Trouble in High Heels Read Online Free PDF Page A

sundress, bit her lip, and sat down. Her head throbbing with each movement, she scooted her feet forward and followed with her bottom, step by step, until she reached the foyer, where Kenny danced on the tile floor.
    The doorbell rang. “
Where
is Mabel?”
    Glancing through the peephole, she caught sight of Jackson James. Lori scowled.
This early?
She looked at the grandfather clock and was shocked to see the time was 11:00 a.m.
    Looking down at her mussed self, she shook her head. He couldn’t see her like this. He already had a superior attitude toward her. This would only make it worse. “Oh,” she groaned as the pain shot through her skull. “Kenny, you’re just going to have to pee in the backyard. C’mon,” she said, lightly clapping. “Back door.”
    But Kenny continued to bark and dance in the foyer, even though she gestured for him to follow her. “Kenny, c’mon.”
    The doorbell rang again. Kenny raised his leg. “Oh, no. No, no, no.”
    She opened the door and set the dog outside, where he proceeded to take a leak on Jackson James’s black shoes.
    “Oops.” Lori cringed, noticing that Jackson moved quickly for a man his size. “I’m really sorry. Kenny rarely has accidents, but I couldn’t get Mabel and I didn’t realize how late it was and-” She broke off when she noticed him staring at her face. Oh, God, she hadn’t even glanced in the mirror, but she could well imagine what she looked like, mascara under her eyes and her hair a rat’s nest. Lori shuddered.
    “Please take off your shoes and I’ll get you some new ones in no time. When I find Mabel, I’ll ask her to take the shoes out to the garbage. I apologize for running late for our appointment, but I have a few things I need to do.”
    “I don’t need to throw away these shoes just because your dog sprinkled a little on them. I just need to clean them off. It won’t take me but a minute, and we can go ahead and get to work.”
    Except I’m not ready. “Fine. Let me find Mabel,” she said, heading down the hallway. “Mabel? Mabel?”
    “Yes, ma’am. I was just emptying the trash in the backyard.”
    Lori pulled her housekeeper aside. “Kenny had a little accident on Mr. James’s shoes, so I was wondering if you could get someone to clean them. I also need to shower, so I need you to occupy Mr. James with something,” she said, searching her foggy brain for possibilities. “Food. Just give him food, please, and I’ll be down as soon as I can.”
    Her head still pounding, she dragged herself up the back staircase, so she wouldn’t run into Jackson again. She ate a couple of leftover cookies and downed the Advil she should have taken the night before, then stripped and got into the shower. Although she would have loved to linger, she knew the clock was ticking. Quickly lathering herself from head to toe, she rinsed and got out of the shower. She rubbed herself dry, put some gel in her hair, slapped moisturizer on her face, and applied lipstick, concealer, and mascara. After brushing her teeth twice, she pulled on a red cotton sheath and stepped into red heels. Red made her look more confident, even if she didn’t feel it.
    Sometime in the middle of her Cristal-enhanced sleep, Lori had dreamed the solution to her problem. She would beat her father at his own game of control, and Jackson James was going to help her. Despite her headache and queasiness, she felt completely resolute, and all she had to do to turn her conviction to concrete was to look at the box of letters Harlan had kept from her.
    She walked down the front stairway with a clearer head and entered the parlor, where Jackson James was reviewing some papers. A tray of food that Mabel had left him appeared untouched. The man must have the self-discipline of a priest. No one could resist Mabel’s cinnamon rolls.
    He glanced up at her, his gaze sliding over her in quick neutral assessment. “Nice of you to come,” he drawled, standing.
    She nodded. “I already