Chapter Nine
CHAPTER NINE
AUDREY
Willa and I are in the break room of Fourteener Sports, getting coffee to fortify ourselves for our introductory presentation with the company executives. As we’re leaving, I’m talking to her over my shoulder and don’t see the person walking through the door and straight into me until coffee is splashed all over my white silk shirt.
“Shit,” I say, and jump back as if that will save me from the scalding liquid.
Then it’s all commotion. The person who ran into me says, “Oh my God I’m so sorry,” and the next thing I know they’re using their flannel shirt sleeve to wipe off the coffee, which sticks the wet shirt to my skin.
“Thank you, I’m fine,” I spit out and immediately regret it. This is our first day as outside consultants for Fourteener Sports and the last thing I need to do is be rude to one of the employees. That’s when I look up and see her. Sky-blue eyes. Dark curly hair. Skin that smells like the forest after rain.
Toni.
My one-night stand. The woman who gave me the best night of my life, the woman I haven’t stopped thinking about since I walked out her door on weak legs, the woman whose scent I waited until the last possible minute to wash off and have been trying to recreate with my essential oils since, is staring at me in wide-eyed confusion. My eyes go immediately to her arms, which are covered by the aforementioned flannel shirt. Damn it.
Wait. What am I thinking? I can’t be ogling at Toni’s arms at work.
And hang on just a fucking minute. What is Toni doing here?
I dare to meet her eyes and see her staring at Willa, then looking back at me, then back at Willa, who didn’t decide to cut her hair into a pixie cut on Saturday, when Toni finally says to my sister, “Audrey?”
And I immediately want to crawl into a hole and die.
“No, I’m Willa Adams. Audrey’s sister. We haven’t met.” She holds out her hand, though Toni is now staring at me.
She hates my hair, I can tell. I decide to do my best to salvage this in the faint hope that Willa won’t put two and two together.
“Yes, this is my sister, Willa. Good to see you again, Toni.” I hold out my hand.
Toni takes my hand, and I almost jump at the shock that runs up my arm and down to…other parts of my body. The part of my body that’s been aching with need all weekend. I never would have thought that you could feel panic and passion simultaneously, but that’s exactly what I feel. The last thing I need is for this project, our first project as independent consultants, to go south because I’m distracted by Toni. I’d counted on this project to take Toni off my mind. Yet here she is, looking like a sexy mountain woman and smelling scrumptious and, holy shit, I’m thinking about Friday night and the way she growled, Audrey, come with me .
Get a grip, Audrey. You’re a professional, and you have a job to do. I try to make my expression neutral. If Toni’s furrowed brows and ghost of a smile are any indication, I’m failing miserably. I angle myself away from Willa because she can read me in seconds.
“Nice to see you again, Audrey.” Toni then shakes Willa’s hand. “I’m Toni Danzig. Nice to meet you…?”
“Willa. Adams. I said before, but you were distracted.” She sweeps her hand toward me in an overly grand gesture. “This is Audrey Adams. In case you didn’t catch her name.”
Shit. Has Willa already figured out Toni was my one-night stand? How does she do that?
“Of course,” Toni says. “I didn’t know Audrey was an identical twin.”
I guess I had failed to mention that.
“Besides a regrettably placed tattoo”—Willa shakes her head and sighs—“we’re the same.”
Toni raises her eyebrows and looks highly amused. She also, very discreetly, gives Willa a once-over.
“I’m the youngest, which means I’m the fun one,” Willa says.
“Which means I’m the smart one,” I say, giving Willa what I hope is a good imitation of our mother’s death stare. Going by the smirk on her face it needs some work. I turn back to Toni. “So, you work here?”
“Yes. Family business, remember?”
“I didn’t know this was your family business.”
How could I have missed that in the research I did on the company when we were creating our pitch for Fourteener Sports’ business? There was no mention of Toni at all, though thinking of it now, I realize that there had been two little girls in the grainy photos of the early days at the original store in Aspen.
“I don’t tell too many people.”
“You’d think my sister was ashamed of us.”
Greta Giordani, president and CEO of Fourteener Sports, walks up to our little conclave with a strained smile on her face. She takes in the situation with a glance and her smile turns to something like exasperation, though she tries to hide it.
Sisters? I look between the two women and suppose there’s a family resemblance, though you have to look past their two wildly different styles to see it. Toni relaxed, smiling, and a walking advertisement for Fourteener Sports hiking gear, Greta tense and professional in tailored navy trousers and white shirt. The sisters’ eyes are arresting, but again in totally different ways. Toni’s are a clear, bright blue, while Greta’s are a mesmerizing blue with an orange ring around the center. At the moment Greta’s eyes are boring into Toni.
“It was an accident,” Toni says.
“It always is,” Greta says, obviously trying to maintain a professional facade. “Are you OK, Audrey?”
“I’m fine, just…” I pull the shirt away from my chest. “…wet.” I glance at Toni and see her mind goes exactly where mine does. Good God, I’m blushing. Willa sees, of course. I know she wants to laugh but she’s a professional, thank God, and tries to pull the focus away from me.
“Why don’t you tell people you’re connected to Fourteener Sports?” Willa says. “This company is amazing. A Colorado legend.” She takes Greta in with her comment, who nods and smiles.
“When people find out, they want free stuff.” Toni shrugs. “It’s just easier.”
“Is that why you have a different last name?” Willa asks.
“No, that was just our parents being feminist hippies,” Toni says.
“We have a closet full of samples you can take your pick of to replace your shirt, Audrey,” Greta says. “Take anything else you like. You too, Willa.”
“Free clothes. You’re speaking my love language,” Willa says.
Greta raises an eyebrow. “You’re working in the right place, then.”
“So, we’re going to be working together,” Toni says. She’s wearing the same playful expression she had when she mentioned our possible second date.
“Well…” I clear my throat. Don’t look at her lips, don’t think about her skin, and whatever you do, don’t think about how she spread her legs for you. Shit. I just thought about it.
“Actually, no,” Greta says. “Audrey and Willa’s project is focused on operations, not the adventure division. How do you two know each other?”
“Dewey’s,” Toni says.
“Ah.” Greta nods and frowns.
Willa sees it and crosses her arms over her chest. That’s never a good sign.
“We should get ready for our presentation,” I say. “Excuse us.” I narrow my eyes at Toni. I didn’t necessarily want to be outed at work. My sexuality isn’t a secret, and I’m not ashamed of it, but it’s not something I talk about either.
Toni seems to realize what she’s done and now it’s her turn to blush.
I push through the group and am walking down the hall before Toni can reply. I hear Willa say something to her, which makes her laugh, and mother ducker if a big green lightning bolt of jealousy doesn’t hit me right in the stomach. I refuse to look back, though I want to. Desperately.
I plop into my desk chair. Of course the sexy one-night stand who I’ve been trying to forget about for the last fifty-two hours and fifteen minutes is here, looking good enough to eat in her plaid sky-blue flannel and fleece vest, her dark hair in a side braid that lies across her breast just so, hair that looked incredibly wild and free and hot when I unbraided and ran my hands through it on Friday night.
I turn away and pretend that she isn’t chatting amiably with Willa, my identical twin, and walking right toward me, Greta one step behind. My phone buzzes. I don’t recognize the number, but I recognize the message. Shae has taken to texting me from random numbers since I blocked hers on Friday night. I’m regretting waving a red flag in front of Shae like I did. I put my phone in airplane mode and lay it face down on the desk.
“Let’s get you a new shirt,” Greta says.
“I’ll take care of it,” Toni says. “I’m sure you have some big important CEO thing to do.”
Greta narrows her eyes at Toni and glances between the two of us. She looks at her watch. “The meeting starts in ten minutes, Toni.” Greta turns and leaves and Toni salutes her. I hear someone in the open concept office chuckle.
Toni is grinning when she turns to me, but her smile slides off her face when she sees my expression. “Just sister stuff,” she says. “You have a twin. You get it.”
“I think Willa and I have a very different relationship than you and Greta,” I say.
“The whole twin thing,” Toni says.
“No. Mutual respect,” I reply.
Toni’s mouth drops open a bit, then closes. Her shoulders slump.
Willa grabs my computer bag from my desk and says, “And, on that note, I’ll go get everything set up.”
“That wasn’t very professional of me, I guess,” Toni says.
“No, especially not in front of the employees.” I glance around the open office. Though the cubicles are divided by low walls, there’s no privacy and everyone nearby heard Toni’s lack of respect for Greta.
“Right. Sorry. For that and before. I shouldn’t have mentioned…”
I clear my throat and look around pointedly.
“Oh, right,” Toni says. “Come with me.” She gently grabs my hand and turns me around to follow her before dropping it.
Professionalism, Audrey. Put aside the fact that the last time this woman led you down a hall you had three incredibly satisfying orgasms and gave her four. It doesn’t matter that you had the best sex of your life with this woman, that she was the first woman you’ve come with simultaneously, that the intense emotions from Friday night continue to linger deep in your chest. Focus on the slight sway of her hips in those very, very, well-fitting hiking pants. No, Audrey. Focus on the meeting you have in ten minutes.
“Audrey?”
I jerk my head up and realize she’s busted me checking out her ass. Well, there’s only one thing to do, brazen it out and change the subject.
“You undersold your family business on Friday.”
“Yes, well. Like I said, I get tired of people wanting freebies. But I’ll make an exception for you.” She opens a metal door and waves me into a long narrow room with floor-to-ceiling shelves full of what looks to be one of every piece of clothing in their catalog. Toni turns to me, her shoulders hunched, and puts her hands in her front pockets. “I’m sorry I mentioned Dewey’s like that,” Toni says. “I realize I might have just outed you. Not that everyone who goes to Dewey’s is gay, but yeah. I shouldn’t have done that. Greta doesn’t care, obviously.” She waves her hands at herself. “Big dyke for a sister, and all.”
“Actually, it wasn’t obvious .”
“Greta’s always had resting bitch face, trust me.”
I narrow my eyes at her again.
“Right, sorry. Unprofessional. It’s something I need to work on, I know.”
Toni looks truly abashed, which is a relief. Her behavior for the last five minutes has made me realize how little I know about her. Her ability to see her mistakes, admit them, and apologize is refreshing. And, dammit, it’s attractive. It would be easier for my professionalism, and my willpower, if she would continue to act like an immature little sister. Because, Jesus, we’re going to have to work together. Or in the same building, at least.
“Thank you for apologizing,” I say.
Toni smiles, looking relieved. She rolls up the sleeves of her shirt.
Look up, Audrey. Look up. Stop drooling over her forearms. You’re a professional and at work, for Chrissake . When I meet Toni’s gaze she’s grinning.
“You did that on purpose,” I say.
“Did what?”
I wiggle my finger in the vicinity of her forearms. “You know what you did.”
She crosses her arms and flexes them. I can’t help but laugh, and Toni laughs with me.
She waves a hand at the clothes. “Pick what you want.”
“Oh, I couldn’t.”
“I ruined your shirt, which I’ll replace. You heard Greta. Take what you like.”
“How much older is Greta than you?”
“Three years. She never lets me live it down, just like you lord it over Willa.”
I roll my eyes. Of course, that would be one of the first things Willa tells Toni. “More like Willa uses being younger as an excuse for everything.”
“Sounds like my kinda woman.”
“My sister is a flirt, but she’s straight.” What the hell? Why did I say that?
Toni leans against a shelf and raises her eyebrow, the mannerism identical to Greta’s. “Is she? Interesting.”
“What?”
“I was getting a bi vibe. Or maybe she was checking me out to make sure I’m good enough for you.”
“She doesn’t know you were the one.”
“The one?” Toni’s eyes sparkle with mischief.
“My one-night stand.”
“Oh, you told her about us?”
“Not technically, no.” When Toni waits for me to continue, I say, “It was a little obvious when I didn’t get home until after two in the morning. Apparently I don’t have a poker face.”
She breaks into a gorgeous big grin. Dammit. Stop being so beautiful and endearing and fucking sexy in hiking clothes, of all things. I’ve never, in my entire time living in Colorado, been attracted to the sporty outdoorsy lesbians, which, let’s be honest, means I have a drastically shallow dating pool. But if Toni offered to take me into the backcountry and build me a cabin and live off the grid, I might just throw everything away and go.
“Hello?” Toni waves her hand in front of my eyes. “Where’d you go there? Or should I ask?”
I clear my throat. “Probably better not to.”
Toni grins, but thankfully doesn’t ask for details. “Do you want me to pick something for you? You know what? I will.”
She is in my personal space now, trying to squeeze between me and the shelf. I could shift back to let her through, but my body won’t move.
“I can pick out my own clothes,” I say, though I can barely hear my voice.
“I know.” Her gaze moves to my hair. “I like your new haircut.”
“You didn’t recognize me.”
“In my defense, it’s a pretty drastic change. I loved your long hair, but this…” She lets out a low whistle.
“You’re just saying that.”
“No, I’m really not. It suits you.”
“It makes me look like a giraffe.”
“That’s not what I think of when I look at your neck.”
I should probably say my stomach flip-flops or something like that, but that is definitely not where I feel that comment.
“I think you know what your neck makes me think of,” Toni says.
I want her to move closer, but she stays still. No. No I don’t want her to move closer. I’m at work. This is an important contract; I need to be clear-headed. Then I realize I could be the one who moves away, so I start looking at the items on the shelves.
“Um, no, we, um should talk about working together. Boundaries,” I say.
“Like Greta said, we won’t be working together. I’m running the adventure division. I have nothing to do with manufacturing or shipping or any of that other super boring stuff you talked about the other night. Absolutely no conflict of interest.”
With enough space between us I turn to Toni again.
“Everything I said the other night still holds true. I had a great time with you, but I’m getting out of a toxic relationship. I need time and space.”
“And as I said the other night, I totally get it.”
“Even if that wasn’t an obstacle, we would have to put this on hold for this project. It’s our first project on our own and the last thing Willa and I need is to do anything that would undermine our professional reputation and?—”
“Audrey, I get it.”
“I wasn’t finished,” I say.
Toni’s eyes widen at the snappiness in my voice. I don’t apologize. I really don’t like being interrupted.
“At my last job, I blew the whistle on an inappropriate affair between an executive and one of his subordinates. I wasn’t fired, but I was passed over for a promotion I deserved because of it. That’s why I’m an independent consultant. I’ve never had an inappropriate work relationship, and I’m not about to start now.” No matter how much I want to kiss those lips of hers , I think.
Toni nods. “I won’t lie and say I’m not disappointed, because I am. I had a great time the other night and really want to get to know you better.”
I open my mouth to respond but Toni holds up her hand.
“I’m not finished,” she says, with a wink and grin. I chuckle and nod. “I’m not going to do anything that would jeopardize your business or this project. It’s important to Greta, and the company. But I do have to warn you…”
I raise my eyebrows.
“I’ve been told I’m pretty fucking charming, so you’ll have to be strong.” She shrugs her shoulders as if she’s helpless against her nature.
I roll my eyes. “Oh my God you are so much like my sister. I’m pretty sure I can resist you. I imagine you’ll be out guiding most of the time.”
“I may fill in for a guide here and there in our desert hikes, but it’s off season here in Colorado. I’ll be working regular office hours, though I have a couple of overseas hikes planned for January and February.”
“Oh.” I don’t hate the idea of Toni being around. It will be nice to get to know her a bit better. I suppose “better” is an interesting word choice here. It will be nice to get to know Toni on a professional level, maybe even as friends. The challenge will be keeping my mind on business when she’s just so goddamn nice to look at with those eyes and that amused smile on her face?—
Aaaaand I’m staring at her. I clear my throat and turn away. I reach for a Fourteener blue puffy vest then pull my hand back. It’s their bestseller and it costs a pretty penny. I should go for something more reasonable. I see a white button-down tech shirt that will be an OK substitute for the day.
“Here,” Toni says.
I turn around with the shirt and she’s holding up the vest. “Consider it the first part of my repayment for ruining your shirt.”
I want it, I’ve always wanted one, but I hate being given it. I like to earn my splurges.
Toni shakes the vest. “You’re going to be late for our meeting. Here.” She shoves the vest in my arms. “Change into the shirt and vest. I’ll wait outside.”
She leaves and I change. I put my arms through the vest, zip it up, and put my hands in the pockets. It’s a perfect fit.
I step outside and Toni’s eyes light up. “Looks great on you. Though I’m guessing you’re the type of woman who looks great in everything.”
“Thank you. For the vest and shirt.”
“You’re welcome. Friends?” She holds out her hand.
I take it and feel the shock. The way Toni’s eyes narrow slightly, she feels it too.
“Friends,” I say.
Toni smiles and nods. “Now, let’s go see if I can stay awake during your presentation.” She winks at me, and my insides go all gooey and soft.
So much for being strong.