Studs For Hire: Woman on Top
Sherry James
ISBN 0-9774682-7-5

Romantic Comedy
216 paperback pages
Multi-format ebook $4.99
Paperback $11.99
Free Shipping

"Woman on Top" is the first book in the "Studs for Hire" series

"Woman in Charge" is the second book in "The Studs for Hire" series

Has Elvis really left the building…or is his spirit playing matchmaker?

Alex Roy is used to building classy timber frame homes for the elite, but his last business association with a woman left him in debt and his heart in shreds.  Is he so desperate to earn a paycheck and reclaim his business that he'll swallow his pride and design a shrine to the King of Rock 'n' Roll in a widow's mansion?  And what about Casey Burrows, the woman who wants to hire him to do the job for the wealthy widow?  Alex has an eye for good lines—and Casey's are curving in all the right places.  But can he handle the job and walk away with his heart and reputation unscathed?  Or will he end up as a permanent resident of Heartbreak Hotel?

Are You Lonesome Tonight…the classic Elvis song seemed to be the story of Casey Burrows' love life.  As co-owner for Studs for Hire she's got a great career—now she needs a man who will truly love her and not leave her with a shattered heart, and a maxed out credit card.  When she meets Alex, she's determined to keep their relationship strictly business, but she soon discovers immortalizing Elvis in Omaha isn't the only project she'd like to undertake.  Alex rocks her predictable world and Casey discovers she’s ready to risk her heart one more time.

CHAPTER THREE

Trevor entered his no-frills apartment to the sound of his
phone ringing. For Pete's sake. Was that all his life was
anymore, a series of phones ringing? It sure as hell wasn't a
series of sexual encounters.

He grabbed the receiver. "Vanden Bosch."

"Where the hell've you been?" Smythe grumbled.

"Working," Trev grumbled right back.

"I've been trying to reach you for hours. I must have left a
dozen messages on your cell phone. Why haven't you
returned my calls?"

"I've been busy." In truth, Trev had shut off his cell earlier
that afternoon so he wouldn't be bombarded with any more of
Smythe's interrogations and threats.

"Getting information, I hope."

"I'm working on it."

"Well work harder. Alfred Mars is coming in first thing
tomorrow morning and he's insisting upon seeing Sydnie. We
need something to satisfy him with."

"Postpone. I need more time." Trevor combed his fingers
through his hair in frustration. Sydnie was proving to be a
tougher cookie to crumble than he'd first anticipated. Cripes,
he wasn't any good at this subterfuge bit.

"Postpone? Are you nuts? You don't put off a man like
Mars."

Trevor cursed under his breath. Smythe would never
understand what he'd been through that afternoon. And
Trevor didn't have the energy to explain it. All he wanted to
do was take a quick shower and crawl into bed. "I don't have
anything to give you yet."

"Dammit, why not?! What have you been doing all day?
You had plenty of time to seduce her and get us something."

Trevor groaned and shook his head. The man had no
finesse. Sydnie needed to be handled with great care if he
hoped to milk her for ideas on the Stardust Lingerie account.
It was a wonder Smythe had made it this far in the
advertising business. "Let's just say it's been a trying day."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Smythe said with sarcasm.
"Just get with the program. Do whatever it takes. Mars will be
in my office in less then twelve hours. We've got to pacify him
with something. We can't afford to lose this account, Vanden
Bosch. And neither can you. Blow this and you're pounding
the pavement, do you hear me?"

Trevor gritted his teeth at Smythe's all too familiar threat.
"I can't be there."

"What?! You have to be. I need your help with this guy.
He's as tough as a Mac truck." Mars was tough all right, and
that was one reason he favored Sydnie. She was small in
stature in comparison to the former pro-wrestler, but she
knew exactly when, and how to stand up to him. She was a
woman with a strong spirit and Mars admired her for it.
So did Trevor.

"Sydnie is expecting me at work in the morning. What is
she going to think if I don't show up? I'll never get anywhere
with her then."

"Call her and tell you can't be there for a few hours."

"It'll only be my second day on the job. She's suspicious
enough the way it is. I don't want to do anything that'll add to
her doubts."

"One little white lie won't hurt," Smythe said with irritation
in his voice.

One little white lie? Try lie number one hundred and
counting. "Like what?"

"Tell her you've got a prostate exam you forgot about.
She won't question you then, and she'll probably even be
sympathetic."

"Wrong answer." Trev bent over an examination table sure
as hell conjured up an attractive image. He rolled his eyes. No
way was he going to tell the most enchanting woman he'd
ever known that he was having a prostate exam.
* * * *
Sydnie hung up the phone after spending the better part of
the morning trying to mollify Mrs. Whitcomb. Finally, after
putting some slick smooth talking techniques she'd learned
from her older brothers to work, she managed to convince the
woman she had gotten exactly what she paid for. And then
some. Mrs. Whitcomb was a happy camper once more and
singing all kinds of praises about Studs for Hire.

"I'll be sure and tell all my friends," Mrs. Whitcomb chirped
before hanging up the phone.

"It's about time for lunch," Terri said as she entered the
office. She stood in front of Syd's desk. "What should we have
today? Lobster? Filet Mignons? Or how about shark? I've
never eaten shark, have you? Course, I'm not really one for
sea food, so it only makes sense that I've never eaten shark."

"I haven't even thought about lunch," Sydnie answered
without really listening to her friend. "I've been busy
smoothing things over with Mrs. Whitcomb after yesterday's
fiasco."

"And did you?" Casey asked as she joined them.

"Everything's taken care of." Sydnie looked up from her
impromptu notes for a much needed employee handbook.
After only five minutes she'd nearly filled the page of a yellow
legal pad. As soon as she got back from lunch, she'd start
working on a company policy agreement that would be given
to all clients before any work was begun. From now on, there
would be no more misunderstandings about what services
Studs for Hire offered.

"Great. Speaking of carpenters. I need one, and fast.
We've got an emergency job on deck," Terri said.

"Yes. Where is our hotter-than-sin handyman?" Casey
asked. "I haven't seen him all morning."

"Come to think of it, I haven't either. Did he check in with
you, Sydnie?"

"Yes, he did. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I was concentrating
on how to handle Mrs. Whitcomb."

"So where is he? Don't tell me he quit already?" Casey
asked with concern. "We didn't even get a chance for a first
date."

Syd frowned at the idea of her friend dating Trevor. The
two were cut from the same flamboyant, expensive bolt of
cloth. And Sydnie could see Casey having a very brief affair
with a man like Trevor. She'd dated men like him before, but
after getting her heart crushed a few times, she'd adopted the
old adage—opposites attract.

Since then, Casey preferred to shy away from men as
intelligent and headstrong as she. She liked being the one in
control, and after a while most men grew tired of being her
puppy dog on a chain. As a result, at age thirty, she was as
unattached as a nun. To appease her trounced heart, she
went out and spent money she didn't have.

Sydnie on the other hand, preferred something much
simpler and safer for her bank account.

Chocolate. The ultimate broken heart remedy, self-esteem
booster, and aphrodisiac. Of course, the smooth creamy
confections could wreak havoc with a girl's hips if she didn't
gorge with caution.

"He didn't quit," Sydnie reassured them. "He forgot he had
a doctor's appointment this morning."

"Oh, I hope nothing's wrong. Is he sick? I hope my rabbit
story didn't upset him," Terri muttered.

"He didn't say what the problem was."

"And you didn't ask," Casey stated dryly.

"No. I figured it was none of my business."

"I'd say it was more like you didn't want him to think you
cared," Casey said.

"That's ... not true. He's nothing more than the hired help.
I didn't want to pry."

"Sydnie, you really should show more concern for our
employees. Especially the new ones. We don't want them to
start then quit right away. It's a paperwork nightmare."

"All Syd cares about is getting even, Terri."

"Even?"

"With Trevor. He's the one?"

Understanding dawned on Terri. "The one! Really? And you
still hired him? I take back what I said. Maybe you care too
much."

Sydnie rested her forehead on her fingertips and sighed.
She shared everything in her life with her friends, and they,
in turn, did the same with her.

But there was one small item she'd kept to herself. And
that item was Trevor Vanden Bosch. Oh, she'd vented and
cried on their shoulders about the jerk at work who'd robbed
her of her career. But not once did she reveal his name.
Or that she thought he was the sexist man alive.
Or that he had the most unsettling way of making her
blood simmer at a slow boil.

The sting of their almost torrid lovemaking scene in his
office still haunted her dreams at night. But his rejection bit
to the bone. What a fool she'd been to think Trevor had
actually desired her.

But after all the hell and humiliation she'd been through,
thanks to Trevor, she at least deserved the completion of that
love scene.

Now who was dreaming?

"Let's go to lunch," Sydnie said. "I need chocolate."
* * * *
Trevor entered Charles Smythe's office to find Alfred Mars
pacing the silvery-grey carpet, his hands tightly laced behind
his back.

"I want to see Sydnie," Mars bellowed. "Where is she? You
better not be monkeying with me."

"Of course we're not, Mr. Mars. Sydnie is..." Smythe
looked at Trevor for help with the six feet, seven inches, two
hundred and eighty-five pound man.

"Sydnie is out town for a few days, Alfred," Trevor said.

"Why? She knew I was coming. She should be here."

"And she would be if she could. But her ... grandmother
had a mishap and needed Sydnie's help."

"Oh? Nothing serious I hope," Mars said with genuine
concern in his voice.

"Nothing serious. A few days of rest and she'll be fine."

"Good. Be sure and express my concern to Sydnie, will ya.
And tell her I'm crestfallen I didn't get to see her."

Trevor bit his tongue. The last thing he wanted to do was
let Sydnie know the wrestler, turned lingerie guru, was
crestfallen over her absence.

"You are keeping in touch with her via phone or email,
aren't you?" Mars asked.

"Of course."

"Good. Tell her I'm anxious to get rolling on this
campaign." He resumed his pacing, the spot lighting in the
office glistening off his clean-shaven head. "The Venus Bra is
ready to hit the market. And I want to get a jump on the
competition. I want our Celestial line of bras and panties to
finally outsell those that Victoria's Angels wear. I'm damn
tired of finishing second."
"We'll do everything in our power to help you reach
number one, Mr. Mars," Smythe said, clearly sucking up to
the man.

And Trevor knew Mars deserved sucking up to. The
Stardust Lingerie account was one of the agency's biggest.
Unfortunately for Smythe and Jones, Mars still insisted that
Sydnie be the one to personally handle his account.

Trevor knew Mars had developed a crush on Sydnie from the day
he'd met her at a benefit wrestling match. Thanks to Sydnie's
business savvy and Mars's penchant for redheads, the agency
landed the Stardust account. And after Mars saw Sydnie's
ideas for promoting his lingerie, he was even more enamored
with the girl who had a set of legs that wouldn't quit.

After each successful campaign, Mars showered Sydnie
with exotic bouquets of Heliconias, Anthuriums, and Birds of
Paradise shipped in directly from Hawaii. Now, after two years
of hard work, Stardust Lingerie had maneuvered its way up
the intimate apparel ladder to the number two spot.

"Number one is what I want. There's no reason why we
shouldn't be, either. Our lingerie is made of the finest
materials out there, and our designs are the sexiest."

"I agree, Alfred. Stardust is the only lingerie my wife
wears," Smythe said.

"Good. How about you, Vanden Bosch?" Mars crossed his
Herculean sized arms across his equally huge chest. He
looked as though he could crush a piano as easily as an
elephant crushed a peanut. He was definitely not a man a
person wanted to make an enemy of. "What does your wife
wear?"

Trevor saw the glint of, you better have the right answer,
in Alfred's eyes. "I'm not married. But I've given Stardust
Lingerie as gifts. And my sister loves it. She won't wear
anything else."

"I'm glad to hear it." Mars lowered his arms and smiled.
"I'll be back in two days, gentlemen. I'll expect to see some
ideas on the drawing board, Smythe."

"We'll have them for you, don't worry."

"Good." Mars sauntered toward the door and exited the
room. A ponderous silence hung in the air between Trevor and
his boss. Funny, but he never noticed before how cagey
Charles Smythe looked. In fact, if Trevor didn't know better,
he'd think Smythe would cheat his own mother out of a tendollar
bill. Had the CEO of the company changed that much
over the last few months and Trevor just refused to see it?

"Well, what are you waiting for, Vanden Bosh?" Smythe
asked at last. "You'd better hightail it over to your new job
and get busy. We've got to have something drawn up before
Mars comes back."

"I told you it's not enough time." Trevor shook his head.
"It'll be tough enough to mention Stardust Lingerie to Sydnie,
let alone quiz her for advertising ideas."

"By damn you'd better get something. Mars expects a
colossal campaign and we're going to deliver." Smythe turned
to the bar lining the wall of his plush office and poured
himself a shot of bourbon. "You've got a way with the ladies,
Vanden Bosch. Lavish her with sweet nothings and she'll give
you anything you ask."

"Sydnie isn't that easily fooled. I've got to tread lightly or
she'll figure out I'm up to something. In fact, I'm afraid she
suspects already."

"Then distract her. If she finds out the real reason you're
working for her, she'll be furious." Smythe downed his drink,
then poured another. He moved to stand only a few inches
away from Trevor. A dark scowl blanketed his features. "I
don't care how you do it. Hell, sleep with her if you have to.
Just get her ideas for the Venus bra." He swallowed his drink
in one gulp. "Or you'll find yourself working for her
permanently."

Trevor's protective instincts kicked in and demanded he
punch Smythe in the teeth, putting the weasel in his place.
Sydnie wasn't, and didn't deserve to be referred to as, a
cheap, easy fling.

Reluctantly, Trevor tamped down his temper and settled
for a curse under his breath.

He was getting damn tired of being threatened with
termination. If a possible partnership wasn't on the line, he'd
be out of here. He could work for any ad agency in the
country if he wanted to. But a shot at a partnership didn't
come along every day.

"I'll do the best I can. That's all I can promise." Trevor
strode toward the door, anger fueling his steps.

How was he going to get himself, and Sydnie, out of this
mess?

CLICK HERE
To Visit Sherry's Website