a toss-up.” Emily slumped into her chair. “His face is still beautiful, but he also still has a narrow, little cost-effective mind.”
“Which means he disagreed with you.”
“Oh, please.”
“So where are you going?”
“I have no idea. He, of course, will decide.” Emily frowned. “What do you want to bet he orders for me?”
“Why do you care? You can sit and look at him all night.”
“A pretty face isn’t everything,” Emily told her primly.
“Forget the face.” Jane sank into her chair. “The body is to die for.”
“How can you tell? The man is always in a suit. I bet he sleeps in a tie.”
“Karen went in to give him some papers, and he was changing his shirt. He’d spilled coffee on it, and he keeps a spare for emergencies.”
“He would.”
“She saw him with his shirt off.”
“And?”
“She’s still speechless.”
“I doubt he’ll take his shirt off at dinner.”
“No, but if you play your cards right...”
“Don’t you ever think of anything but sex?”
“Frequently. But let’s face it, here. You’re not going to dinner to work on Perfume X. You’re attracted to him.”
“Sizzle.”
“Pardon?”
“Perfume X is now Sizzle.”
“And does it?”
“It will. I’m on my way to R & D.”
“Well, this should be an interesting campaign. What are you going to wear?”
“For what?”
“For dinner, dummy. I suggest you wear something sexy. Drive him wild.”
“The only thing I do that drives Richard Parker wild is spend company money. Which reminds me, will you get me Laura in Los Angeles? We need a product placement.”
“Big bucks. Did we get the Hun’s okay to spend the money?”
“No, we’re going to surprise him.” Emily smiled evilly. “That man positively needs more surprises in his life.”
* * *
“HEY, EM. WHAT’S NEW?” Laura said when Emily was put through to her.
“Perfume. A hot new perfume called Sizzle. We need a product placement. Something very sexy.”
“Is this the next Paradise?”
“If I have anything to say about it, it will be.”
“Then it will be.” Laura laughed. “You always have something to say about it. I’ll get right on it.”
“Thanks. How’s Gary?”
“Gone,” Laura said cheerfully.
“Good. I never liked him.”
“He never liked you, either. Thought you were a suit.”
“He was right. You don’t sound too unhappy about this.”
“Oh, he was always just a filler. Only a desperate woman would take Gary seriously.”
“Only a desperate woman would take any man seriously.”
“And you’re the woman marketing Sizzle?”
“I said ‘seriously.’ I’ve decided you don’t have to take a man seriously to have sex.” Emily visualized Richard as a cheap pickup to be thrown away like a worn-out glove after a meaningless but passionate fling.
It was a new approach for her, but she liked the idea.
“My sentiments exactly about Gary,” Laura said. “I’ll get back with you ASAP.”
After she hung up, Emily thought about Richard. Sex with Richard. Meaningless though it might be, it would probably be great because he was gorgeous. And intelligent. And he did have a body to die for.
And I’m having dinner with him tonight.
Maybe Jane’s right, she thought.
Jane buzzed her. “You told me to remind you about R & D.”
“On my way.” Emily hesitated. “Hey, while I’m gone, I need you to run an errand.”
“Anything, my leader.”
“I need some black lace underwear.”
“Now you’re talking. I won’t fail you.”
* * *
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT always worried Emily. There seemed to be a lot of activity going on and a lot of people in white lab coats, but no one ever seemed to be in charge. After she’d dated the head of that department, Chris Croswell, for a while, she’d worried even more. Chris had the concentration of a fruit fly and the morals of a mink. It seemed such a bad personality profile for the head of a department with so many bubbling beakers. No wonder it looked as if no one was in charge.
“Hello, beautiful,” he said when he saw her. “Let’s have dinner.”
“Sorry, I’m busy.” She held out the bottle. “About this perfume—”
“Busy? Who with?”
“None of your business. About this perfume—”
“The new guy on twelfth. I thought he’d spot you.”
“Chris, the perfume needs work.”
“So does our relationship.”
“We don’t have a relationship,” she told him. “We haven’t had a relationship for two years. You’ve been married and divorced since then. Now about the perfume—”
“Which only goes to show how much work our relationship needs.”
She took his hand and put the bottle in it. “We want it to sizzle.”
“Sizzle?”
“Tingle a little on the skin. Heat up a little. Can you do it?”
“Sure.” He shrugged. “When do you need it?”
“Yesterday.” Emily began to back toward the door. “As soon as possible.”
“You got it. Now about dinner...”
“You cannot possibly take me to dinner. You’ve got to put some sizzle in that bottle.”
“I’d rather put some sizzle in you.”
“Thank you, Chris.” Emily backed out the door. “Let me know when it’s done.”
One thing you can say for Richard, she told herself as she escaped. He’s never that asinine.
She was actually beginning to look forward to dinner.
* * *
THE EVENING STARTED well. Emily brushed her hair in a cloud around her shoulders and wore her new black lace underwear, one of two sets Jane had splurged on with her money.
“Always have a backup set,” Jane had told her. “You never know, he may rip this stuff off you with his teeth in the throes of passion.”
Emily visualized it. “Sounds good.”
She topped the underwear with her best short black dress, dabbed on some nonheating Sizzle, and was just congratulating herself on how sophisticated