The Beauty and the CEO

“I can’t believe I’ve had such a great week,” Will said, covering Zoe’s left gloved hand. They were seated together, and it wasn’t the first time Zoe had felt the jitters each time he accidentally brushed against her leg or her arm.

Zoe bumped her shoulder against his arm. “Are the pressures of being CEO off?”

“Not off, just on hold.”

“But after tomorrow you’ll be back to the grind.”

Will gave her hand a squeeze. “But now I’ve got you in my life.”

Again the butterflies returned. She couldn’t wait to spend time with Will at home, walk on the beach and dine across a moonlit table—just the two of them.

“I’m sorry to break up this lovefest,” Kenzie said.

“Sure you are,” Ramon mumbled, loud enough for a few people around to hear when the music was lowered via remote control.

Judging from the way Kenzie rolled her eyes, she heard it, too. She rose from her seat at the head of the table and clinked her glass with her spoon. She continued until she reached the center of the dance floor where someone mysteriously had placed a podium. “Our host, Lexi Pendergrass Reyes, couldn’t be here this evening, but she wanted the night to continue.”

A round of applause broke out. Zoe wondered if Lexi’s absence meant Stephen had made her stay home because tomorrow was going to be a big day or because the baby was ready to make an appearance two months early. Surely Zoe would have received a text message or something.

“This week we all got the chance to get to know each other,” Kenzie began. “We’ve seen the hard work put into making a pageant by the lighting people, stage hands, artists and even the judges.” Kenzie glanced at everyone who made up part of the crew. “Hopefully we’ve bonded enough to trust each other’s opinions come tomorrow. Whether it’s with the makeup and hair, or when it comes to the judging.”

Another round of applause.

Zoe glanced around at the people she’d gotten to know this week and figured everyone had some common sense. Even Rebecca had come around and performed selflessly that morning. She half expected the hairstylist to not give the prom girls the time of day. The only person Zoe thought might cause problems was the beauty queen, Vera Laing. According to Lexi, she’d invited Vera, her former student, to judge but worried their relationship had suffered irrevocable damage. Lexi trained the beauty queen from the time she was a toddler but left because of a conflict of interest. Lexi loved Vera but never knew what Vera had been told about the circumstances of Lexi’s departure. Vera and her mother were the only two who had not wanted to participate in any of the activities. This was simply a free vacation for them.

“So, in order to commemorate our time together, Ramon and I have been gathering intel and we’ve put a lot of thought and consideration together last night to come up with a list of awards we want to hand out to you all.”

Ramon stood and walked to the podium with a rolled-up piece of paper in his hands. Zoe got the feeling he didn’t want to do this, but she knew how persuasive Kenzie could be. It was the first time Zoe had seen Ramon in a suit and he looked rather handsome. His black hair was slicked back and off his face, and finally Zoe saw the resemblance between him and his cousins Stephen and Nate.

“First and foremost, thanks for coming to my hotel,” Ramon said, leaning into the microphone. “This has been a successful week and it’s been a pleasure getting to know you.”

Beside him, Kenzie cleared her throat.

“Ah, yes, we gave this a lot of thought and consideration last night.”

Last night? Zoe thought with bewilderment. Hmm, what’s going on here? She certainly knew what she’d been doing last night. Zoe placed her hand in Will’s lap and squeezed his leg. His eyes darted to her. Zoe stared straight ahead and began drawing circles on his pants leg up his thigh. The bulge between his legs grew and pressed against her arm.

“…and so for the most helpful one, especially since he helped me fix all these lights up here,” Ramon was saying, “I’d like to present the award of Most Handy to Tim Hernandez.”