“I should fire you for your insolence!”
Karen Allen took the threat from her boss in stride and bit her tongue to prevent any more words from tumbling past her tightly closed lips. When would she ever learn to keep her comments to herself? She hadn’t been hired to express her opinion about anything. But then again, she didn’t listen to herself very well either.
“Look, you asked me what I thought of this scarf and I told you.”
“I was not talking to you.”
“There’s no one else in the room!”
Natasha Vale, the legend behind the prestigious Vale Designs, swung her head to the side and lowered her chin, her eyes mere slits as she clenched and unclenched her hands. Anyone else who knew Natasha, aka the Dragon Lady of New York’s fashion world, would have left the room and gone into hiding when she posed like that, but Karen stood her ground. After almost three months of putting up with Ms. Vale’s bullying nature, she wasn’t about to cave now.
“You never learn, do you, Kara?”
“It’s Karen, and no.”
Natasha’s gaze drifted past Karen’s shoulder, and her lips formed a small smirk. “Well, Karen, it seems your coworkers agree with you on that.”
An intense heat shot up her neck and into her cheeks as she looked around and saw fellow employees she thought she had befriended standing around the water cooler snickering behind their coffee cups. As each one of them caught her eye, they scattered.
“Ha!” Natasha’s voice echoed across the room, and the fleeing girls took cover behind their desks. “Now that was quite a power look. Tell me, what is wrong with the scarf?”
Karen took the scarf from Natasha’s hand and let it slip in and out of her fingers, allowing the fabric to caress her skin.
“The scarf is lovely, very soft, with an engaging blue hue, but it doesn’t go with this new line you’re proposing for Fashion Week.”
Natasha closed the distance between them. “You are only an intern,” she said. “What do you know about anything?”
Karen should’ve stepped back, but she didn’t. If anything, she leaned closer so the tips of their noses almost touched. “I’ve been doing this for a long time. Maybe not for your eclectic fans, but for an audience nonetheless.”
Natasha let out a loud cackle. “You have an audience.”
“Yes.” Karen refused to be bullied by this woman who caused people to scatter when she walked by. What made her so much better than anyone else?
“Excuse me?”
“What?”
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
Dammit! She’d done it again—spoken her thoughts out loud. “No.” She hunched her shoulders with a deep sigh. Who insinuated they were better than their boss? The miniature Karen in her head put her hand up.
If she wasn’t more careful, she’d be fired from her internship and could kiss the coveted designer assistant position good-bye. This alone was the reason she’d given up her job as a business administrator at Dogwood magazine in Vancouver and moved to New York.
Natasha yanked the scarf from Karen’s hand, swung it around her neck, and tied it with an expert’s precision. “If you want to make it in this business, Kara, you need to keep your mouth shut and agree with everything that is being said. Do you understand?”
“Yes…and it’s Karen,” she mumbled.
“Go and get me a coffee and be snappy about it—before I change my mind about you.”
Natasha power-walked out of her office, her four-inch heels sending out a staccato beat against the tile floor. Karen snatched her purse and coat off her desk and made a hasty exit to the bustling street below.
»»•««
New York in February. What on earth had he been thinking when he’d chosen to miss out on a drag race in Monte Carlo to be here? At least the parade of beautiful women he’d be in close contact with during Fashion Week would stroke his ego and keep him busy. He could even dump Mindy, his current red-haired beauty, for a new model.
“Leo, darling! What about this one?”
Leopold St. Clare glanced at the sapphire bracelet donning the girl’s wrist. “Wonderful. Shall we get it?”
Mindy jumped up and down and squealed her delight. “Pretty please!”
Normally, Leo would have gotten a kick out of her pleasure over shiny, expensive jewelry, as it always led to great bed sport, but lately he’d been bored with her. Hell, with everything.
It only took a moment before they were back on the sidewalk with the brisk winter wind howling around them. All things considered, it felt good to be back in the Big Apple. He could have done without the cold, as he was a man who sought out the sun’s delicious heat, which he’d been enjoying at his estate in Tuscany when he’d received a phone call from an old friend offering him a gig during Fashion Week in New York.
Well, why the hell not? He hadn’t been to the States in months, and again he’d noticed a deep unsettling in his circumstances. He knew part of his discontentment had to do with his parents constantly being on his case about the family business…but mostly he missed his sister.
Needing to escape his daily routine and the ever familiar surroundings, he’d had his private jet ready within the hour and an excited Mindy along for the ride. And now, what he’d hoped would have fixed his discontentment seemed to be worse.
“Leo?”
“Yes?”
“It’s cold. Can we head back to the condo now?”
“Of course.” She’d gotten what she wanted. Now it was time for her to return the favor.
His limo waited for them across the street. Rushing to join the pedestrians as they crossed at the intersection, Leo slipped his arm around Mindy’s waist and guided her through the throng of people. A woman headed straight for them, head down, concentrating on not spilling the coffee in her left hand or dropping the dry-cleaning bag in her right. The light changed color and car horns in each direction blared, but the woman didn’t look up. She didn’t pick up her pace either.
Impatient drivers inched their way through the intersection, not caring about the pedestrians. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a motorcycle zigzagging between lanes and cars, determined to make it through before the light changed. His conscience played tug-of-war between the thought of pushing the woman off the street, screaming at her for being so unaware of her surroundings, and escorting her to safety like a true gentleman.
The man on the motorcycle pressed his horn insistently and waved his free arm in the air; still no reaction. She must be on another planet.
Leo’s adrenaline kicked into high gear, as it did before the start of a drag race. It ran through his veins like wine and gave him a high he’d become addicted to. With no time to think, he pushed Mindy onto the sidewalk, spun around, and took a giant step toward the woman. He grabbed onto her wrist and yanked her to his chest, and she let out a scream as the coffee spilled on the ground between them, both their clothes now stained. Traffic resumed its normal flow, and Leo’s adrenaline rush crashed to join the coffee puddle.
“What the hell! Why did you do that?” she shouted, but her focus remained on her coffee-stained clothes and the dry cleaning that had fallen into the dirty slush at the sidewalk’s edge.
“I saved your life.”
“Hmph. I doubt that. What you did was cost me my job.”
“Who cares about a job more than a life?” The woman’s stupidity continued to perplex him. What he needed to do was walk away, grab Mindy, and get to his limo for a preview of what would be happening once they got to his condo.
The woman scrubbed at the dry-cleaned clothing the flimsy bag hadn’t protected, but to no avail, so she changed focus and started scrubbing dirt and snow off her pants. “You obviously must be new in town or you’d know my life was in no danger. You’ll soon learn that, as impatient and annoying as some drivers are, they’d never hit someone.”
“And you must be from Oz, because people here on Earth are selfish, are always in a hurry, and don’t care one iota for your safety.”
“You are a very negative person,” she mumbled.
Leo had had enough. If he was going to argue with someone, he wanted to look her in the eyes. Grabbing her by the chin with his index finger and thumb, he tugged her face upward. Bright green eyes met his, and he staggered back. His breath hitched as if the wind had been knocked out of him.
“Karen?” he whispered as his pulse roared in his ears.
He could see confusion mixed in with the anger in her expression, but as her eyes turned to a dark green, he knew the moment she recognized him.
“Leo?”
He desperately wanted to hug her and confirm that she was all right. So many years had passed since he’d last seen her…and what a knockout she’d grown into. Instead, he let his annoyance surpass all other emotion.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” he blurted out.
Karen rubbed at the bright red spot left on her skin by his fingers. “I’m sure I already asked you that.”
Leo let out a pent-up breath and glanced around them. How could anyone live amongst all this chaos of never-ending people, noise pollution, and cold? “Come. Let’s get out of here.”
“I’m not going anywhere with…you,” she stammered after looking up at his face. He needed to work on keeping a more neutral expression. His poker face had never worked with this woman.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He grabbed her elbow to pull her along the sidewalk to a free bench he’d spotted, but she didn’t budge. “Dammit, Karen! Come on!”
“I’m quite capable of walking all by myself, thank you very much.” She tugged her elbow out of his grasp. The warm, tingly connection he’d felt through her thin jacket was lost. He wanted it back.
“We need to get off the street corner and somewhere safe.”
“I need to get my boss a new coffee and drop off her dry cleaning.”
“What exactly do you do?” Such menial tasks were below what he remembered Karen tolerating. They’d attended Simon Fraser University in Vancouver together, her working toward her business degree and him with his miscellaneous classes, since he could never decide what he wanted to do with his life. Back then the most important thing had been acquiring distance from his family and distraction from his problems back home.
He’d met Karen in their sophomore year, and a friendship had started instantly with their mutual dislike for their stats professor. It hadn’t taken long before they were glued at the hip. She’d been such a breath of fresh air, so different from the other college girls, who were only there to party and who befriended him for his money.
“I’m interning for a fashion designer, but that doesn’t matter now. I won’t be for long when my boss finds out what happened.”
“What happened was not your fault. What kind of boss would fire you because you spilled her coffee?”
“And dropped her cashmere dress in the mud.”
His plan to keep her talking worked like a charm as he guided her toward the bench. “Here, sit down.”
“What? Oh, okay.”
Leo sat beside her, and the warmth he’d felt earlier filled him. He blatantly checked her out like he’d been thirsty his whole life and was finally allowed to drink. She wore a pair of black leggings with tall tan boots and a thin black jacket. Her short blonde hair had a few copper highlights in the bangs, and her green eyes lit up like emeralds in a display case. Her smooth skin shone with vitality and youth. His fingers still tingled from touching her chin.
“How long have you been living in New York?”
“Umm…a few months.” She hovered on the edge of the bench and glanced up and down the street, checking her watch every other second.
“And what brought you here?”
“Fashion.”
“You’re quite the conversationalist.”
Karen stood and clutched the cashmere dress close to her chest. “I’m really sorry, Leo. I need to go.”
Was this job really that important to her? The Karen he remembered didn’t do anyone’s bidding. Of course, he’d enjoyed making her bend to his.
“Can I escort you?” he asked as he stood. The closeness sent his senses into a whirlwind.
“Leo? Darling?”
Dammit! He’d forgotten all about Mindy. She ran with tiny steps toward him and wedged herself between him and Karen, pushing Karen out of the way. Leo’s arm automatically wrapped around Mindy’s waist as she planted a big wet kiss on his lips.
“Don’t worry about it. Looks like you have your hands full.”
Karen turned away and headed in the direction she’d come from. His gaze never left her slim form as she crossed the street and disappeared in the throng of people. A deep ache formed in his gut, but he kept a tight smile on his face as he led Mindy to the limousine.
»»•««
“Natasha is furious,” Stacey, Natasha’s personal assistant, announced to Karen, who was dashing to her desk with a fresh coffee but no dry cleaning. “Where’s her dress? She needs that for tonight.”
OMG! Karen thought. No one had told her that. Panic started its wiggly dance in her stomach. She took three deep breaths, squared her shoulders, and grabbed the coffee. Time to face the wrath of Ms. Vale. She rapped her knuckles on the door three times and waited.
“Come in.”
Karen rubbed her free hand down the length of her thigh before grabbing the doorknob and letting herself in.
“Here’s your coffee, Ms. Vale.”
“Excellent. I do hope it’s to my exact liking.”
“Black with two creams.”
“One cream.” Natasha clucked her tongue then sighed. “My dear Kara. I have very high expectations for my interns—”
“It’s Karen, and for the past three months it’s been with two creams.”
Natasha stood, sending her chair rolling away. “Is your mind so minuscule that you’ve already forgotten the advice I gave you earlier?”
Karen lifted her chin in defiance. Normally, if anyone talked to her like that, she’d have decked them and joined them on the floor for a good old catfight.
“Well?”
“You told me to keep my mouth shut and do what I’m told, but how I am supposed to do that when you keep changing your mind?”
“I need an intern who can transition to the changes I need to make on a moment’s notice. I definitely do not need a mouthy little piece who can’t even get a coffee order correct.”
Karen silently chanted her daily mantra. I need to finish this internship. This was her door into the elite fashion world of New York. True, this was an adventure she’d wanted to have with her bestie, Anna Ursu, who was in the process of designing her own clothing line. Now a newlywed with a baby on the way, Anna had to stay in Vancouver, which had put their shared dream on hold. So, Karen had taken this solo opportunity to intern at Vale Designs and fulfill her dream of turning her design hobby into a career. With her background in business, her position at Dogwood hadn’t given her any time to explore her love for designing, but Karen had soaked up everything she could watching Anna work her magic over the years.
Unfortunately, interning for Natasha Vale for the past three months had brought her no closer to her dream, and holding her tongue had proven to be difficult. Not as difficult as pretending she knew nothing about the fashion industry, though.
“You’re right,” Karen mumbled. “I apologize.” Oh, that was hard!
“Hmm.” Natasha reached for her eyeglasses, which were perched on top of her head. When she put them on, her already large eyes grew to remind Karen of an owl.
“What on earth happened to your clothes?” She took a step closer to Karen and let her gaze drag up and down her body. Karen wanted to cringe. “You’re covered in mud, and you smell like…coffee.”
“I…umm, well…” She suddenly felt very woozy.
“Spit it out already!”
“There was an incident at the crosswalk.”
“An incident?”
“Yes. I had your coffee and dress, and there was a guy on a motorbike who wouldn’t stop…”
“My dress? Where is it?”
“At the dry cleaners.”
“It was due for pickup today.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Karen thought she might vomit. The butterflies that had plagued her since she’d entered Natasha’s office tripled in agitation, rising to her throat. That cashmere dress was Natasha’s favorite. Mud and coffee came out of white cashmere, right?
“Well, I had to take it back to the dry cleaners. It…there was some…”
“Unbelievable!” Natasha screamed, her face red from the exertion.
“It’s only a dress.”
“Only a…only a…dress,” Natasha repeated, her breaths shallow and fast.
“I’m sure it will be fine. Your dry cleaner can work miracles.”
“Yes. Miracles.” Natasha sat and leaned back in her chair. Always the drama queen, Karen thought. “Tell me. Which cashmere dress was it?”
Karen’s eyebrows knit in question. “Stacey said you’d be wearing it tonight at the opening gala.”
“The black one? Please tell me it was the black one. Yes, Richard can get anything out of black cashmere.”
Oh, how Karen wished she were the fainting type. That would be the perfect escape to such a crazy, disastrous day.
“Well?” Natasha screeched at her. “I’m quite sure you know what color my dress is.”
“It wasn’t the black one.”
“That leaves…my white one.”
Karen rushed to explain. “Yes, but it barely had anything on it. You won’t even know.”
“I’ll know.”
“No! It’ll be fine. I promise.”
“It better be or you’ll owe me a thousand dollars.”
A thousand dollars! She couldn’t afford that. She wasn’t getting paid for this internship, and her roommate wasn’t going to let her bum off him forever. She would have gotten a second job if there were more hours in a day, but right now she was lucky if she got home before ten o’clock each night. Even free weekends were sparse with the ramp-up for Fashion Week.
“When will my dress be ready?” Natasha asked, her voice continuing in an eerie monotone.
“I had Richard put a rush on it, so it should be ready by five o’clock.”
“At cost to the company?”
Yes, but she wasn’t about to tell her that. “No, of course not. I’ll cover it.”
“Good.” She lifted her coffee cup to her lips and took a long sip. “My coffee is ice cold. Go and get me a new one. Two creams.”
Before Karen voiced her opinion again, she left as fast as she could, avoiding Stacey’s questions and the piercing stares of the other interns. As she rode the elevator down to the lobby, her thoughts continued to swirl. She had to get it right this time. One compliment from this witch woman would make this whole situation so much more bearable.
The elevator doors chimed and opened to let her out. With a game plan in place, she decided this time she’d get two coffees to cover her ass.
“It’s quite a nice ass you have too.”
Karen stopped short and turned. Reclining on one of the lobby couches was Leo—all six foot two of the blond, muscled, gorgeous playboy who only had to blink and anything he wanted was his.
“What are you doing here, Leo? I thought you were with your redhead.”
He stood and reached her side in two long strides, causing her pulse to race. “I had my driver take her back to the condo. I’m here to see you.” No beating around the bush with this guy. She’d always liked that about him.
His condo. A dull ache filled her chest, and she silently scolded herself. What did she care? He could do whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted. “I don’t have time to chat.” She headed to the lobby door, which the doorman opened for her.
“Whoa! Hold up, Karen.” Leo caught up with her on the sidewalk. He touched her elbow, and a hot burst of lust zoomed to her groin.
“I need to get my boss more coffee.”
His golden eyes, which had acquired him the nickname “The Golden Lion” back in college, turned dark amber. “Seriously?”
“Don’t even get me started.” Karen turned away from Leo and picked up her walking pace. She didn’t have time to make small chat with an old flame. Well, “old flame” according to her, anyway. Leo had never had the time of day for her after that one night.
“Can I tag along?” he asked as he kept pace with her long strides.
“I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
“I’m great company.”
Karen didn’t doubt that. Checking her watch, she moaned. How on earth had so much time slipped away? She veered to the left and dashed across the street. People yelled and honked their horns, but she didn’t care.
“Next time tell me before you do something stupid like that,” Leo said when he caught up to her. He wasn’t even a bit winded from the jog.
“I’m not here to entertain you. I have an errand to run, and if I don’t get it right this time, I’ll be fired for sure.”
“Over coffee?”
“Over her expensive white cashmere dress being covered in coffee and mud stains.”
“I’m sure she can purchase another one.”
“She most definitely could, but I’m not about to be the one to tell her that.” Not after everything else she’d said.
“I’m assuming you took it back to the dry cleaners.”
“Yes, and put a rush on it.” They crossed another intersection and headed to the corner coffee shop. “She needs it for tonight’s gala.”
“What gala?”
Karen stopped and opened the coffee shop door, inhaling deeply. She loved the smell of fresh ground coffee beans.
“You know there are a dozen coffee shops on the same block as your building.”
“Yes, but this is where she gets her coffee. Every day.”
“Nothing like trying something new,” Leo mumbled, and he sat on a stool as Karen placed her order.
“Want anything?”‘
“No.”
Once she had a cup of coffee in each hand, Karen said goodbye to Leo and made her way back to work post haste.
“You still haven’t told me about the gala.”
“I thought you’d left,” Karen said with a sigh. He was becoming quite a nuisance. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“I asked a question first.” He snatched one of the coffees out of her hand and kept walking.
“Right, the gala.” Karen had to increase her stride to keep up with him now. “Next week is Fashion Week, and this gala is the kick-off for all the activities that will be happening in the downtown core.”
“And are you, the most prized intern, invited to this fancy gala?”
“Of course not. I’m only the most prized intern.”
They had slowed down, and Leo was staring at her, a huge grin on his face.
“What?”
“I always enjoyed your dry humor. I’ve missed it.”
Karen wanted to grab onto the compliment and run. How dire were her circumstances that she yearned for praise from anyone who’d give it? This particular someone being a mistake from the past…but she wasn’t in a position to be picky.
“Thanks.” She tilted her head and returned his grin.
“You haven’t changed a bit.” Leo’s voice held a soft rumble that had goose bumps racing down her arms. A gust of wind whipped around them as they stood facing each other on the sidewalk. She laughed, the sound a light tinkling as her scarf billowed between them.
“Of course I’ve changed. It’s been five years, and you know nothing about me now.”
“I want to.”
Karen shoved him aside. “I’m not going to do this with you.”
“Do what?”
“You have a girlfriend. A beautiful redhead who most likely is a model here for Fashion Week. Am I right?”
Leo shrugged. “I wouldn’t call her my girlfriend, but yes, she’s a model.”
They reached her destination, and she extended her hand out for the coffee he held. “Please.”
His full, sensuous lips crept up at the corners and his golden eyes lit up with humor. “You say that so nicely.”
“Behave yourself!” The last thing she needed was this man to cause uncontrollable butterflies in her stomach. She’d been there, done that with him, and it had led to heartache. She could not go there again.
Leo took a sip of the coffee and scrunched his face in disgust. “Ugh, no sugar.”
Karen almost dropped the cup she held. “What are you doing? That coffee is for—”
“Your boss. I know, I know.”
“Give it to me.”
“I’d love to, but now’s not the time.”
“Honestly!”
“I wouldn’t lie about something like that.”
Karen rolled her eyes. “I don’t have time for this.”
“I’ll see you to your desk.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“It’s not, but you need help carrying this cup of coffee.”
A short burst of laughter escaped from her lips. Now she remembered why they’d gotten along so well. That and the sexual tension they could keep at a constant low burn.
“Fine, but I’m warning you, she’s got quite the temper. She’ll definitely know we did something to her precious coffee.”
“Yours is still untouched.”
“And it’ll stay that way,” she said, and she brought the cup close to her chest.
They rode the elevator to the top floor in silence. She thanked her lucky stars it was a fast ride. When the doors opened, Karen stepped out and then stopped short. Natasha was standing in the middle of the foyer, her legs shoulder width apart and her hands on her hips, an unflattering grimace making her look clown-like.
“Did you go to Brooklyn for my damn coffee?”
“Of course not.” She held the cup out to Natasha, who grasped it so hard the lid popped off and sent creamy liquid to splash on Karen’s boots and the newly waxed marble floor.
“Look what you’ve done!” Natasha screeched.
“I’ve done nothing. You’re the one—”
A loud throat-clearing sound came from behind her. “Excuse me, ladies.”
“What!” Karen and Natasha snapped, their focus on the sudden distraction.
“Can I offer my assistance?”
Karen faced Natasha, whose mouth formed a perfect “o”.
After an eternity, Natasha turned to Karen with a smile. “Kara, this is our new Fashion Week photographer, Leopold St. Clare.”