Gemma Halliday - Undercover In High Heels

And nodded.

“Nurse Nan, please tell me it isn’t true!”

“I’m afraid so, Chad. We did everything we could to save her, but Ashley…she died on the table.”

“No!”

“I’m so sorry. But after losing the baby, well, she just wasn’t strong enough. She knew this radical new womb transplant surgery was risky. I’m sorry, Chad; there was nothing we could do.”

“I…I can’t believe it. I don’t know how I’ll ever go on without her. She was my entire life.”

“I know it’s hard, Chad, but we have to be strong.”

“Hold me, Nurse Nan!”

Dana and I watched as Nurse Nan and Chad fell into an embrace that even the casual watcher could see was leading to a June-December romance for sweeps week.

“He is so freaking hot.” Dana popped a pretzel (fatfree, salt-free, and made with organic rice flour, of course) in her mouth and crunched down hard.

“I can’t believe how easily they wrote Ashley out of the story. You think they’ll bring in a new actress?”

Neither of us had gone back to the set after my late-night encounter with Mia. Dana had been let go because with Mia gone, they obviously didn’t need a lookalike for her anymore. Steinman had asked me to return as wardrobe assistant, but the moment I’d gotten home I’d had about a hundred messages on my machine. In between the usual newspapers calling for a story there had been Tot Trots saying I had, in fact, gotten the My Little Pony contract. But what had really put me over the edge was the call from a trendy Beverly Hills boutique saying customers had come in looking for the “High Heels Seduction” shoe, and where could they order a few dozen? Okay, so infamy may just have an upside after all. I was still a far cry from Milan, but, thanks to Jasmine, having a fall line of my own wasn’t completely outside of reality.

Dana shrugged. “I dunno. But if they are, my agent had so better get me an audition. I kinda miss that set.”

“Seriously?” I asked around a mouthful of pretzel (full fat, extra salt, and chocolate dipped-what can I say, old habits die hard).

Dana nodded and sighed, her eyes doing a wistful, faraway thing. “Anyway, what are you up to tonight?”

I grinned. “Ramirez is coming over.”

She raised an eyebrow. “ More makeup sex? What are you two, rabbits?”

“I wish. Actually, I promised Mom that I’d come over for dinner. Ramirez agreed to be a buffer.”

“Oh. Bummer.”

“But…if I’m lucky, he might sleep over after.”

Dana grinned. “Niiiiice.”

“And I promise I’ll give you all the juicy details tomorrow. I know how you sexually sober gals live vicariously.”

Dana’s grin faded. “Oh. Right. Um, about that…”

“Yes?”

She chewed at her lower lip. “I, uh, well, I kinda have a confession to make.”

I smirked. “I thought so. Spill it, sister. Who’s the new guy?”

Dana glanced at the TV screen, where Chad and Nurse Nan were still grabbing each other like teenagers. “Um, well, you remember how nice Ricky was about letting me borrow his car, and how sweet that whole monogamy thing was…?”

“No. Way. You’re dating Chad?”

Dana nodded. “I’m so sorry, Maddie. It just kind of happened. I was helping him with his lines, and next thing I know we’re in his bedroom and my panties are across the room. I wanted to tell you, but you seemed so proud of me over the whole SA thing. I just felt like I was letting you down. Honestly, I haven’t seen Therapist Max in over a week. And I gave my chip back. I guess I’m just not a celibacy kind of girl. Think you can forgive me?”

“Are you kidding? You’re dating one of People magazine’s sexiest men alive! You go, girl.”

“Aw, thanks, Mads.”

“Just promise me one thing.”

“Anything.”

“If he asks you to go to the Emmys with him, you have to sneak me into the after-parties.”

Dana grinned. “Done.”

“Nurse Nan, come quickly.”

Dana and I turned our attention back to the screen, where a man in a white coat was hailing Nurse Nan from down the hospital corridor.

“What is it, Doctor?”

“It’s Mr. Culver.”

“Ashley’s husband? What’s happened to him?”

“He…he’s waking up from his coma!”

Two hours later I was popping one last chocolate-covered pretzel in my mouth as I took a final turn in front of the mirror. The short, black DKNY dress I’d picked out at the mall earlier was a perfect complement to my three-inch-high, strappy emerald slingbacks. It was cut low in the front, high on the thigh, and draped like silk with half the wrinkles. As a concession to the faint purple marks still gracing my neck, I slipped a loosely knotted emerald scarf around my throat and topped it all off with a pair of dangling silver earrings.

I was just adding a swipe of Raspberry Perfection when I heard a knock at the door.

“Coming, ” I called, capping my lip gloss and crossing my studio in three quick strides.

I peeked through the hole and got that familiar rush in my belly as two chocolate brown eyes peered back at me above a growth of sexy day-old stubble.

Grinning like an idiot I undid the security chain and opened the door to let him in.

Ramirez hovered in the doorway, leaning his broad shoulders against the frame. He crossed his arms over his chest, that black panther peeking out beneath the sleeve of his shirt as it strained against his larger-than-life biceps. His tongue darted out to lick his lower lip as he gave me a slow up-and-down and did that low growl thing in the back of his throat.

“You like?” I asked, doing a slow turn for him.

The corners of his mouth tugged up until that deceptively boyish dimple made an appearance in his left cheek.

“Oh yeah. I like.”

“Good. ’Cause we’ve gotta go. And Mom invited Molly, Stan, and the kids over, too, so if we’re late, we’re going to have to sit next to Connor, and I am so not getting mashed potatoes flung at this dress.”

I grabbed my purse and moved to walk out the door. But Ramirez caught my arm.

“Hang on.”

I paused. “Yes?”

He leaned in close. I could smell the mingling scents of leather, aftershave, and pure guy as his lips gently skimmed over mine. It was just the slightest of touches, but it made my insides quiver.

Okay, so maybe I could spare a couple of minutes…

But before I could follow through with that thought, Ramirez pulled away.

He took a step back, his eyes intense on me, some emotion building behind them that I couldn’t read. He wiped one hand across his jaw and shifted back onto his other foot. “Listen, Maddie, there’s something I need to say before we go. Something I want to say.”

“Okay…” I waited.

Ramirez did another foot shift. He bit the inside of his cheek. He did some more intense staring. If it was anyone but Bad Cop, I’d say he almost looked nervous.

“Are you okay? I mean, if you want to sit down or something we could…”

But I trailed off as Ramirez took a step closer to me and pulled something out of his jacket pocket. Something small. Something round.

Something in a jeweler’s box.

I froze, my heart forgetting to beat as I stared at a ring box in his hands.

Oh. My. God.

“Maddie, these past few days have made me crazy. Not knowing where you were was the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me. It made me realize I don’t ever want to not know where you are again.”

And suddenly my heart was beating again. Way, way too fast. Holy shit! Was he proposing? I felt my breath shoving in and out of my lungs at double speed and feared I was hyperventilating. I so was not prepared for this. I mean, marriage? To Bad Cop? He was the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. The bad boy who made your heart go pitter-patter, then rode off into the sunset. He was the I-carry-a-gun-and-I’ll-handcuff-you-to-the-bed-for-a-night-of-really-kinky-sex type. People like Faux Dad and Mrs. Rosenblatt got married. Not people like Bad Cop.