No Regrets. Cindi Myers
shrugged. “If I don’t like it, I’ll find something else. Number eighteen on the list.”
“Which is?”
“Embrace change as good.”
“Uh-huh. Then what about ditching the scarves?”
Lexie touched the paisley silk scarf knotted at her neck. “I will. I’m just waiting for the scars to fade a little more.”
Candace shook her head. “They’re not that bad.”
Lexie made a face. “They look pretty awful to me.” The doctors had to insert a breathing tube in her throat to save her. That and the surgery to repair the resulting hole had left scars that stood out white against her olive skin. Every time she looked in the mirror she cringed.
“So what about all these men you’re going to have affairs with?” Candace asked. “Are you going to keep your neck covered while you’re making love? Or turn out all the lights?”
“It won’t matter so much with them. I’ll have my mind on other things.” At least she hoped that would be the case.
“Where are you going to find these men?” Candace asked.
“They’re everywhere.” Lexie smiled. “I’m sure I won’t have any trouble finding them.”
“No, you won’t.” She leaned over and patted Lexie’s hand. “I’m really proud of you. You go. Wow ’em all.”
Lexie tried to look more confident than she felt. It was one thing to sit at home at night and conjure up all these fantasies, quite another to go out and make them into reality. But she’d promised herself she’d do this. Almost dying had made her see how much she’d cheated herself by always playing it safe. Time to take a few chances and really live.
NICK DELANEY GROANED and leaned back in his chair after interviewing yet another ditzy young woman who chewed gum the entire time and appeared incapable of alphabetizing correctly. That’s what he got for expecting to find a competent assistant on the salary he could afford.
He shifted his gaze to the stack of mail on the corner of his desk. Bills, mostly. Some junk mail. Maybe even a new client or two, but between working cases and trying to find someone to help him in the office, he hadn’t time to read his mail. Every day he didn’t have an assistant was a day he was likely losing money.
A knock on the door reminded him he had more interviews to conduct. He only hoped one of these applicants was at least mildly qualified. “Come in,” he called, sitting up straight.
A looker in a black skirt and sleeveless purple blouse walked in. She had short dark hair, and wore expensive-looking gold earrings and a black silk scarf knotted at her throat. The impression she gave was a combination of sophistication and sexiness—a definite cut above the candidates he’d seen so far.
He rose to greet her, his gaze dropping to her legs, which were long and sleek. Very nice. But could she handle a computer?
He offered his hand. “I’m Nick Delaney. And you are?”
“Lexie Foster.” She sat in the chair across the desk and crossed her legs at the ankles. She wore ankle-strap high heels, a particular favorite of his.
He cleared his throat and focused his attention on the résumé she’d slid across the desk. He hadn’t been in Denver long enough to start dating anyone, but clearly he was overdue for some female companionship. His ex-wife had rid him of the idea of wasting his time on anything long-term, but there was a lot to be said for momentary gratification. A good lay might help him keep his mind out of the gutter and on his work.
His eyebrows rose as he read Lexie’s résumé. If everything on here was true, she was more than qualified for the position. “This says you’re currently employed at Culpepper and Piper.”
She nodded. “Yes. I’ve been with them for five years.”
He didn’t know a lot about the company, but you couldn’t miss their imposing glass-and-steel headquarters downtown. They were a high-tech success story, and reportedly one of the top-rated employers in Denver. “Why are you thinking of leaving them?”
She smiled, brown eyes dancing with amusement, as if she were in on some private joke. “I’m looking for more interesting work.”
Ah. He’d heard that one before. He folded his hands and gave her a hard look. “People think P.I. work is interesting. It’s not. It’s deadly dull. I need someone to answer the phone, file paperwork and maybe do background research for civil suits, divorce cases, insurance scams, things like that. Nothing exciting.”
He was purposely trying to intimidate her, but she wasn’t buying. She crossed her legs at the knee, giving him a look at a good six inches of firm thigh. He kept his expression neutral, but below the belt there was a definite response.
“Working for a large firm like Culpepper and Piper is very impersonal,” she said. “I’d enjoy the chance to work one-on-one in a small office.”
He shifted in his chair, thinking about the kind of “one-on-one” activities he obviously hadn’t enjoyed enough of lately. “You know I can’t afford to pay you what you’re making now.”
“That’s all right. I’m sure we can come to some agreement.”
Was she intentionally coming on to him, or was his horny imagination taking over? He studied her for clues, but she sat there, serene and perfectly relaxed, her posture almost prim, except for the short skirt and sexy shoes and the ends of the scarf trailing over her breast like a flag marking a hazard.
Working with her might be a hazard to his concentration. Then again, he was desperate for someone competent to help him in the office. He glanced at the stack of mail on the corner of his desk. Did he hire the only qualified person he’d interviewed so far who was willing to work for the salary he could afford, or did he waste more time trying to find someone else for the position?
He looked at Lexie again. “When can you start?”
Her smile widened, positively dazzling now. “I can be in first thing tomorrow.”
He nodded, a little breathless in the face of thatsmile. He struggled to his feet and shook her hand, then watched her leave the room, his eyes focused on her curvy bottom in that tight skirt. He knew plenty of guys who’d count themselves lucky to have just hired a secretary this sexy.
But those were guys who hadn’t spent the last year digging out from under a fiasco of a failed marriage. Guys who hadn’t learned how dangerous a really sexy woman could be.
LEXIE SET THE BUD VASE on the corner of her desk and stepped back to admire the single pink rose she’d bought on the way to work this morning. From now on, she wanted flowers on her desk every day. Today, her first at her new job, was special and called for a rose, but other days she might have carnations or daisies. The kind of flower didn’t matter so much as treating herself to that little bit of extra beauty.
She looked around the front office space of Delaney Investigations and couldn’t suppress a thrill of excitement. It was happening. She really was changing her life. No more sitting back and dreaming about what could be. Now she was all about making things happen.
She smoothed a hand over her new gray tweed dress. The dress and the matching cropped jacket were made of a conservative fabric, but were cut to cling to every curve. No more dull clothes for her. Now she was a real bomb-shell with a whole closet full of pencil skirts, fitted jackets, bustiers and designer diva fashions.
The door to the back office opened and she turned to greet Nick Delaney. Though landing a hunk for a boss hadn’t been on her list, she had no complaints. Nick looked exactly like the image of a private investigator she’d always had in her mind: dark hair and eyes, broad shoulders, ruggedly handsome features. He hadn’t smiled much so far; at times he was almost surly, but there was no real anger in his grumpiness. If this were a movie, he’d be a better-looking