Once a Marine (23 page)

That was enough. “What the hell are you looking for?” BD shouted. “I’m not hiding anything because I have nothing to hide. Tell me what’s going on. Your attitude makes no sense.”

Shari glared at BD. “The New York apartment lease! Where is it? Where have you hidden it?”

BD raised her arms, dropped her head back and turned in a circle. “Hidden it? I can’t believe this. It’s in the accounting office. There’s a copy in the accounting office here, and the original is in the accounting office at Haven. Why in hell would I hide the lease from you? You’re the one who negotiated it. It’s
your
signature at the bottom.”

Mute for a moment, Shari stared vacantly. She dropped her hands, turned, and sank into an empty chair. “I don’t know who to trust anymore. Everybody lies to me.” She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, face buried in her hands. “I’m crazy. I’m going crazy.” Her head rolled from side to side.

BD stood in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re not going crazy.” She was already crazy. “Talk to me.”

Shari sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know who to trust. I can’t trust anybody.” Her shoulders trembled on a sob.

“You already said that.” BD tugged Shari’s arm. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. We’ll go to Denny’s. Get some coffee. You should be away from here for a while. Then maybe we can talk. We’ll get this straightened out. Come on.”

Shari got to her feet. Moving like a zombie she shuffled along with BD. “Wait. I have to get my purse.”

“You don’t need your purse. We’re going right now.” She led her across the building, through the workroom, and out the door she’d entered moments earlier.

Once outdoors in the early morning glare, Shari shaded her eyes. “God, I’ve got a killer headache.”

“Join the club.” She pointed to the far corner of the lot. “My car’s over there.”

“Why did you park so far away?”

“So I could make a fast getaway with the company funds. Why else?” BD was pleased to see a hint of smile on Shari’s lips.

* * *

Shari ordered coffee. BD told the waitress to make it decaf. “Have you had any breakfast, Shari?”

“No, I—”

Holding the menu up, BD pointed. “Bring her number three. And be sure the coffee is decaf. I’ll have regular and a bear claw, warmed.”

The waitress raised her eyebrows, glanced at Shari then back at BD. “Coming right up, number three, one decaf, one regular, and a warm bear claw.” With a puzzled smile and a shrug she picked up the menus and left them alone.

With her elbows on the table, Shari leaned forward. “Thanks, I should eat. You have so much common sense. That’s why I hired you in the first place, but I still hate you.”

“I know, and if it makes you feel better, I still hate you too.”

“God, we are a pair, aren’t we?”

BD chuckled. “That’s exactly what Rafi said. He doesn’t understand how we can work together. I don’t either, but we do, and we should remember that. I have never lied to you.”

The waitress returned with their coffee. She placed a paper coaster under Shari’s, so the busboy wouldn’t mistakenly refill her cup with regular.

Shari dumped half and half into her coffee, stirred, and took a sip. “That’s not what Nick said.”

Nearly choking on her first swallow, BD gasped. “Nick? Nick Manson?” She set her cup down so abruptly, hot coffee splashed her hand and the table.

Shari nodded. “He called me.”

“When did he call you?”

With resignation, Shari continued. “When he returned from a business trip in New York. He called me the next day.”

“Oh my God.” BD shook her head with disbelief. “He wasn’t in New York on business. He has no business in New York. He was in the city to bully me into coming back to him. He threatened me and shoved me around.”

Shari’s eyes widened, but skepticism sparked in them.

“Poor Enzo was beside himself, trying to protect me. Fortunately for both of us, Rafi showed up. Nick left after that. At least I didn’t see him again after Rafi threatened to kill him.”

Shari crossed her arms. “There’s something else Nick told me.”

“Tell me. I can hardly wait to hear it.”

Shari glanced at the waitress and thanked her when she set her breakfast on the table. “Nick said you had three men staying in the apartment, Enzo, Cruz, and a blond guy. He also said your brother and his family stayed there several days.”

Astonished, BD viciously cut into her pastry. “Is that what this is about? It’s a big apartment. You could hold a sizable reception in the living room. I saw no harm in having Rafi and his co-pilot stay for one night. My brother’s family came to New York on business and a brief vacation. Why should they pay those outrageous hotel rates when there’s a large empty bedroom in the company apartment?” BD shook her head and once again regretted ever having Nick Manson in her life.

Shari shook her head. “You should have run it past me first.”

BD put her fork down with a bang. “Dammit! It never occurred to me you would care. What? Do you want me to reimburse you for the rent?” She rummaged in her purse, located her checkbook, and slammed it on the table. “I’ll write you a check. This is nuts.” She let out a breath and sat back in her chair.

“Oh, calm down. I don’t want the rent. What I want is to know what’s going on around me. What are my mother and Judd up to? Why is my father about as much use as tits on a chicken? That’s what I want.”

“I don’t have any answers for you, and I can’t help you if you keep attacking me and accusing me. If I don’t have your trust, I might as well resign.”

* * *

Rafi wrinkled his brow and shook his head as he listened to Beautiful’s recap of the morning’s events, her confrontation with Shari and the rest of her miserable day.

“Christ, I don’t know why you put up with that witch’s antics. All this agonizing over a stupid job at a stupid clothing company.”

BD turned in the front seat of the car to stare at him. He glanced over at her. “What? Now you’re mad at me?” She was angry, no doubt about it, her facial expression hard as granite.

She took a deep breath through her nose. “You think I have a stupid job?” Her hands were fisted in her lap. “You have no idea how close I am to yelling at you right now. What do you know about my job anyway?”

OK, he needed to consider his answer. Like a cat, her hackles were up, ready to lash out with claws bared. Instead of answering her directly, he squeezed her knee. “Sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean it like it sounded. Let’s forget it, OK?”

He pulled into the parking lot of the bed store. “You ready to start testing mattresses?” He unlocked his seat belt and reached for the door handle.

She glared with hard flinty green eyes, ready to tear into him. He leaned across the seat and silenced her pending remark with a tender kiss. She took a breath and was about to say something, so he kissed her again. This time she kissed him back. He smiled. He loved her even when her temper flared and she was about to give him hell.

“Just think,” he said seductively, “if we find the one we want, they’ll deliver it this afternoon. We’ll have plenty of time to give it a good workout.”

BD laughed and shoved him away. “God, you’re impossible.”

“Please.” He winked. “Call me Rafi.”

* * *

BD sat across the desk from Shari while she spoke on the phone to the London retailer. She had to admire Shari’s ability to put out the small blaze she started.

The Haven deal with the London clothing store was renewed. They were understandably wary after her abrupt cancellation the previous week. She smoothed it over by saying there’d been a crisis at Grayson in LA and she’d needed BD back there in a hurry. It was actually true. Shari concluded the conversation with the promise that BD would be there in three days.

BD sat straight and stared when she hung up. “Three days? I just got here. Most of my clothes suitable for London are still in New York.” She sat back and shook her head, her eyes rolled. “I better leave tonight then.”

Shari chuckled at BD’s distressed sigh. “You don’t have to leave tonight. I called Enzo and instructed him to pack your bag on the chance they’d agree to the new deal. He’ll meet you at British Airways departures with your luggage. You have a three-hour window at Kennedy.”

BD scowled and slapped her hands on her knees. “Darn it! I don’t like Enzo going through my personal things. Why did you promise them I’d be there so soon?”

Shari went to a file cabinet in the far corner of her office. She unlocked it and searched for a file. “I want it to be a done deal by the time Mother learns of it. She’s the one who browbeat me into cancelling it in the first place. This time it will be signed, sealed, and personally delivered before she has anything to say.” She handed the file to BD.

BD flipped through the folder. The new contract was dated that very morning. Shari had given her limited power of attorney to sign on her behalf for both Grayson and Haven. BD sighed. “I really don’t understand how anything ever gets accomplished around here with you and your mother at odds all the time. There has to be a better way.”

* * *

“You’re leaving in the morning?” Rafi paced, shoved his hands in his pockets, and shook his head. “This is only your third night with me.”

BD cleared her throat. “Actually, I’ll be staying in New York for a few weeks after the London trip.” Her expression was a cross between a smile and a grimace. “Sorry.”

“Shit, sweet cheeks, we didn’t even have time to get into any kind of groove together. I was hoping we could make this,” he gestured around his apartment, “kind of permanent, you know?”

She looked him squarely in the eyes. “Kind of permanent? What does that mean?”

Yes, what did he mean when he said that? He’d better be clear with her, not mess up, although it looked as if he’d already done that with his previous remark. “We need more time together. I’m disappointed, Beautiful.”

“Look, you told me last night you’d be leaving in two days. Did you think I’d stay here in your apartment by myself while you were gone? I was planning to go back to Jack’s place as soon as you left, and then Shari—”

He jammed his hands in his pockets. “Then Shari. Exactly. That woman plays you like a yoyo on a string, for Christ’s sake! You’d never let me get away with jerking you around like that.”

“You’re not paying my salary.”

He rubbed his forehead. “I don’t get it. What’s so damn important to you about a business that’s devoted to producing expensive clothing, so rich women can play dress up?” The words were out of his mouth, but, boy, oh boy, did he wish he could take them back.

BD didn’t answer him, and that was worse than a tirade. Her mouth in a straight line, she eyeballed him without as much as a flinch. She’d be good on one of his more dangerous missions with her steely control. Her seething anger was nearly palpable.

After what seemed like an unblinking eternity, she stood, turned, and marched into his bedroom. Through the door he saw her yank her flight bag from the floor of the closet and pull clothing off hangers. She tossed them in the bag and walked into the bathroom. She was packing up.

He stood in the doorway. “What are you doing?” He could see what she was doing, but that moronic question was all he could muster.

She continued without looking in his direction. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m leaving.”

“But your flight isn’t till tomorrow morning. Why are you leaving tonight?” How clueless could one man sound? It seemed as if his IQ had dropped fifty points in the past five minutes. He couldn’t open his mouth without sticking one of his big feet squarely inside.

Hands on hips, she turned. “Why am I leaving? That’s a stupid question even coming from you. This isn’t working. This,” she pointed to herself and then to him, “won’t work. We have different values.” She dumped her toiletries right on top of her clothes, yanked the zipper on the bag, and grabbed it off the bed.

He took a step aside as she brushed past him on her way to the front door. “Wait, sweetheart. I’m sorry I said that. It’s not as if I said you and Shari play with Barbie dolls. I just don’t—”

She turned at the door. “What I said about values? I might as well lay it on the line for you. I’ll decide whether or not my career is important, not you. I’ll decide who I want to be with, not you. I’ll decide when I want to have children, not you.

“Here’s another reason this relationship is doomed. Twice, when I was with Nick, I took the morning-after pill to prevent a pregnancy. It was hell.”

“You what?”

“You heard me. I let him bully me into it, but the choice was ultimately mine.” She grabbed her bags.

He went cold all over. “God help you if you ever tried to get rid of a kid of mine.” His fists were tight at his sides.

“Well, that’s not likely to ever happen, is it? Get out of my way.”

The door slammed behind her.

Once inside her car, BD took a deep breath and fumbled with her keys. Her hand shook to the point where she couldn’t get her key into the ignition. She pounded the steering wheel, took another breath, and tried again. Peeling away from the curb she saw that she’d cut off a driver coming from behind. The guy laid on his horn, further unnerving her. She reacted with an angry, rude gesture and then regretted it.

Muttering to herself all the way across town to Jack’s place, she griped and cursed. “Damn him! Damn Nick! I’m through with men! They think they’re so darn smart. Nick said his job mattered more than mine. Rafi thinks what he does is so much more important than what I do. Grayson has hundreds more employees than their companies. A lot of people depend on us to run the company successfully. It’s jobs. It’s a good paycheck. It’s food on the table. And if that isn’t enough to swallow from men, what makes them think they get to decide, all by themselves, when, and if, I have kids? What jerks!”

Kelly opened the door when she heard the gate squeak, saw BD’s approach. Sensing her distress, she put her arms around her. “Honey, what happened? You look like your best friend died. Come on in.” She took the flight bag and pulled BD into the room.