Imperfect Love: Operation: Girl Next Door (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 12

  Giddy now, laughter bubbled up as she flipped the dress and did the same on the other side. When she picked it up she held it to her and spun. “What do you think?”

  Rafe pushed away from his table and ran his fingers horizontally across the skirt. The fabric caught for the briefest of seconds, then cascaded off his fingers. “My God, you figured it out. It practically dances on its own now.” He cupped her cheek and kissed her forehead. “It’s beautiful, Piper. Here, I’ll stitch the ends and get it on a mannequin for you.”

  She smiled through the drying tears on her cheeks. “I can do that.”

  He ran this thumb over her cheekbone. “You have a phone call to make.”

  She wrapped her hand around the one on her cheek and nodded.

  “I’ll be back,” he said and headed to the storage closet.

  She grabbed the messages on her desk, went through them until she found Marla’s number, and dialed.

  “Hello?”

  “Marla, it’s Piper.”

  “Oh. Well…what can I do for you?”

  She couldn’t blame her lackluster response. What she and Trevor had done was dishonest and juvenile. With her feet firmly planted in her world, she saw that with crystal clarity. “Look, I know you must be upset, you have every right to be, but I’m calling about the dancewear. We want to work with you to get those kids outfitted for their dance season.”

  “If this is your way of trying to get back into my good graces or help Trevor—” Marla began.

  Piper’s hand squeezed the phone a bit tighter. “This is a decision I made before things came to light about Trevor and I.”

  “How can I possibly know that?”

  Marla loved her girls and to be as persistent as she’d been for the dance group, she loved them, too. Piper planned to use that to their mutual benefit. “You don’t, but are you going to make the kids go without if I can’t prove it?”

  “All right, let’s talk,” Marla said.

  Piper breathed a sigh of relief and gave Rafe a thumbs up when he got back into the room.

  She loved Trevor. She had since she had been thirteen. She imagined she always would, but he needed to look inside himself and fix what was broken there. She couldn’t do it for him, she had a few cracks of her own to patch. And she had a business to run.

  She’d always have Trevor, in a way. In the same way she always had. She had no intention of pursuing more if he didn’t make himself worthy of it. Of her.

  ***

  Drinking had been a fabulous idea.

  Had it been water.

  Trevor rolled his legs off the side of his bed and clutched his head with both hands, lest it roll away on him.

  The fifth whisky had been a bad idea. Hell, the way his head pounded, the fourth might have been a bad idea, too.

  He pushed himself onto his unsteady legs and made his way to the kitchen for a glass of water and aspirin. Once he’d downed three, he headed for the shower. The tile and glass enclosure had room for a baseball team. A tile bench followed along two walls in an L. He had six shower heads.

  He wanted to sit, but feared he’d never get back up so he leaned against the cool tile and let the spray work its magic on his muscles until he’d become partially human again.

  The problem with feeling human? Piper jumped right back into his mind with startling force. He rubbed his chest, right over his heart with his closed fist, as if he could massage away the ache. Before he’d called her brother to enlist her help, he had her. He hadn’t seen her in years, but he could see her, and they’d be on good terms.

  The words he hurled at her the day before came back to him with startling clarity.

  They’d never be okay again.

  He’d carry this ache forever.

  Before he could lie to himself. He could tell himself that he could reach out to her anytime. Maybe one day they could see each other. At some point, maybe they’d have a chance at something.

  It wasn’t much. When he stopped to think about it, it was really quite pathetic, but he held onto the thought in the back of his mind like a lifeline to that night with her. For how important the evening had become to him, one would think it had been his prom.

  The water started to run cold so he left the shower in search of some much-needed caffeine. He checked his cell, but there had been nothing there from Piper. Of course there wasn’t. He’d been a dick, and if he had a sister and a man talked to her the way he had talked to Piper, Trevor would have kicked his ass.

  He didn’t show a missed call, but the voicemail icon popped up in the corner of his phone. He smiled.

  He hit the command for his voicemail and waited. Despite wanting to hear Piper’s voice, it was Noah Tate’s in the recording, returning Trevor’s call.

  Trevor hit the call back button and waited.

  “Trevor! I’m glad you called.”

  “Of course, I’m hoping you’re finally ready to put your advertising dollars in the right place,” Trevor said.

  “We’re definitely ready to make something happen. I was hoping we could set up a meeting this week.”

  Hopefully Trevor still had a job, or he’d make a giant ass of himself. Even more so than the ass he made of himself yesterday. “That’d be great, I can meet with you tomorrow if that works.”

  “That’s perfect,” Noah said.

  “Excellent. We can go over just what you’re looking for and I can put a proposal together for you.”

  “We don’t need the proposal.”

  Trevor glanced around his penthouse. Did he hear him right? “Listen, I’m going to level with you. I didn’t have the best night last night so I think I might be a bit confused. If you aren’t looking for a proposal, what is the meeting for?”

  Noah laughed. “We’re not taking proposals, you’re in. As for the lady trouble, I’ve had a few nights like that of my own. I hope she was worth it.”

  “She’s always been worth it, but now…uh, it’s complicated. Listen, about the proposal thing, are you sure?”

  “Positive. I guess you need to figure out a way to uncomplicate it. I’ve been there. Olivia made me work in ways I’d never had to before, but once I caught her? Never looked back.”

  “I think this one might be beyond catching. I blew it.”

  “You’re going to have to grovel, man, and it’s going to be ugly.”

  Trevor laughed. “Yeah, thanks for that.”

  “Welcome to the club.”

  “Do I get a pin or something?”

  “Not enough money in the budget for pins,” Noah joked.

  For the first time since his plan turned to shit, Trevor glimpsed a trickle of light at the end of the tunnel. “Hey, in all seriousness, why me? For the job?”

  “I watched you at that party, the way you put people at ease. You were bombarded with know-it-alls that night making suggestions to you about ad accounts you had secured. Carter hit you with four different marketing proposals for Dash Foods and you dissected every single one on the fly. Your mind is fast, you’re worth the money, and we both know it wasn’t so long ago that my company had serious issues. I’m counting on you to propel us away from our rocky history and into further success.”

  He could only launch them to the next level if he could hold on to his job. “Listen, any chance you can actually get together today and we can get the ball rolling?” Trevor asked.

  “Sure, what time works for you?”

  “Anytime this afternoon is perfect.”

  “Meet me here at two then,” Noah said.

  They hung up and Trevor had a plan of action. He’d meet Noah and get a contract signed for William and Stensky’s services, and first thing Tuesday morning he’d present it to Davidson and hope it was enough to save his ass.

  Hell, at this point, he couldn’t even focus on the partnership, he just needed to worry about keeping a paycheck.

  If he could keep his job, he could throw himself into his work, and if he was lucky, forget about Piper.

&nb
sp; Chapter 12

  Trevor avoided the liquor this time around. He needed to be clear-headed and on his toes for his first day back. He’d decided he would head to Davidson’s office instead of waiting to see if he’d be called in.

  And he’d go in with an advantage.

  He went through his normal routine, hyperaware of every step of his morning, and how this might be the last morning he followed this routine.

  He found Davidson’s secretary, Grace, at her desk typing away on her computer. “Hi, Grace. Is Davidson in?”

  “He sure is. Let me see if he’s available.” She called his line and after a few quiet words, hung up. “You can go on in,” she said with the same warm smile she had always greeted him with. Apparently, she hadn’t heard.

  A nice send off for his funeral.

  He opened the door and clicked it closed behind him. He didn’t pause before turning to face his boss. Well, not much anyway.

  “Mr. Williams,” Trevor said by way of greeting.

  Davidson’s grave expression left Trevor little hope. He stood and leaned over his desk, his palms flat on the wood surface. “You want to tell me what in hell got into you with that stunt you pulled this weekend?”

  “Well, I—”

  “Haven’t I been good to you?”

  “Yes, bu—”

  “Don’t I pay you well and give you a lot of leeway to do your job as you see fit?”

  “Yes, it’s just that—”

  “Haven’t I always been a fair boss?”

  “No,” Trevor said.

  “No?” Davidson said, standing upright, resting his hands on his hips.

  “I spent my weekend lying to you. I’m not doing it anymore. I’m never lying to anyone again. So, the answer is, no, you haven’t always been fair.”

  Davidson stared at Trevor, his chin jutting out. “Well, out with it then, how have I not been fair?”

  “I’ve given this company my all for four years. I’ve brought in the most accounts, and by far the most money. I’ve gone so far as to turn myself into someone unrecognizable to do it. You paid back that loyalty by making it clear that if I wasn’t coupled, I’d be exempt from the chance at partner.”

  Trevor held his ground, kept his back straight and his shoulders back. No way in hell would he grovel. He wouldn’t resort to a war of words to talk Davidson into giving him a shot. He’d do this like a man. He’d do this the way old Trevor would have done it.

  After a good fifteen seconds of silence where Trevor began to think all was lost, Davidson sagged before him and eased himself back into his chair. “You’re not telling me anything Marla didn’t already give me an earful on.”

  Huh?

  “Wait, she helped you plan this whole thing. Why did she give you an earful?”

  “She helped me plan it, but she didn’t know it was a condition of promotion. She thought I had offered up a weekend getaway for my best employees. She thought it’d be fun for everyone to get to know each other instead of taking off in different directions.”

  “Are you saying that you lied?”

  Davidson slapped a hand against his leather armrest in frustration. “Yes, damn it. I lied. And I got caught.”

  “But why?”

  Davidson scratched his chin, leaned forward, and folded his hands. “Because you’ve always been my favorite and I needed to level the playing field a bit to make sure my judgment wasn’t clouded.”

  Trevor stepped up, pulled out a chair, and gestured to it. “Do you mind if I sit?”

  Davidson waved a hand. “No, no. Go ahead.”

  “As near as I can tell, you and I are idiots,” Trevor said.

  Davidson nodded his head. “Yup.”

  “And I still have a job?” Trevor asked.

  “Yeah, but I’ll tell you something, I wanted to fire you. Marla talked me down.”

  “So, you’re saying, at bare minimum, I owe Marla flowers?”

  “Lilies are her favorite,” Davidson said.

  “Understood.”

  “She pointed out that you were doing what you’ve been doing for four years…anything possible to get the job done. I find I like your determination when it’s directed at potential clients, but not at me.”

  Trevor nodded his head up and down. “Fair enough.”

  “Good. Now let’s talk about this nonsense of you and Piper not being a real couple. I don’t know what you all were playing at, but I saw something there. How do you know her?”

  “Well, it’s kind of a long story. Her older brother is my best friend. I’ve known her since she was six. Truth is, I did take her to her high school prom. I thought the girl I took to prom would make the perfect girl next door.”

  Davidson stared at him stone-faced until his lip quivered, then he leaned back, holding his stomach as he let out a laugh.

  “I’m glad I amuse you.”

  “Boy, you’re in love with her. From the way you talk about her, you’ve definitely been in love with her since prom, if not before. All you need to do is go get the girl.”

  Trevor flinched. “Yeah, that might not be so easy.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I said some things.”

  “You could apologize.”

  “The wound might need a bit more than a Band-Aid.”

  “Then get some gauze, but mark my words, you’ll be miserable if you let her go.”

  “She finds my history to be a huge disappointment.”

  “You’re a part of her history, just focus on that part. She liked you then. I happen to know where you can find her, if you’re interested.”

  Trevor tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”

  “She’s meeting Marla and me at Taps tonight. I owe Marla big time so I’ve agreed to go dancing. Seemed fitting for Marla and Piper to have their dancewear meeting there.”

  “Marla’s not mad at her then?”

  “The thing is, my wife is all fire and the flame burns hot, but fast. She gets over things quickly.”

  An idea formed in Trevor’s head. He wondered if he could pull it off…or if it would even work. One thing was for sure, it was his best shot. Maybe his only shot. “What time is this meeting?”

  “Seven.”

  “I’ll be there by eight.” He headed for the door, but turned back. “Can I have the rest of the day off?”

  “You just got here.”

  “Yeah, but if I’m going to get the girl, I have a few things to do first.”

  “Fine, fine.” Davidson shot out of his chair. “Oh, and consider this dinner tonight your congratulatory dinner on your partnership.”

  “You’re still giving it to me?”

  “I sure as hell can’t give it to Rachel,” Davidson said and shuddered.

  Trevor marched back to Davidson’s desk and shook his hand. “Thank you. I thought I’d lost the shot. I just—really, thank you.”

  “You deserve it.”

  “Oh, I almost forgot.” Trevor pulled the papers out of his inside breast pocket. “Consider this my first act as partner,” he tossed the papers on the desk and walked away.

  “Good God! How did you manage this?” he called to Trevor right before Trevor stepped out the door.

  “I made the connection a while ago. I reached out and it just happened to be the right place and the right time.”

  “I’m impressed. Excellent work! I’ll announce this tomorrow when I announce you as partner. I had planned to today, but since you’re not going to be here and all, I’ll hold off.”

  “I appreciate it. Thank you, Davidson...for everything.” Trevor ducked out the door with no time to waste. The drive to his parents’ house was a good hour from the city, and if he knew his mother, she had held onto his old stuff. He needed it.

  ***

  Piper packed the dress she had modified when she’d gotten back from her trip, and her two sketchbooks. She was sure the dress was the right choice for the tribute to Shakespeare, the Romeo and Juliet segment of the dance,
but just in case Marla had a different vision, Piper wanted to be prepared.

  Next, she needed to find something to wear. Taps was a new jazz club on the west side and she had been wanting to go there since they opened, but had never managed to find the time. She opted for something a bit different tonight. A bit of old Piper and new Piper. She still liked pretty things, after all, and just because she had begun the effort to embrace her true self didn’t mean she didn’t like to dress up and look pretty.

  She pulled out a black wrap dress with white polka dots the size of quarters. The loved the swish of the soft fabric against her skin. She paired the dress with a pair of black velvet kitten heels, a strand of pearls, pearl stud earrings, and pearl crusted combs to hold the sides of her hair back, while the rest waved down her back.

  She spun in the mirror and smiled. She’d achieved a classic look and kept that look in mind when she did her makeup. Red lipstick, absolutely. A bit of smoky eye shadow, blush, and mascara finished off her look.

  Then she met her own eyes and caught a glimpse of the sadness there.

  Amazing how just a couple of days with a person, combined with the right chain of events, had the power to make a person feel like their life had become an unfamiliar land they needed to learn how to navigate all over again.

  She hated it.

  It didn’t matter. She had a job to do and she’d do it.

  She took a cab to Taps and arrived at five of seven. She met a tall, redheaded hostess at the entrance. “I’m Piper Bradley. I’m here to meet Davidson and Marla Williams.”

  “Of course, Ms. Bradley, right this way.” Piper held a shaking hand to her stomach and took in a deep breath. She and Marla had hashed out the situation from over the weekend while they talked on the phone, but seeing them in person, looking them in the eye, well, it terrified her.

  The hostess led Piper to where Marla and Davidson sat at a round table next to the dance floor. As she approached, she noticed Marla’s stunning emerald green scoop-neck dress with a single solitaire diamond necklace that winked from her chest.

  Davidson stood and pulled out Marla’s chair. Always the gentleman.

  “You look beautiful, Piper,” Marla said with a warm smile and a hug.