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The Tessarae Inn |
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Regrets In Jade Tones
CHAPTER 5 Blair barely glanced up from the supply contract she was studying when she heard Rick walk into the office. She froze in mid-glance, though, as her eyes scanned his body. She had never really paid much attention to him other than to his obvious talent for marketing. His physical appearance was so generic and bland that she long ago ceased to pay that aspect of him any attention. He usually wore thick tortoise shell eyeglasses that all but hid his eyes and dressed in uptight, nondescript, dark business suits that were uniformly badly cut and ill fitting. Although, he wore his hair longer than the average businessman it was usually pulled back into a discreet ponytail. Today, however, he was dressed in black jeans, a black tee shirt and a leather flight jacket. His glasses were gone and his chestnut brown hair fell into soft waves, which moved freely as he took long, purposeful strides into the unfinished office. “Sorry, I’m late. My damn car wouldn’t start. I had to ride my bike.” Bike? Even his voice was different—deep and resonant not light and fluttery as it was usually. She never realized his eyes were blue-green before. What was going on? Why was this change in his appearance affecting her so much? She was so busy studying him that she didn’t realize she hadn’t said anything. He cleared his throat and stared at her for a minute then said, “Blair?” She snapped to attention. “Just thinking about this contract. Almost didn’t recognize you.” “Oh,” he said mildly as he glanced down at himself. “Sorry about the way I’m dressed. Didn’t have time to change, I was running so late.” “Well, you’re here now. I think we still have enough time to finish what we planned for today.” Rick stepped back then ran his hand across the top of his hair. “Here’s the kicker. I left my damn files at home. I think this meeting is just doomed today.” Blair looked him in the eye for a moment. Were his eyes really that blue and that green? Rick spread his legs and crossed his arms over his chest. “ Would you consider rescheduling until tomorrow?” Blair noticed that his voice was even deeper now and he spoke at a more languid pace. Although he was asking for favorable consideration from her, there was nothing that even hinted at any concern that she wouldn’t agree. “I promise to be more presentable and ready,” he said then waited for a few beats until she was looking him directly in the eye. “We can meet as early or… as late as you want.” There was something about the way he said “as late” that disturbed her. He was looking at her with a steady gaze and she suspected if he took off his jacket, she would see the outline of rock hard muscles through the tee shirt. He wasn’t exactly smiling but there was a confident, feral expression on his face of a big cat with his sites squarely aimed at desirable prey. When exactly had Clark Kent stepped into the phone booth? What had this man done to her mild-mannered marketing consultant? “Mommy. Mommy. Mommy,” yelled a whirl of energy that ran full steam through the office door. “I heard you were at school today. Everybody was talking about you.” Blair stood up and started around the desk. “Starr? What are you doing here?” “I’m sorry, Mrs. Manning,” said Brianna with each word punctuated by a huff or a puff. “Starr saw your car parked outside and demanded that Fred stop and since I was with her today… I hope you don’t mind. She wanted to see your new office.” “We’ll talk later,” said Blair mildly. There really wasn’t a major problem today but Starr was going to have to learn some limits. And more important, she trusted Starr’s safety and security to Brianna too frequently to have to worry that when it mattered Brianna couldn’t control Starr. “Well? Were you at school or not? What were you there for?” “Starr, I was in the middle of a meeting. We will talk about my visit to your school later. Believe me, we will talk about it.” Starr’s eyes widened and Blair could see that it was dawning on Starr that her visit to the school might not have been as benign as Starr originally suspected. Blair touched Starr’s shoulder and gently turned her around. “Starr, this is Mr. St. Jean. He’s working with me on the launch campaign for JStarr.” “Hel-lo, Mr. St.- Jean,” said Starr in an exaggerated manner Blair knew was designed to show her irritation. Rick squatted until he was eye level with Starr. “Hello, Miss Manning. I see you have your mother’s beauty.” Starr glanced up at Blair then quickly back at Rick and smiled broadly. “I’m the Starr.” “I can see that.” “I mean in the name. I’m the Starr part. My little brother only got a letter.” “It is very nice to meet you, finally.” “I guess everybody is gonna want to meet me once my Mommy opens up.” “I bet you’re right about that. You’re a real beauty.” Blair noticed that Rick was looking Starr’s face as if he was searching for something. He was studying Starr’s face the way he looked at proof sheets from the models—examining her little girl for signs of visual perfection. If he thought she would ever consider putting Starr in the ad campaign, he was sadly mistaken. She caught Rick’s eye and gestured toward Brianna. “Rick, this is Brianna Ryan.” Rick turned his head toward Brianna and then slowly straightened his body into a standing position like a tiger rising up on his haunches. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss? Mrs?…Ryan.” “Miss,” said Brianna and managed to stutter while saying that one word. Blair watched the exchange with obvious interest. Brianna was blushing! And Rick seemed to be very much aware of the affect he was having on her and wasn’t backing down an inch. He moved closer to Brianna and held out his hand. When Brianna took it, Rick turned his hand over slipped his fingers along the palm of her hand. Brianna shuddered with pleasure. “Always nice to know that all of the best ones are not already taken.” Starr frowned. “Is that your bike outside?” Rick turned toward Starr slowly as if he had to drag his attention away from Brianna. “You betcha. Best bike in the world. Harley-Davidson.” “Coolness. Will you take me for a ride?” “No,” said Blair firmly. “Get even the thought of that out of your mind this instant, young lady.” Enough of this. The thought of Starr barreling along on the back of a motorcycle sobered her. Blair walked back around her desk and looked at her calendar quickly. “Rick, I can meet tomorrow morning at nine-thirty. Will that work for you?” “Like I said, anytime is fine with me. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” He glanced at Starr and then at Brianna. “Nice meeting you, ladies.” Rick walked out of the office. For a moment, she, Starr and Brianna stood and watched the testosterone vapors dissipate. Finally, they all exhaled. Brianna turned and looked at her. “Does Mr. Manning know about him?” Blair laughed. “Hell, even I didn’t know about him. That man is usually as mild-mannered as milk toast and twice as plain.” “I liked the leather jacket and the boots,” said Starr. “He’s cool. Jason said his dad’s gonna buy him a motorcycle soon.” “Starr, I can tell you for a fact that Jason’s dad has no intentions of buying him a motorcycle. And with the way things are going, he’ll be lucky to get a ten-speed when the time comes.” Starr frowned and crossed her arms. “He said…” “Starr, enough.” Blair checked her watch. “It’s time for you to get home. You have homework to do.” “Can’t you come home now, too?” Blair thought about it for a moment. The meeting with Rick was the big business event she had planned for the day and that had been postponed. And the truth was that Rick was so good and efficient that the plans for the campaign were way ahead of schedule. Plus, there was no pressing business at the TV station although she had planned to swing by just to make sure she was on top of everything. There really was no reason she couldn’t call it a day. Besides, she had a hankering to see her baby boy. “Okay, I’ll do that.” Starr whooped. “Can I ride with you?” “Sure, I’ll call Fred and tell him that you and Brianna are coming with me.” Blair hit the speed dial number for the limo. Fred answered on the first ring. She explained the situation to him and told him that he could take the limo back to the garage. Fred listened in silence then coughed. “Are you sure you’re going straight home? Maybe, I should just take Starr on in myself.” Snarky bastard. He still hadn’t gotten over what happened several months ago. Of course, she couldn’t really blame him. She tried not to imagine how Todd must have gone ballistic after he found out how she fooled Fred. And she truly did not want to imagine what kind of deal he and Todd worked out so that Fred kept his job. “Mrs. M, you know I’ve got to call him.” “Suit yourself but it isn’t really necessary.” “It won’t happen again on my watch.” “Here are a few free tips for you. Don’t spit into the wind. Don’t step on Superman’s cape. And don’t make promises about me that you can’t keep.” Blair broke the connection. Starr and Brianna were looking at her with their mouths slightly open. She ignored them and gathered her papers together and stuffed her briefcase. “Ready?” she asked with a big smile.
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