I held my hands up. "Alright, I hear what you're saying. Let's just agree that all I know for sure is that I need to get ready and head to the fight promotion party."
Sandi patted my shoulder and then got to work. Within the hour, I had my copper hair swept up, my green eyes accented with perfect makeup, and the iridescent dress shimmering every time I moved. She ushered me into the elevator.
"Let me guess, it all changes back to normal at midnight," I said as I stepped inside.
"Let's hope so," Sandi said.
I headed into the flashy party feeling like Cinderella for more reasons than just the dress. I was still an outsider in Fenton's world and I half expected the doorman to send me away.
"Hey, beautiful. No hard feelings about earlier, right?" Mario Peretti appeared trailing a large entourage.
"You mean when you attacked me?" I asked.
"Just a kiss between colleagues. Surely, that's happened to you before," Mario said. "Besides your boyfriend did not seem to mind."
"Jackson McRay is not my boyfriend," I said.
"Well, obviously, I'm not the only one confused by that," Mario said. He nodded in the direction of the bar.
Fenton leaned over a limber, black-haired woman and drank a shot off her flat stomach. She sat up and offered him a lime from between her overly plump lips.
"They've been pretty friendly ever since I arrived. Maybe I picked the wrong photo op to make our man jealous," Mario said.
I pushed past him, much to the amusement of his entourage, and marched into Fenton's eye line. He caught sight of me, and his blue eyes blazed. It was not the smoldering appreciation I had imagined when I chose the dress. I forced myself to walk straight over to him.
"We need to talk," I said.
He turned back to the bar and ordered another shot. A voluptuous blonde took position and smiled at Fenton with bright red lips.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" I asked. "Really? You're going with the silent treatment? What if I say that I want to believe you? It was an awkward situation. It seemed personal and I did not want to let something personal get in the way of the business I have with Jackson. Come on, you don't have anything to say about that?"
Fenton shrugged. "Actions speak louder than words." He leaned down over the blonde's bare midriff and savored the second shot. He made a big show out of sucking the lime wedge from her fire engine red lips, but when he looked up, I was staring over the top of them.
On the wall, almost a story high, was a slideshow of Mario's rise to the top. Fenton's loss was heavily featured and now I knew why he wanted to add a photograph of me. The sharp cuts and close-ups of Fenton's first loss to Peretti were all psychological warfare meant to shake his confidence. My picture would surface soon enough.
"Well hopefully reason speaks louder than photographs," I said. "I can explain."
It was too late, Fenton turned around just in time to see the wall-sized shot of Mario kissing me full on the lips. My hands that had been raised to ward him off actually looked like I was embracing him.
I grabbed his shoulder. "Please, Fenton, you have to believe me."
"Like you believed me?" he asked. He did not even glance at me. Fenton yanked his shoulder away and strode across the dance floor to call Peretti out.
The crowd burst into excited chatter and the music stopped. Fenton shoved him as soon as Peretti turned around and for a moment it looked as if the fight would happen right there on the dance floor. The crowd backed away and the two were left in a wide circle.
I tried to push my way in, but the crowd was too tight and too excited to move. Kev appeared at my side and stopped me.
"Fenton knows it was just a prank. It's all part of the show," Kev said.
"Are you sure? I screwed everything up. What was I supposed to do?" I asked him.
"How about conducting your business over the phone or email like every other agent?" Kev asked.
Peretti puffed out his chest and was strutting around Fenton getting the crowd riled up. Fenton answered with a hard shove that deflated Peretti's chest. Security burst into the circle to haul them both back. Instead of de-escalating the situation, the fight promoter handed Peretti a microphone.
"A fighter's got to keep a cool head and it seems Fenton Morris is ready to lose his again," Peretti said.
Half the crowd cheered and half howled with rage.