KISS AND MAKE-UP by Leslie Kelly Read Free Book Online Page A

him. Couldn’t be easy to have such a chatterbox sister. Then again, any sister would be nice, as far as Cassandra was concerned. Being the only child in her family, she’d often wished for a sibling to share in the attention. And the pressure.
    “The bigmouth,” he said, shaking his head in disgust.
    “Okay, right, but get past that. What was the problem with the campaign? Sounds pretty cute to me. Playing on the whole ‘which road should I take’ thing, but keeping it sexy and light.”
    He looked over again, though he should have had his eyes on the road. Wyatt’s gaze narrowed and he tilted his head in confusion. “How’d you grasp that so quickly?”
    “Grasp what?”
    “The which-way-should-I-turn moment we were going for.”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just what I visualized when Jackie mentioned it.”
    A horn beeped, startling them both. Wyatt quickly returned his attention to the road, giving an apologetic wave to the driver in the next lane who he’d nearly swerved in front of.
    “Well, you visualized it exactly the way I visualized it,” he admitted, his words slow, as though he was surprised by the realization. “They just didn’t get it.”
    “I guess the coming to the crossroads and choosing which way to go is pretty American,” she said.
    “They’re selling to an American audience,” he said, his tone dry. As if he’d made the argument before.
    Apparently, however, that hadn’t helped him land the difficult account. “So did you scrap it and go back to the drawing board entirely?”
    Wyatt shook his head. “Not entirely. We all liked it, but I know something didn’t click. I just haven’t figured out what yet, or how we can salvage some of the overall concept.”
    She tapped her index finger on her cheek, thinking about it. “How about a line of women at a stoplight, all putting on eye shadow?” she asked, not trying to hide the mischief in her voice.
    “To sell imported cars?”
    “Nope. Cosmetics.”
    “Forget it. I’m not working for you.”
    “Or,” she said, as if he hadn’t spoken, “wind blowing wildly through an open car window, but never messing up her foundation.”
    “Cassie…”
    “A couple lying on the hood of a sexy convertible, kissing passionately without smearing her lipstick?” That certainly put her imagination into overdrive….
    “Cassandra!”
    She clapped her hands together. “I’ve got it! A well-dressed woman crying to the cop who pulled her over to give her a ticket, without getting all raccoon-eyed from runny mascara.”
    He groaned, deeply, helplessly. But then, as if unable to help it, Wyatt began to chuckle and shake his head. “When did you get to be such a pain in the ass?”
    “When did you get to be so stubborn?”
    Wyatt stopped at a stop sign and looked over at her, the soft reflection from the dashboard casting lines of light and shadow across his handsome face. His amusement gradually faded until he was staring at her, looking both intense and also perhaps a bit concerned. “Why is it so important that I work for your company? Are you in some kind of trouble, Cass?”
    Trouble? Well, not the kind he meant. He was asking if Fresh Face Cosmetics was in trouble. And while they did need to diversify and open up their company with an expansion into lower-priced markets, things weren’t dire or anything.
    “Everything’s fine. The company’s doing well—even if I do have to fight some of the big boys to keep my seat at the table.”
    “Your cousins?”
    She nodded. Obviously he remembered some of the details she’d told him about her family.
    “I guess they don’t like that the little girl is now the big boss.”
    “Definitely not.”
    “That’s awesome,” he said, sounding pleased for her.
    Of course he would be. Wyatt had always been supportive and encouraging, never seeing any limits for her, any more than he had for himself. He’d been amazing as a young man. Now as a fully grown one, he was utterly