Sex, Lies, and Beauty Aides (8 page)

She stood and paced. “I don’t think you know your brother. He’s has a terrific sense of humor. He’s charming, dashing and not the least bit arrogant. Instead, he acts like—well, like himself,”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so negative and inconsiderate.”

Oddly enough, Travis looked disappointed.

She must sound like a complete idiot to him. “Trent is the kind of man every girl dreams of. He’s not afraid to say what’s on his mind or act on what’s in his head. He’s the only man I know who can laugh at himself.”

“Are you sure we’re talking about my younger brother?” Eyes wide, he leaned back against the sofa cushions.

This wasn’t getting her anywhere. Taking a seat, she crossed her legs and smoothed her slacks. “See, there you go again.”

“My bad.”

“Yes it is.” The wrinkle between his brows was like an injection of guilt over correcting him. Who the heck did she think she was, his mother? “If you’re twins, you can’t be much older than he is, right?”

“Right.” He looked a bit put out.

“Yet, here you are talking smack about him as if being the younger makes him inferior to you in some way. There is no rule twins can’t be individuals with personalities all their own.” She didn’t like pointing a finger, but it had to be done. “And that’s fine. It’s okay for you and Trent not to get along or even have the same interests. But, you do have to respect his choices and he has to respect yours. You could learn a lot from him.”

Humph. Who was she to talk? She felt like a fraud. Here she agreed to take on the additional sections for the magazine all for the sake of a job, knowing full well, it was out of her grasp because she was afraid of sex.

Okay, so maybe she wasn’t afraid of sex, per se. Oh who was she kidding, she was ready for a padded cell. Or. Maybe she was afraid of herself.

Holy crap.

* * * *

Where the hell had she been when he and Travis grew up? Their mother didn’t even get it. Yet, this so-called inexperienced young woman appeared to have more sense than most adults he knew. Why couldn’t he have met her sooner? His life might have been different. If only the rest of his family treated him like she did.

Time to pull back. Too much Travis. He gestured for time out. “Obviously, I’m irritating you again if you feel the need to defend my brother. How about we declare him off limits for the duration of the evening and find another topic?”

“Thank you.” Her shoulders slumped but at least she wasn’t scowling at him any longer.

“Please say you forgive me?”

“Okay.”

“Thank you.” He was going to have to pay more attention to his tone and words.

“Can I ask you a personal question? Well, personal in a professional way.”

“Not sure I understand, but ask away.” He hoped he wouldn’t regret it.

“Not that I want any of the gory details or anything, but in the past, what kept your relationships, well, blossoming and right? What works? What doesn’t?” With each question she leaned further forward, agitation written on her face, her body stiff, and yet in her eyes was fierce ambition to succeed. “What do you want in a woman? What is your perfect woman like in order for you to consider her your mate for life?”

“Slow down Sabrina.” Where was this panic coming from? It was all about the articles for the magazine. Damn. “You’re not asking easy questions. I don’t have those answers right on the tip of my tongue. You’ll have to let me think on it for a minute or two.”

The headache he’d arrived with was well on its way back, ready to hit full force. He wondered how she’d handle answers from Trent. “Okay, let’s start with your first question. First, the main thing I notice about a woman is whether or not she has a sense of humor. It’s even better if she can laugh at herself.”

“What?” Her eyes went wide, her mouth curled into a sulky frown.

“Why the face?” He struggled to keep a straight face.

“Because I’m frustrated. First because that sounds more like Trent, not you. I’ve yet to see you show your sense of humor. And second, how come that works for you? I like the same things.”

Damn. Exactly how much did she know about him? Kat and her big mouth. Some days it didn’t pay to have relatives. At the thought of the stories they’d shared, he had the urge to strangle his cousin. Admittedly, he’d had more fun in life than the average person might experience, and yes, he’d gotten away with more mischief and trouble because of his ability to make people laugh. Still some of his hijinks weren’t things he’d share with a woman unless he was serious about her. Okay, a bit more Travis, a little less Trent.

“You have to understand. I’m here on the spur of a moment and dropped in a job I haven’t done before. Romance wasn’t in my job description. Well, not in the capacity you’re talking about, though I see where you’re coming from all the same.” He was blowing smoke out his ass. How was he supposed to explain what he didn’t understand? He needed to defuse the scattered thoughts racing through his head. “Are you trying to pump me for information about Trent?”

“Of course not.” Her scowl and flared nostrils said it all.

Damn, she was cute when she was pissed. Too bad he was flustered as well. And he knew it wasn’t cute on him. “I’m sorry Sabrina. I didn’t mean to make you angry again, but you brought up Trent”

“Only as a point of reference.”

He felt like a heel. “I don’t feel like I can really be myself.”
No shit
.

“All right, but I’m warning you that’s twice you’ve apologized tonight. One more time and I’ll turn you into a rutabaga.” She grinned.

“Duly noted.” He managed to choke out a hint of laughter, sat back and gave her questions sincere merit.

Sabrina picked up her pen and notebook.

“I like an educated woman, but not one who feels she has to share every painful detail of her knowledge. One who’s confident and doesn’t have to constantly be flattered. She can take the teasing and give it right back.” He managed to remain in true Travis form with the formal gestures, even as he shared his own likes and dislikes.

She flopped back on the couch. “How come that works for you? I like the exact same things in a man, and yet it always turns out as disastrous as my beauty aids gone awry.”

“Excuse me. I think I missed something here.”

She blushed then exhaled. “Let me give you an example. My job as the beauty editor for the magazine has changed from when I first began. Originally, Kat hired me to help women find beauty secrets that really work. Unfortunately, magazine sales are more about advertising than the articles. Well, according to the accountants, that is.”

He’d met the accountants and she was right on the mark.

“For me though, it’s different. I started with the products we advertised in our magazine and rated them. Unfortunately, a few of our clients didn’t like the results I published and pulled their ads. The bean counters won.” She shrugged. “I guess you could say I’m a bit to blame for the loss of a few of our advertisers.”

“You’re not to blame if the products don’t do what they advertise.”

“I agree. I had to change my approach and went for a more logical path. That’s when my section started to get tons of fan mail with questions about the various brands of cosmetics and skin care paraphernalia. Women wanted a natural look.”

There was no denying she was passionate about her job.

“They were fed up paying exorbitant prices at specialty stores for their daily needs. Due to the myriad requests for natural beauty aids, I started to research further and offered recipes made at home from of basic household products. We gave them cheaper products with better results.”

“Nice.” Subscription sales didn’t lie. She was one savvy woman.

“You see, I know what it’s like to have so little money. I have to make every penny count. I work with a local health food store manager to find alternatives.”

“No wonder Kat kept you around.” He was thoroughly and completely impressed. She’d worked hard to come to her conclusions and turned her job around, made it more personal. He wanted to see how she’d manage her current assignment. She’d find a way. No doubt in his mind.

“Well, not always. Remember the day we met? Well, I’d expected Kat to give me a promotion. So, in preparation for my big moment I applied a lip gloss recipe I hadn’t pre-tested.” She smiled sheepishly.

“I don’t see the problem.”

She held up a finger. “Oh, you will. The recipe called for one part petroleum jelly, two parts melted paraffin wax, and one drop of jalapeno oil extract. I didn’t have the extract so I crushed a hot pepper in my garlic press. Since my lips are usually deathly pale, I added two drops instead. What a mistake.” She threw up her hands. “One drop was even too much. I’d have been better off if I’d have added a drop of cinnamon oil only I didn’t want the scent to overwhelm my perfume.”

If he bit his lip any harder he was going to draw blood. Was it tears from the pain or humor that blurred his vision?

“I waited until I got to work to put the new gloss on. The idea behind the recipe is for oil to work with the body’s own blood circulation. Your lips are supposed to show a naturally shiny red shade, not the faux colors women use these days.”

“And?” He had to ask.

“Instead, my lips started to swell and burn right when I was supposed to meet with Kat.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I foolishly believed I got off lucky because I was only to meet with Kat. Then in you walked. I wasn’t at my best. The fumes made my eyes water and my nose run. I had to get out of your office. I even made up the excuse that I had an interview in order to get to the bathroom and wash the stuff off.”

Unable to refrain from laughing, he covered his mouth then snorted as his laughter grew.

“Oh yeah, go ahead and laugh. It wasn’t your lips that mutated like a collagen treatment gone wrong.” She tried to stifle her own giggles. Her snicker turned to laughter. Everything regarding that morning came back in earnest. The more she spoke, the more she lit the room. The more she touched her lips during the telling, the more he wanted to kiss her.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh, but do I remember. I had you pegged as just coming from some hot and heavy make out session.”

“I wish—I mean—ah—oh screw it. I give up.” She closed her eyes then dropped her hands in defeat. “I’m sure you already think I’m a complete lunatic.”

Sabrina replayed every sordid detail of the entire episode. By the time she finished, they’d fed off each other’s laughter until they were both holding their sides. The sight of her having to wipe away tears charmed the hell out of him even more. He could get used to her sexy laugh.

“Enough of your experiments, I don’t think I can take any more tonight. What about you? What do you want in a man?” He wiped his eyes.

She rested her head on the back of the couch, appearing completely relaxed.

“Like you, the first thing I notice is a man’s sense of humor. I love the lilt of a sexy laugh.” She sat up, and turned sideways on the couch. “Did you ever notice when you meet people, the ones who have the wrinkles on the outer side of their eyes are the ones who have the best sense of humor, and the ones who have the wrinkles between their eyes tend to be the grouchy ones?”

“Yes, I have.” Her description nailed Travis to a tee. The lines between his eyes were so deep it made him look like a constipated Grinch at Christmas time. “What else?”

How did any guy miss what a treasure she was? The guys she’d dated must have been morons to give her such a line.

A line.
That’s what it was. She had made them so comfortable in her presence they didn’t feel right proceeding with their agendas to get laid. Sabrina was wife material and they weren’t ready. It was a crazy male code of honor? Yeah, now that made perfect sense.

“The crummy thing is a man gets to call his wrinkles laugh lines, whereas on a woman they’re referred to as crow’s feet. I mean, how unfair is that?”

Her keen sense of humor was beyond inspiring. He didn’t bother to stop the fire she incited within him. “Keep talking.”

“I like a man who can laugh at himself. I’m constantly making mistakes or putting my foot in my mouth. And at times I wish I could take the words back, but you can’t. The only alternative is to laugh at yourself, because Lord knows crying isn’t an option”

Though he hadn’t planned to imitate his brother again, he hated the idea of not seeing her over the weekend. Under the pretext of helping her figure out how to take on her new challenges, he had the perfect excuse to find out more about her or at least be around her.