Sealing the Deal Read Online Free PDF Page B

quickly. “I am with you. I have papers for you to sign. You can take a day or two to look them over. Whatever you like.”
    “I’ll take them,” she said, with a strange, foreign emotion building pressure within her. “I’d like to go home now.”
    “Absolutely,” he answered, stepping closer to her. “Everything okay?”
    “I’m tired,” she answered not entirely lying. “It’s been a whirlwind couple of days.”
    Stan handed her the papers and made no point to hide the fact that he was studying her. “You will tell me if you have an issue, right? I expect you to be forthright and honest and I can’t reassure you enough. You can trust me.”
    “Thank you,” she said, her voice becoming brittle with tears that wanted to stampede.
    He shepherded her out to the drive and held the door for her as she got into the car. The driver knew where to go. Which was good. She couldn’t speak. She was way too busy crying her eyes out.

Chapter Four
    Dionne told Stan she needed to take a few days. In the strange but comfortable space that was her Eichler home, she spaced out, as she called it. Never dressing in much more than her bikini or her robe, in part because of exhaustion and in part because the grass from Stan’s estate gave her a rash. Her backyard had a solid privacy fence, a couple of pineapple guava and her lounge chair. She spread her terry robe on top of her lawn chair and let the sun’s rays work the stress from her. Cleanse her. Purge her. No more hooking up with strangers. No more meaningless sex. And even though the pitch at Supra with Lionel ended up on her face, she was going to commit to the goal of being at the helm of her own company with her product as the main income maker.
    Stan actually encouraged taking time off though he reminded her once again to send him the contract she had with Category, which she did. Finally. That was all she did that remotely resembled work. She slathered herself with her chocolate mask, some concoction she had gotten in Sonoma that was supposed to draw out toxins – hopefully it would cure her allergic reaction that she was sporting on her skin. Dionne slept the day away.
    At 4 pm she was rousted from her relaxation by the insistent knock of a courier. She wasn’t expecting anything and was leery going to the door in her robe. The house had a privacy courtyard out front and if someone were to slip into the house the way Lionel was able to, the neighbors wouldn’t be any wiser. But Dionne was certainly glad she had answered the door.
    It was a delivery from Category. She had been wrong. They did offer her a severance, and a huge one. One so big it rerouted all urgency for her to get back to work. She was tempted to call and see if there was a clerical error. But she didn’t. She showered quickly, toweled off and stepped into her almost worn-to-nothing jean skirt, a low-back tank top and sandals. She put the top down for this adventure. She was going to go out, deposit her check and maybe take herself to Oscar’s for takeout. Oscar’s was her favorite. It had been a drive-in at one time. She walked up to the window, and though she knew the menu and was probably going to order what she always did, she decided instead to study the menu.
    “I promise this is a coincidence,” Stan said from behind her.
    Dionne flinched and was going to hurl herself around to face him, she was so surprised he had been able to sneak up behind her so easily.
    “Oh please,” he begged, “whatever you do, don’t turn around. It’s such a magnificent angle.” He dragged his finger up the length of her spine. “Chocolate?”
    She was a little embarrassed. That was hard to do – embarrass her. She didn’t often have the good sense to be. She had apparently missed some of the mask from her skin. She also knew her back was splotchy from the grass and that if he could see the mask, he could see the rash.
    He did.
    “Poor baby,” he noted.
    “I was laying out in the sun with only