Mismatch - By Nana Malone Page 0,23

imaginary wrinkles out of her linen pants. “I’m too cute to be covered in shit. Even I have to draw the line at working with the totally cray-cray.”

Jessica grinned as she and Izzy immediately broke into giggles. It felt good to laugh. It was a damn sight better than bitching herself out for her stupidity.

“Philip might be having a tantrum now, but he’ll call in a week and beg you not to abandon him. Then you’ll have three solid days of him behaving for your photos, and we’ll do this all over again. This is all part of his process.”

Izzy sighed. “God save me from the creative types. Especially if it means getting shit thrown at my head.”

Jessica giggled. “It’s not like it’s the first time, is it?”

“No. But Kara is my daughter. Diaper flinging, while disgusting, is still somewhat cute given her chipmunk cheeks and miniature stature.”

“Don’t tell Philip that, or he’ll gain three hundred pounds to see if he can get away with it.”

Jessica’s phone rang as they both popped Kisses into their mouths. She ignored it. The ringing seemed to get more and more shrill as they both contemplated their clients or lack thereof.

“So there’s no hope of getting Samson Marks?”

Problem was she’d already had him. “Yeah it’s a no-go. And I’m the total fuck up.”

“Cut yourself some slack. He’s still new to the scene. If you haven’t seen one of his exhibitions, you wouldn’t have known him from a hot guy in the club.”

“Yeah, thanks for that. But I did see the exhibition at the club. He does it behind an opaque sheet. Dammit. It took me forty-five minutes to get through the crowd to try and see him. How was I supposed to know he had a penchant for wearing thousand dollar suits? A habit, by the way, which is way expensive. He must have a rich sugar mama or something. Or come from money. The guy has no digital footprint either, so I can’t Twitter or Facebook stalk him to find out.” Her phone continued to ring.

Izzy frowned. “Are you going to answer that?”

“Nope. It might be Samson. I’m just going to let it ring. Eventually, whoever it is will get the message that I’ll talk to them when I’m damn well good and ready.”

Izzy pursed her lips. “If you say so, but you know it’s better to deal with problems before they go nuclear.”

Jessica shook her head stubbornly. “Nope. I prefer to run and hide.”

Elaine, their new receptionist popped her head into Jessica’s office. “Jess, thank God you’re here. I’ve been calling you for the last twenty minutes. There’s a Samson Marks here to see you. He refuses to go away until you speak with him. I tried telling him you’re not to be disturbed, but he’s really stubborn.” The young redhead put her hand to her throat, flushed a little and added, “He’s really intimidating, too.”

Jessica gnashed her teeth. “That stubborn idiot. Tell him I’ve left for the day. Tell him I’ve got Ebola. Tell him anything, just don’t let him come back here.”

Izzy grinned. “Elaine. Please let Mr. Marks come on back. I’m dying to meet him.”

Jess turned on her former best friend. “You’re a traitor.”

Izzy shrugged her slight shoulders. “I’m interested in seeing the guy who’s got you twisted up. Sue me. As long as we’ve known each other, it’s never happened. I want to meet this chupacabra.”

The sound of a bass voice came from the hallway. “I’ve been called a lot of things, but chupacabra has never been one of them.”

When Samson appeared behind Elaine in the doorway, Jessica gave serious consideration to hiding under her desk. Izzy, curse her, went into full schmooze mode, standing up and giving her best sugar and spice smile. Jessica scowled at her. Would it be considered murder or self-defense if she shot Izzy? After all, if Izzy was nice to him, he might not go away and that would certainly be detrimental to Jessica’s health.

He skirted around Elaine, who managed to look equal parts miffed and dazzled. “You must be Izzy Connors. I am such a fan of your husband. That game he played against Nadal at the Australian Open was legendary. And you are more beautiful than your pictures.” Then he picked up Izzy’s left hand and kissed it.

Izzy had the gall to grin at him and bat her lashes. “You know, Jessica didn’t say a thing about you being charming. And considering who I’m married to, that’s a feat.”

“I’m just