Under a falling star, p.18
Under a Falling Star, page 18
Dee opened hers. “Universal Studios?”
“The theme park, not the studio itself,” Uncle Wade said. “They have thirty million visitors every year, most of them willing to splurge on toys, stuffed animals, or some other memorabilia. If we could convince Universal to make us their exclusive supplier…” If he’d been a comic character, dollar signs would have popped up in his eyes.
“Don’t they already have a supplier?” Tim asked.
“Yes, but the contract runs out this fall, and they haven’t renewed it yet. That’s our chance to convince them we’re a better choice.”
Dee looked at her colleagues gathered around the table. So who would the poor soul shouldering that kind of responsibility be? Maybe Alejandro, their creative director? Or would he send Rick to give him a chance to prove himself?
Uncle Wade walked down the row of leather chairs. His steps paused behind Dee’s chair, and then he dropped another folder in front of her. “Here are two plane tickets and two front-of-line passes for the park. I’ve booked you into the Hilton for a week. I want you and your assistant to go down to LA on Monday for some research and then come up with a proposal that’ll blow their socks off.”
No pressure or anything. Dee gritted her teeth. “I don’t have an assistant.”
“You still haven’t hired someone?”
“I hired three someones. None of them worked out.” Truth be told, Dee would much rather work alone anyway. Sooner or later, any assistant she hired would only stab her in the back one way or another.
“I guess you can take Timothy’s assistant for now. This is your chance to make up for the Disney debacle.”
Dee clenched her jaw. The Disney debacle, as he called it, hadn’t been her fault. It irked her that she now had to prove herself anew. After years of her bringing in one successful deal after the other, all he seemed to remember was the one deal that she hadn’t been able to secure because the competition had offered better conditions.
And, to top it all off, she would travel to LA with the one woman who could manage to distract her from work. She thought about suggesting someone else to accompany her, but that would make her uncle even more suspicious, especially after she’d told him she and Austen were friends.
Was this another test to see if she could be professional and keep her hands off Austen in the more relaxed atmosphere of the theme park? Or was her uncle just sending Austen because he knew any other assistant would call in sick if he ordered him or her to go on a weeklong excursion with Dee?
She studied her uncle’s face, but his expression gave nothing away.
“Any questions?” he asked.
She shook her head. The only question she had was not for him. What would Austen say when she found out?
* * *
“I have good news and bad news.” Mr. Saunders perched on the edge of her desk, laying claim to her territory in the same mildly annoying way his sister did.
Austen regarded her boss carefully. “Okay. What’s the good news?”
“Instead of being stuck in the office, you’ll get to spend most of next week exploring an amusement park—at the company’s expense.”
“Really? I love amusement parks!” Wait a minute. That sounded too good to be true. And why did her boss look so worried? “Um, what’s the bad news?”
He got up from her desk and stepped back as if afraid he’d get caught in the line of fire. “You’ll have to work with my sister on that project.”
Images of Dee and her riding a roller coaster shot through her mind, their bodies pressed together as gravity tore at them. She took a folder off her desk and fanned herself. When she realized her boss was watching her, she hurriedly set down the folder and schooled her features into impassivity. “Why me?” Had it been Dee’s suggestion?
“My sister still hasn’t hired a new assistant, and my uncle knows you are friends, so he probably thought chances are good that you won’t quit just to avoid working with her.” He searched her face. “That’s what you are, right? Friends?”
Austen nodded. If she told him they were no longer friends, he’d ask why, and she didn’t want to discuss it with her boss.
He studied her as if he sensed there was something she wasn’t saying. “If you’d rather not go, I could tell my uncle that I need you here and he should send someone else with Dee.”
The offer was tempting, but she couldn’t avoid Dee forever. If she wanted to stay with the company, she had to find a way to get along with the COO—without getting along with her too well. “That’s not necessary,” she said. “Working with her won’t be a problem at all.”
She’d just have to ignore her libido and her heart for a few days, and all would be fine.
* * *
Back on the plane, Dee had been all business, discussing their schedule for the week ahead and brainstorming ideas, keeping things between them on a strictly professional level. But now, as they strolled through the theme park in more casual clothes, she stared with childlike amazement and pointed out the costumed characters roaming the park.
Austen smiled inwardly. That’s just too cute. She’s like a kid in a candy store.
“Ooh, look, Frankenstein’s monster! Let’s see who’s got the bigger one.” Dee dragged her over to a tall actor with greenish-gray makeup.
“The bigger what?”
“Scar, of course!” Dee was almost as tall as the monster, and Austen took a photo of the two of them with their foreheads side by side.
Afterward, Dee checked out the photo on the display of the digital camera. “All right, you win,” she told the actor.
He nodded sagely, not breaking character by smiling.
They wandered through the park, stopping to get ice cream.
Austen licked her scoop of dark chocolate chip and hummed. “You know, we’ve got a tough job.”
Dee nodded, the picture of the suffering businesswoman—if it weren’t for the peanut butter swirl ice cream in her hand and the grin on her face. “Yeah, I know, but someone’s gotta do it.”
When the ice cream was gone, Dee pointed at the entrance of Revenge of the Mummy, a high-speed roller coaster. “Let’s try that.”
Austen felt herself go green around the gills at the mere thought of it. “Unless you want me to wear my ice cream on my shirt, that’s not a good idea.”
“I thought you loved roller coasters?”
“I did—as a child,” Austen said. “But now that I’m older, they make me sick to my stomach.”
Dee rolled her eyes. “Older. You sound like you’re eighty.”
“Let me guess. You do just fine on roller coasters.”
“I have no idea. I’ve never been on one.”
Was she kidding? “You’ve never been on a roller coaster?”
Dee kicked at a pebble on the path. “No. When I was a child, my parents were too busy with work to take us. And now I’m too busy with work.”
Austen sent a quick prayer of thanks up to her mother for giving her a chance to enjoy a normal childhood. She nearly reached out and took Dee’s hand but stopped herself at the last second. “We could go on one of the tamer rides. My stomach should be able to handle that.”
“You sure?”
Austen nodded. What was a bit of queasiness if Dee got to experience something that she’d missed out on so far?
In front of them, a family with two kids that couldn’t have been older than six or seven walked beneath a sign announcing the Jurassic Park water ride.
“We could do that one,” Austen said. If two little kids could do it, so could she.
The company had gotten them front-of-line passes, so they didn’t have to wait in line. Within two minutes, they boarded one of the yellow rafts.
The lap bar lowered over them as soon as they were sitting. No way back now.
The raft clattered up an incline, and Austen clutched the lap bar so she wouldn’t slide back.
“Relax,” Dee murmured and put one arm around her. “Remember that rule about valuable company assets? I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Before Austen could answer, the raft splashed down into a lagoon. A wooden gate opened in front of them, and they drifted past two long-necked dinosaurs munching on water plants.
Okay, this isn’t so bad. Austen relaxed her death grip on the bar but didn’t shake off Dee’s supporting arm around her. It felt too good to have her near again, so she would allow herself the closeness until the ride ended.
The raft moved behind a waterfall and emerged on the other side, where a stegosaurus was looking down at them from a cliff. To their left, two smaller dinosaurs were playing tug-of-war with an empty popcorn box.
Just when Austen was beginning to think it would be a relaxing ride, they encountered another raft, empty except for the dilophosaurus munching on a yellow rain poncho. A Mickey Mouse hat drifted on the water.
Dee nudged her and grinned as she pointed at the hat. “Did you see that? I think that’s a little dig at the competition.”
Sparks flew as an SVU fell from the cliff overhead, nearly crushing them.
Suppressing a shriek, Austen shrunk away from it.
Dee pulled her closer against her side.
Two dilophosauruses flapped their neck frills and spit venom, one of them managing to soak Austen. She wiped water from her face and now understood why a few of the people in the row in front of them were wearing rain ponchos.
The float rumbled up a ramp into the pump building. Darkness engulfed them, interrupted only by blinking red lights overhead. The roar of an angry dinosaur echoed through the building.
Austen gripped the lap bar as her tension rose.
Warm hands covered hers in the darkness.
An alarm blared, and a voice on a loudspeaker announced that life support would fail in fifteen seconds.
A T. rex lunged down, its giant jaw open to grab them.
Austen ducked down.
At the last second, the raft escaped by plunging down eighty-four feet into a tropical lagoon.
Austen let out a startled scream. Her stomach lurched at the free fall.
Then the ride evened out and slid to a stop. The lap bar went up, and she stumbled out of the boat, with Dee gripping her elbow. After a few steps, her legs felt more steady. She tugged on her wet T-shirt and laughed. “I’m soaked.”
Dee’s gaze slid over her, lingering for a bit too long. “Yeah. Me too. Must be why some of the people in front of us bought a poncho.”
Austen tried not to ogle Dee’s now nearly see-through white T-shirt, but she was only human and caught a peek or two.
They headed into the gift shop to check out the dinosaur-themed toys, T-shirts, and memorabilia on sale.
While Dee stopped to look at some mugs, Austen continued to wander.
Photos of the water ride flashed over a row of monitors overhead. Hey, that’s us! One of the screens showed them plunging down that steep waterslide at the end of the ride. Dee had one arm wrapped around her while clutching the lap bar with the other hand. We look like a couple. She sighed.
“Everything okay?” Of course, Dee chose that moment to reemerge next to her.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just really soaked.”
After a quick glance at the monitors, Dee steered her toward the exit. “Let’s head back to the hotel and get into some dry clothes. We can check out everything else tomorrow.”
* * *
Freshly showered and finally dry, Dee knocked on the connecting door between their rooms. “Austen?”
She heard something from inside that sounded like “come in,” so she did just that.
Apparently, what Austen had actually said had been more along the lines of “give me a second.” She stood next to the bed, dressed in one of the hotel’s fluffy, white terry-cloth robes, toweling her hair dry.
Dee eyed the silky-looking skin peeking out from the V of the robe and instantly needed another shower—a cold one. “Uh, sorry. I’ll come back.” She stumbled backward and felt around for the connecting door.
“It’s okay,” Austen said, tugging the collar of her bathrobe closed. “You can come in if you don’t mind my less-than-professional wardrobe.”
Dee stopped her retreat and tried to look elsewhere. “I…uh…ordered room service. Dinner should be here in twenty minutes.”
“Thanks. I feel like I could eat a dinosaur.”
Dee laughed and relaxed a little. This was just Austen. She’d been around her all the time when they’d been friends. Seeing her in just a bathrobe was no big deal. She took another step into the room. “I thought maybe we could use the time to see if we can come up with some ideas for the project.”
“I actually had this idea when I was in the shower. That’s why I took so long. I always have my best ideas in the shower.”
Dee tried not to imagine soapy water sliding down Austen’s naked body, steam wafting around her, but it was like trying not to think of a pink elephant. Work. Think of work. She cleared her throat. “So what did you come up with?”
“Let me get dressed first; then I’ll show you.”
“That’s okay,” Dee said before she could stop herself. “We’re both adults, right?” She ignored the fact that she felt more like a teenager around Austen.
Austen hesitated but then said, “Right.” She tied the belt of her robe more securely. “I realize we haven’t seen all of the park yet, but that water ride gave me a few ideas…”
Yeah, me too. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been the professional kind. She’d spent most of the ride focused on the feel of Austen nestled against her body.
“Remember that talking lizard you were working on in December? If we modified that product line a little, it would fit nicely with the Jurassic Park theme.”
“Damn, you’re right. Of course, we’d have to add a few new products too. Something different from what they already sell.”
They sat on the bed and started brainstorming.
When room service brought their dinner twenty minutes later, there were notes and sketches littering every inch of available space around them.
They sat cross-legged on the bed, Austen’s bare knee lightly brushing hers, adding to the creatively charged atmosphere in the room. They ate dinner, grilled chicken and chocolate cookies for dessert, while they continued to work, sparking ideas off each other.
In the past, Dee had always preferred working alone. Most people on her team weren’t able to keep up with her thought process and only slowed her down. Working with Austen was different. They effortlessly finished each other’s sentences, sensing where the other wanted to go and then running with that idea and improving it.
Dee stared at the sketch of a dilophosaurus blaster, spitting water instead of venom. “Tell me again why you work as a secretary.”
Austen looked up from the sketch coming alive under her skillful hands. “Uh, why wouldn’t I?”
“Because your talents are totally wasted on that job. We should fire Alejandro and hire you as the head of our creative team.”
Austen’s gaze flickered down to the sketch, then back up. “You really think I’m that good?”
“Hell yes! You’re fantastic.” In more ways than she could tell her. Had no one ever told her how talented she was? Dee rose up on her knees and grabbed her shoulders to drive home her point. “Each of these ideas could be worth millions. I could kiss you!” Flushed with exuberance, she leaned forward and did just that.
The soft touch of Austen’s lips against hers startled her awake as if from a dream, but before she could pull back and apologize, Austen pressed closer and returned the kiss.
Her lips were soft and parted as she moaned into Dee’s mouth.
The sound made Dee’s head spin. She tangled her fingers in Austen’s damp hair and deepened the kiss.
Their mouths molded together, and their tongues touched.
Heat rolled through Dee. She groaned and lost herself in the taste and feel of Austen.
Austen’s hands roved over her back.
Dee couldn’t get enough. She pressed closer until Austen’s breasts brushed the underside of hers through the thick terry cloth.
Paper crinkled as they sank onto the bed, with Dee on top. Instantly, Austen’s legs parted, allowing full body contact.
Breathing heavily, they paused and stared at each other.
Austen’s eyes were the most amazing shade of blue Dee had ever seen. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair messy from Dee’s fingers. Beautiful.
“We shouldn’t do this,” Austen whispered, but her eyes, full of passion, said something else.
“We shouldn’t.” The thought of stopping, backing away from Austen and going back to her own room, hurt almost physically. “But maybe if we got it out of our system once and for all, things at work would be easier. It can be just this once if that’s what you want.”
“Just this once.” Austen stared back at her with big, hungry eyes. “All right.” Her gaze darted down to Dee’s lips.
That was all it took. Groaning, Dee bent down and kissed her again. Impatient to feel Austen’s skin, she slid one hand between them, loosened the sash of the robe, and pushed the garment off one shoulder. Her fingers encountered hot skin. So soft.
Austen gently bit down on Dee’s bottom lip.
Dee grunted as the sensations, half pleasure, half pain, coursed through her body. She deepened the kiss and then broke it so she could move down and press her mouth to the shoulder she had laid bare. Goose bumps erupted under her lips, and she laved them with her tongue before raking her teeth over Austen’s hammering pulse point.
Touching Austen set her blood on fire. She needed more. Much more. The need to worship every inch of Austen’s body surprised her, but she didn’t stop to think about it. She slipped one hand into the robe and ran it lightly up Austen’s side, then back down over her waist and over the flare of her hips, studying Austen’s reaction to every touch. Finally, she smoothed the pad of her thumb over the underside of one round breast before cupping it more fully.
