Chapter 17

Elsa

Lis Langley is still gawking at me. Sure, my tits are bubbling over and my ass cheeks are busting at the seams, but I look damn professional…for a lingerie designer.

“Do you need a picture for the article?” I put one hand on my hip, the other hand on the wall, and then slide to the floor for dramatic effect. “Check out the stretch on these garters!”

If this bitch is going to interrupt me while I’m working, she’d better be ready for a fashion show.

I lie on my back and spread my legs. “Our new line is very breathable, you see.”

Finally, I roll over on my stomach, rest my chin in my hand, and cross my feet at the ankles like Miss February from fifty years ago.

“Sultry and sweet.”

I’m trying to decide which pose would make the best centerfold picture. I guess it depends on where the crack is.

Lis’ mouth hangs open in protest. “No, pictures won’t be necessary. I’ll give you a minute to change.”

She turns her back to me and stares out the window, pretending to be interested in the cityscape.

I laugh at her prudishness and shimmy back into my clothes. She’s got guts for coming in here without an appointment.

The least I can do is give her an interview fully clothed.

I return to my executive chair and offer her the seat in front of my desk. “Ready when you are.”

Lis pulls out her phone, sets it on the desk, and presses the button on her recording app. She also takes out a pen and notebook. “That’s for backup,” she explains.

This interview is already taking too long, so I toss the first question for her. “So what can I tell you about me that you haven’t already seen for yourself?”

She gives me a wry smile. “You and Tanner looked pretty cozy in here a moment ago. How does it feel to be back together?”

I notice that she didn’t ask me if we were back together; she’s already assuming we are—and her question is leaving me no room for denial.

So I tell her the truth. “It feels…right. Like I’ve got him right where I want him.”

I can imagine Tanner reading that quote and being displeased, which pleases me very much.

“And his marriage proposal...wow. What did you think when you saw him get down on one knee?”

She doesn’t want to know what I really thought. “It touched me deep inside.”

Lis raises her eyebrow and smirks. “How deep?”

When she wants to be, Lis can be quite the provocateur. “More…feelings…than I thought I had room for. It’s hard to describe, but…I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“How’s the chemistry between you two?”

“We can’t keep our hands off each other.”

“And the friendship?”

I pause for a moment. She’s still writing down the answer to my last question, so I use the time to come up with a response that won’t make her question my story—or let Tanner know just how much he’s getting to me when he reads it.

That man is aggravating, controlling, and way too sexy to keep around as a friend, but he did send me a basket of puppies.

“Underneath all that swagger, Tanner can be really sweet.”

“So why were you two fighting to begin with?”

Now I’m going to have to lie. “It was all a misunderstanding.”

“How so?”

“I thought he was trying to steal my lingerie line because he’s afraid to compete with a powerful woman,” I say, emphasizing the last part so the recording device will catch it. “But I think he just wanted to see me naked.”

“Fair enough,” Lis says. “And speaking of power, when was the last time you two heard from your former CEO, Jackson Halo?”

This catches me off guard. Jackson has nothing to do with my relationship with Tanner. He’s old news, ancient history.

“It’s been a while, actually.” I can’t even remember the last time we spoke.

“What about Tanner?”

“You’d have to ask him. I’m Tanner’s lover, not his secretary.”

Lis is writing something in her notebook, and I have to admit it makes me nervous to see her putting so many notes from such a nonspecific answer.

“Crooked Halo really took a nosedive. I can only imagine what the aftermath was like. Any thoughts on that?”

“None.” None that I’m going to share with her. “I mean, it all worked out well for me. I’m running my own business now.”

There were plenty of rumors going around about Jackson when I used to work for him, but nothing I could substantiate while I was posing for pictures and walking the runway. I was a model, not an accountant. So I focused on my job and tried to stay out of his business.

And now that he’s been accused of tax evasion and insider trading, I’m staying way out of his business. As far away as I can get.

“He’s in Seychelles, right?”

Last I heard, but it’s not like I came over to visit. “He could be anywhere by now.” And that’s the truth. “We were never that close. You know as much as I do. Maybe more.”

“What inspired you to work with him, if you’re not that close?”

“Um, he found me. My modeling agency booked a photo shoot for me, and that was that.”

“What do you think he saw in you?”

“I’m smart, driven, professional…”

Lis drops her head to her chest like she’s falling asleep. She even snores a little.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

I laugh. “It’s pretty easy to get a job if you take your clothes off during the interview.”

“Isn’t that oversimplifying it a bit? I didn’t think modeling was that easy.”

“It’s not. I’m surprised you know that.” Looks aside, I try to think about why I succeeded where equally beautiful models had failed. “I guess it’s vulnerability. The tougher a woman is on the outside, the more rewarding it is when you see what she’s hiding underneath.”

Lis nods and fills her notebook with her loopy handwriting. Then she looks up.

“But you ended up on the business side of things.”

“That’s right.” I’m relieved. I think I’ve managed to turn the conversation back to me and away from Jackson Halo.

“Did Mr. Halo encourage you to do that?”

I guess not. I take a deep breath.

“I’m pretty self-driven, actually. And I never intended to be a lingerie model forever. Why wouldn’t I branch out?”

“But he must’ve enjoyed seeing you climb the corporate ladder: creating your own line and running the show. He hasn’t reached out to…congratulate you? Offer advice?”

“Advice? I’m at the top of my field. I don’t need him watching over my shoulder.”

“I didn’t say you did.”

Damn it. My verbal diarrhea usually doesn’t kick in unless I’m really rattled, and something about this line of questioning has me really rattled.

“What are you getting at, then?”

Lis sets down her pen and notebook. She presses the button on her recording app to turn it off and puts her phone back in her purse. “Off the record?”

I lean in, breathless.

“Off the record, I promise.”

“I don’t know yet.” And just like that, she clams up. The chatty, gossipy girlfriend who was asking me about my marriage proposal and fishing for gossip about my old boss was once again hidden behind the professional mask of a news reporter.

“Then I guess we’re done here.”

If she can freeze like a popsicle, I can turn myself into a polar ice cap. I am that cold.

“I guess so. I didn’t really have any more questions, anyway.”

I get up from my desk to show her the door. It’s getting late, and I’ve got a business to run.

“Thank you very much for your time, Ms. Blakely,” she says politely.

I chuckle at the formality. “Elsa’s fine. You’ve already seen me half naked.”

She sticks her hand out like she’s going to give me a handshake, but instead she bends down to the hem of my skirt and runs her hand along my thigh.

What the…?

With two fingers, she gently pinches my stocking and give it a good tug. With her other hand, she rehooks my garter.

She winks at me. “You were coming loose.”

Forget what I said earlier. Lis knows how to turn up the heat when she needs to. My polar ice caps feel like bathwater now.

The Capitalist Chronicle may be a harmless little paper, but Lis Langley is a dangerous woman. Impressive, but dangerous.

I can’t let her get too close to my business…or my legs.

“Thanks,” I tell her. “But next time, make an appointment before you show up, and I’d like a list of questions before we start. Got it?”

“Got it.”

Lis collects her things and heads for the door. Just before she turns the handle, she pauses and looks back at me. “I meant it when I said I don’t know what I’m looking for—but I’ll let you know when I find out.”