“Open house preview,” said Anna, reading from a mini tablet. “Cocktail attire. Why don’t we start with one of these.” She ran her hand over a row of some of the most beautiful dresses Claire had ever seen, stopping on a strapless green sheath dress. “This would be beautiful with your coloring.”
Claire nodded and Anna went to the other rack and pulled a strapless bra and garter belt with matching panties in black lace. She handed Claire the undergarments and turned back to the clothes to give her some privacy while she changed.
She slipped out of the skirt and blouse Luke had delivered that morning and shed her panties and bra, quickly shimmying into the new garments. She didn’t want to know the kind of logistics that had gone into finding out her size. He must have people who did that too. Maybe snuck in and read the tags while they were sleeping, she thought, struggling with the hooks on the bra. She bent over situating her breasts in the cups.
The bra held her up like an offering – a perfect fit. Her hands traced the satin and lace. She’d never owned lingerie as fine as this before and she was afraid it would spoil her for the Target panties she usually wore. Sliding on the garter belt, she remembered something she’d read somewhere about putting the panties on over the garter, so the panties could come off, leaving everything else on. She filed that bit of useful information for later and turned back to Anna.
“I’m ready for the dress,” she said, trying not to feel self-conscious.
“Whoa,” said Anna, her eyes widening appreciatively. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be forward but you look gorgeous. And the pearls…”
Claire looked down at the rows of pearls cuffing her wrists and trailing between her breasts. The luminescent gray with the black lace and her pale skin was quite a combination.
“You should definitely do that sometime for fun. He won’t be able to keep his hands off you,” she said with a wink. “But maybe not with the dress.”
“Of course not,” said Claire, her mind spiraling to Luke and bedposts and pearls.
She unwound the strand of pearls from her neck and laid it and the bracelets on the chair with her discarded clothes. Anna held out the emerald satin for Claire to step in. She turned, holding her hair out of the way so Anna could tug up the zipper.
“The mirror is over there.” Anna gestured to a full length three way mirror set up in the corner of the room.
The dress fit her like a second skin, the emerald satin hugging her curves and falling from her hips in a straight pencil skirt that ended just above her knees. Anna came up behind her carrying jewelry boxes.
“Try these,” she said, flipping open the smallest box and holding up a pair of diamond and emerald teardrop earrings.
Claire took the delicate drops, grateful that her hand didn’t shake. She didn’t bother to ask if they were real. She knew the answer. Luke wouldn’t settle for imitations, and if she didn’t ask, she wouldn’t have to think about how much her outfit cost. She hooked the earrings to her lobes and then held her hair out of the way so Anna could fasten the matching necklace around her neck.
“One more thing,” she said, reaching for a box from the stack on the floor. Kneeling at Claire’s feet, she slid off the black pumps and replaced them with even higher jewel encrusted strappy sandals. “Perfect.”
Claire stared at her reflection not sure what to make of the woman looking back at her.
“You look beautiful, miss. Andre will be here in less than hour to help you with your hair and makeup,” said Anna, glancing at her watch. “Maybe I should leave you to get ready and come back in the morning to help you with the rest?”
Andre, who the hell was Andre? Claire wanted to growl. The entire situation made her feel off balance but Anna simply stood behind her looking eager to please. It wasn’t her fault any of this was happening.
“I think that’s best. I’d like to get a shower first,” she said. “But I can handle dressing myself in the morning. Unless that’s a problem?”
“Of course not. You should have everything you need, but if you find you’re missing something just give me a call. Anytime day or night.” She laid a business card on top of the stacks and then reached for the zipper on the dress.
LUKE CLOSEDTHE door to his office and tried not to think about Claire trying on clothes in the penthouse across the hall. He’d undress her himself soon enough.
He woke up his computer and scrolled through the e-mails his assistant had forwarded. Scanning the list, he found schedules and projected completion dates for the Chicago property as well as a list of potential problems. He should probably head out there next week. Claire hadn’t been to Chicago. She’d love the architecture.
Samson was the general contractor on that job. He’d worked with the GC on several projects including the building they were opening tonight. Nothing drastic had ever gone wrong on one of their jobs but they didn’t seem to go as easily as they should. Schedules got moved out, costs went up. He didn’t lose money on the jobs, but he never made as much as he’d projected. Nothing he could put his finger on, but it felt a little like they were always pushing uphill.
It’s one of the reasons he decide to make a change on the Triad project. He wanted to see if his instincts were right about Samson or if he’d misjudged. So far things with Matthews Contracting had been pretty smooth. He liked Sparks even if the crusty old project manager seemed twitchy lately. And if he hadn’t made the shift he wouldn’t have met Claire. Matthews had been the one to suggest Claire’s firm. Christ, he ought to send them a fucking fruit basket.
Dragging his thoughts away from the woman who was becoming an almost constant presence in his mind and an increasingly distracting one, he skimmed e-mails from his project managers. Nothing needed his attention until he got to the last one from Sparks. It included a copy of the police report about the theft. No leads and it didn’t look like there were going to be any.
Luke hadn’t expected resolution. Stuff disappeared on the jobsite all the time. It was factored into the cost of doing business. They’d tighten things up and keep moving. What bothered him more than a few hundred dollars’ worth of missing materials was the project manager’s reaction. He was incensed, insisting things like that didn’t happen on his jobs. It felt like an overreaction, but Luke couldn’t tell if it was because he hadn’t worked with them before and Sparks didn’t want to mess things up or if the older man was hiding something. He sincerely hoped it was the first reason.
His phone buzzed and he glanced at the text message. Speak of the Devil. Sparks needed to talk to him. Luke hit the button to call and didn’t have to wait until the second ring for the project manager to answer.
“Mr. Masters, I’m sorry to bother you on a Friday evening, but we have a problem.”
“Call me Luke, Sparks,” he said, annoyed at having to remind the man. Mr. Masters was what people called him when they were kissing his ass or in Claire’s case, putting him in his place. “What’s the problem?”
“It’s the framers.” The man paused and swallowed, sounding miserable. “They’re out of metal studs.”
