Perfect for You (22 page)

But she needed to come clean. She owed Freya and Greg that much. "I was the one who told Connor to take you to those restaurants you don't like. I told him you wanted to be an earth mother."

"And that I have birth hips?"

She made a face. "Kind of. He may have improvised a little."

Freya leaned in and hissed. "What the hell, Anna?"

She grimaced on the inside, but she didn't back down. "I wanted you to hook up with Greg."

"Sorry to interrupt," Eve said, "but I need that explained please."

"I thought if Freya liked Greg she'd soften her stance on lawyers and be more accepting about me going to law school." She made a face. "I know, I know. It was a stupid idea. But Greg really likes her—"

"How do you know that?"

Her sister's icy tone made her cringe. "I talked to him."

"About me?"

"Yes." She rushed on. "Because I wanted to make sure he wasn't an unscrupulous bastard. He genuinely likes you, Freya, and he's a good guy. He wouldn't have anything to do with messing with Connor, and then he took the fall for me. He could have ratted me out at any time to save himself but he didn't do that."

Eve sighed. "That was nice of him."

They both looked at her.

She shrugged. "It
was
nice of him. Especially given how much he likes you."

"How do you know how much he likes me?"

"You told him you'd sleep with him simply for inspiration, and he told you he'd try to convince you for more?" Eve lifted her hands. "How isn't that a testament of love?"

"Let's not talk about Cavanaugh at the moment. Let's talk about my Benedict-Arnold-sister." She turned to Anna. "I'm angry at you."

"I can't blame you. I'm angry at me too." She slumped in the seat. "But don't blame Greg for what I did. He doesn't deserve that. He's really great, and he loves you the way Daddy loved Mom."

Tears filled Freya's eyes. She tried to blink them away but a couple escaped. She brushed at them impatiently.

Anna did this to her sister—the person she loved the most in the whole world. Her heart broke and her eyes swam too. "I don't expect that you'll accept the law thing, but maybe you'll try to understand why I did what I did. Maybe one day you'll be able to forgive me."

The look in Freya's eyes said
when hell freezes
.

She stood. Then she'd find the biggest ice machine she could and try to make that happen. When her sister was more receptive. "I'm really sorry, Freya," she whispered.

Her sister pressed a hand to her temple.

Freya needed time. She forced herself to walk away even though she wanted to cling to her sister's legs and cry. Even though fear clawed at her belly, that she'd lost her sister forever.

Freya didn't have new power shoes when she walked into the conference room on Monday. She hadn't been in the mood to shop after Anna had dropped her little bomb and, frankly, shoes were Eve's thing.

Instead, she was armed with her kick-ass designs and a bad attitude.

She lifted her head high and smiled winningly at everyone present. She walked around the long oval table, the hard
clack
of her boot heels on the hardwood floors punctuating her take-no-prisoners manner. "Good morning."

Charles sat at the head, a lord over his kingdom. He gave her one of his do-or-die looks and then waved at the two women sitting to his right. "Freya, you remember Carmen Gaye and Violet Green, the founders of Sin City."

Freya nodded and went to shake the women's hands. If she'd had to draw the owners of an online sex empire, these two ladies were not even close to the sketches she'd do. They were the shining faces of AARP, or maybe a knitting site. But they were savvy and knew their market space.

Carmen grinned at her. "We're so excited to see what you've come up with. When we saw your portfolio, we knew you were the one."

Violet nodded in agreement, her salt and pepper curls bouncing.

"I'm excited for you to see them," Freya said, taking the seat next to Eve. "I think you'll be pleased."

Charles shot her a look that said
they'd better be
before clapping his hands. "You met the rest of the team. Freya, you want to take over the meeting?"

No, she didn't. She wanted to crawl into bed and cry over Greg, who kept leaving her messages. But if she tried to deal with him
and
this, her head would explode. "Thank you, Charles."

Eve gave her hand a supportive squeeze under the table.

Flashing a smile at her friend, she stood and plugged her laptop into the port to the large screen at the end of the room. As she brought up her presentation, she said, "Sin City is the home of pleasure. But it's not trashy home like some adult sites, it's comfortable and classy. It's sexy and sensual, but refined and accepting."

Like Greg.

She cleared her throat and those thoughts and continued. "To reflect that image, I decided to go with deep, rich colors. Your demographic is mainly heterosexual, so the images I used were man and woman, but for your alternative areas we'll tweak that." She paused, her finger over the return button. "Instead of chattering at you some more, I'll let you see the slideshow and then you can tell me what you think."

She nodded at Eve, who dimmed the lights, and then pressed play.

The screen filled with a woman sitting, a man's hand sneaking up between her thighs, in creamy whites and jewel tones of blue and green. Freya's breath caught, seeing the image up there, so large. She could almost feel Greg's hand stealing up her skirt.

She shifted, feeling a sense of longing. She hadn't called him yet. Yes—
yet
. But that wasn't something she was going to think of until she knew for sure whether she still had a job or not.

The image faded into the next, and then the next. Freya watched the people in the room, especially Carmen, Violet, and Charles, but she couldn't figure out what they thought.

The slide show ended on the image of a woman sitting on a table, back arched. No one said anything. No one moved, until Eve got up to turn the lights back on.

Freya waited for someone to say something. Anything. She stood tall and sure, but she was a mass of nerves on the inside.

Carmen faced Violet. They stared at each other until Violet tipped her head just a little. Then Carmen turned to them and said, "We love it."

There was a collective exhale or relief and excitement. Charles smiled and came to clap Freya on the shoulder. "Freya is one of our most brilliant designers."

She and Eve exchanged a look. Her friend stifled her grin and stood as well. "Since we're all here, shall we take a look at some of the targeted marketing material we've created? I think you'll be pleased with what we did."

Charles leaned into Freya and whispered, "I don't care what you did to get your magic back, just keep it."

Nodding, she took her seat. She planned to do just that.

It took all of Freya's willpower not to call Greg and tell him about her triumph at work. When they broke out the champagne to celebrate she'd wanted to call him to come by, because without him she wouldn't have been able to do it.

But she was still angry with him. He'd had a part in the whole Connor thing, even if it was unwilling. Yes, she was going to forgive him—she had to, since she loved him—but first she needed to take care of her sister.

Tipsy with bubbles and success, she called Anna as she walked up the sidewalk to her home.

Anna answered on the first ring. "You're calling me."

The surprise in her voice made Freya frown. "You're my sister. Of course I'm calling you."

"You aren't disowning me?"

"I'm more tempted to spank you."

Anna exhaled a little laugh. "Greg said the same thing to me."

She ignored the pang she felt in her chest at his name. Ascending the porch steps, she said, "I have things to say, and I want to say them in person. Can you come over tonight?"

"Are you home?"

"Yes." She dug in her purse for her keys.

"Be right there."

The call ended.

Shaking her head, she put her phone away and continued looking for her keys. Just then, the door to the downstairs flat opened and Anna stepped out. "Hi."

Freya frowned. "What are you doing in there?"

"Visiting Max." Blushing, Anna left the door open a crack. "You wanted to talk."

"You're barefoot."

Her sister flushed deeper. "Freya."

"Okay, we'll talk about this first, but then you're telling me about Max."

Anna rolled her eyes, but there was an excited sparkle in them that made Freya feel both panicked and happy.

Deal with her sister in love later. She inhaled and then let it all out. "I've thought about everything. I know you acted out of love for me but you were also selfishly motivated."

"I know," Anna admitted softly. "I'm really sorry."

She nodded. "But what really upset me was that you didn't trust me. I don't know what I've done to make you think you can't come to me with your dreams and aspirations. I'm your sister, and you should be able to trust me with anything."

"I was stupid." Anna grabbed her hand. "I thought you'd be so disappointed in me, or hate me or something. It was so stupid, because I just made you disappointed anyway."

"That's partly my fault, and I'm sorry about that too." She shook her finger. "That doesn't mean you're not at fault. If you ever do anything like this again—"

"I won't," Anna promised quickly. "I swear."

"Good." She hugged her sister.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She held her at arm's length. "Now tell me about Max."

Anna laughed, her face lighting up. "Hold on."

She opened the door and called inside. A moment later her downstairs neighbor came to the threshold. He touched Anna in an unconsciously intimate way and then extended his hand to her. "Max Corazao."

Freya took his hand. It was warm and sure and firm. "Nice to meet you, Max. You and Anna should come over so I can interrogate you."

Her sister groaned. "Freya."

Max just nodded. "It would be my pleasure to be interrogated by you."

"Good." Freya smiled. "Not tonight. I have one more thing to take care of."

Anna let out a triumphant
yawp
. Then she threw her arms around her and squeezed her tight. "Be happy, Freya."

She inhaled her sister's love. "Yes, I will be."

Freshly showered, Freya rifled through her underwear drawer. Which did she wear to seduce Greg—red lace or purple satin?

Her door buzzed as she picked the purple. Drawing her robe more tightly around her, she went to see what her sister wanted now.

Opening the door, she said, "Shouldn't you be—"

But it wasn't Anna standing there. She swallowed her heart, staring mutely at Greg.

"Can I come in, Freya?"

He looked like he'd just come home from work, still in his suit. But his tie peeked out of a pocket and his hair was disheveled.

Love filled her chest, and she had the intense desire to pull him into her arms and welcome him in. But she couldn't let him off the hook that easily, so she waved him into her foyer.

"Is that for me?" He nodded at the purple bra in her hand.

If only he knew. "I don't think it's your color."

"No, I look better in black." He stuck his hands in his pocket. "Freya, my part in Anna's ill-conceived plan may have been negligible, but it was still inexcusable. I'm sorry that I hurt you."

She nodded. "Thank you."

"How did your presentation go?"

"They loved the designs. I got the account, and my boss is happy." She gazed at him steadily. "Who would have thought you'd turn out to be my muse?"

"I knew. I'm glad I could help you with your creativity. Do you know what it says to me?"

"What?"

"That we're a good team." He stepped closer. "Now that you've gotten the account, you're going to think you don't need me any longer, but that's not true."

"It's not?" She really was a sucker for his blue eyes. They melted a part of her she hadn't known was frozen.

"No, it's not. You still need me." He brushed a curl from her face.

"In what way?"

"You need me to inspire you and remind you how wonderful you are. You need me to kiss you." He lowered his head and pressed his lips to her neck. "You need me to love you.

"But more than that," he continued, "
I
need you. I need you to come home to. I need you to talk to and laugh with. I need you to love me back."

Then he kissed her, his mouth lightly taking hers, a promise. But as soft as it started it caught fire and burned hot. It left her out of breath and hungry.

He looked at her with just as much passion. "I meant it when I said I was going to make you realize that we were good together. I'm not going to stop trying until I win you over to my way of thinking."

She nodded. "That's the lawyer in you."

"You don't sound very upset by that."

"Probably because it comes with the package."

He looked down between them at his crotch.

Grinning, she shook her head. "Not
that
package.
You
. All of you. The fact that you're a lawyer is part of the deal."

He lifted her chin and gazed into her eyes. "And something you can accept?"

"No, it's something I can love."

His smile was instant and wide. "I thought I was going to have to fight harder to get you to admit that."

"A kiss and I was pretty much yours."

"Good to know." He backed her up to the wall and teased her lips with his.

She moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck and anchoring her legs on his hips. She moaned again when she felt his hardness press against her bare flesh.

Supporting her butt, he carried her upstairs, never letting up on the kisses. In the living room, he set her down on the couch. She expected him to follow her down but instead he sat up and began to rummage through his pockets.