“Plus, you’d meet people in your same situation. You can network. Then go buy a power suit and impress the heck out of your future employer.”
Emotions chased across Bailey’s face. “That’s a great idea.” She smiled, but something wasn’t right. The warmth was gone. “I don’t want to take any more of your time. Thanks again for all your help with Chloe.”
Taryn nodded as the other woman walked away. She knew she’d said something wrong but couldn’t figure out what. The college idea made sense. How else would Bailey get her skills up to date? So if it wasn’t that, was it...
“The power suit?” she murmured to herself.
Maybe money was so tight Bailey couldn’t afford one. Which made Taryn feel even more upset about her dress. What a ridiculous amount to have spent on a piece of clothing. Sure, she could afford it, but...
“You’re looking fierce,” Angel said, coming up to stand next to her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She twisted her fingers together. “I feel stupid.”
“Not possible.”
She looked at him. “Am I ridiculous? With the clothes and the shoes?”
“What brought this on?”
“You’re not answering the question.”
“I don’t buy in to the premise. You’re a beautiful woman. You dress like you want to dress. Why does that make you stupid?”
“I spend thousands of dollars on my things. Do you know what these shoes cost?”
“No, and I don’t care. Do you like them?”
“Yes.”
“Can you afford them?”
“Sure.”
“Then enjoy them.”
She knew he was right, but it also wasn’t that simple. She watched Bailey talking with some of the other moms. As Taryn studied Bailey, she felt an odd clenching in her stomach. A need to help.
“It’s this town,” she grumbled. “I never wanted to get involved. I’m not like you. I don’t connect with people.”
Angel gave her a slow, sexy smile. “I hate to be the one to break it to you, Taryn, but it’s already happening.”
“I want it to stop.”
“Too late.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ANGEL WAS WILLING to admit he was just as secretly sexist as the next man. Sure, he was all for equal pay and felt there should be more women running Fortune 500 companies. He thought women in combat was a good thing, because the way war had changed, they were there already. They might as well get credit.
But those attitudes were all in his left brain. Conscious. Thoughtful. They had nothing to do with his visceral reaction to watching Taryn present her ideas to the CDS team.
He sat in the back with Ford and Consuelo. Justice was up at the conference table. Taryn sat next to him, touching her computer every few seconds to change the slide on the big screen up front.
She’d provided a detailed explanation about why their logo worked and why the rest of their material didn’t. She provided market research, information on corporate trends, even some charts on demographics. Angel wasn’t sure, because he wasn’t listening. He was watching.
She wore some fitted black suit with what he would swear had snakeskin trim. Only Taryn, he thought in admiration. Her shoes had a heel so thin and high they could be classified as a weapon. Her long black hair hung straight down her back. She looked both powerful and unbelievably sexy. It wasn’t hard to picture her with a whip...or handcuffs. Not that he was into either, but if she wanted to play he didn’t think he had it in him to refuse her anything.
Which made sitting there, listening to her talk, physically uncomfortable. While he kept trying to control himself, he’d spent the past hour with a hell of a hard-on. He was careful not to shift in his chair too much. The last thing he needed was for Ford to notice and start ribbing him. While he wasn’t keeping his relationship with Taryn a secret, there was no way he wanted to undermine her.
The slide changed again, showing letterhead and business cards. There were several different designs—all variations on a theme. Taryn talked more about what she liked and why. Justice asked a few questions.
Angel let the conversation drift out of focus as he wondered what Taryn would have been like if she’d gone into the military. She would have been tapped for OCS, he thought. She would have liked the discipline and challenges. She would have hated the uniforms.
When the meeting ended, Taryn shook hands with everyone. Justice said they would discuss her ideas and get back to her by the end of the week. Angel knew his friend had liked what he’d seen but didn’t want to say so without team feedback.
“Your girl’s got some brains,” Ford said.
Angel grinned. “Tell me about it. I’ll meet you back at CDS.”
Ford nodded and left with Consuelo. When Angel was alone with Taryn, she picked up her computer and started down the hall.
“So, what did you think?” she asked.
“Good presentation. It was clear and you’d obviously done your homework.”