For Kicks (4 page)

This was the part she enjoyed. Before she was disappointed and pressured. While he was still enough of a stranger to be everything she needed. Before reality set in.

“Breeze?” The intercom crackled. “Judy’s on line two.”

The vice president of stores might be one of her grandmother’s closest friends, but she’d never called directly before. Pressing the buttons to find the call, Breeze greeted her.

“I can’t believe this.” Judy’s anger seethed through the line. “They cancelled my flight. There’s no way I can make it there in time for the meeting with Nitrous. Michael flew home last night, so Nancy is the closest. Does she have the product knowledge to take this meeting?”

“Judy, I’m not sure I can—”

“I take it that’s a no. You’ll need to be there.”

“Me?” Blood pounded in her ears and her stomach twisted. The potential of spending time with Logan disappeared faster than doorbusters the day after Thanksgiving. “I’m still an assistant. Don’t you think a store manager would have more clout with them?”

“Michael said no one knows the program better than you.”

Her pulse raced. This was exactly the kind of opportunity she needed to earn a promotion. She wished it didn’t have to be at the expense of a chance with Logan. “I’ll be there for whatever you need.”

“Thank you. Nancy will pick you up for the meeting to present our training program to their retail group, and then there’s lunch with a few of their project leads.”

“I’ll be ready.” Another day of floor time lost to this project. She’d have to cancel dinner with Logan to make up for it. But since she’d become so involved in the project, she should do that anyway.

“We appreciate all you’re doing, Breeze. How prepared you were right out of the gate. It doesn’t go unnoticed.”

Then promote me already.
“Thank you.”

“If we lose the Kicks account, Mendelssohn’s will have less than a week to redo the entire back-to-school advertising campaign. Promise what you have to in there to make this work.”

“Whatever it takes.” She forced a smile over the fear. This was her shot. It could launch her or crush her.

Either way, her career would never be the same.

Breeze let Nancy monopolize the conversation all through lunch. That way she could focus on pushing her baby lettuce leaves around her plate. And try not to think about how her boss had nearly blown the entire campaign. About how she’d had to promise to personally train staff throughout the country in the next three weeks.

She hated lunching with Nancy. Nancy was always on some obscure diet that required detailed ordering, and then every waiter was berated for messing up her instructions. She’d then delve into a proselytizing explanation of how this eating plan had changed her life.

Today was no exception. Logan listened politely as Nancy instructed on the necessity of flax seed oil and then ordered a bacon double cheeseburger and devoured it with flourish.

“Of course, Breeze is one of those who eats whatever she wants,” Nancy fired her way, wakening her to the conversation. Breeze had explained to Nancy over a dozen times she’d been raised a strict vegetarian. But Nancy never remembered a word said to her unless it could be used to get her something.

Breeze shrugged, glad for the reprieve from her imagination. Her sensual fantasies of the man across the table were plaguing her thoughts. Having to cancel dinner was one thing, but having to end everything completely didn’t sit as well. Not even Nancy’s presence or the nutrition lesson could bring her out of the fog. Which was exactly why she needed to end things. She couldn’t afford to be this distracted.

She felt Logan’s eyes on her, yet she didn’t dare meet them. What happened to her body when she looked at him was so strong it felt tangible, and she didn’t dare give herself away. No denying they were working together now, which meant everything outside of their professional relationship was out of the question.

She reached for a roll and realized why she hated business lunches. Sharing a meal had always been an intimate affair with her family, no matter how many were at the table. Everyone would hold hands for the blessing, breathing in her mother’s latest creation, the hearty aroma of freshly baked bread and the crisp scent of fresh herbs sprinkled over everything. There were no walls between people, no judgments. Just conversation and laughter. Exactly the atmosphere Logan had tried for last night at dinner.

A nudge under the table brought her back to work. “Don’t you agree, Breeze?” Nancy asked.

Logan shook his head slightly, but not wanting to look directly at him she couldn’t guess why.

“Well,” Breeze began, wondering just what she was to be agreeing or disagreeing with.

“Of course you do,” Nancy finished for her. “Carbohydrates are killing Americans. High protein is the only way.”

It took every fiber of her being not to roll her eyes. “I’ve never tried it.”

“You should. It will be so much easier for you when you’re on the road.”

A sharp kick in the shin had her looking up, finally meeting Logan’s gaze. His brown eyes were smiling, but his face remained stoically calm. Not a hint of the perpetual flirting from yesterday. But then, he was kicking her under the table.

“How will you handle being away for so long?” Logan asked, lifting a french fry. “A project of this magnitude is bound to cause some inconvenience.”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” Her mental to-do list swirled. She needed to revise the schedule at work, put a month of plans in place for all her department managers, and talk Anthony into feeding her fish.

She swallowed hard. The last time she’d been away, she’d come home to two of her precious goldfish floating.

They were just goldfish, she knew. But the fifty-gallon tank brought a sense of tranquility to her life. No matter how many snails she put in to keep it clean or plants she loaded it up with before she left, they’d still need to be fed.

She’d bought two dozen fish four years ago when she bought her condo. A few didn’t make it the first month, and now she was down to nine overgrown fish blowing bubbles when she wandered in after dark each night. She blinked back to the conversation. It was ridiculous to be getting sentimental about fish.

Breeze caught Logan watching her from the corner of his eye. Did he realize this month-long project meant not just the end to dinner, but to anything more? Did he care?

Forcing the indulgences from her mind, she sat up straighter and listened attentively to the conversation. Until Logan’s warm sock-covered foot began to slowly creep past the strap of her heel and beneath her pant leg. Not daring to kick him away lest she hit Nancy, she did her best to ignore him. At least in her mind. Her body seemed incapable of ignoring Logan Chandler.

“I’d like a copy of your itinerary when you have it worked out.” Logan lifted his napkin from his lap, laid it on the table and folded it into quarters. “We have in-store marketing representatives in every state who’ll be able to give us feedback. I wouldn’t want to rate your improvement in an area you haven’t visited yet.”

“I’ll be sure to get you a copy.” Nancy swirled the ice in her glass. “Our travel department is already hard at work coordinating everything.”

“When will you be leaving?” Logan asked, stalling her heart.

“We’re hoping tomorrow,” Nancy chimed in. “There is a regional set in Minnesota, and she’d start the program there.”

“Your dedication to your job is amazing.” He finished his cola and set the glass down with a thud. “I hope Mendelssohn’s appreciates your sacrifice.”

“Absolutely,” Nancy answered. “Breeze will be compensated with vacation time for all the extra hours she’ll be working. And being visible in so many markets will open her up to new avenues for promotion. Though of course, I plan on keeping her close.”

Breeze merely quirked an eyebrow as her thoughts spun in a new direction. She hadn’t taken a vacation since she’d been hired, always opting to take the cash payout and sock the money away in her bank account, so that promise held little appeal. But more avenues for promotion? Now that was something to hold on to.

Becoming the youngest store manager had always been her focus, and she’d volunteered for this project in hopes of securing that spot.

So why did the thought of it happening anywhere outside her district seem so bittersweet?

Chapter Four

“What do they expect me to wear?” Breeze tossed clothes about the room. “How in the world am I supposed to look presentable for thirty days on one suitcase? How?”

“You could take two,” Anthony offered, sorting outfits on the bed.

“Have you seen that itinerary?” Lonnie, Anthony’s partner, yawned and stretched his thin arms over his head. “She’s in an airport almost every day. That’s a lot of lugging. Plus, they usually have her going from the airport to the store, and not checking into her hotel until after, if at all. She doesn’t even get to stay in Utah. Back-to-back red-eye flights. I get tired just thinking about it.”

Breeze leaned against the wall, closed her eyes and shook her head. At Lonnie, at the situation, at the time. She hadn’t made it home from the store until ten, and even with Anthony and Lonnie helping her pack for her pre-dawn flight tomorrow, it was nearly midnight.

“Just buy something new each day, Breeze,” Anthony offered, unzipping her garment bag. “Charge it to the store.”

“I don’t want to buy clothes I already own at home.” She pulled open a drawer and began to count. “I don’t even have thirty pairs of underwear.”

“Hotels have cleaning services.”

“Not same day, I don’t think.” She grabbed up as many pairs of white cotton panties as she owned.

“Where are the ones we bought you?” Lonnie asked, eyeing her underwear choice.

“They were a joke, and I knew it.” She stuffed each pair into the zippered compartment of her rolling suitcase.

“But will they get you to thirty?” Anthony quirked an eyebrow.

With a huff, Breeze marched to her closet and retrieved the box of lacy underthings that had been her holiday gift from her closest friends. Her
only
friends if she wanted to think about it.

She didn’t.

“You girls fight it out. I’ll be on the couch when you’re done in here.” Lonnie retreated from the doorway.

“I’m sorry I’m keeping you both up so late.” Pulling the scraps of silk and lace from the box, Breeze was chagrined to find she did in fact own thirty pairs of panties.

“That’s what friends are for. And besides, what’s good for you is good for me. Thanks for recommending I fill in for you.”

“There’s no one else I trust. This way they’ll have no reason not to promote you when my slot opens up.” She smiled and stepped back to her closet. “Can I get away with only two pairs of shoes?”

“Sneakers, the black slingbacks, cream sandals and the navy heels.”

“That’s four.” She picked up the shoes he’d indicated.

He shrugged. “It’s not like you’re packing boots.”

“Your boyfriend is on his way over,” Lonnie said from the doorway, grinning from ear to ear.

Breeze froze halfway between the closet and the bed. “Excuse me?”

“Logan,” Lonnie answered. “Do we know Logan?”

“He’s from Nitrous,” Anthony explained. “Why is he calling you at home, at midnight? Breeze, honey. That’s a booty call.”

“I’m not—he’s—” Words eluded her completely. “I didn’t even hear the phone.”

She loved Anthony and Lonnie, but they loved gossip. And Logan Chandler at her apartment at midnight? That would make the rounds before the doors opened tomorrow.

“Is he cute?” Lonnie cocked a hip against the doorway to the bedroom.

“In a David Beckham kind of way,” Anthony answered. “Why is he calling you at home?”

How could he do this? Incite gossip on the eve of her biggest project ever? “I don’t—”

“On her cell, technically,” Lonnie said. “He wanted to know what time her flight was so he could give her some visual material.” Lonnie waggled his brows.

“Probably just handouts. Here I was thinking you had something going on. I should have known better.” Anthony sighed and laid another outfit across the bed. “You’ll have to mix and match.”

“Or, Logan could come visit you and bring you new clothes,” Lonnie piped in. “If he looks like David Beckham, he should come get them from me.”

“Mix and match it is.” Blood pounded in her ears and her chest tightened. Why was Logan really coming here? She tried to pay attention to Anthony as he came up with ways to stretch four outfits into twelve, but she doubted even he believed it could be done.

They packed things tightly into the rolling bag. This bag, plus her overnight and laptop. Talk about lugging things around. Maybe she
should
just pack pajamas and pick up new stuff at each store.

Anthony offered to help her get everything to the front door, but she wanted to make sure she could manage on her own. Finding a way to stack it all so she could roll it, she parked the lot by her front door and turned, wiping her hands on her jeans.

“Thanks, guys, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You sure you don’t want a ride to the airport in the morning?” Anthony asked.

“The town car will be fine.” She stepped forward, hugging them both. “And thanks for feeding the fish.”

“I just hope they all make it through this time.” Lonnie let out another yawn. “You want us to stay for Beckham?”

“Is he really coming?”

“He said he had some stuff for you to take with you. I gave him directions.” Lonnie leaned his head on Anthony’s shoulder. “Good luck finding room for whatever it is.”

“We can stay,” Anthony offered.

“No, you two go home and get some rest. Who knows what his call was about.” She pulled open the door and hugged them again before they walked out.

Bolting the door shut, she unraveled her hair from the clip and shook it out with her fingers. She wondered what Logan could possibly want at midnight. Her pulse raced as she thought what an unannounced visit like this might lead to if she were someone else, someone who hadn’t already learned that lesson well.

Soft knocking on her door vibrated through her tense body. Wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans, Breeze tried to quell her fluttering stomach. She checked the peephole and her mouth went dry. She’d never had a man in her condo who she wasn’t paying to fix something. Even then, Lonnie usually let them in.