Page 47 of Strictly Business : A Lesbian Romance

that deep black hair was smoothed back into a high ponytail. It wasn’t a

regular ponytail though. There wasn’t a hair out of place and some of the

strands were wrapped around whatever held it in place. It looked like a

celebrity stylist did Christina’s hair every single morning. Her makeup was

tasteful and probably expensive. Taylor could see Christina shopping in the

mall at those really pricy department stores and asking for the two hundred-

dollar compact of foundation and the eighty-dollar tube of mascara.

Whatever she’d paid for the makeup, it was worth it. Christina’s skin

looked like porcelain, her pink lipstick looked like it never dared get on her

teeth, and her eyelashes were extra thick and set off those dazzling blue

eyes.

Taylor realized she was gaping at Christina and tore her gaze away. “I—

I really don’t understand why I’m here. You flat out rejected my idea

yesterday. You told me that you could never get it approved.”

Christina’s remarkable composure wavered for a split second before she

offered Taylor an amused smile. “That’s right. I did say that. Why don’t we

talk about it in our boardroom?”

“We could talk about it right here. If you brought me here as some kind

of a joke, I’m not going back in there.”

“No,” Christina said seriously. “It wasn’t a joke. I don’t make jokes very

often, and if I did, they would never be of that variety.”

Taylor was reassured, since she could see that Christina was right. The

woman probably never cracked a joke. She looked like she came from

serious money. Old money. The kind of family who didn’t have a sense of

humor. Taylor realized how rude that was. She didn’t know anything about

Christina Hilford. Taylor was still stung at the rejection she’d received the

day before. She knew she wasn’t being fair.

She realized too, that if she didn’t want to just stand in the building’s

entrance, entirely mystified at whatever happened overnight, she had better

get moving. “Alright. I guess we can talk.”

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