Stella in Stilettos by Jan Romes

stay.”
     “Hypocrite,” she muttered without raising her voice.
    Alex expected a rebuttal, but not that one.
    “You were lovey-dovey a minute ago with Stella.”
    “We were having a cup of coffee.”
    Belinda’s laugh was filled with accusation. “You didn’t get to the top of the food chain by being a blockhead, Alex. You and I both know that a cup of coffee is setting the stage for sex.”
    Where’s a tranquilizer gun when you need it?
    * * * *
     
    Stella removed her glasses, leaned back in her chair and let her eyes drift shut. The bulk of the day had been non-stop phone calls. Maggie was still out of the office and the place was in chaos.
    Gah!
    She needed a bubble-bath or a ten minute nap to disconnect from the bedlam.
    A rich, smooth voice spoke softly next to her ear. “Wake up, Matson.”
    Stella smiled but kept her eyes closed. “I’m not sleeping. I’m resting my eyes.”
    “How do you explain the snoring?”
    Her eyes popped open. Without thinking, she stuck out her tongue. Argh. Professional business women – especially those wanting the Assistant Vice President of Advertising position – didn’t stick out their tongue.
    “Ah. Ah. Ah.” Alex shook his finger. “I wouldn’t do that unless you’re prepared to…” A strange look raced across his expression, followed by a full grin.
    Stella giggled with embarrassment.
    Alex inclined his head toward the conference room. “Let’s go.”
    “Huh?”
    “Don’t you read your emails?”
    “Apparently I missed one?” Stella minimized the design program and clicked into her email account to find a memo from Maggie. ‘Christmas party meeting in the conference room at three-thirty’. “Good thing you stopped by, or I might still be …” She was tempted to say snoring. “…resting.”
    “Come on, Matson.” Alex latched onto her forearm and tugged her from the chair. Stella laughed, but inside, nothing of the sort. Ripples of exhilaration raced up her arms and skittered to all other body parts.
    She grabbed her glasses and walked with Alex down the narrow hall, careful to keep a few inches between them. She’d almost liquefied when he touched her for five seconds. If he did it again he’d be sopping her up off the floor.
    “Tell me about your Christmas parties. What kinds of things do you do?”
    Stella tried to mobilize some control over her thoughts. “We keep it casual. Last year we did supper together and went bowling afterwards. The year before we had a carry-in meal, played games and were home by ten.”
    “Ever go dancing?”
    The question produced images of chest against chest. Heartbeat against heartbeat. Warm, sweet breath on her neck. Stella closed her hands at her side, opened them and closed them again. “No dancing.”
    “Maybe we should suggest it.”
    “Sure, why not?” It was hard to keep a confident façade when everything about this man robbed her of calm. She was pleased it only took a minute to get to the conference room.
    Corrine motioned them to two empty seats next to her. “About time you got here.” She raised her eyebrows mischievously.
    Stella chuckled.
    Maggie dashed in, yanked off her coat and scarf and huffed for air like she’d run up twenty-six flights of stairs. “Okay, people, listen up. We should’ve had this done a couple of months ago. My fault. So now we have a small time-frame to sort it all out and make it happen. Let’s hear your suggestions.”
    Maggie pointed to Corrine.
    Corrine was an attention-getter from the word go. She stood up and used a make believe microphone. “Ahem. Let’s go for sushi and take in a play.”
    “I love sushi” echoed from all the women, except Maggie. The men booed. Maggie put her finger in her mouth and pretended to gag.
    Corrine threw up her hands in exasperation. “You wouldn’t know good food if it hit you in the mouth.”
    Stella jiggled with noiseless mirth when Corrine said “Asses” under her breath.
    The next suggestion involved a bus