“I know I have a boyfriend, Tiff, but I’m telling you that this flower guy is so hot.” Grayson cleared his throat, and she glanced over her shoulder. When she saw him, her eyes widened. “I’ve got to go.” She hung up and smiled brightly. “Mr. Beaumont. Don’t you look handsome.”
“Thank you…”—he glanced at her nametag—“Miss Daniels.”
“You can call me Stacy.” She fluttered eyelashes that were so long they looked cartoonish. “Is there something I can do for you, sir? I heard about what happened with the police. I knew that woman was trouble the first moment I set eyes on her.”
It was the truth. Chloe was trouble. But that didn’t excuse this woman’s behavior.
“As a matter of fact, there is something you can do for me,” he said. “You can start treating the visitors to French Kiss with the same respect you give me.” When she looked completely baffled, he explained. “When someone walks in and asks to see either me or one of my brothers, you will treat them with courtesy, kindness, and respect. I don’t care if it’s a bum off the street or the president of the United States.”
The lightbulb went on, and she made an attempt to defend her actions. “But she didn’t have an appointment.”
“That can be explained nicely without making a judgment about people’s clothing or looks. Make sure it doesn’t happen again or you’re gone.” Grayson turned to leave but then stopped and issued one more order. “And that phone is for business calls only.”
When Grayson reached the elevators, he found the security guard grinning.
“That one has always been too sassy for her britches.” He pushed the up button, then looked at Grayson. “I want to apologize for yesterday, Mr. Beaumont. I had no idea that the police would attempt to arrest you. Some folks don’t know how to handle a badge. Especially when you were only trying to save that pretty little gal. To be honest, I never did believe she was trying to steal the ducky of roses.”
“She wasn’t,” Grayson said.
The guard lifted his shaggy gray brows. “It would’ve made things a lot simpler if you had mentioned that earlier.”
The elevator doors opened, and Grayson glanced at the guard before he stepped in. “Just for the record, there’s nothing simple about that pretty little gal.”
When Grayson reached the executive floor, he headed straight to Kelly’s desk. If anyone could help him get through the next couple of weeks, it was Kelly. She could be a little bit of a loose cannon at times, but she was also loyal and efficient. She knew everything there was to know about French Kiss…gossip included.
“So there’s the cop-abusing Beaumont,” she said as soon as she saw Grayson. “My, but you clean up nice. You looked horrendous in your Facebook pictures.”
He stepped up to her desk, which was cluttered with Hello Kitty figurines and sports paraphernalia. Both she and Jason were huge sports fans and spent most of their free time at games. “Make sure you thank Jason again for intervening, and I was thinking that I’d take over Deacon’s office while he was gone. I’m not very good at this boss thing and was hoping you could help me.”
Kelly grinned. “I wouldn’t say that. You handled Stacy Daniels pretty well.”
Holy crap. Gossip did travel fast in an office. Grayson ignored the comment and moved on. “So I’m going to need you to see if I can get an interview—”
“Done.” Kelly handed him a memo. “Entertainment Tonight is sending a camera crew tomorrow morning, and the piece will be aired tomorrow night.”
Grayson shook his head. “Deacon couldn’t let me handle things, could he?”
Kelly laughed. “Are you kidding? In case you haven’t figured this out, your brother’s a huge control freak. The entire office is betting that he won’t make it a week without coming back.”
Grayson didn’t think his brother would make it a week. In fact he wouldn’t be surprised if Deacon walked down the hallway any second. But while Grayson had the ball, he might as well run with it. “So I thought we should have a few of the models at the interview. Call Madison and Natalia and see if they can be here.”
“Fine, but I’m pretty sure ET is going to be more interested in your arrest than in the fashion show.” She got up. “I’ll get you some coffee. I think you’re going to need it. Not only do you have to get ready for the interview but there’s also a million phone calls and e-mails you need to return.”
“Great.” He walked into Deacon’s office.
While Grayson had chosen a small office with good light for his studio, Deacon had chosen Uncle Michael’s huge corner office with panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay. The decor of the office had once been of dark woods, bold paintings, and deep purple fabrics. Now it was furnished in a more contemporary style of glass and chrome with a light gray couch and lavender throw pillows. But the paintings were still the ones that had hung in Uncle Michael’s office. They were all of Paris. The Eiffel Tower. The Seine. And the quaint little lingerie shop that had been his mother’s inspiration for French Kiss.
Before Althea Beaumont had married Grayson’s father, she had traveled to Paris. It was there she’d met Uncle Michael. His uncle had fallen head over heels in love with the beautiful Althea and brought her back to Louisiana to introduce her to his family. It was a mistake. His mother had taken one look at Donny John Beaumont and lost her heart. And her dream of making lingerie. Instead she had raised three sons before she lost her life to cancer. Or she had raised two sons. Grayson had been only eight when his mother died.
When Grayson had lost his ability to draw, he had gone to Paris, hoping to find inspiration as his mother had. But all he’d found was disappointment and a deep, nagging ache for the mother he couldn’t remember.
Ignoring the pain, he turned and walked to Deacon’s desk. He spent what was left of the afternoon answering phone calls and e-mails, rescheduling meetings until after Deacon and Nash came back, and coming up with answers for any questions that ET might ask about the incident with the police. Until now he had always avoided the business side of French Kiss, preferring to deal with the creative side. But now that his creative side had deserted him, he discovered he enjoyed the monotonous tasks and wasn’t even aware of how late it was until Kelly poked her head in.
“I stayed late to try and get things organized for you, but now I’ve got to go home and have sex with my husband before the ovulating window of opportunity closes. That’s why I had the doctor’s appointment this morning: Jason and I are trying to get pregnant. And it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. You have to take your temperature and keep track on a calendar and pee on a stick.” When Grayson cringed, she laughed. “I guess that was too much information for a single guy.”
“Just a little. But I wish you luck. And tell Jason that I want to meet with him in the morning to go over contracts.”
“Will do. See you in the morning.” She closed the door.
After Kelly left, Grayson pulled up the pictures of the new designs. Besides taking on Deacon and Nash’s job, he still needed to get the holiday catalog out. Which meant he might be spending the night in Deacon’s office. Especially after seeing the pictures Miles had taken. Miles was an excellent photographer, but he’d missed the mark on the Romeo Collection. The pictures looked too sweet. Too romantic. They needed edge. While he was studying the pictures, Madison breezed into the office, looking like the sexy lingerie model she was in a clingy red dress and sky-high heels.