My Sister's Shoes (Little Black Box, Book 1) by Cherrie Mack Page A

attractive?
    The waiter arrived with her pizza. Zach pointed to the hot, cheesy delight. “We didn’t order that.”
    “The young lady changed her order, sir.” The waiter winked at Allie.
    She giggled. “Yes, I did. I decided I was starved.”
    He offered an appreciative expression. “Then dig in,” he suggested.
    Zach’s phone buzzed and once again he was occupied with what she thought to be work. “Excuse me, Allison. I need to deal with this. I’ll be right back.”
    Waiting on Zach to return, Allie enjoyed her extra-cheese pizza. She noticed the two older ladies from earlier looking her way. She didn’t know them, but she’d swear they wanted to talk to her. Maybe they know me from Longwood? Since she was turning over a new leaf, she decided to start up a conversation.
    “Ladies, I see you eyeing my pizza. All I can say is order it. You won’t be sorry.” They both smiled at her and exchanged a look. One woman spoke up. She wore a lovely green suit that matched the color of her eyes. When she smiled, her crow’s feet spread so far out that they reached her temples. The lipstick residue on her teeth had Allie running her tongue over her own.
    “It does look delicious, dear. You don’t know who we are, but we know the young man you are lunching with.” She looked around as if checking for Zach’s whereabouts. Putting her hand to the side of her mouth to keep her words private, she whispered, “Has he asked you for money, dear? Because we hear his father will not fund his latest project. Word has it that he is getting some ‘lady friends’ to sponsor. Don’t invest, dearie. His projects are foul and never see the light of day.”
    Her friend added, “You better believe it. It’s true.”
    Allie crinkled her brow. Could it be? He looks like such a nice guy. Recalling Angelo’s words, the voice in her head came through loud and clear. “There you go again, judging a book by its cover.” The ladies went back to their conversation, one saying to the other, “I hear he’s after that Chadwick woman now. She’s new money too.”
    When Zach returned to their table, she studied him. The once perfect, unbelievably attractive and successful Zach Brady was leaving an aftertaste of disgust in her mouth. And Allie couldn’t choke down one more bite of her delicious pizza because of it.
    * * * *
    Although lunch only lasted another thirty minutes, it might have been an eternity. Allie’s mind was consumed with the information offered by the kind strangers. And Zach was preoccupied and seemed agitated. “So? How do you go about producing a Broadway show?”
    He raised an eyebrow and stopped sipping his coffee. Clearing his throat, he pushed his chair away from the table and crossed his legs. “It’s nice to know someone like you is interested.”
    What’s that supposed to mean—someone like me? And look at the way you’re sitting, so feminine. Angelo would never sit that way. Stop it, Allie. “Oh, yes. I find it very interesting.”
    “Well, I don’t want to bore you with the details, but basically I get sponsors to invest in the show. And if it’s a hit, like an investment, they get their capital back and a nice healthy profit to boot.”
    “Hmm. Can anybody get in on this?”
    Zach leaned forward and patted her hand. “Allison. It takes a very large amount of money to invest in my show.”
    “Oh. I’m sorry. I’m not saying I want to invest in it. I was just curious. Besides, one hundred thousand dollars probably won’t help you one bit.”
    She watched Zach choke on his coffee. “One hundred thousand? How did you come into so much money?”
    “Believe it or not? An eccentric uncle just croaked, and I’m due to get a check.”
    “When? I mean, if it’s soon, maybe I can let you in on it.”
    “Would you?”
    He stared at her for a few seconds. Please say no. Prove you’re an okay guy. He smirked at her. “Yes. I think I would.”
    Allie fell back into her chair and offered him a