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Elise, Sunday, and Rowena exchanged looks and burst out laughing.
“Whose idea was that?” Elise asked.
“Not mine.” Macy’s lush, pouty mouth flattened.
“One year my mom made me and my brothers and sisters dress up like barnyard animals.” Sunday’s big blue eyes softened at the memory. “I was a pig. I wore pink footie pajamas with a pipe-cleaner tail and plastic snout on a stretchy band. It was adorable.”
“I’m not dressing up as a pig,” Macy warned.
“What about a zombie?” Rowena suggested.
“Or a hobo. With a big, padded belly.” Elise cocked her head as if envisioning Macy decked out in dirt smudges and secondhand clothing.
“No zombies and no hoboes.” Macy lowered her fork, as if the suggestions had stolen her appetite.
“Too late to put conditions on the bet now.” His mouth widened in a grin. “Besides, I already have something picked out. I just have to win the bet.”
“Good luck.” Macy’s arrogance returned, her violet eyes lighting up. “I’ve got the dream team on my side. We’ll partner on the specifics, but Sunday happens to work with one of the world’s top recording artists, Rowena knows all the talent on Broadway, and Elise has a top-secret list of all the tiny, out-of-the-way locales in the city.”
All three of her friends responded with skeptical looks.
“Tatiana is out of the country on a six-week tour,” Sunday said.
“You expect me to find someplace for October 31st with less than a week’s lead time?” Elise sounded incredulous.
Rowena shrugged. “I’ll do what I can, but Halloween is huge. It’s probably the second biggest party night, aside from New Year’s Eve.”
“Come on, guys.” Macy slid him a sideways glance. “I need your help or Nelson is going to deck me out in something ridiculous and humiliating.”
Oh, if she only knew.
“You have a bigger issue than winning this bet,” Sunday told Macy. “Most people have already made plans for Halloween. Venues are booked. Tickets have been purchased. How are you going to compete with all those parties and celebrations?”
She was right. There was no way to succeed if they went with a traditional approach. A masked ball or costume party weren’t good options.
They needed something different. Something that would dropkick a pumpkin all the way into New Jersey.
5
“Come on. It’s almost three. Let’s grab lunch.”
Ross leaned a hip against the frame of Macy’s open office door, tempting her with his offer.
“Eleanor got me a salad. I’m good.” She forced her attention back to her computer screen, but the numbers on the spreadsheet for a corporate Christmas party turned into indecipherable squiggles.
“Take a break,” he coaxed. “I have an idea for the challenge. This might be the tie-breaker.”
“You thought handing out free tickets in Times Square was a tie-breaker.” A warm, gooey sensation started in her core and oozed throughout her body.
Spending virtually every hour with the guy had propelled her attraction to compulsive need. Although she still called him Nelson to his face, she’d compromised and begun thinking of him as Ross because, fingers crossed, he really was a nice guy.
Three days into the challenge, and they’d each come up with a kickass element to accomplish the challenge Beau had issued. After brainstorming ideas with her girlfriends, Sunday had suggested an after-hours Halloween-themed lingerie fashion show.
“Promote it as an elite, exclusive fashion experience,” Sunday said. “Tatiana will love the publicity, and we have several designs that haven’t been revealed yet.”
“Pop-up stores, limited editions, and limited-time shopping opportunities are huge right now,” Elise added. “My brides and bridesmaids spend double at pop-up stores than they do at permanent boutiques.”
Score one for Macy.
