Samantha waved a hand in front of her face. “Earth to Eliza.”
They’d been talking about something, but she couldn’t recall what. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“Are you sure it’s okay if Gwen stays with you for a while?”
That shook Eliza awake. “Stay with me?” Had she agreed to something while staring at Carter and his date?
“You’ve not heard a word I’ve said, have you?”
“No. Yes, I heard you say Gwen is staying in Malibu while you and Blake take another honeymoon. Which is the only thing about getting married every year that’s worth the effort by the way. What’s this about Gwen staying with me?”
“We’re only going to be gone five days. Gwen will be with Eddie and our staff, but when we come home she wants to stay with you. She said you were fine with it.”
I am?
“You’re not fine with it,” Samantha said.
“No, I’m just… We didn’t discuss it.”
Sam shrugged. “She thought it was okay.” Samantha rubbed the inside of her palms together, a sure sign she had something to say but wasn’t uttering a word.
“Out with it.”
There were very few things the two of them kept from each other. No reason not to be blunt. “C’mon, Sam. You have something to say.”
“Gwen wants to work for Alliance.”
“Work? Has Gwen ever worked a day in her life?”
Sam squeezed her eyes together. “Technically, no. But—”
“It’s a bad idea.” One week with Gwen and Carter was losing an election and Eliza’s face was plastered on papers all over the world.
“Hear me out. I don’t think Gwen is cut out for office work. But we could use her connections to find more women for our registry. Who knows, she might even be able to find men to match with the women.”
Sam had a point.
“If you’re that against it—”
“No. I’m not.” Eliza took a deep breath. Ultimately, Samantha was the boss. Though she’d always respected Eliza’s opinion, and they’d never taken on a client that rubbed one of them wrong. This was a different matter. And to top it off, Gwen was Sam’s sister-in-law. Not something they could overlook. “I’m standing here wearing something the yellow tooth fairy threw up. All because Gwen is hard to say no to.”
“Which is why she’d be great for recruiting.”
Sam’s pleading eyes said it all.
“Okay, we give her a trial run. She’ll probably hate living in the burbs after a week and want to go home anyway.”
“Probably,” Sam agreed with a smile. “Thanks.”
Sam hugged her and left her side. Eliza attempted to peel away the material of her dress from her chest. She hated the heat. After flicking open her fan, she found some relief with the forced air against her damp skin.
“Are you ready for those cutoffs?”
Carter’s voice caressed the back of her neck. The vision of him “almost kissing” her flooded her senses. She swallowed but didn’t turn his way. “Do you have any?”
“I can arrange them.” Why did his words sound so much like a seductive offer?
“Trying to get me out of this dress?”
“I’ve had worse thoughts.”
She turned and saw his cocky smile. “Don’t you have a date?”
“Yep.”
“Then why are you standing here flirting with me?” Eliza was a good many things, but a poacher on another woman’s guy, she wasn’t. Even if Eliza had known Carter a lot longer than his arm candy, he didn’t arrive with her and that made him off limits.
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“That’s what it feels like. And I have to tell ya, it’s a bad idea.”
“What’s a bad idea?”
“You and me…flirting. We clash. Remember? Last Christmas we were shouting at each other over the Christmas pudding.”
“We were arguing about a call between Green Bay and Carolina. The ref sided with me.”
“The ref was blind.” Her voice rose and all thoughts of Carter flirting with her sailed away like a pesky mosquito running from RAID.
Carter smirked.
“What’s so funny?”
“All you need is a big black stripe, and you’d look like an angry hornet in that dress.”
She would have hurled an insult at him if he wasn’t so flippin’ right. Instead, she huffed out a laugh, glanced down at her dress, and let her arms flop to the side. “God it’s awful. For the record, Gwen picked it out.”
Carter turned around. “On Gwen it isn’t that bad. It’s not good, but…”
“Something tells me Gwen would look good in whipped cream.” She was that beautiful. Classic lines, the perfect height, and laughing eyes. Gorgeous, and currently surrounded by three guys.
“Whipped cream huh?”
Eliza placed her focus on Carter and felt a simmering heat along her skin.
Whipped cream and a trickle of chocolate syrup down your thick chest. Eliza nibbled on her lower lip and a flash of light sucked her out of her brief fantasy.
She and Carter both turned to glare at the photographer. Nonplussed by their anger, the photographer was checking the digital display and nodding. “Man it’s hot tonight,” was all he said before walking away.