CardsNeverLie by Heather Hiestand Page A

on it and stalked off. He watched her go in disbelief. What was that
about?
    * * * * *
    Tommy Joe ignored the knock on the door and turned back to
the phone. Hopefully it was just the extra towels he had ordered and not
Melanie. God she was hot. He couldn’t wait to get her out to the pool in a
swimsuit and see if her legs were as sexy as he remembered from that party back
when she was married. Her divorce was a dream come true.
    “Tommy Joe?” his brother Billy Joe said sharply and Tommy
Joe shifted his attention back to the phone.
    “Yes, I’m here.”
    “What have you got?” Billy Joe demanded.
    “Nothing much. After all, I’m not at the office right now.
But before I left I saw the July stats and it was looking bad. Sales are way
down and complaints are up.”
    “Interesting. I wonder what is going on.”
    “Bad quality oils.”
    “Professional Massage doesn’t usually buy cheap.”
    Tommy Joe thought about comments heard over the coffee pot.
“I think they are conserving cash for something, but at the same time…”
    “Yes?”
    “Melanie’s boss is threatening her if she doesn’t come up
with a new product line. And that takes money.” Poor Melanie. She ought to have
someone to take care of her.
    “Christ, Tommy Joe, can’t you ever hold a conversation
without bringing up that woman? It’s like you’re obsessed!”
    “I’m going to marry her,” Tommy Joe said. “Her divorce is
final.”
    “Who would want to marry you?” his brother said derisively.
    Tommy Joe clenched his fists. One way or another he was
going to command his brother’s respect. “Love Lotions,” he said, hating to give
away Melanie’s idea. But what choice did he have? To take care of Melanie he
needed a bigger salary. His brother would hire him into a high-paying position
if he came through.
    “Pardon me?”
    “That’s the name of Melanie’s new product idea. Love
Lotions. A new line of erotic massage products.” Tommy Joe tried to swallow
away the hoarseness in his voice.
    “Do you have any details?”
    “No, that’s all she’s said so far. We were on the plane down
here when she came up with it.”
    “Good. Keep me posted. I’ll put out a press release
announcing our new Love Lotions line.”
    “But you don’t even know what will be in it!” Tommy Joe
protested.
    “It doesn’t matter. You’ll get me the information. In
business you have to be first, Tommy Joe. You need to learn. Winners don’t
finish second.” His brother hung up.
    Tommy Joe slammed down the phone. Winners should come up
with their own damned ideas. He was so sick of helping his brother build his
company by stealing other people’s ideas. If only his financial standards
weren’t so high. But he would do anything for his Melanie.

Chapter Five
     
    “Welcome one and all to this year’s conference,
Sin-sational!”
    Rob sat next to Tim as the clapping died down. He had waited
until the last minute to enter the room where the keynote speech was taking
place, burying himself in email. He could see no point in wasting time being
ribbed by his employees for striking out with Bombshell’s cousin. In Rob’s
opinion, you should never have to defend yourself to someone wearing a dog
collar.
    “Let’s take a look into our past as we begin to build our
sin-sational future!” The speaker, a men’s magazine publisher, stepped back
from the podium as curtains were raised behind her to reveal a movie screen.
Scenes began to flash by, Debbie Does Dallas and Deep Throat among the other classics of porn. Rob only had eyes for LeatherWorks’ product
line as it was displayed on the screen, until a blonde wearing nothing but a
sin-red lipstick smile appeared on screen. She looked like Bombshell…or her
cousin! He couldn’t believe Bombshell had ever been in porn though. He’d known
her for years and she seemed to have no knowledge or interest in the industry.
But her cousin—well, she was here at the conference, wasn’t she?
    He ruminated