He Loves Lucy (8 page)

Gia shook out her dark tresses and flashed her mahogany eyes over the gold rims of her sunglasses. Lucy smiled at her friend. She simply loved the way Gia had just said “gar-bahjz” in that high-pitched squeak of hers. Lucy had been hanging out with this woman for the last few weeks and couldn’t remember a time when she’d had so much fun.

“So what did you say to him?”

Gia smiled, pushing up those world-famous lips into a sweet curl of naughtiness. “I told him, ‘Baby, I don’t wear no panties,’ and then I cross the street and he’s still back there, and I think maybe he was having a coronary or something.”

Lucy laughed, then leaned up to whisper in Gia’s ear, “You really don’t wear underwear?”

“Of course I do. Mama would kill me if I went out into the world without my privates covered. You?”

Lucy gasped. “Me? Of course I wear them! I just bought a bunch of new stuff the other day.”

Gia grabbed her elbow. “Good. Let’s get more. No such thing as too much lingerie.”

If she were brutally honest with herself, Lucy would have to admit she was going to all this trouble for Theo. She wanted to impress him. Make him proud of her. She wanted to show the world what they’d done.

She smoothed down the jersey fabric and ran her hands over her hips again. Not so bad. She’d lost enough girth that control-top panty hose actually did some controlling. And the size 16 was snug but not obscenely so. She supposed it fit perfectly.

Gia had been right about the dress. The open shawl-collar coatdress exposed the smooth skin of Lucy’s throat and upper chest and accentuated her curves. It made her look sleek and feminine. The dark gray-blue matched her eyes and provided a contrast to her pale skin that would look good on camera. The dress was worth every dime she paid for it, even if she only wore it once. Soon it would be too big. And soon it would be too hot in Miami for a dress like this, anyway.

But today was important. She deserved to look pretty today, right now, didn’t she? She didn’t have to wait until she was wearing a size 8 to dress like the beautiful professional babe she was, right?

Lucy smiled at her newfound boldness, brushing aside her shoulder-length hair to put in the small gold twist earrings. She slipped on her watch, seeing she’d have to have the band tightened soon.

She caught her reflection in the mirror just as she turned to go, and winked at herself. Gia had been right about the lingerie-even if nobody saw it, it didn’t mean it wasn’t having its desired effect

Because Lucy knew that beneath this dress was the most extravagant bra and panty set she’d ever owned- something so delicate and soft that it gave her goose bumps when she put it on. And just knowing what lay against her flesh made her stand a little taller. It gave her a blush Lancome could never duplicate.

She needed to stop by the office on the way to the TV studio, and during the ten-minute drive she thought about Theo and how he would react to seeing her dressed up like this. Would he hug her? Would he kiss her cheek? What would his mouth feel like on hers? That clean, sweet smile turning serious as he backed her against the wall, crushed her breasts against his chest, took her mouth-

Whoa
. There wasn’t a cookie to be seen in that fantasy.

Lucy looked in the rearview mirror and was greeted by a guilty reflection. Was that really what all the preening was about today? Was she determined to have Theo see her in a different light?

She returned her attention to the road and sighed. Surely that would only be setting herself up for rejection. And she was too smart for that.

Lucy ran smack into Stephan Sherrod in the hallway outside her office.

“Ah, Lucy! Just the gal I wanted to see.”

“Stephan. You’re here early.” She looked at her watch to see it was not quite six thirty. “Will you be at the team meeting this afternoon?”

“Well, no. I have a late lunch, but I’m sure Maria and Barry can handle anything that comes up.”

For a split second Lucy let the insult sting her. Then she nodded, smiling at the thought of the freedom all that money would bring, how in about eight months she’d walk out the door of this place without so much as a good-bye, many of Stephan’s clients begging her to take them with her. “Of course, Stephan,” she said to him.

Ooooh, she couldn’t wait! First, she’d snag a few of the agency’s smaller but more fun clients. The yoga center. The private marina down in the Gables. The artsy clothing boutique in Boca Raton. After working with these people for over a year, she knew they sorely missed Sarah Thorns but were happy to put their businesses in Lucy’s hands. They didn’t trust Stephan-they made that perfectly clear. She’d use that to her advantage.

And after those clients jumped, there was no telling who would follow. She hoped it would be the teachers’ credit union and the quick-lube chain.

“Lucy?” Stephan’s voice interrupted her plotting. “I know you’re on your way to the studio, but do you have a minute? There’s something I wanted to run by you. I need to give you a quick heads-up.”

She didn’t like the sound of that. Lucy knew that when Stephan said he wanted to run something by her, he was telling her to drop whatever she was doing and do something else. And when he said he wanted to give her a heads-up, that meant he’d done something stupid and he wanted her to clean up the mess.

She looked up slowly from her desk, prepared for the worst-because she couldn’t recall a time when Stephan had used both bad business metaphors in one sentence.

“I
have just
a minute. I can’t be late. We’re going on live at seven thirty.”

“Of course.” Stephan sat down in a chair and waited for her to do the same. He smiled at her.

“You’ve certainly spruced up the scenery around here lately, Lucy.”

She looked around her office. “I haven’t redecorated.”

Stephan let out one of his tight smug little laughs. “I’m talking about you. You’re fast becoming a real asset to this company.”

Lucy’s heart skipped a beat. This man’s loutishness knew no limits.

“I’m just saying that it’s a vast improvement-no pun intended. Get it? Vast?” He chortled again.

Lucy nodded, letting her eyes wander to the ostentatious Caran d’Ache fountain pen tucked into Stephen’s dress shirt pocket, thinking how satisfying it would feel to jam the eighteen-karat gold nub into his left eyeball, thereby causing his head to deflate.

The bastard. There she was, the person who’d landed the Palm Club account in the first place-the biggest in Sherrod amp; Thorns’s history. Lucy was the creative director of a team that had conceived a fun, fresh campaign that was going to forever change their agency’s reputation. She’d even sacrificed her body and pride for this account. And she was supposed to be walking out the door right that minute to make this man even richer than he was by getting on a scale in front of a live studio audience and tens of thousands of viewers-and he just informed her she hadn’t been an asset until she’d become
thinner
?

She stood up. She glared down at him. “Unless this is about business, it will have to wait.”

“Don’t be so sensitive. Loosen up. Sit down. I’ve got good news.”

“I really only have five minutes, tops.” Lucy’s blood boiled. She’d taken this job for one reason-Sarah Thorns. In Sarah, Lucy had seen a kindred spirit, a real mentor, someone who’d managed to remain a decent person while she’d made her way in the business world. This position had appealed to Lucy because it would allow her to keep a hand in a variety of projects. The pay was excellent, too. But from the beginning, the one downside of this job had been Stephan. Lucy had figured Sarah would serve as a buffer between them. And she had, until she went in for routine cosmetic surgery and died. Now there was no Sarah-just one weird-ass boss, who sat in front of Lucy, his face lit up with malevolent delight.

“I’ve nominated the Palm Club campaign for this year’s Eddies.”

“You
what
?”

“I just sent in the preliminary application.”

The Eddie Award was like the Academy Award of the advertising industry, and every year the professional association gave out honors for excellence in advertising, marketing, and public relations. Lucy had never been nominated for anything in her life. She’d never even gone to the awards ceremony.

This was incredible news, but the look on Stephan’s face cautioned her not to get carried away with her excitement.

“What’s the catch?”

“Well, the application process is quite detailed. You’ll have to start coming in a little early to work on it. It’s due in two months.”

“I can’t come in early, Stephan. That’s when I work with Theo.”

“Ah, right. Well, maybe you can skip a day here and there. It probably won’t matter much. I’ve managed to stay in shape with a three-day-a-week regimen, myself.”

As Stephan tapped his belly contentedly, Lucy found herself speechless. Stephan was encouraging her to slack off. Why in the world would he do that? The reputation of his company was riding on this enterprise.

“You aren’t trying to lose a hundred pounds, Stephan.” Something else was off about this. “Besides,” she pointed out, “the Eddies are for ad campaigns with quantifiable results. This campaign won’t be done for another nine months. To send it in now would make me look like I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Stephan shifted in the chair and chuckled again. “Well, let’s give it a shot anyway. You can just talk about how much you’ve lost so far. So where are we now-fifteen pounds?”

Lucy shook her head in incredulity. “I’ll be weighed on the show this morning, but it will be over thirty-five pounds, I’m sure.”

“
Shit
!” He jumped up from his seat and stood over her, his mouth hanging open. “You’ve managed to lose thirty-five pounds? Are you absolutely sure? Let me see you! Stand up! Turn around!”

Stephan had always been an odd bird, and Lucy had never judged him too harshly for his decidedly strange behavior since Sarah’s death. The two of them had started this agency twenty years ago, and losing her had been hard on Stephan. But today’s display had Lucy worrying about his mental stability.

“I am not your 4-H entry, Stephan.” Lucy stood up from her chair and hoisted her laptop onto her shoulder. As she made her way toward the door, she heard him say something under his breath that she swore sounded like, “
You have to fail, you bitch
.”

When she spun around, he looked quite innocent, a pleasant smile on his face.

“What did you just say?”

“I said, ‘You’ve really found your niche.’” Stephan motioned for her to pass ahead of him. “I’m proud of your initiative.”

“Uh-huh,” she said, taking a step forward. Under her breath she added, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Lucy knew Dan was visiting her parents, but she had no idea Mary Fran was there, so the sight of her peeling potatoes at the kitchen sink threw her.

“Frannie?”

“Hey, girl!” Mary Fran made one step toward the back door and stopped. The potato peeler fell to the floor and she gasped.

“Oh, sorry. Mary Fran, this is my friend Gia. I brought her over for her first-ever Saint Patrick’s Day party.”

Frannie’s eyes continued growing in circumference. She stood as still as a statue and said nothing. Lucy had never known her sister to be so impolite.

Gia didn’t seem bothered by the stare and moved quickly to introduce herself. “Nice to meet you.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Gia Altamonte.”

“No shit,” Frannie said, then smacked herself on the cheek. “I’m sorry. It’s just… I mean… I didn’t expect Lucy to walk in the back door with-”

“
Sweet baby Jesus and Mother of God
!” Dan nearly fell over his tongue when he stepped into the kitchen, and Lucy feared he would need surgery to reattach his jaw. Holden was squirming in Dan’s arms to be put down.

Lucy gestured toward Gia. “Dan, this is my friend from the gym, Gia Altamonte. Gia, this is my charming and sophisticated brother, Daniel Cunningham.”

Dan shuffled forward, bending as he eased Holden’s feet to the floor, his hand outstretched and his cheeks redder than the day their dad caught him using his Norelco to shave the heads of Lucy’s Barbies.

Dan stood in front of Gia in a hunched position, as if in deference to the queen.

“You can stand up, Dan,” Gia said, smiling down at him beneficently.

“I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head as if to clear his vision. “I just keep seeing these two words:
Swim suit Issue
. Am I dead? Is this heaven?”

Gia laughed and patted his head, and in her rather irritating nasal voice she said, “So, we gonna drink green beer today or what, Danny boy?”

Lucy was pleased at how easily Gia slipped into the rhythm of the Cunninghams. She entertained everyone with the description of a recent photo shoot in Los Angeles, all while bouncing Holden in her lap. She explained that she had eight siblings and eleven nieces and nephews and was quite used to kids.

“Do you want children of your own?” Dan asked over dessert. Though he’d only had one beer, Dan had sported a look of drunken reverence through the entire meal. At least he’d stopped gawking, and for that Lucy was grateful. She had to admit it was cute the way Dan said their guest’s name-“
Gee-ahh
.”

“Sure. Someday I’d like a few kids of my own.”

A satisfied smile crept across Dan’s face. “Wanna have mine?”

“Oh Lordy,” Mary Fran mumbled.

“Daniel!” Lucy’s mother refilled Gia’s teacup and looked apologetic. “Would you like more sugar, sweetheart?”

“Thank you.” Gia wrenched her head to the side to avoid Holden’s attempt to rip out one of her hoop earrings, then smiled at Dan, “I’m not sure what would happen if a redheaded Irish dude and a Cuban girl had kids. They could turn out cute, I guess, with a little luck.”