If The Shoe Fits (2 page)

“
Don’t ask.”

He uncrossed everything and sauntered toward
her. “On one condition.”

“
Huh?”

“
I won’t ask on one
condition.”

Drew was at the top of the courthouse steps
and, even from there, the speculative gleam in her eyes was
visible. Bella didn’t have much time.

“
Fine. What’s the
condition?”

“
Your name. Unless it really is
Cindabella?”

She laughed in spite of herself. “No. It’s
Bella. Bella Casteleoni. As in the restaurant.”

For a moment she thought she’d seen
disappointment on his face, but it was replaced quickly with a
smile.

“
Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
he asked, a dimple winking in his left cheek.

She was a sucker for dimples. And he wasn’t
making it any easier to forget about him. “I guess not.”

“
Bella! Wait up!” Drew was a third
of the way down the steps. “I need you to do something for
me.”

Of course she did. Both of her stepsisters
took that stupid nickname to heart.

Bella looked between Drew and Reese. “I’m
sorry. I have to see what she wants. Thanks, again.”

Reese glanced at Drew, then nodded toward the
platinum Ferrari convertible by the curb. Cool car, complete with
rearing stallion logo. Not one of those souped-up muscle-bound
cars, but elegant, classy, and sexy as all get out. Just like him.
“I could give you a ride somewhere if you need an
escape.”

She could use the escape, but that would leave
Sophia in Madeleine’s clutches. “Thanks, but I can handle it, er,
her.”

“
You’re sure?”

They looked at Drew who was now extremely
interested in Reese. Bella wouldn’t sic Drew on her worst
enemy.

Unless that enemy was Madeleine, then, yes,
she definitely would. “I’m sure. Thank you again.”

Reese took one last glance at Drew who had
changed the angle of her descent to head right toward him. “Okay.
Right.” In half a dozen steps, he reached the car and jumped into
the driver’s seat. “Good luck. It looks like you’ll need it. See
you around.” The engine gunned to life and he peeled into traffic
with a wave just as Drew reached her side.

“
Who’s the hunk?” she
asked.

“
Oh, just someone I bumped
into.”

“
Hmmmm.” Drew flipped her hair
back in that annoying affectation she thought made her look
sophisticated. It didn’t. “Listen, I need you to cater a party this
Saturday.”

Of course she did. Five days’ advance notice
was nothing to Drew. Matter of fact, Bella should probably be
grateful for that much.

“
What kind of party?” She’d love
to tell Drew to take a hike, but the fact of the matter was, she
needed the money. Even Drew’s. And there was a certain irony in her
stepsister contributing to the fight against Madeleine.

“
Jimmy’s mom is having a dinner
party and her caterer cut out on her. I told her you’d do it.” Drew
had learned social climbing at Madeleine’s knee; Jimmy DeLeo’s mom
was not only one of the wealthiest women in town, but also on every
social committee there was—
including
the Arts board
Madeleine was desperately trying to finagle her way
onto.

Hmmm, this might just help her beat Madeleine
at her own game.

Chapter Two

Reese Charmant made a U-turn at the next
traffic light instead of turning right to head back to the office
so he could get another glimpse of Bella. Yeah, it was probably
sexist in someone’s book, but it’d been a while since he’d been
that up close and personal with such an attractive woman and he
wasn’t ready for it to be over. And since the light was red, it
didn’t have to be.

So
that
was Bella Casteleoni. He should
have looked more closely at her bid for the auction before going
with Conlon’s.

She crossed the street and that tear in her
skirt teased him with flashes of shapely thigh.

Then again, maybe it was a good thing he
hadn’t contracted her for the auction—it was never a good idea to
get involved with someone you worked with. God knows, he knew that
first-hand.

And he definitely wouldn’t mind getting
involved with her. The woman was gorgeous. With long blonde hair
that had felt so silky against his cheek, and breasts he’d only
experienced for a mere second before he’d gentlemanly pulled
himself off of her on the sidewalk. Hell, he was a saint. Someone
ought to give him a medal for not taking full advantage of that
situation.

Give it up, Charmant. You’ve got a
business to run.

Too true. He didn’t have time to hang around,
ogling her.

His altruism earned him that medal when Bella
got into an older model Honda and her skirt hiked up, giving him a
generous flash of thigh.

He smiled before pulling into traffic. His
good deed for the day. Hopefully the karma from that would carry
over to the mess his so-called buddy, Luke, had created by pulling
a no-show at both this morning’s meeting and last night’s
Meet-and-Greet.

Promotional Sports, the sports-celebrity
appearance and event-management company that he and his childhood
friend Jake had launched six months ago didn’t need any bad
publicity. It was supposed to be a win-win situation for them and
his former teammates, not temporary help for down-on-luck friends
or their own personal dating agency-slash-ATM—all of which Luke
apparently thought it was.

He’d known Luke was having a hard time with
the forced retirement thing, and since his old teammate had run
interference for him so many times in his career, saving him from
countless injuries, he’d gone out of his way to help the guy out.
But he’d never thought he’d have to run interference
because
of
Luke.
Especially
when Luke had then taken the money
and run.

Reese gripped the steering wheel tighter. His
first clue should have been Luke’s insistence on getting the fee up
front. The second should have been his gut. Something had felt more
off
about Luke lately, but, God knew, Reese had had enough
of those days himself. It wasn’t easy going from superstar
celebrity sports figure to has-been in a few months. Especially if
you hadn’t planned to retire. Career-ending injuries, as he knew
first-hand, were a bitch. Luke’s had only compounded a recent
string of bad shit in the guy’s life.

So Reese had gone against past history and
common sense, given Luke the money, then had to field calls from an
irate client. And not only had he had to refund the money, but he’d
had to show up at the event himself. And could probably kiss any
referral business goodbye, too.

That couldn’t happen. Promotional Sports was
now his life. Football had been—until it wasn’t—and this was the
only thing left of the game for him. He wasn’t going to let Luke or
anyone mess it up for him.

Again.

***

“
You’re giving me another chance,
sir?” Jonathan Griff landed next to his supervisor on the street
sign and blew the feathers out of his face as he tried to figure
out how to resettle his own wings across his back. They weren’t the
ones typically associated with Guardians, but since Jonathan had
yet to earn angel wings, any type of feathered appendage was
appreciated—though he wasn’t so sure how appreciative Bella and
Reese had been of his prolonged aerodynamic learning curve, given
that he’d caused them both to take a tumble.

“
Of course you’ll have another
chance, Jonathan,” said Raphael. “After all, you
were
responsible for that glitch in Bella’s father’s will.”

It was because of that “glitch” (among other
things) that Jonathan had yet to earn his wings—and what was a
Guardian without wings?

He folded the pristine dove wings across his
back, the question plaguing him yet again. “If I’d known both Anna
and Salvatore were going to die within a year of each other, Sir, I
would have made sure to include all the proper names in the will.”
The
wife
reference in the documents now referred to
Madeleine, an oversight Jonathan deeply regretted. “I never thought
he’d remarry so quickly. And then there was his fall…”

“
That’s the thing, Jonathan. As
their Guardian, you’re supposed to prepare for any eventuality.
We’ll work on it. Not to worry.” Raphael’s smile took the
admonition from the words, but didn’t lessen the guilt.

Guilt was one of the toughest emotions to
overcome and, sadly, Jonathan had felt it far too often in his
lackluster career. He just couldn’t seem to get a handle on this
Guardian business and had no idea why the archangel kept him
on.

Oh, he always had all the best intentions, but
it seemed as if he somehow managed to miss one tiny detail and
ended up throwing everything into disarray. He hated being Jumbling
Jonathan, the oldest and only one in his initiate class who hadn’t
yet graduated.

“
So, what’s the plan?” he asked
Raphael, no longer willing to trust his own judgment.

“
That’s going to be up to you,
Jonathan. You need to fix this for those girls. Bella needs to find
a way to keep Sophia at home and it’s your job to see that that
happens.”

“
But how?”

Raphael took him under his wing. Literally. “I
have faith in you, Jonathan. You’ll think of a way. Look how you
helped their parents find happiness.”

Yet they’d died a year apart.

With those questionable words of
encouragement, the head of the Celestial Guardians spread his wings
and soared up to the heavens in a breathtaking display of finesse
and beauty, leaving Jonathan to figure out how to clean up his mess
here on earth.

Again.

Chapter Three

“
You’re late.”

The words hit Bella the moment she stepped
over the threshold of the Casteleoni home, her grandfather’s pride
and joy. An Italian immigrant with little command of English, he’d
parlayed his family’s old-country meals into a cornerstone
restaurant in town, enabling him to build this stone mansion for
his family. He was probably rolling over in his grave with her
stepmother now calling the shots.

Bella glanced at the heirloom cherry clock in
the living room. Eight minutes to spare. Then she turned to face
the wicked witch.
Not
that she called Madeleine that. Well,
at least, not to her face. No need to annoy the woman any more than
her being alive already did. “I’m never late for Sophia’s bus.” She
kicked off her pumps and dug her toes into the hand-tufted rug on
the marble foyer floor.

“
Sophia’s bus? I’m talking about
the ladies’ tea. They’ll be here soon and you have yet to prepare
the food.”

Bella rolled her eyes as Madeleine descended
the foyer staircase, trailing a manicured hand down the curved
railing. The woman thought she was royalty. Always had, ever since
she’d finagled her way into the family. She’d been Dad’s homecare
nurse after the accident, and when his depression had set in, she’d
used the opportunity to slide into Mom’s place almost without
anyone noticing.

Bella had noticed. But at seventeen, there’d
been little she could do. As she’d found out, to her chagrin. Ten
years later, she still didn’t have many options.

“
The food will be ready,
Madeleine. It always is.” Though she’d truly love to succumb to the
temptation to just skip the whole affair. But Sophia would end up
suffering. A cancelled horseback riding lesson, a dance class
inexplicably filled, no friends able to make it for a play date… It
wouldn’t be the first time.

She
had
to get Sophia out of
Madeleine’s clutches.

“
And what happened to your skirt?
I will not have you serving the women of the Ladies’ Auxiliary
looking like something the cat dragged in. Honestly, Lucinda, I’d
think you’d try to rise above your peasant upbringing. We are in
the new world, you know, no matter how much you try to remain in
the past with that restaurant.”

“
That restaurant
is
responsible for everything around you, Madeleine. I wouldn’t speak
so disparagingly about it if I were you.”

“
Well you’re not me. That’s the
problem, isn’t it? You loathe the idea that I control your sister’s
life and your father’s estate.” Madeleine’s eyes narrowed to make
her pinched face look like the weasel she was. “And if you don’t
want her sent half a continent away or the restaurant sold to the
highest bidder, I’d suggest you march your self-righteous attitude
into the kitchen and get the food ready. The Board will be
announcing their selection soon so I need to make a good
impression—”

“
I get it, Madeleine.” It just
wasn’t worth the energy to go down this road again. If only Dad had
changed his will,
she’d
be Sophia’s legal guardian and own
the restaurant outright. But he hadn’t, which pitted her against
Madeleine when it came to the business, the house,
and
her
sister. If she hadn’t seen the fall that had put her father in the
coma herself, she would have sworn Madeleine had had a hand in it.
“You’ll be asked to join the Arts Center Board,
the
most
prestigious group in town.”