fairy godmother land, I’ll just be grateful I took the ride.”

  Simone smiled indulgently at her and snorted. “Yeah, fairy godmother land. Where I live with two other women just like me and we get assignments from a floating mailbox. Nothin’ like fairy godmother land.”

  Chapter 4

  The girls shipped her off with hugs and a go get ‘em attitude. Taking her time, she strolled down the street, feeling like she had a pair of tennis shoes on. This shoe gig was all right. The evening air was warmer than usual for this time of year, or was it that she was feeling warm? Giggling to herself, she inhaled the smells of the city. They brought her comfort as she tread into unfamiliar territory. The red shoes clicked sharply along the paved sidewalk, reminding her of why she was treading into unfamiliar territory. Stopping briefly, she admired them in a store window, turning her legs this way and that. She made a face at her reflection and mused about this newfound vanity she’d acquired.

  A whistle, loud and sharp caught her attention. “Yo, good lookin’,” someone yelled.

  Her eyebrows shot up. Me? Looking around she found she was the only one within whistling distance. He means me?

  Me, me, me! Cara turned to see that Frank from the newspaper stand was eyeballing her. “Hey, Frank…How are you?”

  “Cara? Is that really you?” His astonished gaze settled on her with appraising eyes.

  She twirled for him with a giggle of delight, “Yeah, Frank, it’s really me. Whaddya think?”

  He whistled again, “You look maaaarvelous. I’d a never recognized ya.”

  “Which reminds me, Frank, how do you think Doris might feel if she knew you were out here whistling at strange women?”

  “There ain’t nothin’ strange about you. Liked you the moment I laid eyes on you.” He grinned at her in the fading light. “Besides it does a man’s heart good to see a pretty girl. Keeps the old ticker pumping. And where are you off to lookin’ so fancy?”

  “I have a date, and I’d better hurry before I’m late.”

  “A date, huh? Good for you,” he cheered. “It’s about time you got out and found yourself a nice husband.”

  Or a night of much needed sex. “It’s just a date, Frank, my first date with him. Gotta run.” She wiggled her fingers at him. “Say hi to Doris for me.”

  Amid catcalls and whistles, with a few honks of car horns thrown in, Cara hurried off to meet Alex. She flew in the building’s doors just as Jerry was doing his last round for the night.

  He did a double take when he caught sight of her. “Miss Anthony?”

  She sighed loudly. Was it so impossible to believe that she might actually be semi-attractive? She was beginning to feel just a smidge insulted. “Yes, Jerry, it’s me. I know, don’t say it, I look marvelous and you can’t begin to fathom it’s really poor Cara who works in the cafeteria.” She was being bitchy. Crap.

  He shrugged his uniformed shoulders. “Nah, I was just thinkin’ you have really pretty hair. I don’t get to see it much when you’re serving me turkey on whole wheat.”

  She gave him a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry, Jerry. I guess I’m feeling a little out of my depth here. I’m not used to so much attention.”

  “A pretty girl like you should get loads of attention. Mr. Mackenzie said to go on up, if you don’t mind. He’s got a little extra work he had to finish up.”

  “Thanks, Jerry, and thanks for the nice compliment.”

  “Have a good night, Miss Anthony.”

  While she waited for the elevator, her brain told her to turn tail and run. It was her nether region giving her all the trouble and pulling her in the direction of the elevators.

  Sex. They were just going to have sex and then she could move on. Hot monkey sex if she had anything to say about it. Her heart thumped in time with the mechanical rising of the elevator.

  Ding. She’d arrived.

  Her stomach sank as the elevator let her off. Anxiety crept upward, lodging in her throat and squelching every breath she took.

  Okay, this was a mistake. Like a big brain fart. She’d completely overlooked the fact that this was something she just didn’t do and rushed headlong into, woo boy, Cara’s going to get laid by the man of her dreams.

  That’s it. She was leaving. Going right back home and telling those high-class, Barbie knock-offs, that they should go back to magic wand-ville or wherever they came from and take the shoes with them! She quickly turned around to slink back off to the rock she’d crawled out from under.

  “Cara?” That old familiar heat his voice evoked swept up her spine, as Alex called to her from across the office.

  Heart failure. She was going to die of heart failure right here on the office floor in front of the guy who made her panties scream every damn time he walked into a room.

  “Hey, I was getting worried.”

  Hah! Worried? He didn’t know the meaning of the word. Worried was when your heart raced faster than a car in the Indy-friggin’ five-hundred and your feet were no longer vessels with which to carry you the hell outta this mess you’d gotten yourself into, but instead were glued to the floor, utterly and totally immobile.

  When he crossed the room to greet her, it was all over. If she hadn’t wet her drawers thusfar, she was well on her way. He was simply fabulous, and smiling right at her as if he was actually glad to see her. He’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt, she was fascinated by the ripple of flesh beneath his shirt as he waved to her.

  “Alex, hi.” Okay, who is the broad with the breathy tones and batting eyelashes? He stopped in front of her, his lips curving into a welcoming smile.

  “You look beautiful.”

  “You do, too…I mean…er, thanks.” Gawd, she mentally slapped her forehead over her sparkling wit.

  He held out his hand to her and she took it. “C’mon, I thought if you didn’t mind maybe we could go grab a drink and something to eat at the bar. I know you like a good burger. I asked Ruby. Bacon cheeseburgers, medium rare, right? George’s has great burgers.” His dimpled smile deepened.

  Did I mention I like my burgers with my sex over easy?

  Stop it. Stop it right now.

  The glow of the dimly lit office made his chocolate brown eyes glow. Shit, he was beautiful.

  Confidence is the key here. Be aloof. Be mysterious. Never let the man know you want to do him like a wild boar in heat.

  “A drink sounds great, Alex, and I do like bacon cheeseburgers. Ready when you are.” Was that her, that just spoke those words like she’d been out on a date this century?

  He pressed the elevator button, keeping his hand at her waist. The warm press of his hand sent her head spinning.

  He really had asked Ruby. Did men go to all of this trouble when they had a pity date?

  Confidence, Cara…try exuding it. She squared her shoulders, confidently.

  Alex stayed near her in the elevator, her pulse raced with his close proximity. Her nose twitched too. Jeez, he smelled so damn good. Fresh and so male.

  As they entered the lobby again, Jerry winked at her, “Have a nice evening, you two.”

  “Thanks, Jerry, I’m sure we will.” Alex’s confident reply sent a tingle straight down to her toes.

  “Night, Jerry.” She wiggled her fingers at him and blushed when he gave her the thumbs up sign.

  While they walked hand-in-hand toward the bar, she let all of her anxieties
go. She was going to get laid if it killed her. Yippee skippee!

  As they passed a group of teenagers hovering under the canopy of a deli, she heard one of them mutter something under his breath. Alex stopped mid-stride right in front of them and said, “What did you say?” Or maybe he growled. She couldn’t quite tell through his clenched teeth. Alex balled his hands at his sides into tight fists.

  “Nuthin,’ man. We were just talking about how hot your chick is,” the sullen, dark-haired kid answered. He nudged his buddy, who laughed and puffed his chest up.

  “I’m sorry, were you speaking to this lady here?” Alex pointed at Cara, letting go of her hand. She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away from them.

  “Just ignore them, Alex. Let’s go.” She stood between him and the crowd of boys, but he towered over her shoulders and glared at them.

  “Yeah, just ignore us, while we watch you walk away and stare at your girlfriend’s ass,” he snickered.

  Oh, shit. This was not going to be pretty.

  Alex pushed past her and grabbed the biggest mouth by his jacket, taking him by surprise and shoving him firmly up against the brick exterior of the deli. The boy’s face became a whiter shade of pale as he squirmed against the tight hold Alex had on him. The other boys scattered in all directions.

  “You wanna watch her ass? How ‘bout you watch yours, and watch your mouth too. Cuz the next time you might not get so lucky and I’ll shove my fist down your throat.” Alex gave him another hard shake and grinned, “Now apologize to the lady. Say it nice or I can’t promise what will happen next.”

  He cast his eyes downward, “Sorry, lady.”

  Cara put her hand on Alex’s shoulder and allowed herself the luxury of smoothing her fingers over his bicep. “Alex, it’s okay. Put him down.”

  Alex let the kid slide to his feet. She could see him tremble as he righted himself and attempted to regain some dignity by straightening his jacket. Alex leaned in close to him and this time he really was growling. “Get the hell outta here.”

  As she watched him run off into the fading light, she crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s just a kid. You scared the hell out of him. Was that necessary?”

  “Yeah, you know why? Cause kids like that grow up to be men who are pigs.”

  Omigod. She’d just been sexually harassed by a kid who would someday grow up to be a pig! Cara bit her lip, knowing she should be upset by the boy’s potential pig status as he grew into manhood. But then, there was the unmitigated joy that washed over her. She’d been sexually harassed by not one, but two men in the same day! Okay, one was a boy, but he still counted.

  These shoes meant business.

  * * * * *

  When they entered the bar, there was a hushed silence as Alex ushered her to a table. As he pulled out her chair, his eyes narrowed when he caught the guy at the other table looking directly at her breasts. He seated himself in the chair right in front of the other guy’s line of vision and placed a possessive arm around her shoulders.

  “So, let’s get to know each other. I’ve seen you nearly every day for the past year, but I know next to nothing about you.”

  That’s because you never asked. Cut-it-out, Cara. Stop holding a grudge.

  “I’m pretty uninteresting. I work nine to five serving food to executives all day.”

  “There’s more to you than that, Cara Anthony. You forgot to mention you own the cafeteria. Kind of explains why the food got a whole lot better after you took over.” He popped a peanut in his mouth and waited for her response.

  She was beaming and she knew it. Surprised by the fact that he knew she was the cafeteria’s owner. So what? He asked a question or two about you, he hadn’t solved world peace yet.

  Cara shrugged her shoulders, “I just switched wholesalers. It cost a bit more in the beginning, but paid off in the end. The numbers went up in small increments at a time, but it’s definitely been worth my initial investment. And they have better chipped beef on toast.”

  “So you’re smart when it comes to numbers, eh?” He licked his fingers after finishing a handful of peanuts. The candle on the table made his dark-chocolate eyes pools she would gladly drown in. There was a hint of mischief in them too. He was making fun of her, mocking her, because she was brainy.

  “Yeah, I like numbers. There’s a comfort in always being able to make sense of them. Especially if nothing else around you makes sense.” Like this date. Her defensive tone rang in her ears.

  The waiter brought them their menus and smiled at her, she smiled back. Alex shifted in his chair and dismissed him, “Give us a minute to decide what we want.”

  He chuckled, that deep, wicked rumble of a laugh. “Smart and sexy, I like that in a woman. Wanna balance my checkbook?”

  She giggled. Giggled? Oh, hell. Soon she’d be no better than the Glamazons.

  “I get the impression you don’t need any help at all in the accounting department. You’ve made quite a success out of yourself, judging by all of your happy employees. By the way, I don’t think I’ve ever heard just what you do up there. I see the name listed as Mackenzie’s, but that doesn’t help much. What exactly do you do?” She toyed with the edge of her napkin.

  “Well, I don’t broadcast it, tends to scare people off. Not that I hide it either,” he paused and glanced at her obviously waiting to see her reaction.

  Her mind raced to make conclusions. Drugs. He was a drug lord. Well wasn’t that just the way? Only she could be hot for a drug dealer of all things. This was some setup he had going, selling drugs to people from a perfectly respectable office building. That explained all the packages delivered in and out of there. Pig! Did he have any idea what he was doing to the children of America—?

  “Toys, I manufacture and sell toys.”

  Her chest heaved in an obvious sigh of relief as his words sunk in. Toys, of course! Basketballs and baseballs and light up things that played music and…”Oh…Oh! Toys—like baseballs, right?” Holy panic attack. He didn’t sell drugs. He liked kids. He was an angel. Her heart slowed to its normal pace. How could she have doubted that?

  “No. Toys for adults.”

  “You mean like chess sets and bocce balls—shuffleboard?” Didn’t Mattel have the market on that? Maybe that’s why everyone was always smiling when they came into the cafeteria…

  “Not exactly…”

  Her brow furrowed, she was confused here. How many adult toys could there be?

  He reached across the table and covered her hand with his, running his thumb over her fingers. “Sex toys.”

  Ah, those adult toys…

  Mary Lou Retton was back at it in her stomach again. She felt the prickly heat as her cheeks flooded with color.

  Sex toys. Well of course.

  “Does that make you uncomfortable?”

  She rearranged her silverware beside her plate and toyed with the corners of her napkin. Uncomfortable? Now how would a worldly supermodel answer that? “Er…No, why would that make me uncomfortable? I mean everyone needs a good sex toy. Don’t you think?” Hell’s bells, she sounded like a babbling idiot.

  Sex toys…like dildos and those ring thingies you put on a guy…Oh God.

  * * * * *

  Alex watched Cara’s face express a hundred different emotions, shock, horror, and then amusement. But mostly confusion. Most women he dated hid their surprise over his company’s origins pretty well. A cocked eyebrow, sometimes as much as a quick gaping of the mouth, but they recovered quickly. It never mattered much because the bottom line was he was rich. Somehow, they found their way past the dildos and edible panties if it meant they could get a credit card that read Mrs. Alexander Mackenzie.

  Cara was different. Her mouth was hanging wide open and she was squirming in her seat. She’d obviously had no clue that he was the single major manufacturer/distributor of adult toys in the country. He was feeling pretty smug about that, except she was looking just a bit green around the gills over it. Acceptance was an im
portant factor to Alex. The woman he eventually married would have to be able to hold her head up proudly when she was with him. He wasn’t ashamed of what he did and he didn’t want any woman of his to be either.

  But, Cara, well Cara intrigued him. She was kind and generous and the only woman in the building who hadn’t schemed to get a date with him. He liked that in a girl. She made her own living and didn’t seem to mind getting down in the trenches to do it. He’d had to do some digging to find out she was actually the sole owner of the cafeteria. Ruby helped out, offering him lots of insight into this woman he’d been fascinated with for so long.

  Now to convince her that she was going to be his. And she would be his.

  “That it makes you uncomfortable is refreshing, Cara, and incredibly sexy,” he tried to reassure her.

  “Is it the mouth hanging wide open thing, or the drool forming at the corner of my mouth that you find so incredibly sexy?”

  He chuckled, a laugh that came from deep in his belly. “I find all of you sexy. But particularly the fact that you had no idea how I’ve made my money.”

  “So you sell like vib…well, um…you know…”

  “Yes, I manufacture and sell vibrators and plenty of other gadgets by the hundreds of thousands.”

  She thought about all those brown packages being delivered by the truckload to the office, and visibly gulped. “I’ve never seen…a vib…vibrator,” she spit the word out like it hurt to say it.

  She’d never seen one? Christ, she was sexy. She was a virgin to toys, it made his mouth dry and his cock throb. “And you don’t have to if you don’t want to either.”

  He noted the deep gulp of cleansing air she took, her body relaxing in her chair as she sank back into the hard wood. She’d regained her composure and concluded that he wasn’t going to force legions of multi-colored dildos, in assorted shapes and sizes on her, he assumed. Sex toys didn’t have to be a part of their relationship if she chose not to indulge. It wasn’t mandatory, but it was a helluva lot of fun.