Craving Her Curves (5 page)

“You could have handled this; you didn’t need me,” I said. Jacinta grinned and nodded.

“You have better taste. I want to be sure that we all look our best,” she said. I snorted a laugh.

“Jacinta, you dress people for a living. I do not have better taste,” I said. Jacinta grinned.

“Okay, so I was in the neighborhood and wanted to see you. And since I knew you were probably doing something, I needed an excuse,” she said. I laughed and hugged Jacinta tightly.

“You don’t need an excuse. I’ll stop what I’m doing, silly,” I said.

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed another glass from the cabinet so Jacinta and I could share the bottle of wine I had open. “So, what happened with that cute bartender from the wine opening?” I asked. Jacinta smiled.

“His name is Nick, and he’s actually the owner’s brother, and was just helping her out for the night. Apparently, her actual bartender had gotten sick and wasn’t able to make it. Nick bartended his way through college, so he knew enough to fake it so her opening wouldn’t fall apart around her,” Jacinta said. I nodded.

“Nice guy.” I said as Jacinta nodded in agreement. “So what does he actually do for a living?” I asked.

“He’s one of the set directors for
Nights in Dallas
,” she said. I made an impressed noise.
Nights in Dallas
was one of the most popular local interview shows in the city.

“That one might be worth holding on to,” I said as we both giggled.

“I know. He took me out to dinner last night at this great little sushi place. We stayed there talking until the restaurant closed,” she said with a grin.

“You really like him, don’t you?” I asked. She nodded.

“So far, at least. If he has any jerk qualities, he’s hidden them really well,” she said.  I laughed.

“If he has any jerk qualities, you’ll find out. There’s only so long a person can pretend to be something that they aren’t,” I said.

She nodded, “I looked him up. There doesn’t seem to be anything alarming out there about him. No voracious womanizing or anything like that.” She said.

“Make sure he isn’t married,” I said, rolling my eyes.

Jacinta laughed, “I did, don’t worry. After you told us about that guy, that’s going to be the first thing I check from now on.” I sighed and sat back, swirling my glass of wine around in small circles.

“Are we going to stop being the Heartbreakers now?” I said with a giggle.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to that, if we could find guys who were worth our time,” she said. I nodded.

“You might have! I hope one of us ought to be getting some on a regular basis,” I said. Jacinta and I screamed laughing.

“We aren’t sleeping together yet,” she said. I nodded.

“Well, good, if you’re looking at this as more than just someone to hook up with occasionally,” I said.  She nodded.

“Right. He seems like he wants something serious from me. Which is kind of scary, honestly,” she said. I laughed and nodded.

“Does he seem scared?” I asked. Jacinta shook her head.

“No, but he seems so sure about everything that I’ve seen him do. It’s like, when he makes a decision to do something, he goes for it with everything he’s got. He even opens doors for me with conviction,” she said. I snickered.

“If that’s the case, then he’ll be totally serious about you and your relationship. Most guys aren’t mature enough to pull that off, so that’s awesome,” I said. She nodded again.

“It also means that if something happens that he doesn’t like, he’ll dump me in a heartbeat,” she said. I sighed and sat back.

“He won’t waste your time or his; that’s not bad. If you two aren’t compatible, he’s not going to spend the next two months stringing you along; he’s going to let you go. On the other hand, if you all are just having a spat, he’ll be one hundred percent there to get through it with you. Think about it that way instead. It’s prettier.” I said. Jacinta giggled and leaned her shoulder against mine there on the couch with a grin.

“That does sound nicer, doesn’t it? I’ll have to thank him for that, if he ever chooses to let me go.” She said.

I
’d finally gotten the chance to listen to the recording of Joey’s interview a few times, jotting down notes in the margins about his posture and body language while I remembered them, so that the reader would feel more in the moment. It had taken me a while to get it all into coherent prose, but it was always like that. I had to mold it, like clay. Now all that was left was the editor’s hands on it, and the layout.

Neil had sent me the pictures that he’d taken after he’d made any adjustments that he saw were needed. He’d marked the ones that he’d thought would go over best with the article, so that was where I started. The first one he’d marked was one of Joey with some of his teammates. I smiled at the picture of the three of them, their arms thrown over each other’s shoulders casually. Almost like the picture hadn’t been staged, like they were out in some park somewhere, tossing around a ball and someone had caught them at just the perfect moment. I moved that picture into the ‘yes’ pile: it showed a comradery that I loved and wanted the readers to be able to see.

The next picture looked to have been from before I’d arrived, because I sure didn’t remember him taking it. How far in front of me had Neil been? They looked to have been taking a break from the heat, and most of the guys in the background of the shot had pulled off shirts and were downing water. Joey had his shirt off as well, but he was pouring a bottle of water over his head. My eyes followed the ribbons of water down the muscled slope of his chest and over the chiseled abs.

“What are you doing?” Isobel’s voice came out of nowhere and startled me out of my ogling. I turned, swallowing my pulse.

“Picking the shots to use for Joey’s story,” I said, turning to face her in my chair since she was apparently right behind me.

“You’ve been looking at that one for quite a while; are you sure that’s all you’re doing?” she said with a smirk. I stuck my tongue out at her.

“Are you stalking me now?” I asked with a laugh. She crossed her arms across her chest and flopped down in my guest chair.

“I’ve been standing behind you for at least a minute, and you didn’t even notice. You always hear when someone comes up behind you,” she said.

I stopped. She had a point.

“You have not been standing there for a minute,” I said. She rolled her eyes.

“Just admit it: You like Joey Parker. It’s okay, every woman who’s ever laid eyes on him does; he’s gorgeous! And you have the added benefit of knowing that he’s not a jerk, which makes him even more attractive,” she said. I snickered.

“I’ll admit, I see why they picked him as the sexiest man in sports, but I do not have some sort of crush on him or something. How old are we, 12?” I asked. Izzy grinned.

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much,” she said as my desk phone started ringing.

“Hush,” I said with a laugh as I grabbed the handset. I’d have to remember to thank whoever was on the phone for saving me.

“Charlotte Rivera,” I said as Izzy started rooting around for snacks that she’d probably hidden over there in my cube. That was her way of not eating too many of them. It didn’t help me, though.

“Well, hi there, Miss Rivera, just the pretty reporter that I was looking for,” the voice said. I paused for a moment. Then frowned a bit.

“Joey?” I asked. He laughed softly.

“You recognize my voice. I’m flattered,” he said. I grinned and turned away from Isobel, who had gone from looking for snacks to bouncing around in her chair.

“Well, it hasn’t been that long since the interview, and I’ve been listening to it so I could write the article, so it’s been in my ear quite a bit,” I said.

“What does he want?” Izzy whispered. I waved at her to shut up and tried not to laugh at the fact that she was acting like it was the President on the phone.

“How is it coming along? Am I going to sound like an amazing guy?” he asked, the amusement clear in his voice. I grinned.

“You’ll see when it comes out, won’t you?” I said, teasing. He laughed and I smiled at it.

“I can’t get an advanced copy?” he asked. I snickered.

“It’s not even done yet. It still has to go through the editor and I have to decide which pictures to use,” I said with a grin.

“Ooo, which picture are you looking at?” he asked. I giggled.

“Did you go through the trouble of getting my number just to call and pester me about the article?” I asked. Izzy hit me in the shoulder and mouthed something about being nice.

“No, actually. See, I have these tickets... to this show this weekend, and I really don’t want to go alone...” he said, trailing off a bit. On the other end of the call, I sat there with my mouth literally hanging open as Izzy watched me, confused.

“Are you asking me out?” I asked. Izzy’s eyes were the size of dinner plates.

“Um, yeah. I am,” he said. I was completely and totally in shock. I looked at Izzy, mouth still hanging open and not saying a word. I didn’t know what to say. She snatched the phone from me.

“Hi Joey, can you hold on a second please? Our boss is calling for us,” she said quickly into the phone before pushing the hold button and squealing.

“What are you doing?” she asked. I shrugged.

“I have no idea. I really didn’t see this one coming, Izzy,” I said. She punched me in the arm.

“I don’t give a crap if you saw it coming or not! You are being asked out by Joey friggin’ Parker, so say yes!” she said. I swallowed and tried speaking again.

“Hang on, I don’t think I really want to date anyone right now. Regardless of how really good looking and nice they happen to be,” Izzy gave me an outraged look and punched me in the arm again.

“You shut up and say yes!” she said, holding the phone out to me with a determined look on her face.

“Isobel...” I started.

“No. You never, ever date. And the few times you have let someone stick around for a bit, they do something idiotic and you swear off dating again. I get it, you don’t want to play that game anymore. But he’s different, even you said he seems different. Every woman in this city would give their most expensive Prada bag to be in your place right now, and he went through all the trouble of finding your number and calling up here completely out of the blue, which had to be nerve wracking and...” I took the phone from her hand with a sigh.

“Okay, I get it. I’ll say yes,” I said. Izzy grinned and hit the hold button again.

“Joey?” I said.

“Yes?” He said, drawing it out. I grinned.

“... Tickets to what?” I asked.

“Cirque du Soleil. Saturday night at 7,” he said. I smiled and looked up into Izzy’s expectant face. She looked so excited, I almost laughed.

“I’d love to go with you,” I said. I heard Joey exhale and laugh softly.

“Oh, thank God, I thought I’d just made an ass of myself by asking you,” he said. I giggled.

“Let me give you my cell; I’m never here at my desk.  You just got lucky today,” I said.

“I got lucky twice,” he said. I could almost hear the cute little wink that went along with that comment.

I
sobel and I walked into Mia’s together, glancing around for Jacinta. She’d told us to come in at four, that she’d just be finishing up with a client and that she’d added us to her schedule so that no one would put anything else there.

“You‘ll look fabulous, Ms. Kline, I promise,” Jacinta’s voice came into the room before she did, walking just beside a woman in her early 50’s who always made me want to pray that I looked that good at that age.

“You always seem to find the perfect pieces for me, Jacinta. How do you do that?” she asked with a grin. Jacinta laughed.

“You’re easy to pull pieces for. You’ve got that timeless beauty that looks good with everything,” she said.

“She’s right. You are stunning!” I said, walking up to the counter behind the couple.

“Charlotte, I haven’t seen you in months!” Ms. Kline said with a squeal. I smiled and hugged her tightly.

Janice Kline was the wife of Mister Henry Kline, one of the most sought after corporate lawyers in Dallas. He’d told me once that he’d chosen corporate law because it seemed like the lesser of all the law evils.

He’d opted out of criminal law, because if your client was guilty, you legally couldn’t tell anyone, and you still had to defend him to the best of your ability, which he was entirely too honest to do. Family law had been a no because he’d interned at a family law firm for a bit, and watching those adults squabble over those poor little ones with no concern at all about what was best for them just broke his heart. Other lawyers told him that this was the norm for family law: one parent would care about the wellbeing of the children while the other just wanted to hurt the other party, even if that meant hurting the children in the meantime. Or, neither cared about anything other than getting everything they could out of each other. Every other type of law, he’d found a reason that he couldn’t do it, and corporate law had seemed to have the least amount of ‘hell no’ moments for him. He was very good at his job, and he adored his wife. And she, in turn, adored him.

“How have you been? I saw you two at the Mayor’s ball last week, you looked fantastic, and Mr. Kline cleans up very nicely,” I said.

Janice laughed and nodded, “He does, doesn’t he? Considering how old he and I are, I’m sometimes surprised how much that man gets me going,” she said with an eyebrow wiggle for effect, which made everyone laugh.

“Ms. Kline, this is Isobel. She writes with me at
Pinks
,” I said, introducing the two. Somehow, Izzy had never been with me when I ran into Janice before.

“Nice to meet you,” Izzy said. Janice took the hand she offered and shook it with a warm smile.

“Ah, so you’re the third. I always see the three of you together in the news, but I haven’t gotten the chance to meet you before now,” she said.

Izzy smiled and nodded, “Yes, ma’am. Charlotte and Jacinta are my closest friends.”

Janice grinned. “That’s beautiful. You three keep that: the bond that you all have. Don’t let men or distance or anything else push you all away from each other. Even if you get married and are madly in love, you always need someone you can go to, get drunk with, and bitch about your husband to without having to worry about it getting back to him,” she said with a laugh. We all smiled.