Out of the corner of her eye she saw a tall, dark-haired man exiting the costume shop, and her heart nearly stopped. Leo? Nah. Couldn’t be. Every tall, dark-haired man looked like Leo these days.
She snorted in disgust. Mandy had managed to find the exact same outfit in white and silver, complete with tinsel halo. Looked like she was stuck going to the party in the demon girl outfit. She picked up the rest of the costume off the floor and followed Mandy to the registers.
Maybe I don’t need a date. Maybe I need therapy. A twelve-step program to get over my addiction to Leo Dunne. She purchased the devil outfit with a grimace, ignoring Mandy’s satisfied smirk. She grabbed the bag from the gum-snapping teenager, smiling weakly in response to the clerk’s “Happy Halloween!”
Mandy made her purchase and the two women made their way out of the store. “I’m starved.” Mandy looked up and down the street before crossing. “How about we go for margaritas and Mexican? We can call some of the girls and have a night out.”
Oh, yeah. Now that’s my kind of therapy. “Sounds great. Let’s go.” She got into Mandy’s white convertible with a happy bounce, eager for good food, a drink or two, and the comfort of her friends. With any luck Leo would stay out of her thoughts.
Her head thudded onto the backrest. And maybe ducks will fly out of my butt.
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7
Dana Marie Bell
Leo looked around at the Halloween party and nodded. This one was strictly for employees of Fantasy Events, a thank you for all of the hard work they’d put in that year, and so far everyone seemed to be having a good time. Almost all of his employees and their significant others had shown up. They were even in costume. Fantasy Events didn’t do an office Christmas party. They usually didn’t have the time, with all of the parties Fantasy Events coordinated around that holiday. So this was their yearly bash, and he made the most of it.
It was his favorite time of year, filled with everyone’s fantasies. And as an added bonus it was the one day a year when he could go to the office without a shirt on and not get arrested for indecent exposure or sued for sexual harassment.
No children had been invited. This was an adult-only party, and it showed. A few people had definitely had too much to drink already, so he was glad he’d contracted rooms in the hotel for anyone who felt they couldn’t drive home that night. Music played loudly, making conversation almost impossible.
Couples danced together on the floor, laughing and talking. Little groups dotted the area around the dancers, enjoying the buffet dinner he’d had catered.
It was going well, other than one little thing. She wasn’t there yet. Ruby Halloway, the woman who’d haunted his dreams for months. He turned, wondering where his personal siren was. The party had started over an hour ago, and Ruby and Mandy were nowhere in sight. He wondered if she’d decided to bail on Mandy. He hoped not. He was dying to see her in that red corset. He stifled a smile, remembering how she’d held it up to her chest, looking so uncertain. It had taken all of his willpower to stop himself from going to her then and there. He’d longed to soothe her but was afraid she’d once again disappear just like she always did.
It had taken years to find her. When he’d first come into the company, he’d caught the faint, elusive scent that so drew him now. Maybe if he hadn’t been so busy learning the business and meeting with clients he might have put more effort into pursuing that scent and finding the woman who now held all of his attention, waking and dreaming. Instead he’d wasted all of that time. Oh, he’d hardly been celibate in the last five years. He’d dated plenty of women. Just none of them had been her. The one woman created by the universe just for him.
It wasn’t until he’d already become CEO, taking over for the previous owner of the Washington, DC
events’ company, that he’d finally caught a glimpse of her. Ruby Halloway. He’d been walking down the hallway in Accounting, talking to her boss, when Leo stopped dead. She’d been bent over a drawer, pulling out a file. The tight denim had stretched across the most luscious ass it had ever been his pleasure to see.
He’d longed to walk over, cup that ass, and claim the owner before she knew what hit her.
And then he’d caught her scent. He’d almost moaned at the savage rush of erotic heat. It was only his employee’s nudges that had made him realize where he was. He’d immediately asked who the woman was.
8
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Dare to Believe
She’d heard her name, started, and taken off for parts unknown before he could get an introduction.