Beauty and the Boss
Table of Contents
Synopsis
Praise for Ali Vali
Acclaim for the Casey Cain Saga
By the Author
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
About the Author
Books Available From Bold Strokes Books
Beauty and the Boss
Ellis Renois is at the top of the fashion world and has built
the Renois Company into a success that dominates the
runways of the world. Ellis loves creating clothes, and she
loves the beautiful women who wear them. While Ellis deals
with design, she leaves the business aspect to others. It’s a
mistake that could cost her more than just her life’s work.
Charlotte Hamner has worked her way through school and is
ready to make a better life for herself and her daughter
Sawyer. She’s far from the teenaged mother who worked a
string of dead-end jobs to fulfill her dreams, so she’s not
about to fall victim to Ellis’s easy charm.
A summer job presents Charlotte with the chance to learn
from Ellis, but it might also land her the position of head
designer for Renois. But her promotion will come only
through betrayal and perhaps at the cost of her heart.
Praise for Ali Vali
Balance of Forces: Toujours Ici
“A stunning addition to the vampire legend, Balance of
Forces: Toujour Ici is one that stands apart from the rest.”—
Bibliophilic Book Blog
Calling the Dead
“So many writers set stories in New Orleans, but Ali Vali’s
mystery novels have the authenticity that only a real Big
Easy resident could bring…makes for a classic lesbian
murder yarn.”—Curve Magazine
Blue Skies
“Vali is skilled at building sexual tension, and the sex in this
novel flies as high as Berkley’s jets. Look for this fast-paced
read.”—Just About Write
Carly’s Sound
“Vali paints vivid pictures with her words…Carly’s Sound is a
great romance, with some wonderfully hot sex.”—Midwest
Book Review
“It’s no surprise that passion is indeed possible a second
time around.”—Q Syndicate
Acclaim for the Casey Cain Saga
The Devil Inside
“Vali’s fluid writing style quickly puts the reader at ease,
which makes the story and its characters equally easy to
get to know and care about. When you find yourself talking
out loud to the characters in a book, you know the work is
polished and professional, as well as entertaining.”—Family
and Friends Magazine
“Not only is The Devil Inside a ripping mystery, it’s also an
intimate character study.”—L-Word Literature
“The Devil Inside is the first of what promises to be a very
exciting series…While telling an exciting story that grips the
reader, Vali has also fully fleshed out her heroes and villains.
The Devil Inside is that rarity: a fascinating crime novel
which includes a tender love story and leaves the reader
with a cliffhanger ending.”—MegaScene
The Devil Unleashed
“Fast-paced action scenes, intriguing character revelations,
and a refreshing approach to the romance thriller genre all
make for an enjoyable reading experience in the Big Easy…
The
Devil
Unleashed
is
an
engrossing
reading
experience.”—Midwest Book Review
Deal with the Devil
“Ali Vali has given her fans another thick, rich thriller…Deal
With the Devil has wonderful love stories, great sex, and an
ample supply of humor. It is an exciting, page-turning read
that leaves her readers eagerly awaiting the next book in
the series.”—Just About Write
The Devil Be Damned
“Ali Vali excels at creating strong, romantic characters along
with her fast-paced, sophisticated plots. Her setting, New
Orleans, provides just the right blend of immigrants from
Mexico, South America, and Cuba, along with a city steeped
in traditions.”—Just About Write
Beauty and the Boss Brought to you
by
eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com
eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or
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work.
Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.
Beauty and the Boss
© 2017 By Ali Vali. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-62639-920-4
This Electronic Original is published by Bold Strokes Books,
Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, NY 12185
First Edition: September 2017
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are
used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living
or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is
entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any
form without permission. Credits
EDITOR: SHELLEY THRASHER
Production Design: Stacia Seaman Cover Design By Melody
Pond
By the Author
Carly’s Sound
Second Season
Calling the Dead Blue Skies
Love Match
The Dragon Tree Legacy The Romance Vote Girls with Guns
Beneath the Waves Beauty and the Boss
Forces Series
Balance of Forces: Toujours Ici
Battle of Forces: Sera Toujours
The Cain Casey Saga
The Devil Inside The Devil Unleashed Deal with the Devil
The Devil Be Damned The Devil’s Orchard The Devil’s Due
Acknowledgments
Every story might start with an idea that takes months to
write, but no book is done without a great team. Thank you,
Radclyffe, for your support from the beginning and for your
friendship. Thanks to Sandy Lowe for the title—those are
always the hardest, and this one’s perfect.
Thank
you to Shelley Thrasher, my editor. As always, you
taught me something, and for that I’m always grateful.
Thank you to my fantastic first readers Kim Rieff, Cris Perez-
Soria, and Connie Ward. You guys rock and always have
great suggestions, so I appreciate the input. It’s nice to
know, though, that I can surprise you with a good plot twist.
A big thank you to the BSB team, my fellow authors, and
Melody Pond for a great cover. Life at times knocks you flat
with surprises you never see coming, so I thank my BSB
family for not only helping me get up, but for letting me
lean on you. I love you guys.
Thank you to all the readers for your unwavering support
and for your many emails. As always, every word is written
with you in mind.
It’s amazing how life can change in such a short time and
how much pain you can endure without breaking from the
weight of so much loss. The only way to survive is to be
lucky enough to have friends and someone who loves you
shoulder the burden with you. Thank you to my big brother
for all the memories and for your unwavering support for all
of my fifty-three years. I hope your eternity is only smooth
waters, big fish, and a cup that never goes empty.
Thank you, C, for making me laugh when I didn’t think I
could, for simply holding my hand when words weren’t
necessary or possible, and for thirty-two years full of joy. I
love you. Verdad!
For C
A lifetime will never be enough.
For my big brother
Rest easy, brother, and know you are missed.
CHAPTER ONE
Fashion designer Ellis Renois used the back door of her
main studio in the Garment District, wanting to avoid
anyone vying for the summer internship from trying to make
an impression before it was their turn. The large open space
on the top floor was where her team took her sketches and
transformed them into the reality of the runway. She’d
always felt alive in here, and she used these interviews to
find the person who felt the same way. The only thing was, it
had to be someone who would put in the work and not want
to just show up for the accolades of Fashion Week.
Her best friend and business partner Rueben Maddox was
waiting just inside. “Take the sofa,” he said of the spot they
used when they had guests for previews. The space was
eerily quiet since the staff was on holiday for a few weeks
and would return when she started sending sketches from
her own vacation to add to the ones already in the finishing
stages. A skeleton crew would follow her out of town, and
one of the head seamstresses would fly back and forth to
make sure everything stayed on track for the fall.
“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Rueben said.
Ellis was growing tired of this same damn conversation
they’d had in the last couple of years. “This will go much
faster if you leave out the lecture, Ruby.”
“You can’t blame me for trying.”
“True, but don’t push it by driving it in the ground. You’ll
break a nail, or worse yet, you’ll ruin your outfit by breaking
a sweat.”
She smiled at Rueben and moved to her assigned seat,
stopping to put her hands on her hips when she spotted a
kid walking slowly in the back corner of the room. Whoever
she was, she was moving her head like she was trying to
commit every inch of the space to memory.
“Hold up, Ruby. Hi,” Ellis said, stopping in front of the big
leather chesterfield. “Are you here for the internship? Not
that I’d turn you down, but you look a little young to be in
the workforce.” She unbuttoned her jacket and held her
hand out after spotting the book in the girl’s hand. “Let’s
see your sketches.”
“How come you don’t think it’s my diary?”
The kid, who appeared barely ten, had moxie, and her
slightly long, dark hair falling in her face made Ellis think
she was ready for a photo shoot. She sat and patted the
spot next to her. “If it’s your diary, you must have a lot of
emotion in those pages.”
The kid had a good laugh, but she hesitated before
taking a seat. “Why’d you say that?” The girl had obviously
thought about joining her and chose to stay on her feet.
“You’ve got an awful lot of colored pencils for the average
diary. Can I see, or is it too personal?” She stood and waved
the kid to the table against the wall of glass as a way to put
her more at ease. The view from here was shit, but the light
was phenomenal, so she coped. Staring at something
beautiful all day would definitely blow her work-life
concentration right out the window. Not that it didn’t
anyway.
“How about I go first.” She moved some of the work-
related sketchbooks to the side and reached for one from
the bottom shelf of the long table, opening it to the first
page. “Put your book down,” she said, pointing to the space
she’d made. “Or not,” she said when the kid pressed it
closer against her chest.
The first sketch in her book was of her and her mother
Amis, when she was about the same age as this kid. Back
then, Amis had been one of the seamstresses in a place
very much like this. They always spent their Sundays,
Amis’s only real day off, at the center of some beautiful
place, and her mother had done a masterful job of choosing
locations that built the artist in her soul one stunning
landscape after another.
“This is my mother, Amis,” she said of the sketch she’d
done a few years back. The finished product hung over her
fireplace at home.
The kid opened her book and handed it over like it was
her heart on a plate. “Here,” she said, making eye contact
only for a moment.
“I’m Ellis,” she said, placing the sketchbook next to hers.
“What’s your name?” She held her hand out where the kid
would see it. “How it works is, you tell me your name to
introduce yourself, and then you shake my hand firmly but
not painfully.”
“I’m Sawyer. My mom wants to meet you.” Sawyer shook
her hand a little too long with a slightly sweaty palm, but
she didn’t mind since the kid was obviously nervous.
After Sawyer finally let her hand go, Ellis flipped through
the pages of really good sketches. Sawyer wasn’t Monet yet,
but the raw talent was there. At times, no matter how much
the person wanted it, you couldn’t build on faulty ground.
Sawyer had the kind of talent that would blossom only
under the right care. “How’d you get back here?”
“Everyone out there has like a major case of the willies,
so I went exploring. One of the doors led back here.” Sawyer
shrugged and still wouldn’t make eye contact. “Did this
mess my mom up?”
She finished going through the book. “Did she help you
with these?”
“No. She tells me all the time to follow my heart.”
Ellis had to smile when Sawyer rolled her eyes. “Do you
know what that means?”
Sawyer cocked her head to the side before shaking it.
“Not really, no.”
She flipped through her own sketchbook to the few she’d
done when she’d visited Monet’s gardens in France and then
opened her book of his work. “These are of the same place.”
She pointed between the two. “This is the way he saw it,
and this is the way I did. One’s more literal than the other,
don’t you think?”
“They’re both nice,” Sawyer said, putting her hands on
the table and standing on her toes to see better. “You’re
really good.”
“Thank you, and we were both doing what your mom told
you, so she’s right about following your heart. Eventually
you’ll see how important that is.” She handed the book
back, and Sawyer immediately held it against her chest.
“But what’s it really mean?”
“Everyone has their own interpretation, but here’s my
take. The world and how we see it is like loving a certain
kind of flower over another. I might look at daisies and see
weeds, but you might love daisies so you see something
beautiful. You don’t want someone telling you how to think
about the flowers—you know it’s a completely personal
thing. Art’s all about the eye of the person with the brush in
their hand, and what you put on the page or canvas is
what’s in here,” she said, tapping the side of Sawyer’s head,
“and in here,” she said tapping over her heart.
“Thanks…I guess.” Sawyer seemed hesitant to leave.
“You want to hang out here until we’re done?” Sawyer
smiled slightly and sat on the stool she’d pointed to and
waved Rueben off when he stared at the girl. “Come on,
Ruby. Let’s get started. What’s your mom’s name?” she
asked Sawyer.
“Charlotte.”
“Should she go first or last?” Ellis asked, immediately
putting a stunned almost pained expression on Sawyer’s
face.
Actually, Sawyer looked at her as if her answer would
totally mess her mother up if she were wrong. “If it was you,
would you go first or last?” Sawyer finally said.
“Smart kid,” Rueben said.
“I’d say first,” Ellis said seriously. “First impressions make