Loe raamatut: «A Cinderella Seduction»

One

The room was pitch-black and perfectly still, except for the ring of Daniel Stone’s cell phone. He rolled over in bed and blindly slapped his hand on the nightstand, fumbling for the device. He didn’t bother checking the caller ID. Despite the five-hour time difference between London and New York, his mother never worried she might be calling too early.

“It’s 5:49 in the bloody a.m.,” he croaked, pushing himself up in bed. He switched on the lamp. The bright light shot across his room, and he squinted hard until his eyes adjusted. “What could possibly be so important?” The second of April, it was still dark out. His three dogs, Mandy, Buck and Jolly, were asleep at the foot of the bed.

“Are you going to see spaces for the new store today?”

His mother always jumped straight into business. She’d been this way as long as he could remember, but ever since his brother, William, had passed away, it was even more impossible to keep her content.

“I meet the real estate agent at nine. Two spaces to see today. I’m hopeful.” That was a lie. Daniel was anything but optimistic, but he had to keep up the charade. It had been his idea to forge ahead with his mother’s long-held dream of a New York location of Stone’s, the family’s wildly successful department store chain based in the UK. He’d hoped it might finally make her happy. So far, it was doing nothing but making Daniel second-guess himself. He’d been in Manhattan for three weeks now and he’d only come up empty-handed.

“You’ll ring me when you’ve had your look?” she asked.

“Don’t I always check in?” Daniel hated that she still had so little faith in him. He’d worked for the family his entire adult life. Then again, he’d spent those years playing second chair to his brother. That changed a year ago, when William’s black Aston Martin hit a slick of oil on a road outside London and went careening off a bridge. The Stone family was no stranger to tragedy, but this one had hit especially hard.

Daniel’s father now spent his days and a considerable chunk of the family fortune sailing the world. No boat was fast enough, no stretch of ocean too dangerous. He was currently somewhere off the coast of West Africa. His mother despised her husband’s new hobby and had become equally reckless with the family business. Daniel felt as though he was babysitting them both, an unfair situation given that they still felt he needed to prove his worth.

“I trust you’re prepared for the Empire State fashion show this evening?” she asked.

His mother was the micromanaging sort of boss. Never mind that he was thirty-four and this had become wearisome. “I am.”

“Taking a date?”

“I’ve been busy.” Daniel was not in New York to make friends. He certainly was not in America for romance. Women only made life complicated. No, he was here to prove to his parents that he had things well in hand and it was time for them both to retire. William might have been the golden boy, but Daniel refused to be the black sheep because of the argument he and his brother had had the night of the accident.

“I’ll take that as a no then. Now, please tell me you remember your marching orders for this evening.”

“I track down Nora Bradford and convince her to design a line exclusive to Stone’s.”

“I can’t emphasize enough how important this is. Eden’s has not done right by her and her designs. She’s too talented to be selling an entire line of her gorgeous garments in a second-rate department store.”

Daniel choked back a grumble. He hadn’t realized his mother still had an ax to grind with Eden’s until he’d already begun his initiative of opening Stone’s New York. If he’d know this much, he never would’ve suggested it. “It’s not second-rate. I’ve seen it.”

“You’re wrong. And you know how much I despised Victoria Eden. The woman was vindictive.”

Victoria Eden, the founder of Eden’s, had given his mother her start in retail years ago, grooming her to be the manager of the Eden’s flagship store in Manhattan. Eden’s had locations all over the world, and Stone’s, a business founded by his grandparents, was dying on the vine. His mother had been sent to New York to learn the secrets of Eden’s. But when Victoria found out, she not only fired his mother, she got even with his family by convincing suppliers to stop selling to Stone’s. It nearly crippled their company. A family feud was born.

“I’m aware.”

“Our move into New York has everything to do with destroying Eden’s. It does make me sad, though, that William isn’t here to be a part of it.”

Daniel slumped down in bed. Jolly, the English bulldog that had belonged to his brother, crawled her way closer, curling up at his hip. Daniel gave her a scratch behind the ear, but she growled. She wasn’t always affectionate with him. Even Jolly thought he didn’t quite measure up to William. “Our best strategy is to focus on being Stone’s. May the strongest survive,” he said.

“The Eden sisters are no competition. Those three know nothing about running a department store. One of them has been off in the south of France her entire life, doing nothing.”

Daniel closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I need to take the dogs out. I’ll ring you later.”

Daniel said goodbye and shuffled into the kitchen to put on some tea. With the kettle heating up, he strode into the living room. Through the tall windows, he watched the sun begin to creep up over the horizon, illuminating the edges of the lush green tree line of Central Park, tucked neatly inside the hard city landscape. This was a million-dollar view, the sort of vista most people only dreamed of.

Still, something was missing. He probably felt that way because it wasn’t London. There was nothing tying him to this luxury high-rise or this impossibly busy metropolis. The sooner he found a location for Stone’s, got the store opened and staffed, the sooner he could head back to England and whatever future he could manage to build.

* * *

For the fifth time in as many days, Emma Stewart stared into the mirror, scrutinizing herself and her attire. Was this dress chic enough for the Empire State fashion show tonight? It was flattering. Tasteful and tailored. The gray midweight crepe fabric had a beautiful drape. Plus, she had on somewhat daring shoes—black Manolo Blahnik pumps that her half sister Sophie had instructed her to buy. The ensemble was befitting a woman with an executive position at Eden’s department store. But would it make the cut in a room full of designers, celebrities, fashion editors and models? That, she did not know.

Emma took a final skeptical turn in front of the mirror, gathered her long brown hair and reached back to unzip the dress. It was just going to have to do. The fact of the matter was she was comfortable wearing gray. She might someday be a bolder, sexier version of Emma Stewart, but not today. She wasn’t ready. It didn’t matter that she now had a net worth of over a billion dollars, owned a swank apartment overlooking Central Park, and was CFO of the largest department store in the city. Three months ago, Emma’s checking account held thirty-four bucks, she was renting a tired one-bedroom apartment in New Jersey, had a fleet-footed brown mouse for an uninvited roommate, and was a junior CPA at a tiny accounting firm. She wouldn’t be at ease in a dress that might make her the center of attention, mostly because she’d never been the center of anything.

She tucked the dress inside a garment bag in order to take it to work. She and her half sisters, Mindy and Sophie, were not only attending Empire State, they were going to get ready together, at Eden’s. Sophie had arranged for a hair stylist and makeup artist, which was perfect, since Emma had time for neither this morning. She was going to be late if she didn’t get out the door. Putting her hair up in a ponytail, she bothered only with sunscreen, a light coat of mascara and lip balm, and dressed in her usual work attire—black trousers and a silk blouse. To mix things up, the blouse was royal-blue. She also decided to stick with the sky-high pumps she planned to wear that night. Twice daring counted for something, right?

Out in the hall, she waited for the elevator, mentally running through the workday ahead. She’d been at Eden’s for three months now, and the days weren’t getting any easier. It was a bizarre situation to begin with—in late December, Emma had been called to the reading of Victoria Eden’s will. Emma had known Victoria Eden only as her cousins’ grandmother, and the owner of Eden’s, the largest department store in the city. Turned out that Victoria Eden was also Emma’s grandma. Emma’s mom had had an affair twenty-seven years ago with her sister’s husband. Everyone kept it a secret, especially from Emma. But Victoria Eden blew the top off this powder keg when she left one-third of her empire to the third granddaughter nobody knew about—Emma. The other two-thirds of the store went to Sophie and Mindy Eden, women Emma had always believed were her cousins. In truth, they were her half sisters. Emma still wasn’t sure what to make of that. She’d grown up an only child. She’d always wanted siblings, but this was a lot to grapple with at once.

Finally, the elevator dinged. Emma glanced down at her pumps as the door slid open, but then her sights landed on someone else’s shoes. A man’s shiny black wingtips to be exact, leading to charcoal dress pants on ridiculously long legs. The hem of a suit coat led to a trim waist, under which was a crisp white shirt over a broad chest and shoulders, all topped off with a tousled head of thick brown hair swept back from the forehead of a man she’d never before had the good fortune to run into.

Icy blue eyes connected with hers. The man didn’t say a word. He merely cleared his throat and pressed his hand against the elevator door as it threatened to close.

Emma hopped on board while a flush of heat washed over her. “I’m sorry. Morning. On my way to work. Too much on my mind.” She added a casual laugh for good measure.

The towering man said nothing in response, folding his hands in front of him and staring straight ahead at the doors.

“Are you on your way to work, too?” she asked.

The man glanced over at her and nodded. “Yes.”

Ooh. A British accent. “Have you lived in the building long?” She’d been in the building for nearly two months now and had made friends with almost none of her neighbors. Not that she hadn’t tried. She brought pumpkin muffins to the couple who moved in down the hall from her. They seemed...bemused. Emma realized her tragic mistake as soon as the wife said, “How sweet. Homemade and everything.” She should have brought something from Dean & Deluca or Zabar’s at the very least. Next time, it’d be chocolate truffles and a bottle of champagne. Emma was capable of faking her way through this world if she simply put a little thought into it.

The man shook his head. “No.” He raked his fingers through his hair.

Emma had another four or five questions queued up in her head, one of which was whether she could smell him some more. His cologne was intriguing—warm and woodsy. Unfortunately, the doors slid open and he stepped aside. “Please,” he said. If he was that good with single-syllable words, Emma could only imagine what might happen to her if he chose to utter an entire sentence in her presence.

Emma scurried off the elevator to the right and the main lobby, but the British mystery man strode left through the entrance to the parking garage. She looked longingly as he disappeared from view. Maybe she could get her driver to meet her in there next time. She might be missing out on a whole slew of handsome men.

Or perhaps she should just get to work and stop thinking about handsome men. Eden’s was her entire future, one she’d never dreamed she could have. There was no room for distractions now.

After twenty minutes of stop-and-go Manhattan rush-hour traffic, Emma’s driver dropped her at Eden’s. Lizzie, the receptionist in the administrative offices, hardly let her step off the elevator before speaking. “Mindy and Sophie are waiting for you in Sophie’s office. They want to talk about Empire State.”

Emma forced a smile. “Thanks. I’ll head in.” Simply hearing the name of the big charity fashion show made her nervous again. Their grandmother had apparently attended the event every year. Tonight would be the debut of the three sisters, Mindy, Sophie and Emma, as the new faces of Eden’s department store.

“Emma. Good morning.” Sophie sprang up from her desk, swung her long, strawberry blond hair over her shoulder and gave Emma a hug. She was wearing a gorgeous navy blue dress and killer red heels. Sophie was the epitome of put-together, and quite frankly, everything Emma hoped to be someday.

“Hey, Em,” Mindy offered, unsubtly eyeing Emma from head to toe. Mindy was wearing a plum-colored pencil skirt and short peplum jacket. She didn’t have a wardrobe as funky as Sophie, but she always looked impeccable. “I see we went with black pants again.”

“I was in a rush. I just grabbed what I knew would look good.” Emma stood next to Sophie’s desk rather than sitting. She didn’t want to be here for long.

“Is that your dress for tonight?” Mindy asked, pointing to the garment bag Emma was still toting.

“Oh. Uh. Yes.”

“Sophie and I would like to see it, please. No more keeping it a secret.”

Emma walked over to Sophie’s coat tree and hung up the dress, unzipping it from its bag. She pressed her lips together tightly, preparing herself for what these two might say. Anything was fair game. They worked in an industry built on first impressions and style, and she wasn’t doing great on either front. But, and this was a big but, Sophie and Mindy had grown up in a household where money was never an issue, where they were encouraged to dress in any way they saw fit. Emma, however, had grown up buying her clothes at discount stores, and had been preached the value of blending in.

“Well?” Emma stood a little straighter, holding the dress up and steeling herself for the onslaught.

“No way,” Mindy said. “It’s terrible.”

Sophie shot Mindy a look and got up from her desk again, rushing over to where Emma was standing. “Oh, I don’t know. Gray is a hot color this season.” She took the hem of the dress in her hand. “I think the problem is that this isn’t really an evening dress. And it’s not very fun. This is a fun night. It’s a night for standing out.”

Emma had been afraid of that. “It’s not my fault that I’m not up to speed on the fashion world. Up until three months ago, I was working in an accountant’s office and had no money.”

“You know you can’t tell anyone about that,” Sophie said, holding her finger to her lips.

Oh, right. The family fable. Soon after Emma’s inheritance was announced, Mindy and Sophie had concocted a story to explain Emma’s absence from the public lives of the Eden family. They owned up to the poor behavior of their father, but not the fact that the truth had been hidden from Emma for her entire life and she’d lived with very little money. They felt it might reflect badly on their grandmother, and in turn, the store. Emma was to tell everyone that she’d spent her formative years with a private tutor in France, then moved back to the States to quietly pursue her education in finance. It wasn’t that far from the truth, except that she’d lived in New Jersey and been home-schooled. Emma would have fought the lie, but it made it easier to exist in this world of money and power. It was a shred of a pedigree, and she’d take what she could get.

“Don’t worry. I won’t say anything.”

“Anyway, that dress is a snooze fest. You need to find something else.” Mindy crossed her legs and bobbed her foot impatiently.

“I’ll go down to jewelry and find a necklace to brighten it up,” Emma said.

Sophie scrunched up her face. “I’m not sure that will be enough.”

Emma wasn’t going to stand here and endure their criticism. She did not want to appear weak or foolish in front of her half sisters. She still wasn’t sure they had her best interests in mind. “I’ll pick out a different dress then. Surely we have something in the store that will work.” Head held high, Emma marched out into the hall, but she felt anything but confident. There was too much sheer embarrassment coursing through her veins.

She darted into the safety of her office and flipped on the light. This had been her grandmother’s office when she was still alive. Every time Emma walked into this room, she was reminded of what might have been. What if the family secret had come out when she was a little girl? She would have had a chance to know her grandmother. She might have known her father. She might have been a completely different person, the sort of woman who had no problem picking the right dress for an event like tonight. But no, all of that had slipped between Emma’s fingers and she hadn’t even known it was there.

Sophie appeared in the office doorway. “May I come in?”

“I don’t want to turn this into a big thing, okay? I’ll figure it out.” Emma sought the comfort of the chair behind her desk, putting a big piece of furniture between herself and her half sister.

“I know that. But why don’t you let me come with you?”

“I’m a grown woman. I can pick out my clothes.” Emma didn’t want to sound defensive. The truth was that she needed help. She at least needed someone to tell her she didn’t look ridiculous.

Sophie took a seat in an available chair. “You know, the first time our grandmother took me to this event, I was a wreck. I had no clue what to wear. I really needed Gram to point me in the right direction.”

“Well, she’s not around to help me, is she?” Emma hated that tone in her voice, but it came from a very deep place. She’d been robbed of the relationship with her family.

“She’s not. And I’m sorry about that. But I’d like to help. I’ve been to this event four times now. I can help you find the perfect dress.”

Emma didn’t want to admit it, but this was what she’d been waiting for—the smallest of opportunities. A door opened. Plus, the clock was ticking. “I don’t know when I’ll have time. My schedule is hell, and I hate doing things at the last minute. I’m a planner. I don’t like surprises.”

Sophie stood. “Don’t worry about that. I need to run down to the designer department this morning, anyway. I’ll find a few things and you can pick from those. Sound good?”

“Just don’t go too overboard, okay? I’m not a showy person.”

“You don’t have to be showy to be a showstopper.” Sophie looked at her phone, which she always had in hand. “Meet me in the private fitting room in two hours.”

Emma didn’t have a great feeling about this, but what choice did she have? She couldn’t go to this event looking as if she didn’t belong. She desperately wanted to stop being the proverbial fish out of water. “I’ll be there.”