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He used her.
He never really loved her.
He completely demoralized her.
“Macy?” Nelson caught and held her gaze. “I’d like an explanation.”
She shivered in response to the uncharacteristically commanding note hardening his words. Her panties became damp as she imagined him instructing her to undress in that same demanding tone.
She melted. Relented. Released the white-knuckled grip that kept her heart from spilling out in a huge, hot mess of pain and regret.
He wanted the truth? She’d give it to him, raw and unfiltered.
“I met my last boyfriend on the job. Before I joined BonTemps. We worked on a huge project together, with me doing ninety-nine percent of the heavy lifting. I didn’t care. I was in love. I assumed we’d share the credit, but I was wrong. He passed my work off as his. I was too humiliated to make a case to the boss, so I quit. Gerald’s salary doubled, he got a corner office, and his job title was upgraded to VP. I got a lesson in the perils of mixing work and pleasure. Not letting that happen again.” She slumped in her chair, feeling vulnerable and exposed.
“Seriously?” He cocked an eyebrow. “You walked away?”
“What was I supposed to do?” A surge of indignant anger straightened her spine. “He lied, but everyone knew we were sleeping together. If I’d gone to our supervisor, Gerald would have attributed it to jealousy or revenge because he’d broken up with me.”
“I’m surprised.” His eyes glimmered shards of bronze and amber. “I never would have pegged you as a coward, but you scurried away with your tail between your legs.”
All the air in her lungs escaped with an audible whoosh.
“I’m. Not. A. Coward,” she ground out, barely holding onto her temper.
“Prove it.” Ross bent close, closing the distance between them, and whispered the dare. “We work this challenge together. Let’s make it even more interesting though. Whoever lands the best two out of three—venue, headliner, and hook—gets to pick which costume the other person has to wear the night of the bash.”
“Deal.” Without considering what she was agreeing to, she pushed back from the desk so hard that her chair rolled a good six, desperately needed, inches away from Ross’s seductive proposal.
“No cheating. No tricks.” He leaned away, yet Macy felt his heat as if he stood pressed against her. “Who knows? This might be the best Halloween treat you’ve ever had.”
4
“This is a great setup. It’s like your own oasis in the middle of the city.” Ross looked around the rooftop patio of the brownstone where Macy lived.
A metal overhang covered a wrought-iron table and chairs with seating for six. Red, orange, and yellow chrysanthemums spilled out of narrow wooden planters arranged around the perimeter of the open area which was covered by a huge jute rug. Strands of outdoor lights shaped like old-fashioned lightbulbs lent a festive ambiance to the space. A small heater tucked off to one side countered the sudden drop in temperature as heavy clouds settled over the city along with twilight.
“We spend a lot of time up here.” Sunday, the friendliest of Macy’s neighbors, handed him a stack of plates as she arranged colorful placemats on the table. “Elise, we need another wineglass since we have a guest. I already grabbed extra silverware.”
“Anything else while I’m going back in?” Elise, a short, curvy brunette who worked as a wedding planner, paused at the doorway.
“Yes. Tell Macy to get her fanny up here. You don’t invite a guest to dinner and then ghost.” Sunday straightened a knife and moved back to he could add the plates.
“How long have you all lived here?” He centered each dish, noting Sunday’s careful attention to detail. Cloth napkins matched the placemats. Each chair was equidistant from the one next to it. Three pillar candles of varying heights glowed in the center of the table.
She appreciated the nuances that transformed everyday events into special occasions. She’d make a great event planner if she ever got bored working as a lingerie fashion assistant.
“Rowena has been here the longest—six years. Elise moved in two years after her. Macy’s been here two years, and I joined the foursome three months ago when Mrs. Grenadine’s granddaughter got married and moved to Nebraska.” Sunday tucked a stray lock behind her ear and moved closer to the heater. “What part of town are you in?”
“I have a place in Lincoln Square.”
“Oh, lucky you. Close to Central Park.”
“I don’t spend a lot of time there.” Ross chuckled, thinking of the narrow band of park visible from his bedroom window. The other window offered a view into the apartment across the alley. “If I had something like this, I’d be home more often.”
“I imagine your job keeps you busy. Do you and Macy work events together?” Sunday’s offhand question sounded like she was fishing for information.
“Rarely.” He pulled out one of the chairs and sat. “The senior event manager handles the most important clients, while the junior event managers—currently me and Macy—coordinate everything else. We have support staff, but most of the services are contracted. Catering, decorations, floral arrangements, entertainment, music, and so forth. It looks glamorous and fun, but it’s mostly developing connections, coming up with practical solutions for impossible requests, and coordinating all the moving parts.”
