Dark and Stormy: Sacred Hearts Coven Read online

  “We’re so excited about our trip this weekend. You know how I love to surprise Michelangelo with my sexy little outfits.” Serena opened the back door and reached in to pull out several bags.

  Regina was expecting to see a little bag from Victoria’s Secret. There was that and then some. Serena was most excited about a large, black bag. Serena’s eyes lit up like she was about to crack open a piñata.

  “First of all, I think I got a little carried away.” Serena almost blushed as she started pulling items out of the bag. The flush in her cheeks was more about how many things she bought, because a prude she was not.

  “Serena, that’s a pretty big bag, and these outfits—if that’s what you want to call them—they are smaller than tiny.”

  “I know. Isn't it great? It makes packing so much easier. More room for shoes. Next time I go to the boutique, you have to come with me. We’ll have so much fun.”

  “I wouldn't have anyone to wear this stuff for even if I would dare to put one of these on. What is this anyway?” She held up something that looked like two strips of lace and a bunch of strings.

  “Isn't it hot? Look, this is how it goes.” Serena held it up in front of her over her snug lavender dress. She showed Regina how the lace strips tied around the neck and they met at the crotch. The lace panels were just wide enough to cover a nipple. The strings crisscrossed, making three X's between the breast line and over the center of the ribs. Two more strings were there to curve over the hips and meet just at the top of her butt crack with a cute little bow.

  A loud noise startled them both. Serena threw the stuff back in the black bag. They turned and found that Sam hadn’t been paying attention and ran the lawn mower into the side of the arbor.

  “Oh, for goodness sakes,” Serena said as she grabbed her bags and shut the door.

  “Well, it is probably your fault. What did you expect the guy to do when you’re out here pulling sexy lingerie across your body? The shmuck couldn’t help himself.”

  “I know, right. I love it.” Serena turned, but Regina was a few steps behind, doing a cross between a waddle and a hop with one shoe on.

  “I told you to take those off. Here, take my bags into my office and grab my slippers. I’ll deal with Sam.”

  “Okay. Don't ride him too hard. You wouldn’t want him to start crying.” Regina laughed to herself and ran barefoot back into the office.

  Regina came in the back door. It entered into the kitchen, which was closer to Serena’s office than if she’d gone around to the main entrance. Avoiding the staff was a moot point since she was going to have to put on a pair of slippers.

  Regina tossed the bags on Serena’s desk and started to look around for the slippers. No such luck. The problem was that Regina was looking for a pair of fluffy slippers or maybe a pair of Isetoners. The only thing she found was a pair of pink marabou house slippers. As if the thought of having to walk around the office in a pair of house shoes wasn’t bad enough, she now knew she would be walking around in pink-feathered pumps.

  Regina sighed and removed her torn thigh-highs and tossed them in the trash before slipping on the fuzzy pumps.

  On the bright side, if there was one, Regina wore mostly black and white, so today being no different, she at least sort of matched. It did occur to her that she might have a meeting later. The thought had her rushing up to her desk to check her agenda.

  Before she got to her seat, she looked out the window at the top of the stairs. She saw Serena still talking to Sam. The arbor was still standing. Hopefully there was little to no damage. She didn’t want to be pulled into a conversation with Michelangelo, explaining what happened out there.

  A whistling noise had her spinning around. She could feel the bottom of her dress flare up a little from spinning so fast. She smoothed it down and pushed the idea out of her mind that maybe she was leaning to far over and her skirt hiked up.

  Reddick was sitting at his desk with his feet kicked up on the corner of the cherry veneer. “Looking hot, Reg. I am so digging those shoes.”

  Regina looked down at her feet and held up her other shoes in front of her. One still intact, the other missing a heel. “I had a bit of a mishap in the parking lot. Can you believe this? The heel of my shoe got caught in a crack and snapped right off.”

  “I like it. Playful looks good on you. You should try it more often.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have to go check my schedule. I can't meet a client with these furry things on.”

  Regina glided over to her desk and pulled up her agenda for the day. No meeting. She had two client meetings tomorrow. She breathed a sigh of relief.

  She could smell Reddick before he could open his mouth with another comment. He must have followed her over.

  “I can take your clients if you need me to,” Reddick offered, knowing it would piss her off. Regina would never hand away a chance to make a sale. There was no emergency too big that she couldn’t finagle.

  “I'm fine, thanks. Lucky I don’t have to see anyone else until tomorrow.”

  “What about your date?” Reddick probed.

  “My date. My date would love these shoes. He’ll gobble them up.” Which was true. Crunch loved to get his hands on anything fluffy. She never left any of her shoes out where he could get to them. “Serena is actually heading back to the mall for a return and is picking me up a new pair. So no worries there.”

  He shook his head, acknowledging her story. She wasn't sure if he bought it, but what did it matter what he thought?

  “Is there anything else? I have to get to work. Did you collect the proposal sheets from everyone?”

  “Yup, they’re on my desk. Are you sure you wouldn't like to review them tonight over martinis?”

  “What part of ‘I have a date’ don't you understand? How about this. You give me half of them, and I’ll read them tonight when I get home. You can buy me a salad for lunch tomorrow and we can talk about what we have to work with for our presentation.”

  Reddick stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out the moonstone. He held it in front of her. “Show me yours.”

  The sides of Regina’s full red lips curled up. She almost forgot. She reached in her drawer and put it in Reddick’s hand. They were identical, although if she didn't know any better, the stones appeared to shimmer when she put hers in his hand.

  “They’re pretty,” she said as they both stared down at them.

  Without lifting his head, he looked up at her. He was sizing her up. He didn't want to get caught saying something inappropriate about their boss. He might have gained his position based on his sales history, but at the end of the day, he knew they were girlfriends too.

  “I don't even know what to say or what to do with this thing.” Regina broke the silence. “She is very colorful, to put it nicely.”

  “You can say that again.”

  Regina reached into Reddick’s palm to retrieve her stone. He grabbed her wrist and held both stones and her hand in his own. “Don't forget to put this under your pillow tonight.”

  Regina gently slid her hand back, along with her stone. “I guess it can't hurt.”

  “Just remember I’ll be sleeping with mine under my pillow too. It will be like we’re sleeping together.” He pursed his lips in a devious but sexy little smile.

  “You wish. Go get me those papers and for heaven’s sake, do some work before I double your sales for the month.”

  “Ha! You wish.” Reddick went back to his desk and buried himself in emails and calls.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Regina’s New Shoes

  THE DAY WAS winding down. Most of the staff had gone home for the day. A few sales reps were still attempting to grind out what they could. Serena’s gift card raffle had a select few going the extra mile, looking for not just an entry into the raffle, but multiple entries.

  Regina and Reddick were both happy with where they were with their teams for the month. This was one of the first times neither of them was looking to c
ut any loose links. Regina felt strongly that the team they had on staff at this point was the main factor in having a steady increase in revenue. Too bad Serena wasn’t going to accept that as an answer for how they were achieving the numbers or how they could continue to grow the business.

  She looked at the folder on her desk with her half of the notes from the meeting. Her shoulders slumped a little bit knowing there was a bunch of rubbish in there. Not to mention, if there were any halfway decent ideas, Reddick would have made sure they were in his pile.

  Regina always felt like he was a bit sneaky. He was a born salesman, but at the end of the day, she never caught him doing anything unethical or shiesty. He was a hard worker and good at what he did. Regina just preferred to be better.

  The time on her computer screen suddenly reminded her that Serena never made it back from the mall. Looking down at her pink feathery footwear, she decided to shoot Serena a text.

  Hey, boss lady. I’m going to wrap up here soon.

  Just wanted to see if you need anything before

  I head out. And don't worry, I have my moonstone

  to put under my pillow.

  Even though her desire was to say, “Hey, did you happen to get me new shoes or do I have to wear your crazy slippers home?” This wasn’t how she was about to communicate to her boss. It was nice enough of her to have offered to grab her a new pair. The alternative would have been lost hours of work. Her phone beeped back at her.

  Great news about the stone. I forgot to tell you

  I stopped back at the office and grabbed my laptop.

  I left your shoes there.

  Just as she was about to head downstairs, her phone beeped again.

  Sorry. Mick wanted to meet for an early dinner.

  Remind Reddick about the stone.

  Success in love and business.

  The balance between the two is the key.

  Regina texted back to Serena:

  Enjoy your night.

  I’m running down to see what you got me.

  Thanks again!

  REGINA TOOK OFF the marabou slippers and carried them as she ran down the stairs to Serena’s office. She ran so fast that she failed to notice she was the only one upstairs. When she was in the work zone, if you weren’t directly in front of her with a work-related issue, she was oblivious to what was going on around her.

  Moving faster than she should have, Regina’s left foot missed the last step and her feet went swinging out in front of her. As her butt, back, and head went flying backward onto the steps, she screamed out.

  Lucky that she was already at the bottom of the stairs, she didn't have far to fall, but the loud thud she made combined with her yelp had a certain somebody running to see what happened.

  Regina didn’t move, as the wind had been knocked from her pipes. There was a sharp dull pain at the base of her spine where she hit the edge of the step.

  “Holly crap, are you okay?” Reddick stood hovering over her. “Take a minute before you get up. Did you fall all the way down the stairs?”

  “No. I think I just missed the last step.” Regina tried to laugh, but was still catching her breath. She wanted to get up as fast as possible. She never wanted to appear weak, especially not in front of a man.

  “Can you wiggle your toes and fingers?” Reddick asked as he squatted down in front of her.

  Regina wiggled her fingers and before she could start wiggling her toes, he had her feet in his hands. Her stomach dropped a little bit. Even though they’d worked closely together, other than bumping into each other and shaking hands a few times, they had never really touched each other.

  Quite frankly, it had been almost six months since anyone besides Crunch had touched her.

  Reddick looked up at her and she couldn’t help but be mesmerized by his light eyes. Reddick’s Mediterranean skin was a shade darker than her own. His light hazel irises were set off by the contrast of his skin. The sun was just about to set, but just enough light still shone in through the windows, streaming directly into his eyes. They had a twinkle she never noticed before.

  Regina sat up and wiggled her toes. “See, all good. Nothing’s broken. I just slipped a little. Really, it’s not a big deal.”

  “What's the rush?” He still gently held Regina’s perfectly manicured toes in his wide hands.

  “I just needed to grab something from Serena’s office.” Regina told her body to retract her feet from the man’s hands, but they were perfectly happy to stay where they were. But why exactly was he still holding them?

  “Maybe you should stay here. I can get it for you. What is it? A file?” he asked.

  Regina blushed a little. Even Reddick expected that the most important thing for her was work. And not that it wasn't, but she loved her a pair of shiny new red shoes.

  With her lips curled ever so slightly in the corners, she replied, “No, if you must know, I was going to get my new shoes.”

  Reddick noticed the pink feathers scattered and the slippers sitting on the floor behind him. He gently released her feet and leaned back to grab the shoes she dropped on her way down.

  He held his hand out to her and stood up. Regina accepted and stood on her feet. She felt like she’d shrunk. It was weird how tall Reddick was as she stood before him barefoot. It was also surprising that no one else had come over to see the sight of her sprawled out on the stairs.

  “How about I carry these for you? I was just heading to the kitchen to grab a protein bar.” Reddick still held the pink, fluffy slippers in his hand.

  “Well, I was trying to distract you.” She tried to make a joke of her accident.

  “You’ve done a good job of that all afternoon in these shoes. I do believe they’re meant to be worn in the bedroom.” Reddick double lifted his eyebrows at her and handed her back Serena’s shoes before he continued on to the kitchen.

  It hadn’t occurred to her that the pumps were typically worn with a nightie. God only knew where his mind went with that the past few hours. Hopefully somewhere just long enough to keep him from surpassing her sales for the day. But not so far off that his mind found its way into the gutter.

  Regina grabbed the hidden key to Serena’s office and went in to find a Nordstrom’s bag on top of her desk with a tiny card attached to the front.

  Regina,

  Please accept these shoes as my apology for my parking lot eating one of your favorite pairs. Slide your feet into their new home. Wear them with a reverence and conviction in all that you do.

  Luv ya, Serena

  Regina smiled and put the card in the silver shopping bag. She was shocked to see a red Valentino shoebox. Her mouth hung open. She knew enough about shoes to know they were way out of her budget. She debated whether or not she should even open them, let alone wear and keep them.

  The only problem was that she knew Serena well enough to know that what she wanted was what she got. If she wanted to buy a pair of shoes that cost nearly a thousand dollars for someone, then that’s exactly what she would do.

  Letting her inner child relish in the excitement, she pulled out the box. How could they not be perfect? Even the box was red. Serena grabbed a chair and sat with the box on her lap.

  She slowly lifted off the top and tucked it under the box. The soft, velvety red bag to later store the shoes in was enough to make her cry. She sat there and stroked the bag with her eyes closed, relishing in the experience of the opportunity to own such an extravagant pair of shoes. Regina opened her eyes and removed the red bag, placing it neatly on the desk in front of her.

  She wanted to tear into the soft tissue paper, but controlled the urge. Taking her time, she unfolded the wrapped pair of shoes. The first shoe shone as bright as the red box. The color was a perfect match to the cherry-red lipstick she wore.

  Regina was glad to find they didn’t have a red bow on top. Although she would have loved them just the same, she knew she wouldn't be able to wear them on a daily basis. She lifted the box to double-check the
size. A sigh of relief slipped out when she realized the patent leather heels were her favorite Lisbeth style in a slingback with a cheeky peep toe.

  REDDICK GRABBED HIS protein bar and a bottle of water from the kitchen. He had plenty of work to do before meeting up with the guys for drinks. He was hungry, but dinner would have to be a late-night salad. For now, he had time for a quick snack.

  He opened his protein bar as he was walking out of the kitchen. Just as he was about to take a bite, Regina caught his eye. She was standing barefoot in front of Serena’s desk, reading a small note.

  He couldn't help but be a little fascinated by her excitement over a pair of shoes. Reddick was always well dressed. He never came to work without a freshly laundered and pressed suit. Toward the end of the day, as most of the staff filtered home, he would remove his jacket and tie. He wore designer label clothing both for work and casual, but he mostly just followed the trends and knew what brands were more popular at any given time.

  He made sure that he not only looked successful, but that people knew he was successful by the amount of money he spent on his clothes and other material objects such as his watch and car. By no means was he ever excited about a pair of shoes or a new sweater, not like this.

  Her excitement allowed her to have an air of innocence. This was a refreshing way to see a female, especially one that he often butted heads with. He respected that she was a powerhouse, but he would never let her know that. He got way too much pleasure in watching her squirm at his snide remarks.

  Reddick decided to grab a seat behind one of the desks and pretended to be on the phone. He knew he was just out of her field of vision, but he didn’t want to get caught watching her.

  After taking a few bites of his protein bar, he absently put it down. He was too consumed with watching Regina’s every move. She opened the box so slowly that one may have thought the contents of the box were fragile or about to explode. He wondered what was so special about these shoes.