Susan Mallery - The Sparkling One

The first book in the Marcelli Sisters of Pleasure Road series, 2003

You kiss it.

No, you kiss it!

Eight-year-old Katie Marcelli glanced from her seven-year-old twin sisters to the small green frog perched on a log in front of them. Summer sunlight shone through the trees, creating patterns on the grass and the log that made her think of fairies dancing in the breeze.

Mommy said kissing a frog meant becoming a princess, Francesca said, sounding doubtful. I dont want to be a princess that bad.

Brenna pushed back the cardboard tiara Katie had carefully cut out, then covered with glue and glitter. Boys are stupid and so are frogs. And princes. She crossed her arms over her tattered lace-and-tulle dress-up costume and scowled.

Katie didnt like boys all that much, but princes were different. Princes rode white horses and carried girls off to beautiful castles, where they got to eat ice cream any time they wanted and never had to write thank-you notes.

But Francesca had a point. Was all that really worth kissing a frog?

How do we know its a magical frog? she asked.

In the book the frog had a little crown on its head. I dont think this one used to be a prince at all, Francesca told her.

Katie crouched down until she was eye level with the frog. It regarded her with big eyes, but didnt jump away.

Francesca was right-there wasnt any crown. No twinkling lights filled the air. But theyd never seen a frog here before-not in their special place.

She glanced around at the ring of trees and the soft, springy grass. Here she and her sisters pretended to be everything from elegant travelers taking a boat to a mysterious new land, to Cinderella, to mermaids. Sometimes their games were so elaborate they went on for days and Katie helped their Grammy M make special costumes. Today they were dressed to be fairy princesses. Theyd just been deciding who was going to be kidnapped by the evil Dark Duke, when theyd spotted the frog.

What if its magic and it wants to be sure we believe? Katie asked.

Brenna rolled her eyes. Then kiss it and find out. If its not magic, youll get warts all over your face and have to stay in your room because youll be so ugly.

Not a happy outcome, Katie thought. But she really wanted to find a handsome prince and fall in love. She wanted a big wedding, with lots of lace and flowers and a sky full of stars.

I believe youre a prince in disguise, she whispered to the frog. Im going to kiss you and then wait every night for you to come find me. Youll be my one true love, and well live happily ever after.

She sucked in a deep breath for courage, leaned close, and pressed her lips against the frogs small face. It croaked and hopped away.

Brenna laughed while Francesca tried to hide a smile. Katie wasnt discouraged. When shed kissed the frog, she feltsomething. Like a tingle. Or a promise.

Youll see, she told her sisters. One day my prince is going to come for me. Hes going to want only me, and youll be sorry you didnt kiss the frog, too.

Francesca looked wistful, but Brenna shook her head. Youll be waiting until youre old, because no prince is gonna show up.

Youre wrong. He will and Ill be right here.

Katie did wait. Every night for the next three years, she stood at her window and watched the sky, waiting for her prince to ride up on his white stallion and whisk her away.

In time she forgot about the frog, the kiss, and her beliefs, which was a good thing, because twenty years later there had been a lot more frogs, but not a single prince.

Katie Marcelli knew that with the right staff, she could organize the world. But as good help was hard to find, she contented herself with smaller projects, such as organizing closets, parties, and seminars. She owned her own business, made a decent living, and had a five-year business plan that would make a Fortune 500 CEO weep with envy. She was tough, confident, in charge.

On the outside.

On the inside her nerves were currently playing baseball in her stomach, and someone had just hit a foul ball down the third base line. She pressed a hand to her midsection and knew that fourth cup of coffee shed gulped in her car was about to turn to acid. She was tense, wired, and pacing in high heels that might make her ankles look as slender as a gazelles but also threatened her future ability to walk without a limp.

Oh, please, oh, please let me say just the right thing, she thought as she paused in front of a large window overlooking Century City and Beverly Hills. Opportunities like this didnt come along every day. Shed wanted to take her company to the next level, and this job was going to make it happen. All she had to do was besparkling.

The word made her smile. Ah, yes. She was the Sparkling One. Bright, bubbly, like fine champagne that had-

Ms. Marcelli? Mr. Stryker will see you now.

Katie turned toward a well-dressed fifty-something woman who held open a thick door and motioned for her to enter.

Katie stepped from the nicely carpeted hallway into sink-to-your-ankles plushness in an office the size of Rhode Island. A corner office, with floor-to-ceiling windows, sleek yet traditional furniture, a massive pair of leather sofas on the walls opposite the windows, and an elegantly dressed man good-looking enough to grace one of the billboards that lined Sunset Boulevard.

Zach Stryker, one of only three senior partners in the largest family law firm in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and the youngest partner. He had a reputation for being tough, unflinching, and a hell of a negotiator. Oh, and he wasnt just a winner in the courtroom. Rumor had it he broke at least two female hearts a week.

The nerves in her stomach instantly abandoned their baseball game and began flying in a man-alert formation which warned her that caffeine overload was not all that far away. Perfect, she thought, because staying calm in a meeting was so overrated.

Ms. Marcelli? the man said, his voice low and sultry enough to make him a fortune in radio. Im Zach Stryker.

Mr. Stryker. A pleasure.

She managed to cross the carpet without twisting her ankle. As he came around his pool-size desk, she transferred her briefcase from her right hand to her left, then shook with him.

Oh, great, sparks, she thought as sexual heat arced from her fingers to her chest and beyond. Wildly attractive, tall, dark, and blue-eyed. How L.A. How her luck. Wasnt she only supposed to care about the job?

A good question, she thought as she took the seat he offered in front of his desk.

Instead of circling back to his Im the man leather chair, he settled next to her, then angled toward her and gave her the kind of engaging smile that could send an angry, gray-haired nun into cardiac arrest. Katie told herself she was made of sterner stuff.

I guess were going to throw a party together, he said.

Right. A party. The reason she was here. Absolutely.

She opened her briefcase and pulled out a light blue folder. Your assistant filled me in on the basics. Your law firm hosts an annual fund-raiser, with the proceeds going to several local family charities.

Right. The event is generally coordinated by one of the partners wives. Johns wife volunteered, but then she discovered she was pregnant with twins. Her doctor didnt want her stressing herself with all the planning, so I stepped in and said Id take care of things. He rested one ankle on his opposite knee. Not having a wife, I needed to call in a professional. Thats where you come in.