When Fletcher finished the unsatisfying call to Cleo, he had another call waiting. He took it without checking to see who it was.
“Fletcher? There you are, at last.”
“Andrea.” Andrea Raye was a featured dancer in the erotic revue, Cancan du Bal, which had been playing at Impresario to sell-out audiences for the past six months.
Andrea laughed, a charming sound, one that was only a little bit forced. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in weeks.”
He supposed he should have a talk with her. “How about lunch tomorrow?”
“I would love lunch. Or you could just come by after the show tonight.” She pitched her voice lower and suggested seductively, “We’ll have breakfast—eventually.”
He spoke gently. “Thanks, but that’s not going to work.”
“Ah,” she said after a lengthy pause. “I get it.” There was a deep sigh. “So this is it, huh?”
“Andrea …” He never knew what to say at this point.
She laughed again, the sound more brittle than before. “Oh, please. We’re both adults, now aren’t we?”
He knew that whatever he said next was bound to sound lame. And it did. “Yes. We are.”
“I’m thinking that lunch will be a little too … after the fact, if you know what I mean.”
“I understand.”
“Will you send me something pretty, to remember you by?”
“Absolutely.”
“Diamonds. I really like diamonds….”
Andrea’s out-front request didn’t surprise him in the least. When his half brother Aaron had been single, before Celia had turned him into a die-hard family man, there had been a lot of women. The story went that Aaron would always give them diamonds when he said goodbye. Word had probably gotten around. Vegas, in a lot of ways, was a very small town.
Hell. He could almost hear the women whispering, I got diamonds from Aaron. What did Fletcher give you?
“Fletcher? Is … that okay?”
“Diamonds it is.”
“Oh, thank you—and Fletcher?”
“Yeah?”
“I have to tell you. I’m gonna miss you….”
He wished her well and said goodbye.
Then he buzzed Marla and told her to see that Andrea got her diamonds. After that, he called Darlene in HR and briefed her on her new responsibilities with the KinderWay project.
He didn’t like having to do that—didn’t like giving up the various opportunities for contact with Cleo that holding on to the KinderWay connection would provide.
But Fletcher Bravo knew when to fold ‘em. He knew that a better hand would come his way eventually. Cleo had been as much attracted to him as he was to her. There was no denying heat like that.
Not forever.
All he had to do right now was wait. Lady Luck would find him in her own good time.
She always did.
Chapter Five
Danny took Cleo to Black Angus that night. Right after the waitress served their prime rib dinners, he asked if something was wrong.
For a moment she couldn’t quite meet his eyes. She stared down at her huge baked potato and the mound of sour cream exploding from it. “Good thing I’m not dancing anymore. After a dinner like this one, I’d get kicked off the show at the next weigh-in.”
Danny refused to let her change the subject. He asked softly, “You gonna answer my question, Cleo?”
She made herself look at him. “Oh, really. Nothing’s wrong. Nothing at all. Why?”
“You seem … I don’t know. Kind of sad.”
“But I’m not sad. Not in the least.” It came out sounding way too vehement. She smiled to show him it was no big deal.
He shrugged. “Maybe just distracted, then?”
“Well, okay. A little …”
“Over the deal with Impresario, right?”
She answered lamely, “It’s a big step.”
“Cleo?”
“What?”
“Relax. You’re going to do just fine.”
She beamed him an even bigger smile. “Somehow you always manage to say just the right thing.”
He came in for coffee when they got back to her house. As she was filling the drip basket with fresh-ground decaf, he came up behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her.
She jumped in surprise.
“Hey,” he whispered, smoothing her hair out of the way and pressing his lips to the side of her neck. “It’s only me….”
“No kidding.” She turned in the circle of his arms and rested her hands on his chest.
He whispered, “You’re so beautiful. And I’m crazy for you….” His mouth touched hers.
Cleo kissed him back. But her heart wasn’t really in it.
Danny knew it. He pulled away and gave her a rueful smile. “Not in the mood, huh?” He was too much of a gentleman to mention that she hadn’t been in the mood since a little over a week ago. Since the day she’d met—
She cut that thought off before it went any further. This had nothing to do with any other man. A whole lot had happened in the past week. She was taking on a huge new project. It was only natural that she would be a little bit distracted….
“Danny, I’m sorry. I—”
He laid a light finger against her lips. “Shh. It’s okay.” He stepped back. “Go on, make that coffee.”
She felt as though she ought to say something, to explain herself somehow. But she didn’t want to make a big deal about this. Because it wasn’t a big deal. She was busy and preoccupied and, well, Danny had said it himself: just not in the mood.
Turning back to the coffeemaker, she finished loading the basket.
In the days that followed, Cleo hit the floor running every morning and collapsed into bed exhausted every night.
She bought equipment and supplies, reworked the program guidelines for each of the classes, tweaking and improving so she could start out with the best study blueprint possible at the new location—and keep things fresh and exciting at the original school, as well. She called a big meeting with her current staff, explained her plans for expansion and asked for volunteers to move to the new location. The idea was to take at least a few experienced people over to Impresario so that the new facility wouldn’t be starting with all new hires. It worked. Two teachers—she had six teachers in various capacities at the original location—and three aides said they’d be happy to make the move.
Cleo knew that to expand effectively, she was going to need a really good associate director, someone who could step in and hold down the fort at one location whenever Cleo was needed at the other. Fortunately she found just the right woman for the job on the first day of interviews. A former elementary school assistant principal, Megan Helsberg had the right education and training, the right experience and excellent references. She was also available to start immediately.
Brian