No One But You Page 3
“I appreciate your persistence and your tempting body, but I’m still only offering dancing and fun.” Lily turned so they were facing each other and gently pushed Toni so there was space between them. “Then I go home alone.”
Toni grabbed Lily’s seltzer, drank some and smiled up at her. “Will I least get a good-night kiss?”
“A friendly one.”
“You drive a hard bargain. Let’s dance.” Toni led Lily onto the floor. They didn’t sit out a single song. The last dance was another slow one. Toni pulled her close. “You sure?”
“Yes. And believe me, I’m doing you a favor because I’m such a mess.”
Toni’s hands moved over Lily’s body, stirring feelings she thought were dead. “Just tonight. No strings.”
The music ended and Lily stepped back. “Sorry, I don’t do no-strings. But thank you, I had a great time. Maybe some other time.” She kissed Toni lightly on the lips and pulled away fast before she could make it something more.
They retrieved their coats and put them on. “Can I give you a lift home?”
Lily put her hands on her hips and grinned. “So what don’t you understand about ‘alone’?”
Toni put her hands up and laughed. “Okay, okay. Got it. Thanks for a great time.”
Toni waited with her until she got into a cab, then kissed her lightly. Lily waved as the taxi pulled away. What a great night. She’d danced almost every dance, been honest with everyone, and, not for lack of invitations, was leaving alone as planned. She could do this. Moving to the music had put her in touch with her body and made her feel sexy again. She’d reclaimed her ability to laugh and play. And any doubts about her attractiveness had been wiped away by the number of women who had come on to her tonight. As the taxi whisked her across Central Park, she vowed to get out more.
Chapter Four
March–Robin
Appalled at what she was hearing from two of her senior managers, Robin leaned on the podium in the small auditorium at DiLuca Cooper Technologies International.
“After all we’re the decision-makers, they’re just the workers. It’s logical to limit the number of shares they receive.” Simon scanned the conference room, expecting the other managers to jump on his bandwagon.
“Yes.” Frannie chimed in. “I mean they’re easily replaced, and if we give them too many shares, they’ll probably leave anyway once they cash out.” Frannie frowned and glanced over her shoulder, seeming uneasy with the continued silence.
Robin winced. How had she not noticed that they didn’t really believe in the company’s values? Happily, she, Katie, and Jan held all the stock in DCTI and would distribute stock options as they saw fit when their private company went public. “And how did you two get to be senior managers?”
Simon frowned. “We worked hard, and you thought we added value and could grow the business.”
She took a second to make eye contact with each of the senior managers in the room. “Uh-huh, and we have grown it, and we’ve all been paid extremely well for our work, haven’t we?”
There was a murmur of assent.
“We’ve earned it,” Frannie said.
“Every single employee in this company has earned their salary by working hard and contributing to that growth. Those who didn’t no longer work here. Our philosophy of sharing profits, fostering a team environment, and growing our people has resulted in the highest productivity and the lowest turnover rate in the industry. Right?”
Another murmur of assent. Frannie and Simon looked down.
“If we do what you two are proposing, the IPO will make us,” she waved an arm around the room, “the senior managers, multimillionaires, but the employees will hardly benefit. How fair is that? And what impact will it have on the corporate culture that’s made us so profitable?”
She moved to stand in front of them. “We’re still working out the details with our IPO advisors, but we intend to allocate a substantial number of shares to everyone, not just senior managers.” She looked around the room. “Thanks, everyone, have a good weekend.”
She lowered her voice so only Fran and Simon could hear. “I’m disgusted by your greed.”
“But—”
“We’ll talk about this privately next week.” She left them open-mouthed and walked back to her office. Jan, her assistant, friend and minor partner, handed her a stack of message slips. “Katie’s meeting ran over, but she confirmed for dinner tonight at your place. Want me to order something sent up?”
Robin nodded. “Italian, please. Don’t forget to have one of your slavies pull all the employee records and the financials I requested.”
“Already in your briefcase, lovey. I confirmed Wanda for the LGBTQ Charity Ball tomorrow night. She expects you to pick her up at seven thirty. So is she a lesbian?”
“Interested?”
“Nope. Tall, gorgeous models don’t do it for me. Why do I always have to remind you, men or women, I go for grunge and tats and muscle?”
“Really?” Robin raised her eyebrows. “Remind me again how you got through Human Resources? I distinctly remember telling them to hire lesbians, gays and straights, no bisexuals.”
“Yeah, yeah. Maybe because you never hired me, I just moved in with you and Katie and neither of you asked. This is your fifth date with Wanda. Do I hear wedding bells?”
“If you do, you need an ear doctor.” Robin laughed. “Happily, Wanda doesn’t do commitment.”
“Oh, that actress you met at the opening of her show last week called. Do you want me to set something up?”
“Lorna? Yes, dinner and dancing. There’s a new lesbian restaurant I hear is very good, and they have dancing later in the evening. Shazarak, I think it’s called.”
“I’ll find it. What about that other actress, Donna? Is she still on the roster for events or has she hit the three-date wall?”
“She’s reached her expiration date, and we’ve parted ways.” She grinned. “So if you’re thinking of switching teams, she’s available. You have her number?”
“Hahaha. I appreciate your interest in my love life, boss, but don’t you have work to do on this IPO?”
“I don’t understand why it’s all right for you to poke your nose into my love life, but I can’t do the same.”
Jan stuck her tongue out. “You need me to help you filter the hordes and keep the date tracking spreadsheet updated. But do you need me at this meeting tonight?”
“Yes. Your warped perspective is always helpful. Oh, oh.” Robin noticed Simon and Fran moving down the hall in her direction. “Could you also pull the files of the senior managers in Fran and Simon’s divisions? I’m going to work on the IPO now. Absolutely no interruptions, please.”
Jan’s eyes followed Robin’s glance. “Go. I’ve got this.”
Chapter Five
June–Lily
Enjoying the brief respite from her date, Lily took her time strolling from the ladies room to the table where she’d left her. A celebration of some sort near the bar caught her eye, and she stopped to watch the happy crowd dancing around someone in a tux. Lily’s body moved of its own accord to the beat of the music, and she longed to be out there dancing with them instead of listening to boring Glory. When the fast song faded to a romantic ballad, she sighed and returned to her table. Her blind date, Gloria, “call me Glory,” resumed her monologue even before she sat. Lily wondered whether Glory had been speaking to her empty chair while she was in the ladies room.
As Glory went on and on about herself in excruciating detail, Lily’s eyes darted to the dance floor. Ah, the someone in a tuxedo was an exuberant butch surrounded by hugging and kissing women, several of them actresses Lily recognized, a number of obvious models, given their height, carriage and looks, and a sprinkling of sophisticated businesswomen wearing expensive suits or sleek come-hither dresses. The sexy-as-hell butch was at the center of whatever it was they were celebrating. And unlike Lily, the butch and everyone with her seemed to be having fun.
Damn Irene. Whatever had made their mutual agent think this egotistical idiot would be a good match for her? A cheer drew Lily’s eyes back to the butch, now prancing one table away from them with her arms in the air like a winning boxer. The butch grinned as their eyes met. Lily couldn’t help but grin back.
She’d make a dynamite hero for one of her romances. What was it that made her so damn attractive? Her height? She must be almost six feet. Her carriage? So debonair in the tuxedo and white silk scarf. The short black hair swept back from her face like that of a gothic hero, the startling green eyes combined with the creamy olive skin and the sexy smile—they were a good part of it, of course. Add in the high energy and the playfulness Lily could see and feel as she pranced mere feet away, and she was irresistible. At least to Lily, who felt drawn to her like steel chips to a magnet. And judging by the women vying for her attention, Lily wasn’t the only one. Her hero had charisma.
Just then a slender, light-brown haired woman and a taller, heavier, dark-haired woman with tattooed biceps, a green streak in her hair, and, judging by the glint, a pierced eyebrow, separated her hero from the pack of fawning beauties and pulled her into a group hug. A cheer went up from their crowd, and the hero lifted their arms in the air for a second, leaned over to kiss each of them, then threw her arms over their shoulders. The tattooed woman shook her hips, grabbed another tattooed woman standing nearby, and boogied onto the dance floor. The handsome butch kissed the slender woman’s forehead and turned her toward the bar where a man in a suit embraced her and offered his stool.
Her eyes fastened on the butch, Lily saw a flash of vulnerability, a moment of uncertainty and loneliness. Then a group of willowy beauties enveloped her, and the lost look disappeared so quickly from her hero’s face that Lily almost thought she’d imagined it. But she knew what she’d seen and tucked it away to think about later. Right now she was enjoying watching her, enjoying the flush of pleasure each time their eyes connected, enjoying the fantasy of being swept off her feet.
A black-clad waitress stepped between Lily and the object of her study, interrupting her reverie. She placed a glass of champagne in front of her. Lily blinked. “I didn’t order—”
“Compliments of Robin,” she pointed, “the lady in the tux.” She placed a glass in front of Glory as well. “She’s celebrating tonight and she wants everyone to celebrate with her. She picked up your check as well.”
Robin. The name fits. “What is she celebrating?” Lily was dying to know.
The waitress shrugged. “Some big business deal.”
“Please tell her we appreciate her treating us and send our congratulations on her deal.”
“How intrusive.” Glory frowned. “Does she have to be so noisy about it? I can barely hear myself talk. It’s annoying, isn’t it, Lily?”
Lily picked up the champagne and turned toward Robin, surprised to find her staring. Their eyes locked and those emerald green orbs seemed to pierce Lily. Her heart did a somersault. Robin flashed that sexy smile and lifted her glass in a kind of salute. It took a few seconds for Lily’s brain to connect with her hand, but she lifted her glass and silently toasted Robin.
Robin held Lily’s eyes, mouthed “I love you,” blew a kiss, and sipped her champagne. Lily grinned, then returned the kiss. Definitely the perfect romantic hero who could get the heroine to swoon. At least this heroine.
Glory stood. “Let’s go.”
Lily half-turned toward her. “What?”
“It’s noisy. And it’s getting too frenetic for me.” She walked toward the exit.
Hoping for rescue, Lily whirled toward Robin. Apparently Robin had lost interest in her, had switched her attention to the high-spirited crowd of youngish casually dressed women and men surrounding her. With a sigh, Lily picked up her purse and reluctantly followed Glory out. In the cab, she berated herself for not having the balls to tell Glory to leave without her. Well, Irene be damned, she wouldn’t spend a minute longer than necessary with this self-absorbed pain in the ass.
She leaned forward and spoke through the divider. “Two stops, please. First, Central Park West and Seventy-fifth.” She turned to Glory. “Sorry, all that noise gave me a headache.” She didn’t say the noise was Glory’s monologue. “I need an aspirin and some sleep.” She didn’t give a damn whether Glory believed her. At her stop, she handed Glory money for half the fare. “Nice to meet you,” she tossed over her shoulder. Glory leaned forward and gave the driver her address. Thankfully, she didn’t ask to see Lily again.
In the elevator on the way to her floor, Lily debated with herself about whether to go back to Shazarak, then decided she was making too much of what was probably a drunken gesture. She sighed. Maybe in another lifetime. It was fodder for the writing, but romantic things like that didn’t happen in real life. At least not her life.
Chapter Six
June–Robin
Surrounded by old and new friends and acquaintances, many of them the actresses and willowy models she liked to sport on her arm when she appeared at events for DCTI, Robin DiLuca was celebrating taking her company public. As of today, she and Katie were officially billionaires, but she was having a hard time wrapping her mind around the concept.
As she danced and played and whooped, she noticed a sultry blonde watching the dancers and moving her incredible body to the music. Although she was the hottest woman in the place, she seemed lonely, wistful. Robin watched her watching and saw her turn down the many women who approached her. Just as Robin decided to go claim her, she turned and walked to a table where a woman sat with her face buried in her cell phone.
Of course, she was with someone. Robin knew she shouldn’t flirt with a woman who was taken, but she couldn’t help herself. Whatever she was doing, whomever she was talking to, her eyes were drawn back to the seductive woman with the warm golden-brown eyes, who, despite her date, seemed to be equally fixated on her. She couldn’t have been more different from the tall, thin, elegant fashion models or the beautiful actresses or the stylish cool business types who usually attracted Robin. Her beauty was natural, her breasts full, her body all curves and softness. She oozed sensuality. Robin felt a rush and a sudden longing to bury herself in that voluptuous body. She tried to keep herself from staring, but each time their eyes locked some empty space deep inside Robin filled with warmth. Weird. No doubt it was due to her heightened state tonight. Or maybe since she rarely drank alcohol, it was the half glass of champagne.
Katie and Jan had been dancing, but now stood one on each side of her, arms encircling her waist. “We’ve done it, Rob. Can you believe we’re billionaires?” Katie kissed Robin’s cheek.
Robin lifted their arms in a victory salute. Their friends cheered as she twirled the three of them around, then dropped an arm over each of them. “A billionaire. It’s hard to take in.”
“And you, little Miss Runaway Jan, are a multimillionaire.” Katie leaned over and kissed Jan’s check. Robin kissed both of them.
“Hey, just because I was a loser-teenage-vampire-wannabe-runaway from Ohio doesn’t mean I didn’t know how to pick the winning horses.” Jan wiggled her hips and shimmied away with a woman who was standing nearby.
Katie followed Robin’s eyes to the blonde. “Ooh, slow sizzle. Seductive. I might consider switching teams for someone that hot. Not your usual fare, that’s for sure. Interested?”
“Very, but she’s with someone.”
“Actually, Michael and I have been watching her. She can’t take her eyes off you, and her friend hasn’t stopped talking. Go over and flash those gorgeous green orbs of yours, and she’ll drop that woman like a three-week-old fish.”
“It wouldn’t be right, Katie.”
“Okay, Ms. Prim and Pr
oper. Send her a drink at least.”
“Great idea. I’ll send her a drink, then go over and introduce myself.” Robin waved the waitress over and indicated the table. “Bring those two champagne. Tell them I’m celebrating and I’d like them to join me. And include them in the checks I’m picking up.” She watched the waitress deliver the drinks and the message. The blonde picked up the champagne and turned toward her. Their eyes locked again. Robin fell into the golden pools and experienced a full-body flush that made her knees weak. She managed a smile, mouthed, “I love you,” lifted her glass to acknowledge her, then blew a kiss. The blonde silently toasted her and returned the kiss. As the blonde half-turned to say something to the woman she was with, Robin used her phone to snap a picture. She was about to go introduce herself when a group of their newly wealthy non-management employees showed up to celebrate. Despite Simon and Fran’s objections, every employee had received stock and benefited financially from the IPO. After greeting them, Robin turned to find the blonde, but she was gone. She made her way to the bar where Katie was sitting with Michael. “Did you see where she went?”
“Her girlfriend dragged her out. But she sure looked like she wanted to stay and play.”
Robin scanned the room, not quite believing the woman would have left after they…They what? Had a fun moment? If that’s all it was, why did she feel like a kid watching the ice cream truck drive away just as she arrived to buy her cone? She hoped her tacky behavior, flirting with another woman’s date, hadn’t triggered the blonde’s abrupt departure.
“Too bad. She would be a nice change from your usual stick-thin models and self-involved actresses.”
She brought her attention back to Katie. “How do you know she’s not self-involved?”
“One, because she put up with that woman who was so self-involved she didn’t even notice that her date only had eyes for you. And, two, she only had eyes for you, but she was polite to her self-involved date. Or something like that.” She kissed Robin’s forehead. “Sorry, hon, I know you’ve been looking for someone.”