Those Red High Heels (6 page)

My first week at Purple Moon was everything I had imagined, maybe a little harder and demanding; but I guessed that was why they were making their way to one of the top publishing companies in New York. The author of
Stolen Ivory
, had been fun to work with. Jumping in with new ideas was hard the first few days, but it became a little easier by the end of the week. I also had been getting to know the other associates who had been working on this account. One guy in particular, Dexter, was very helpful and we clicked right away, but he’s a complete nerd. A very nice, sweet nerd, but still gives Bill Gates a run for his money. However, the only thing we have in common is our passion for marketing and business, which works out to our advantage. More time to work.

After a crazy day of running around getting last minute items for the party, Collin asked me if I would be able to arrive a little early to the venue to be certain everything was in order. Brynn was in her bathroom finishing some last minute prepping, and wasn’t quite ready.

“You know Brynn. She wanted to do this all on her own. She said hiring a wedding planner wasn’t her style, and she wanted to make sure everything was just how she wanted it,” Collin said with an exaggerated eye roll.

I just smiled and patted his arm. “No problem. Of course I will. Don’t worry, Collin, it’s going to be magical,” I said with a wink and headed to the door. Before I grabbed the door handle, I took one last look at myself in the mirror. The black dress I had bought earlier this week was a perfectly sculpted masterpiece, which seemed to be made only for my body. I peeked at my red heels and decided I wanted to be buried in those shoes. Collin gave me his approval and told me they would see me shortly.

**

When I walked through the door of the Pierre venue on the Upper East Side, my mouth might have hit the floor for a quick second before I gathered myself and made sure I was acting like a professional. Chicago definitely had its fair share of luxurious venues, but this one took the cake. A beautiful young lady in her early twenties greeted me immediately. “Good evening, are you with the Donahue party?”

“I am. I’m just here to make sure everything is on schedule before the guests arrive,” I said politely and followed the young woman into a room that could only be described as something out of a fairytale. White lights and close to twelve dozen peony plants were placed delicately around the grand ballroom. “Oh my, Brynn is going to love this,” I said with a huge smile and gave my new friend a high-five. I think I may have caught her off guard, but she recovered quickly and gave me a smile back.

About thirty minutes later, everything seemed to be in place and the guests were due in about twenty minutes. I decided to take the opportunity to sneak to the bar and grab a quick glass of wine. I needed a little unwinding.

“A glass of your merlot, please?” I asked the very good-looking bartender. He gave me a panty-dropping grin and went to work. What is it about bartenders at high-end establishments? Somehow they found the most drop dead gorgeous guys who really could swing either way, intriguing both sexes. It’s mind boggling really.

A few sips later, mixed with some light flirting with my new bartender boyfriend, and my body finally started to loosen up. Who knew weddings were so much work? And the sad part was we were just getting started. Just as I placed the wine glass to my lips and took a small sip, a sudden rush of cool air gently moved my hair to the side. I peered over my left shoulder; but before I could control myself, a small spew of wine left my mouth and hit the most handsome face I had ever laid eyes on.

“Oh! I’m so sorry. You startled me,” I gushed out as I tried to get my napkin to his face before I made a bigger ass of myself.

The gorgeous lookalike Calvin Klein model beat me to it and wiped his face with what looked like a handkerchief. I didn’t know people still used those. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” he said as he finished off with a few drops left on his beautifully chiseled chin. When he moved the white cloth completely away from his face, the most electric blue eyes were looking straight back at me.

The look on my face must have been priceless, because this inhumanly good-looking man before me was my mystery car man from the other morning. I really believed I would never see him again. I thought about him throughout the week for some strange reason, but chalked it up to beginners luck and didn’t give seeing him again a second thought. I let out a small breath and whispered, “It’s you.”

The man chuckled as he stuffed his handkerchief back into his pocket. “And, you,” he said in a voice that sent a warm pulse through my entire body.

“I’m so sorry again; you startled me. I don’t normally spit wine in peoples’ faces,” I said with a blush and quickly took another sip before I said something else idiotic.

My new stranger motioned to the seat next to me. This guy must be a martyr. “May I?” he asked, but didn’t wait for my response.

I smiled and continued to sip my wine. He sat and stared at me for a minute before finally speaking again. “You know, you’re the first person who has jumped in my car unexpectedly, yelled at me to get out, and now the first to spit wine in my face.”

I let out a nervous laugh and said, “I guess it can only go up from here, right?” which got a small laugh out of his beautiful mouth.

“I guess you’re right. So, you’re here for the Donahue wedding?”

Just as I was about to answer, a gorgeous woman slinked up besides my new companion and placed her arm around him. Yup, she was claiming her territory. My stomach sank, but I really shouldn’t have been surprised. Guys like him were always taken.

“Darling, you snuck away for a minute and I couldn’t find you. I see you met a new friend. Don’t be rude, introduce us.” What was a guy like that doing with a woman like her? You could tell she was the type of woman who would cut your eyes out and eat them for breakfast while giggling to her other scary Stepford wife friends. I mentally shook that image from my brain and completely faced what could only be described as the most beautiful/scary woman on Earth.

Before I even opened my mouth, my stranger turned toward me and said, “This is Emma Walker. She’s the maid of honor from Chicago, and is the woman I was telling Jennifer about at Purple Moon.”

Emma Walker? Maid of honor? Purple Moon? How did he know this? Suddenly, everything in the room slowed down. It was like someone clicked a remote and everything began spinning in slow motion. The scary lady started talking, but I couldn’t understand her. My body became extremely warm and I felt as though I was going to burst into flames. I looked back and forth between my stranger and the woman. There could only be one explanation, my handsome man, my stranger, the guy who I had not only made myself look like a jackass in front of once, but twice, was Greyson Lyons? No, it couldn’t be. Aren’t there over three million people on this tiny island, and my mystery man had to be my connection to my new job? The man who was our marketing contact for my new mystery novel? I felt sick.

“Emma, dear, are you okay?”

I shook my head quickly and looked back at who could only be Nora Mathews, or the Ice Bitch as Collin and Brynn referred to her. “Yes, I’m so sorry. What did you say?”

Nora looked back over at Greyson and then back to me. She gave me a disapproving look and placed a kiss on Greyson’s cheek. “I will let you two finish your conversation. I hope to see you later, Emma.”

I shot her a tight smile and a little wave as she waltzed out of the room. I turned back and looked over to Greyson. “To say I’m embarrassed is an understatement,” I said in a quiet, almost hushed voice.

Greyson gently placed his hand over mine. “Don’t be. I mean, I understand that spitting wine isn’t exactly how you want to meet someone; however, I did sneak up on you. I’ve been meaning to come by and meet you, but I’ve been out of town for the past few days, so I wasn’t able to before this party.”

For some reason this man made me nervous. Maybe it was the power I knew he held, or that he was inhumanly good looking, if you like the dark haired, blue eyed, mysterious man type. If only I had seen a damn picture of him. Brynn and Collin talked a lot about their friend, Greyson, but mysteriously didn’t have a photo of him anywhere in their apartment. I felt like I was in a
Lifetime
movie. Collin did tell me the story of how he and Greyson crossed paths. Greyson was fresh out of business school and started working full-time at Lyons Media, the company he was about to inherit, and was working on a project that involved Collin’s production company. Apparently, the two hit it off right away and had been great friends ever since. Brynn told me Greyson had been under a tremendous amount of pressure at work and his upcoming wedding to the lovely woman I’d just met had only doubled that pressure. From what Brynn and Collin have told me, they are ninety-nine percent sure that Collin is only marrying Nora because it's what his father wants. I tried to understand this world we called Manhattan, but I was having a difficult time wrapping my mind around just how crazy it was.

Greyson ordered a Jack and Coke and looked back over to me. “Jennifer had some great things to say about your first week over at Purple Moon. She mentioned how you jumped right in, and that you’ve been a great asset to their team.”

Ah, work. Now that was a topic I could talk about all evening without looking like a babbling lunatic. Hopefully. “Thank you very much. You have no idea how nice it is to hear that. In fact, I heard we are meeting next week to talk about the final stretch of your marketing plan for
Stolen Ivory
.”

“That’s right. I’m looking forward to see where this book goes.”

I smiled back and after a few seconds of awkward silence, I decided I needed to keep the momentum going. “So, you were away on business?”

Greyson took a sip of his drink and looked at me over the rim of his glass. Dang, his eyes were gorgeous. I wondered what it would be like waking up to those jewels every day. Peeking through his dark eyelashes while he lay on soft, white cotton sheets. He would lazily look over and motion for me to join him under the sheet. Just as I was about to fantasize about more sexy scenes with Mr. Blue Eyes, I realized he was speaking to me. I hadn’t heard a word he had said. I started to listen intently and it sounded like he was away on a personal trip.

“It was a quick trip, but I'm hoping that will be the last until the wedding day.”

His wedding, he was talking about his wedding. I had no clue what he was traveling for, but I needed to participate in the conversation. “That’s right. Congratulations on your upcoming event. I’m sure it’s going to be beautiful.” I smiled, but then quickly noticed a slight change in his demeanor. If I hadn’t been staring at his face, I would have missed it. The feeling I had that this marriage was as fake as Kim Kardishian’s ass wasn’t just a feeling. This man was not in love. A sinking feeling went through my body, and I suddenly felt sympathy for him. I couldn’t imagine what kind of world Greyson Lyons was living in. But, I guessed everyone had a choice. He deeply loved either his company, his father, or the status it all came with.

Greyson cleared his throat. “Thank you. Well, we had better make sure we’re there to greet the couple of the evening. It was nice to meet you, Emma. Outside of my car anyway,” he said with a wink that made me cringe a touch. I still couldn’t believe he was my mystery guy. Well, actually I could. I was known to have those moments everyone else seems to think were impossible. It always made for a great story.

“Of course.” Greyson and I rose simultaneously, which caused us to bump into each other. He reached around to steady me by grabbing my waist, and a jolt buzzed through my body. When I looked up at him, his mesmerizing eyes were locked with mine. I sucked in a breath and held it until he finally made the first move to let go.

“Excuse me,” he said in a hushed voice while never looking away from my eyes. However, the moment was broken by the sound of a tapping heel behind us. The Ice Bitch was back.

Chapter Seven

“Am I interrupting something?” Nora asked as she eyed us both suspiciously. When I looked over at Nora, I knew my name had been scribbled on a list that was going to be impossible to be erased from.

I quickly pushed away from Greyson, brushed my dress off and turned back to face him. “It really was nice to meet you Greyson, and you, too, Nora. I hope you have a wonderful evening, but I better go see if Brynn has arrived.” With that, I made sure not to look in Greyson’s direction and headed straight out of the bar.