Tina grimaced. “Uh, yes. Would you like me to . . .”
“Help me remove the herpes of crafts from my hair?” Rhiannon nodded. Glitter tumbled to the carpet.
Lakshmi handed her the note and brushed at Rhiannon’s curls. “At least it’s your favorite color,” she remarked.
True. Unfortunately, she wore a black sweatshirt today, which meant the pink glitter was showing up really well. “I don’t like any color glitter.”
“Again, I am so sorry,” Tina said. She timidly dusted at Rhiannon’s shoulder. “Annabelle is . . . eccentric.”
Rhiannon glanced around to make sure no one was listening. She trusted all her employees, but no need to get anyone’s hopes up if nothing would come of this. “What that stripper was saying . . .”
“Not a stripper,” Tina said hastily. “I nixed that idea.”
“What is Kostas’s deal?” Lakshmi wondered out loud. “Is she nuts?”
Tina drew herself up to her full height, and haughty arrogance replaced her contrition. “My employer is not nuts. She’s a woman who has a whimsical, fun sense of humor. She’s not stuffy.”
Lakshmi straightened, too, and glowered down at the smaller woman. “You know, there’s a pretty broad spectrum between stuffy and a stuffed cake.”
Tina’s nose twitched, as if she agreed with Lakshmi, but her stubborn chin didn’t waver. Which was good. Rhiannon respected that, and she bet Lakshmi did too. Lakshmi might argue with her in private, but she’d defend her until the death to a third party.
Rhiannon cleared her throat to bring them back on track. “This party next weekend. The pitch and presentation. Is that for what I think it’s for?”
“It’s an introductory meeting, yes.” Tina nodded at the piece of paper Rhiannon held. “Those are the details. Dinner on Friday evening, pitches on Saturday. It’ll take place at Annabelle’s beach house in Cayucos. Driving is probably the best way of getting there.”
“I’m familiar with the place,” Rhiannon murmured, because she couldn’t admit she’d stalked the shit out of Annabelle already.
“Great.”
“Will there be multiple interested parties?”
Tina nodded. “Four at the moment.”
Fuck. She could guess for sure who at least one of those four were. “Can you tell me their names?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Rhiannon backed off. No need to badger Annabelle’s assistant. “Were they all sent glitter-grams, though?”
Amusement danced in the blonde’s eyes, and Rhiannon wondered if she hadn’t taken some enjoyment in this unconventional invitation, despite her profuse apologies. “No. They were sent couriers with invitations. The glitter-gram, as you call it, is a token of Annabelle’s affection for the recent partnership our companies have enjoyed.”
Rhiannon nodded. More glitter rained down. “Lucky me.”
Tina’s tone turned businesslike. “Can I relay your acceptance for the weekend?”
“Yes. Of course. I’ll be there Friday evening.”
“Wonderful.”
Tina turned to leave and Lakshmi launched into motion. “Let me see you out. We’ve talked on the phone, but I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.”
Tina nodded, but didn’t look entirely ready to forgive Lakshmi for her jab at her employer. “I know who you are. The Lakshmi with no last name.”
“Correct.” Lakshmi smoothed her loose tie. She wore a slim fit pinstriped three piece suit today. “À la Beyoncé.”
Rhiannon left her assistant to handle Tina and escaped to her office. She closed the blinds, placed her hands over her mouth to muffle the noise, and squealed.
Yessssss.
She grabbed up her phone, no longer capable of thinking about things like periods and a lack of emojis. Samson’s low, husky voice came on the line, and Rhiannon’s brain went a little soft. “Rhi. Hi. I’m so glad you called.”
“I am covered in pink glitter,” Rhi blurted out.
There was a beat of silence. “I am not.”
She suppressed her laugh.
His voice deepened. “Is this slang for something? Does glitter mean something other than glitter?”
“No, actual glitter. Your aunt. Your aunt is the reason I’m covered in pink glitter.”
A longer pause. “Uh.”
Rhi quickly brought him up to speed.
“Ahhh,” Samson drawled. “Aunt Belle does love sending ridiculous invitations. It was singing telegrams for her sixtieth birthday, I believe. To my locker room.”
“I bet your teammates got a kick out of that.”
“You have no idea. I’m glad Tina was there to clarify, at least.”
“Did you have an idea she was planning this?”
“She asked if I was free next weekend, but other than that, no. If I’d known what she was planning, I might have given you a heads-up. Or at least talked her down from the glitter.”
Samson would be there. She suppressed the thrill of excitement. Business. This was business. “Do you know who the other guests will be?” Even if Tina couldn’t tell her, maybe Samson would.
Manipulative.
Yeah, this was veering into conflict-of-interest territory. Samson’s first loyalty was to his aunt and the company he had a stake in, and she didn’t want to force him to inadvertently betray the woman. She almost retracted her question, but he spoke first.
“I don’t, I’m sorry. She said there were three others who were interested in buying the company, but I don’t know the details.”
The others, one of whom may be Peter. She opened her mouth, and the toxic bitter words were there in the back of her throat. Words like evil and harassment. But she bit them back.
The best revenge is success. Even if Peter was there, she’d kick his ass. She didn’t need Samson’s assistance.
She picked at some glitter on her hoodie. “Cool. Anyway, I’m busy, so I’ll go. Gotta work on my pitch. I wanted to thank you for talking to Annabelle.”
“My pleasure.”
She shivered, hating how beautifully he said that word. Pleasure. She wondered if he’d invite her over again, for more sex. She didn’t have any time between now and Friday, but she wanted him to invite her anyway.
“I’ll see you next weekend then. I don’t think I’m going to get a glitter-gram with my invite. I guess that’s a good thing.”
She grinned. “It’s a very good thing.”
“Put together a great pitch, Rhi.”
She bared her teeth. “It’ll be the best pitch.”
She could tell he was smiling. “I don’t doubt it. We should drive up together.”
Like Rhiannon would ever be able to get into a vehicle with him and not think about sex, after all that “walking her to her car.” Please. “I don’t know when I’m leaving yet.”
“Ah. Right. Text me if you have any questions about your pitch. Or we could meet up—”
There was the invite she’d craved but couldn’t take. She shook her head, though he couldn’t see. “I’ll be swamped trying to juggle everything and get this pitch done.”