Revenge for Hire (The Get Even Agency) (2 page)

Chapter Two

“He walked away? Just like that?” Avery stared incredulously at
Randi. When Randi came back to their Manhattan apartment much earlier than
expected, the other three girls almost fainted. Randi never came back before
midnight.

Still looking disgusted, Randi nodded.

Wow. Avery had a whole new respect for Jude Layman. He’d resisted
the sexiest of the Get Even Agency girls.

“I don’t believe it,” she muttered out loud.

“Believe. I struck out.” Randi dipped the spoon into her Chunky
Monkey ice cream and dug out a big bite. “Jude Layman seemed impervious to my
charms.” She wrapped her mouth around the metal and sucked off the chocolate
confection. Then she shook the spoon at her friends. “If I didn’t know better
I’d think he was gay.”

“Maybe he is and the string of women are just a front or an
attempt to convince the world otherwise,” Cassidy suggested. She’d been on
assignment earlier. Some deserving guy would be bald after his next shampoo.

“His friend, too?” Avery leaned back against the fluffy white
cushion on the sofa. Because of so frequently needing a cover and a place to
stay in New York, they owned the apartment through a bogus firm Randi set up
on-line. They did a lot of work in the city.

“Maybe they’re secretly in love with each other,” Cassidy
giggled.

“What have we found out about the friend?”

“Not gay.” Randi waved her spoon. “Married until this week when
his divorce became final. His wife left his sorry butt and moved on to make a new
life for herself.”

“Anything else?”

“He roomed with Jude in college. They’ve been close since.”

“You’re sure they’re not gay and into each other?”

“With the way they were arguing when they left anything’s
possible, but,” Randi grimaced and dug back into the Chunky Monkey, “I’d bet
money they’re both straight.”

Randi had been broke most of her life, up until the agency
became such a huge success. She didn’t make bets lightly.

Jude Layman and his friend were straight.

“Now what?” Courtney asked, doodling on a pad of paper,
something she did whenever she was thinking things over. “We’ve taken on the
assignment, Mandy Sims has paid us quite handsomely, and, for the first time
ever, Randi struck out.”

“We come up with a new plan,” Avery said matter-of-factly. She’d
known this job was going to be different. But a man dissing Randi? Even she
hadn’t seen that one coming. Different didn’t begin to cover it. “One that
doesn’t involve seducing the guy.”

“Guess that would call for your expertise, because if I have to
be around him I’m going to want to lose my clothes,” Courtney admitted,
wiggling her plucked-to-a-fine-line brows.

“Be careful,” Avery warned, smiling slightly at the woman she
loved like a sister. She loved all three of her TGEA partners. “The man does
run a porn mag.”

“Take off my clothes and let someone take my picture?”

Avery didn’t like the light in Courtney’s eyes. The light that
said she was considering it and not in a not-in-your-life kind of way.

Avery snapped her fingers in front of her friend’s face. “Hello.
There is no way you can be a centerfold for a porn rag. The publicity would
ruin your career at TGEA. Men would recognize you. You’d never be able to go
undercover again.”

“You’re right, but can you imagine the rush?” Courtney’s eyes
lit up like a fourth of July fireworks display. “How easy it would be to get
guys?”

“Like you’ve ever had any problems with that?”

Courtney’s body was one lithe muscle and she had a face any
supermodel would be proud of. She wore her hair in a spiky bleach blond cut
that Avery didn’t particularly care for, but Courtney didn’t get caught up in
vanity and preferred the no-nonsense style. Regardless, getting men was not a problem
for the ex-Hollywood stunt girl.

“No, but neither has Randi and look what happened to her. Two
guys walked on her in the same night.” Courtney frowned. “Do you think we’re
losing our touch?”

All four women got quiet.

Avery couldn’t stand the deafening silence.

“Are you serious? Of course, we aren’t losing our touch. So the
latest mark is a bit craftier than the others we’ve come up against. Randi
herself said how smart he was. Apparently smart enough not to be led around by
his
dumbstick
. We’ll just have to come up with a more
unique punishment for Jude Layman. One befitting his treatment of Mandy Sims.” Avery
flashed her soul sisters a conspiratorial smile. She wouldn’t let Jude Layman,
or anyone for that matter, mess with the closest thing to a family she’d ever
had. “One befitting his treatment of a TGEA girl.”

All four women put their hands out and entwined them in their
ritual hand hold.

All for one, one for all.

Just like the three musketeers, only there were four of them
and they were a whole lot smarter, prettier, and more vengeful.

* * *

Running a major publication wasn’t always an easy job. Not when
you were surrounded by egos who thought the universe evolved around their trite
selves.

Jude rubbed his temple and checked his watch. Only nine-thirty in
the morning and his head throbbed with the intensity of a twelve-hour work day
already.

Could anything else possibly go wrong?

He hit the intercom button. “Mrs.
Sedwick
?
Bring me some aspirin and a glass of water, please. Otherwise I’m not going to
be responsible for my actions when Mrs. Yamaguchi arrives.”

Without waiting for her reply, he picked up the handset and
called to check on the proofs that were supposed to be on his desk yesterday. The
proofs for Mrs. Yamaguchi’s mega-dollar campaign for her herbal sexual
dysfunction product and other sexual pleasure enhancers.

“Not yet,” was the reply he got to his barked demand to know if
they were ready.

Hell fire.

What was wrong with him? He was crankier than a bear sitting in
a briar patch.

Missing proofs.

Headache.

Mrs. Yamaguchi and her sly looks and interested innuendos.

Two weeks without sex
.

Ding. Ding. Ding. We had a winner.

Hell, that wasn’t it. Not really. He’d gone two weeks without
having sex before.

Not often since hitting puberty, but he had gone without.

He’d broken things off with his current girl. Not that they
were exclusive, but he knew she wouldn’t understand the sudden change in their
physical relationship. He sure as hell didn’t want to explain his “no more sex till
my friend gets laid” vow.

Abstinence had nothing to do with his crankiness.

But perhaps Marcus’ continued depression did. The fool missed
three days of work last week. For no good reason except that he hadn’t felt
like going. He had to get out of this downer before Joy stole even more of his
life. Like his career and reputation.

As his best friend, it was Jude’s duty to make sure that didn’t
happen. Somehow.

Only problem was that he didn’t know how to pull his friend out
of his depression. Didn’t know how to help him get beyond his broken heart.

His quick and easy answer was to get Marcus laid, but what if
sex wasn’t the answer?

Who was he kidding? Of course, sex was the answer. Indirectly,
if not directly.

If he could get Marcus interested in a woman, natural instinct
would cure the rest.

A light tap on his door let him know Mrs.
Sedwick
had his aspirin. Thank God. His head pounded and Mrs. Yamaguchi and her
eye-watering perfume hadn’t even invaded his office yet.

“Come in,” he called, picking up a report on next quarter’s projected
features.

Without looking, he knew it wasn’t Mrs.
Sedwick
.

Mrs.
Sedwick
never smelled like fresh
baked cinnamon toast. The kind his mother had made him on Saturday mornings
years ago.

Nor had he ever gotten a quickening in his gut at Mrs.
Sedwick
entering his office.

“Where would you like me to put them?” a feminine voice asked. A
voice that despite its no-nonsense attitude was also sultry and seductive. Hell,
he could listen to a voice like that read the telephone directory and not get
bored.

But the voice wasn’t his beloved assistant’s gravelly-from-smoking-for-forty-plus-years
voice.

“Where’s Mrs.
Sedwick
?” he asked,
looking up to collide with dynamite.

At least he was pretty sure what he saw was dynamite.

Definitely something exploded within him when his gaze met hers.

Something hot and liquid and of cataclysmic force. Like a
pent-up volcano erupting.

Damn. Two weeks was too long to go without sex.

Had this woman been in the bar that night eyeing him in the
light the redhead had, Jude wasn’t sure he’d have accompanied his pal home.

Not that he’d have broken his vow, but he would have gotten a
phone number and set up a future date at the minimal.

“She’s been called away.” Her green eyes flashed with
quicksilver intelligence and a bit of impatience. Like she had better things to
do than chit-chat with him.

“Why?”

A perfectly-shaped brow rose. “I assumed you knew.”

“You assumed wrong.”

“She won an all-expense paid trip for four to Disney. She’s
gone with her daughter and grandchildren. It was one of those use-it-immediately-or-lose-it
deals.”

Odd that she hadn’t mentioned this to him before leaving, but
perhaps she’d arranged everything via human resources. He’d check on the
details later. After he appeased Mrs. Yamaguchi and got that report.

After he figured out what about this delectable woman set his
insides on fire and made him want to know everything about her.

“Who are you?”

She gave him a tepid smile, definitely not one meant to light
any flames. No matter, he already blazed.

“I’m from the temp service.”

Did she know how gorgeous she was with her hair pulled up in
that French braid with the tendrils framing her face? Probably. Most women knew
exactly what their strengths and weaknesses were.

This one made him weak. Weak kneed. Weak willed.

If Marcus didn’t get laid soon, Jude was going to hire the man
a shrink and drag his depressed ass to see him.

What would she look like with her hair
unplaited
and covering her shoulders? Her bare shoulders? Bare shoulders he’d be tempted
to brush her hair from and kiss?

Jude swallowed and felt like a damn fool. What was wrong with
him? He didn’t react to women this way. Not so intently. Not so blatantly. Not
so instantaneously. Not so all-
consumingly
.

Sure, he’d been attracted to women, lots of women, but never
like this.

“What temp service?” His voice growled deep and throaty. Was it
possible to pick up second hand smoker’s voice?

“The one Mrs.
Sedwick
contacted prior
to leaving for Florida this morning.” She remained poised with elegance and
grace, although he half-expected her to roll her eyes.

He raked his gaze over her figure. A man’s style white cotton
button-down blouse tucked into a gray skirt that molded her hips in a way that
was utterly sexy despite the fact the outfit wasn’t meant to be sexy. The shirt
did little to hide her hour-glass figure and that she probably had a better
body than that month’s centerfold. The skirt fell to a couple of inches above
her knees. His gaze traveled lower over long legs and toned calves that could
rock a man’s world. Damn. Forget this month’s centerfold. She looked better
than any centerfold he’d ever featured.

He’d like to spread her pages and read between the lines
.

He blinked, trying to quit seeing her as a female sex-
sicle
. One he’d like to lick all over. He enjoyed sex, but
procreation didn’t usually monopolize his every thought. His
every body
cell.
Had to be the abstinence
.

“When will Mrs.
Sedwick
be back?”

“I suspect not nearly soon enough.” Her words came out on a
resigned sigh, as if she found him highly annoying.

“What?”

This time she did glance ceiling-ward, then gave him a tight
smile. “I’m not sure when she’ll return. My orders are to work here until Mrs.
Sedwick
comes back, so that’s what I’ll do.”

“Then what?”

She set the water and plastic cup containing two tablets in
front of him. “Then you’ll have Mrs.
Sedwick
to fetch
your water and your aspirin.”