Shit Kickers & Stilettos (Heiresses In Aprons) (4 page)

Though neither of them had talked much during the two hour drive into the city Dade still felt confident that he was doing the right thing. Rosie surprised him when she directed him toward a part of the city he hadn’t expected her to live in. He’d figured she’d live in, if not the same exclusive neighborhood her parents did, something similar. This was as different as it could get. It was clean and welcoming, but instead of big opulent houses this area was full of old warehouses that had been turned into lofts. There were lots of small shops and boutiques mixed among the buildings.

They parked his car in a spot a few feet away from the front of her building. Dade took the bag with his suit that he’d hung in the back seat and followed Rosie into the building. They took the elevator to the third floor. The doors opened and he stepped out. He found himself in a long wide hallway with a door at each end. Rosie headed to the right and again he followed. She opened the door and stepped back motioning for him to go first.

The apartment was basically one huge room. Living area and kitchen were separated by a shelf that you could see through into the other room. It kind of looked like a bunch of cubes stacked on each other. There were books in some and pictures and
knickknacks in others.

The place was minimally furnished, but with class. Her couch and chair were white leather, but the pink chaise really stood out. Even more than the large flat screen TV hanging on the wall. Book shelves lined one entire wall. She had a small dining table that would seat four in the open space between the kitchen and living room. All in all, the place was feminine and girly and totally her style. He’d pay big bucks to go
upstairs and check out her bedroom. She was up there right now getting ready. It would be easy to come up with some excuse for needing to talk to her.

A long time ago he’d read an article that said you could learn the most about a person by looking around their bedroom. More than twice back at the house he’d been in her room, but he’d been too perplexed to think about really checking it out. It had only been her room when she came to visit, so he wasn’t sure it would even count, but sooner or later he was going to get a good look and hopefully a sneak peek at the real her.

It hadn’t taken him long to change so he took advantage of the time alone to look around. He’d seen enough to determine from her photos that the most important people in her life were Teddy, and her three friends. They were everywhere. However she only had two pictures of her parents, and they were smaller than all the rest. He walked over and stopped in front of the windows. Dade stood there in her living room and watched the people below walk along the sidewalks. It didn’t take more than a few minutes before he could picture Rosie walking along the sidewalks.

“I was thinking Italian would that be okay with you?” Dade turned around and looked up at her.

Her blonde hair was pulled back from her face but hung in loose waves down her back. A large section was pulled forward over her shoulder and draped along her breast. The red halter dress was a stunner. It hugged her breasts and looped up around her neck leaving her arms and back bare. It was tight around her midriff right down over her hips and thighs, but just above her knees it was cut at an angle with a slight ruffle. So each time she descended a step it flirtingly flashed him some thigh.

His gaze followed her legs down to the shiny red spiked high heels. He should have expected them, and what they did to him. Couldn’t she just do
him a favor and wear a T-shirt, pair of sweats, and sneakers just once? Hell he’d still probably find that too sexy for words. She stepped off the last stair and it was all he could do not to reach for her. His confidence in having the situation in hand slipped just a little.

“Should I take your silence as a no to Italian? There’s a steak house down the road, about a mile away.” She walked over and put her purse on the table.

“Italian’s fine. My silence was because you look absolutely amazing.”

“Oh. Thank you.” He noticed the slight pink tinge that spread across her cheeks. “You look nice too.”

“Thanks.” He’d chosen a black suit jacket, slacks, and white dress shirt like about ten other guys would be wearing tonight.

“I’m glad you agreed to Italian, because Gino’s has the best manicotti around, and it’s within walking distance.” She actually sighed when she said it.

Minutes later they were both ready to go. As they exited the building Dade’s manners kicked in and he offered Rosie his arm. She looped hers through it and they walked down the sidewalk. He didn’t miss the fact that he thought she looked as good on his arm as she felt. Dade truly wanted to know why she’d picked this neighborhood to live in. They walked along in comfortable silence all the while he was mentally running through possible ways to start a conversation without it sounding like an inquisition.

When they reached the restaurant he opened the door for her. Instantly a man rushed forward to greet them. Dade knew it was his job, but he guessed the guys quick attention probably had a lot to do with how hot Rosie looked tonight. He showed them to a table and within seconds a waiter was there taking their drink order.

“So do you come to this place often?” Dade asked as he walked away.

“About once a month.
It’s a special treat for myself.”

“Your loft is great. Did you decorate it yourself?” He asked not wanting to let them lapse back into silence.

She nodded. “I had some help from my friends.”

“What made you choose this area?”

“I was helping a friend find an artist loft space and this neighborhood came highly recommended. When we looked at mine I bought it before she could.” She laughed and it sounded so natural all he could do was join in with her. “Of course it helped that my father wouldn’t be caught dead here.”

“They can’t be that bad.”
Though he wasn’t sure, so he had no idea why he was sticking up for them.

“They’re not. In their own way they love me,” She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “They just want what they think is best for me.”

“I’m guessing it’s not what you want?”

“Most of the time no.”
She shook her head. “Trust me I’m not ungrateful. My parents have given me everything.”

“Never crossed my mind.
So do your parents live close by?”

The waiter returned and interrupted her from answering. She took her time ordering asking the waiter questions in Italian. He had no idea she spoke anything other than English. The second the waiter walked away Rosie surprised him by jumping right back into their conversation. She explained that her parents owned a house in Weston Massachusetts about a half hour out of the city, but they traveled all the time.

Dade understood that. Owning a string of hotels they needed to make appearance at them from time to time. Not to would be irresponsible. Teddy and Rosie’s two great aunts had often visited them as well since it was a family company.

Dade mentioned that he’d seen photographs of her at some of the locations too, and asked which one was her favorite. She thought about it for a couple of minutes. He smiled when she said her favorites had changed over the years, but the one they had on the coast of northern Maine was really hard to beat any time of the year. He’d chosen a good topic and they’d spent the rest of dinner talking about the places that they had visited, and wanted to go to someday.

They chose to walk to the art gallery since it was close by. Rosie explained that she was going to be milling about the room most of the evening and that he didn’t have to stay glued to her side if he didn’t want to. She wanted him to enjoy himself, but if he needed anything all he had to do was ask. Her friends were already there when they arrived.

He only got a few minutes to check the place out. Most of the walls were painted a stark
white or flat gray. The ceiling was a good ten or maybe even twelve feet high. There were floor to ceiling columns in some areas. In others there were waist high white and black pedestals with sculptures and other works of art on them. He’d been to a few galleries and this one had the best lighting designed to really showcase the work.

With one final glance around he said, “This place looks terrific. You ladies did an amazing job.”

“I won’t take your surprise as an insult.” Rosie’s smile told him she was just teasing.

Rosie called her friends over and made the introductions. These four beautiful women together were intimidating, but knowing just how powerful they really were would have warranted any fear he might feel, which he didn’t. He was impressed though. Still Dade got the distinct feeling that they weren’t going to judge him just yet, which he appreciated. He liked the idea that he had a chance to make a good first impression.

He started off by asking if there was anything he could do and her friend Nicolette had no problem putting him to work. She led him to the back and had him shuffle some boxes around. His gaze was drawn back over and over to a painting sitting in the far corner. He couldn’t wait to get up close and really check it out.

The catering crew was rushing around in a section of the back room and Sophia was there overseeing every little detail. Tiffany and Nicolette headed out to the front to greet the people who had started arriving. Rosie and Sophia joined them as he came out of the storage area. Soon the place was filled with people milling about. Going by the chatter and laughter everyone seemed to be having a good time, which hopefully meant they’d be in a buying mood.

Rosie waved him over and insisted on introducing him to some key people.
Once he was comfortable she abandoned him to go see to the other guests. Dade watched her with a growing respect, but every guy that smiled at Rosie instantly became the enemy. He knew it was her job to schmooze the guests into hopefully bidding on the artwork and she was doing it, so he was more than willing to stand back and just watch her work her way through them.

It seemed to be a pretty diverse group of people. Some of them were swathed in diamonds.
While others were just as elegant, but in a more understated way. Then there were the photographers and critics. They were making good use of their time to make as many connections as possible. Dade knew networking was important in any situation if it were possible.

The only problem with seeing Rosie in this environment was that Dade was forced to face the accuracy in his assessment. She was a total city girl. Deep down he wondered if he’d insisted on coming in hopes of convincing himself he was wrong? If so he had made a big mistake, because this only proved him right.

Still, when she
looped her arm around his something told him it wouldn’t matter in the long run. As they meandered around the room he felt as if he could conquer just about anything. Every so often she would leave his side and meet up with her friends. They’d chat for a few minutes then break apart and head off to charm someone else. Since he was observing them all he couldn’t help but notice that Tiffany was never more than an arm’s length away from Nicolette. Sophia never stopped moving. She was as attuned to the crowd as Rosie was. With almost imperceptible motions Rosie and Sophia communicated with the head of the catering staff. They kept the drinks and trays of finger foods flowing steadily around the room.

A few hours into the event Rosie announced that shortly they were going to unveil the first of the three pieces to be auctioned off. People started to settle into place before the small dais where Sophia and Nicolette would stand. Dade glanced
over at Rosie and noticed a guest, someone she knew well if her friendly smile was an indication, touched her arm and Rosie casually moved away. After a moment or two the guy inched closer Dade noticed that Rosie’s smile was less friendly now. Instinctively he knew she could handle this guy on her own, but he was there so why should she have to?

He grabbed two glasses of red wine from one of the waitresses and walked over to the small group. Rosie looked up at him with a smile. Dade pressed one of the glasses into Rosie’s hand. Then he slid his arm around her waist with a fake show of familiarity he was sure neither of them felt.

She didn’t pull away, but she didn’t lean into him like she had earlier either. “Dade Sebastian, let me introduce you to Walt Fletcher, and Mia Lang, and Carly Timmons.”

“Nice to meet you all.”
Dade said with a nod.

“I need to go see if Sophia and Nicolette need any help.” She put her hand on Dade’s shoulder. “Will you be alright?”

“I’m fine. Go do your thing.” He let his hand slide from her hip and across her back as she walked away.

The second she was gone Mia and Carly excused themselves leaving him alone with Walt, who wasted no time trying to learn about his competition. “So Dade what is it you do?”

“I’m CEO of TC Corporation,” Not many people knew Rosie’s uncle owned TC, they all assumed he was happily living off his royalties and the chain of hotels like the rest of the family. “And you?”

“Well, I’m a writer,” Walt said.

“Anything I may have read?” Dade doubted it, but he figured it was polite to ask.

Walt laughed. “I doubt it. How long have you known Rosalind?”

“Oh Rosie and I have known each other for years.” Totally honest, and from the look on Walt’s face fairly surprising.

“I’ve never seen you at one of these events.”
Only because Dade did his best to blend into the background, but he didn’t tell him that.