Power Play: Jodie and the Billionaire by Selena Kitt Page A

she had to escape all of it. “I have to go to
the ladies room.”
    Of
course, she didn’t have to—but she didn’t want to burst into tears in
front of a bunch of women she didn’t know. And she didn’t want to tell Kimber
about Jason, not here, not now. It wasn’t fair to spoil her friend’s
bachelorette party with her own unhappiness. It wasn’t Kimber’s fault Jason was
a jerk and Nicole from Buttfuck, Missouri was a homewrecker.
    Jodie
stopped at the full length mirror, doing what she’d been doing since she’d
discovered all of Nicole’s texts and photos and the Kik messenger
account on Jason’s phone—trying to find what, exactly, was wrong with
her. She wasn’t perfect—her mouth was Angelina-Jolie-too-big, her plain
brown hair probably too long, pulled back into a sensible ponytail—but
she wasn’t hideous. In fact, as much as she hated to admit it, she and Nicole even looked a little alike, if you squinted from a distance.
    So
what did Nicole have that she didn’t?
    “Hey.”
Kimber pushed open the bathroom door, coming up behind her. “What was that all
about?”
    “Nothing.”
Jodie tried to put on a smile. It almost looked real. “You’d be depressed too,
if you thought your job was going to disappear inside of a year.”
    “You
might want to wait to complain about the sky falling until it actually hits you
on the head, Chicken Little.” Kimber rolled her eyes, putting her hands on
Jodie’s shoulders. “Besides, you’re the Simon Cowell of the publishing
industry. Even if the whole thing goes to hell in a hand basket, you’ll be
fine.”
    “I’m
sure you’re right.” Jodie slung her purse over her shoulder, turning to face
her friend. “So what’s on the docket tonight?”
    “Well, first we’re going to get make-overs.” Kimber tucked a short strand of
platinum blond hair behind her ear as if it had been out of place. “Then we’re
going gambling!”
    “Sounds
like fun.” The thought of group makeovers and gambling didn’t exactly thrill
her, but this was Kimber’s show and she was running it. Never mind that girls
weren’t supposed to plan their own bachelorette parties. Kimber had been
running things since they met during their freshman year of high school and she
wasn’t about to stop now.
    “Are
you sure it’s just the job-thing that’s got you down?” Kimber’s perfectly
plucked eyebrows drew together in concern.
    “It’s
nothing.” Jodie felt her phone vibrating in her purse. She was sure it was
Jason calling. Again. “I’ll tell you later.”
    “Hey!”
Kimber called after her, but Jodie left her in the bathroom, joining the girls
at the Caesar’s Palace fountain show. They were giggling like teenagers because
one of them had a laser pointer and was using it to delineate where all the
statues’ male-parts should be. Very mature. But it was about par for the
course, so far, on this trip.
    “Ready
to go get a make-over, everybody?” Kimber brightened as she approached and they
all squealed in response at this new surprise. Kimber had been full of them,
from springing for the plane tickets to taking them all to Cirque du Soleil,
which, she had to admit, was kind of cool. Except she kept thinking how much
Jason would have loved it, which just depressed her.
    “Come
on.” Kimber put her arm around Jodie’s neck, smiling at the rest of the girls.
“Jodie needs some cheering up. I say we go get make-overs, dress up like
prostitutes and go gambling!”
    Jodie
plastered on a smile at all the group enthusiasm. It didn’t really matter what
they did, after all. None of it was going to cheer her up.
    * *
* *
    “My
goodness, you clean up good.” Kimber grinned, brushing Jodie’s newly cut,
colored, styled and curled hair over her shoulder, looking on approvingly as
the stylist finished the last of Jodie’s makeup.
    “You
look amazing. That dress is incredible!” Jodie blinked at her friend’s
incredibly short skirt and impossibly high heels. She