Now Caelen was really worried. “What’s going on with you? Is everything okay?”
“No, but I don’t want to talk about it. We have a school to fight for.”
“If you two Chatty Cathies are done, I want to tell you what I found.” Dacey started banging away on her laptop, no longer using the tablet; she’d taken out the big guns. Baby D was in her element.
“First off, I’ve been hitting social media hard, utilizing every free advertising options out there, and I was able to drum up a few more clients for tonight. We have about twenty-five people signed up, so far.”
“Average age range? Please tell me it is below the nineties.” On an afterthought, Caelen added, “And above the teens.”
“The age groups are all over the place; it should be a nice mix.”
“They understand the graphic nature of the class?”
“Are you kidding? That was my key marketing technique. I made it
very
clear that you were going to deliver the good stuff.” Dacey wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“Okay. Well, on my end, I think I have a good one to two hours of material. I also have the party all set. I have the tent set up in the back with candles, decorations, yada yada… I’ll lead the ladies back there as soon as the class is over.” Caelen wandered back to her seat as she explained.
“The classes are in the main ballroom?”
“Yeah. Did you let the newbies know the theme for the party?”
“Yup. Angels and Devils. Ms. Belle was a crazy strategist. She had this event planned down to the smallest detail. She was the best.”
All four girls nodded in agreement.
“Do you guys have your costumes ready?” Caelen asked.
“I’m not really the costume type.”
“I didn’t think we had to dress up. We’re the staff. Does the staff dress up?”
“Hell no, I am not wearing a costume.”
With narrowed eyes, Caelen blasted her sisters with her best schoolmarm look. “I cannot believe you three. You’ve had all week to plan this. Just because I was fighting with more than half of you, doesn’t mean you get to shirk your duties.”
None of the sisters replied.
“Come
on.
I need your help to make this a success. You
have
to dress up.” When she was met by blank stares, she continued with a lot more force. “I am going to be up there, in front of some really old ladies, talking about
blowjobs.
Do you understand how truly mortifying that is? The least you can do is dress up!”
“But we don’t have time to get costumes. You need our help to set up.” Whiny was not a good look for Dacey.
“I’m insulted. You’re not dealing with an amateur. Who is the queen of dress up? I have a box in the back of my car with some crazy, sexy Halloween costumes. You know I go all out. You’ll have your choice of devil horns, wings, maybe a halo or two—I don’t know. Just make it work.”
“Where’s your costume?” Athena said with a mulish set to her mouth.
“Upstairs. I will give my BJ spiel and then I’ll run to my room and change.” Caelen looked around the room and none of her sisters would meet her eye. “Come on. After everything I’m doing, you’re going to leave me hanging? Dressed all by myself?”
Finally, the girls looked a bit sheepish.
“Oh, all right,” Athena harrumphed.
“I’ll go and find the box,” Brynn volunteered.
“No.
No, no, no. Enough with the costumes. The information I have is too good. I have to tell you about The Handsome Devil soon or my head is going to explode. Get over here and sit down. He is a bigger threat than we could have imagined. He wants the school and he wants it bad. Unfortunately, he might have a legitimate claim.”
Holy shit. What now? She needed another Pop Tart to handle this information. Things had just started to go her way. Athena and Dacey had found out about Victor and they hadn’t freaked out. Somewhere, deep down inside, she started to hope that maybe Dare could be as understanding. This morning had been incredible. He’d been so commanding, yet gentle. He’d made her feel like she was the center of his universe.
She started to hope she might be able to get the guy
and
the school. Now she had to brace herself for Dacey’s news. “Hit me. Just say it all at once.”
Bzzz. Bzzz.
“Oh, hell no. That’s it.” Dacey reached for Caelen’s phone sitting on the desk, scrolling like crazy as her blond curls bounced in irritation. “That douchebag’s gone too far this time. I have serious information to share and he interrupts me? I don’t think so.”
“Dacey, give me my phone. I’ll shut it off.” Caelen started to rise, reaching a hand out to her sister. “Stop messing with it. It’s not used to being handled by technologically savvy people. Give it.”
“Oh no. I am going to block his old ass so he can never—”
“He’s not old! He’s only in his forties.”
“Holy shit!”
“Forties isn’t too bad.”
“No, no. Not that.” Dacey glanced up, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. “When was the last time you checked your messages?”
“You know I’ve been ignoring my texts. Why? What’s wrong?” Caelen felt the nervous lump in her stomach start to grow and sprout roots, digging in deep, anchoring and settling itself in for the long haul. “Why?”
“For God’s sake, stop being dramatic. What does it say?” Athena asked.
“‘Sky-high fuck-me pumps.’ That was the last one.” Dacey read.
“That doesn’t even make sense.” Brynn made her way closer to Dacey to peek over her sister’s shoulder.
“I know, so I scrolled up a little higher. God, Caelen, he—”
“Just read them,”
Brynn and Athena shouted together.
But Caelen knew what the text meant, and it froze her lungs solid, making it impossible to breathe. She sat down while her sisters surrounded Dacey.
Wear the shoes I like
I love you, know you love me too
If you won’t come to me, I will come to you
See you soon
“When were those sent?” Athena was all business now, her eyes piercing, readying for battle. She had always been their fiercest protector, but Caelen knew she couldn’t fix things this time.
“Within the last hour.”
“My God, that means—”
“I know! His texts are weird, right? Nobody spells out the word ‘you’ or capitalizes or uses
commas.
He really must be ancient.”
“Dacey.”
Dacey’s statement somehow started to thaw the block of ice in her lungs. All at once, she could breathe again. All of this was her own fault, she knew, but with an Aha moment that would make Oprah proud, she realized that Victor was the least of her problems. He was no longer the monster in the closet, because she’d stopped believing. He no longer held any power over her, so it was time to let him know that. Besides, Victor was a coward to his core, no way he’d actually show up.
Empty threats, his specialty. Anything to mess with her mind.
Caelen’s thoughts were lost to the four, now-ominous notes of Ms. Belle’s ear-splitting doorbell, as it blasted through the small office.
All four sisters jumped and stared. They waited in total silence until Ms. Hattie shuffled into the room, completely out of breath. “Girls? Oh, thank the Lord above, all four of you are home at once.”
“Ms. Hattie. What’s wrong?”
“The Devil. He’s here insisting on access to Mr. Brown’s office. I usually don’t interfere with that boy’s ramblings, but this time he’s out of sorts. I think he heard about the classes.”
“Oh thank God!” The words flew out of Caelen’s mouth before she could help herself. Her sisters looked at her with raised eyebrows.
“This is an improvement?”
“You know what I meant. I just couldn’t deal with Victor right now. But you’re right, this is bad. First thing’s first. Ms. Hattie, please sit down.” The poor woman was teetering on her cane. “Dacey, get her a glass of water.”
“Don’t worry, Ms. Hattie. We’ll take care of everything.” Athena rushed from the room before they could formulate a plan. It would be a miracle if Caelen made it out to the small office before Athena had her hands around The Devil’s neck. “Brynn, go supervise Athena and make sure she doesn’t kill him.”
Dacey came back into the room with the water and settled Ms. Hattie on the white couch. “What kind of maniac yells at an eighty-year-old woman?”
“Eighty-two, dear.”
“That’s even worse!”
“I don’t know, but I’m about to find out. What the hell is his name, anyway? I can’t just call him The Devil.”
“Mr. Willem Bartholomew Charles.”
Caelen gulped and said, “Last name, Charles? As in, Belle Charles, our benevolent benefactor and the former owner of Ms. Belle’s Charm School?”
“One and the same.”
Caelen’s chest felt heavy, suddenly each breath in was a tight wheeze through her lungs. This was worse than she thought. A long lost relative had come out of the woodwork and decided to stake a claim on the charm school. “We’re screwed.”
Chapter 29
‡
D
ARE JOGGED UP
the front steps, ready to face the day and talk to Caelen. This morning had been… Well, he didn’t have the words. But if he were a better man, a more poetic man, he might describe it as “beautiful.”
Caelen’s soft body, the connection… Damn, he was right back in high school, when he’d wanted her so bad he couldn’t see straight. For some reason, probably because of the moron who kept calling her on the telephone, she was fighting what happened, fighting the feelings between them. The arrangement was over, but this morning had to mean something to her. It had rocked his world, her tender touches, the feel and smell of her.
He knew with every fiber in his body, he couldn’t live without her.
Now to convince her of that.
Luckily, he’d found the way around Caelen’s defenses. At least physically, pleasure. She was a slave, as much as he, to the sensation and the chemistry between them.
Deciding to take the front entrance in, Dare adjusted his crisp white shirt. He figured Caelen deserved to see how good he could look when he cleaned up. To complete the look, he’d shaved, threw on some charcoal slacks and actually styled his hair. She would love it. As he bound through the door, instead of soft music and warm hugs, he was confronted by anarchy.
The Ladies that Lunch were buzzing – minus Old Henry who sat stoically – around the ballroom. Athena was yelling “Where is he?” and barreling through the hallway, making a beeline for Mr. Brown’s office across the hall from where the group sat.
Brynn quickly followed before he could ask either of them what was going on. Carly popped up by his side, and he gave a mental sigh of relief. If anyone had the skinny on what was going down, it would be Carly. “Hey, Squirt.” He rumpled her hair. “What’s the 411?”
Carly glared and crossed her arms, “Don’t call me that. I’m not a baby. Why does everyone keep treating me like a kid? I’m almost grown.” Carly’s voice almost shattered his ear drums.
He threw his hands in the air, unable to stifle the small laugh. “Okay, okay. You’re a fully grown young lady. I swear.” He’d known Carly since she was a gangly pre-teen, too smart and too weary for her own good. His childhood had been rough, but Carly had lost both her parents by the time she graced Ms. Belle’s halls. She’d changed a lot over the years, but he still saw her as the tomboy with a chip the size of a brick on her shoulder.
“Exactly. I’m
practically
a woman. That’s why I tried to sign up for the sex classes, but—Dare? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Carly whapped him on the back, right between the shoulder blades.
He took in great gasps of air, hardly able to breathe. Her last statement had him doubled over. He’d opened his mouth to blast her, and the mint he’d been sucking on had gone down the wrong tube. When he could take a breath again, he wheezed. “Over my dead body.” Even the idea! Just thinking about—His brain shut down. Carly and Caelen’s techniques could not simultaneously share space in his brain. Not happening.
“Dare.”
He held up a hand. “You’re too young. Period. End of discussion.” He was one of the few people she listened to, and he prayed to God that this wasn’t one of the times she tried to defy him. “I better not see you skulking around later on tonight.”
Carly’s face went bright red and a sheen of tears touched her long lashes.
He felt like a total ass. He’d obviously embarrassed and pissed her off. “I’m sorry. Come here.” He looped his arm around her shoulder and hugged tight. Her small frame felt so fragile tucked under his arm.
“Does that mean I can go?”
“Nope.” He didn’t even want to ask why she thought she needed the classes. Maybe he could ask Caelen to talk to her. He was at a loss when it came to girly stuff.
She just sighed, snuggled in closer, and stood silently. He cleared his throat, touched by the trust the young girl gave him. “Enough of the mushy stuff,” he said and stepped away from her. “Now, I need your help. Why is everyone running around here like chickens with their heads cut off?” A door slammed shut and Dare went on alert. “Has everybody gone crazy? What’s going on?”
Carly wiped her eyes against the back of her hand, and then bounced up and down in excitement, unable to contain her glee. “OMG, Dare. It’s crazy. The Devil is here, and he’s making all kinds of demands!”
“The Devil? Who’s that?”
“This guy who’s been poking around the school. Ms. Hattie told me he’s trying to take over, but not to worry because the Calvo Quads would fix everything.”
Dare looked up, his eyes narrowing on the door to Mr. Brown’s office. “Why hasn’t anybody told me about this guy?”
She brushed her wispy bangs out of her hair and smiled. “Oh, that’s because Ms. Hattie made all of us swear not to get you all ‘riled up,’ because you’re so strong and protective that you’re bound to ‘hurt the poor, defenseless man.’” Carly clapped her hands in glee, and the look she gave him bordered on bloodlust, an innocent, teenage version, but bloodlust just the same.