Hot Under Pressure. Kathleen O'Reilly

a novel perspective in the male-dominated world of finance. And currently, that was exactly what he needed. A novel female perspective.

      “Can I ask you something?”

      “Shoot.”

      “Do you know fashion, you know, the business side—what makes a company work, what makes it not work, what women like in clothes?”

      The swinging high heel froze. “Broadening your horizons into fashion?” she asked, coughing discreetly. “Brave and not afraid of the stereotypes. Definitely gutsy.”

      “What do you know?” he asked, battling forward, even though he was deathly afraid of stereotypes.

      “Driven by trends at the high end. At the mid-level, it’s more about the classics and originality, and at the low end of the spectrum, it’s nothing but trendy knockoffs and bargain-basement prices. What are you interested in?”

      David thought over Ashley’s travel attire and took a guess. “Mid-level. So, classics and originality are the drivers?”

      Jamie nodded. “It’s the America’s Next Top Designer mentality. Women don’t like to wear something that someone else is wearing. We’re very territorial about fashion.”

       “America’s Next Top Designer?”

      “Television show. Ratings up ten percent on an annual basis, three years running. They’ve launched four successful designers, one not-so-successful designer, but I think that’s because of his crappy designs. The guy was a certified disaster area.”

      His face assumed the requisite manly look of horror. “A show about sewing?”

      “You have to watch. It’s a train wreck, but a fun one. Why the interest?” she asked.

      “It’s for a friend. She’s got these clothing boutiques, and is having some issues. I thought I could give her some advice. Try and figure out what’s going wrong.” Next week Ashley would be in New York, and he wanted to understand the fashion industry, help her determine what problems could be fixed, and also have his wicked way with her eight ways to Sunday. It was a big assignment, but not impossible. It might mean watching reality TV. It might mean learning what was hot on the female clothing market. He would survive. Probably. Hopefully.

      “This is all for a she?” asked Jamie, quirking one perfectly arched brow, just as David’s e-mail window popped into sight, indicating an unread e-mail had arrived.

      David, I would love to meet you. I’m nineteen, which is younger than what you requested in your profile, but it’s a mature nineteen…

      He inched his shoulders forward, blocking the view, blocking the view…not quite blocking the view from his boss.

      Jamie glanced at the now-fading window, then glanced pointedly at David. He elected to stay silent. It seemed the prudent thing to do.

      “Dating again?”

      He shrugged in a completely noncommittal, I-don’t-want-to-talk-about-my-private-life manner.

      She didn’t take the hint. “I think it’s a good thing. You should have done this a long time ago. I have some friends—”

      “No,” he answered quickly.

      His boss shook her head, then smiled. “All right. Have it your way. But if you change your mind, I swear, they’re all nice women.”

      David pulled another hundred out of his pocket, mainly to divert her. “Give me another hundred on Mercantile Financial.”

      She took the bill, clearly not fooled by the diversionary tactic, but gave him a pass, because Jamie was nice like that. “More courage, sport. And Andrew’s going to kick your ass, but you’re brave. I like it.”

      Once Jamie left, David wiped the wayward sweat from his brow and opened the offending e-mail.