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After pulling on myblack, lace demi-cup bra and matching thong, I sat on my chaise topull on my stockings and garter belt. I chose my navy Versacekeyhole dress and slipped it on. I smoothed it down my front andturned toward the racks of heels. After contemplating for a moment,I reached for my black Jimmy Choo’s and slipped them on. I turnedand inspected myself in the full-length mirror.
The blue of thedress really made my eyes pop and the red of my hair look brighter.I smoothed my hands down the rich, formfitting fabric clinging tomy curves and inspected myself closely. The woman in the mirrorgave the illusion that she was a confident bad bitch. As long asthe outside world believed that, then my mission was complete.
I released a longsigh and turned from the mirror, heading back to my bedroom. Iturned toward the kitchen to get some coffee to go when somethingcaught my eye on the nightstand. The Krav Maga card still sat whereI had placed it last night. I picked it up and ran my fingers overthe indented words and considered what Doc had said. I needed tofind a new outlet and this might be the thing that helped me.
I palmed the cardand decided that I would check the studio out tonight. I couldn’tsee what it would hurt. I was a little intrigued to at least learna little more self-defense.
As I left the housefor the day with a little pep in my step, I found myself lookingforward to something for the first time in weeks.
****
I slid my hands overmy face with a frustrated huff as I resisted the urge to slam myhead into the keyboard.
“I’m, like, sosorry, Ms. Brookes,” my intern Staci said for what felt like themillionth time from the doorway.
I separated myfingers as I glared at the nineteen-year-old with my mantra for theday playing on repeat inside my head.She’s learning, she’slearning, she isfuckinglearning!I took a deep breathand placed my hands on my lap and tried to give a tight smile tothe young girl who looked like she was on the verge of tears.
It was literallytwenty minutes until we closed for the day and I was trying as hardas I could to restrain myself from telling Staci to leave for theweekend and never look back. If it hadn’t been for Ben Hasting, oneof my top editors, begging to give his niece an internship as afavor, I would have told Staci,with an i, to get the hellout of this business before she was chewed up and spit the fuckout.
“So, let me get thisstraight. I asked you to get me a copy of Hale’s latest chaptersfor his new book and you can’t find the file drive?” I asked behindthin lips.
Staci looked likeshe was about to burst into tears at any moment. “Y-yes. I swear Iput the drive in my purse before I went to lunch and n-now … it’snot there.” Her voice trembled like she was trying to talk down awild animal.
She had no fuckingclue. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Moments ticked bywhile I tried to calm down before I blew smoke out of my ears. Iwas officially done with this day. None of my meetings had gone theway they should have. The art department was behind on covers. Fiveof them to be precise …five! The marketing departmentpresented me with multiple different ads they wanted to release andI hated every single one of them. I paid these people because theywere supposed to be the best, but I was beginning to questionthat.
I had spent thebetter part of my day trying to woo a prospective author who hadoffers from two other companies. I’d taken him out for a late lunchand he proved to be one of the most pretentious douchebags I hadever met. If he hadn’t had such a brilliant mind, I would have toldhim where to shove his book. And now, right before I was gettingready to shut it down for the weekend, I had to deal with thiswanna-be publisher. Lord, just end it now.
It wouldn’t be sobad if this happened to be her first offense, but a girl could onlywish. This child had fucked up everything she touched. She tookbeing a “dumb blonde” to another level altogether. Within the lastmonth, she’d shredded papers that needed to be copied anddistributed because she thought the shredder was the printer. She’dforgotten to write down important changes causing me to missmultiple meetings. And on top of it all, she was always coming inlate for reasons like, “Chad had this totally ‘bussin’ party lastnight” and she had a massive hangover. This was the last straw.
I still had my eyesclosed when Staci finally caved under the loud silence. “Ms.Brookes? Are you, like, okay and stuff?” she asked in a mousytone.
I couldn’t help it,then, I burst into a fit of laughter. I looked up at her, shoved mychair back, and held my stomach as I broke down in a fit ofhysterics. Staci just stared at me with wide doe eyes like I hadlost my damn mind. She glanced behind from where she was standingin my open doorway like she was trying to find someone to help her.I found that even more hilarious.
I was wiping thetears from my eyes as I looked back up at her. “So, you mean totell me we had one copy of that file in this entire building andyou lost it?” I managed between laughs.
Staci wasundoubtedly going to cry now as she nodded her head yes. I laughedeven harder now. I could see my assistant, Angie, look up from hercomputer. She smiled, shook her head at what was happening in myoffice, and went back to work. I finally got a lid on my giggles asI stood from my desk and grabbed my bag. I threw it over myshoulder and strode toward the incompetent child that stood in mydoorway with a smile on my face.
“I suggest you takethe weekend to do some self-reflecting, Staci. Really look inwardand figure out if this is the path you want to follow. And whileyou’re doing this soul-searching, I suggest you find that fuckingdrive and have it on my desk by Monday,” I told her in a deathlycalm voice as I patted her on the shoulder.
Her eyes continuedto get wider and wider with each word I spoke.
“And if for somereason you can’t find that drive by Monday, I think you had betterdisappear along with it. Because I can guarantee that if you’refrightened by me now, you are not going to like what happens if youshow up without it,” I said with a sugary sweet smile. I crowdedher out of my office and shut the door behind me.
I left her there,looking dumbfounded as I strode over to Angie. “Go head home forthe weekend, babe,” I said with that same smile on my face. Shenodded and started to gather her things as I headed for the door. Ihad some anger to work out in Krav Maga tonight.
Chapter Seven
I pulled up to whatlooked like a run-down warehouse and whispered a quiet, “What thefuck” to myself. I checked and rechecked the card Doc had given meto make sure I had the correct place. I glanced around the parkinglot at the other cars trying to see if I recognized any. I brieflyconsidered turning around and heading home when I saw a middle- tolate-aged man open one of the garage doors that I assumed had beenused as a receiving bay at one point. I could then see bodiesinside sparring with one another, some slamming their partners tothe ground.
The man who openedthe bay spotted me sitting in the car and waved me over. Too lateto pretend I wasn’t here. I grabbed my gym bag and headed towardthe man who I assumed must be Hugh.
I took in his ruggedgood looks as I approached him. For an older guy, he was still veryhandsome. He had a thick speckling of gray at his temples thatmatched his well-manicured goatee. He had a fine sheen of sweatgathered across his exposed deep cocoa-colored skin, which Iguessed came from teaching a class such as this and lack of AC inthe older industrial building. The formfitting tank he wore wasdarker in spots that had collected the gathering dampness.
I could tell as Igot closer that he was a well-defined man. His body was a testamentto his physical fitness. Clearly, he was in great shape if he ownedand ran this outfit. If he was ten years younger, I would have hada hard time keeping my hands off his hot body. That, and if hewasn’t wearing a gold band on his left ring finger. I may be a lotof things, but a home-wrecker was not one of them.
“You must be Jill.Dr. Yorker told me you might be stopping by to check the placeout.” His smile was warm as he extended his hand in greeting.
I shook the offeredhand and smiled back up at him. “I’ve been told I need an outletfor some of the anger I’ve been holding in,” I said sheepishly.
