Free Undercover Billionaire by Anne Weibe

Chapter One
    “Do you think this is a good idea?” Scarlet took a look at her figure in a long, thin mirror and tried not to pick out every flaw she saw in her body. She heard a huff to her right and turned away from the reflective image, using any excuse she could to not look at what she believed to be a short, unimposing person.
    “The dress or the party?” Gracie took a drag on one of her e-cigarettes and exhaled with a look of ecstasy. Scarlet hated the things, but she supposed it was better than having the smell of tobacco in her home.
    “Both, I guess,” Scarlet confirmed as she looked down at the dress. It was a pretty azure color that she thought brought out her eyes, but Gracie looked at the number with contempt.
    “I think the party’s a great idea. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of attendees since they all RSVP’s, and I think if you show your face in public wearing that dress, people are going to think you’re a smurf,” Gracie said with brutal honesty. Without a care to the fact her business partner and best friend was in her bedroom, Scarlet pulled off the dress and adjusted the strapless bra. She had B cups that could barely fill out a tube top if she tried. The bra helped make them look a little bigger, maybe as if she actually had a chest and not just beestings.
    “So what color should I wear? Don’t you say red, either,” Scarlet warned as she put her right hand on her hip and cocked it. She watched Gracie stand with as much grace as her name suggested, and wondered why the woman couldn’t kick the habit of those damned e-cigarettes. They were still repulsive. She’d cleaned up from using heroin over three years prior, yet nicotine seemed to have a stronger hold on her. Maybe because it wasn’t obviously ruining her life like the stronger drugs were.
    “How about,” Gracie mumbled as she turned off the e-cigarette and shoved it into her purse. She disappeared into the walk-in closet of Scarlet’s condo and reappeared with the dress Scarlet dreaded. “It’s not red, it’s scarlet,” Gracie amended as she laid the short, sexy dress over the backside of a chair. After seeing the look on Scarlet’s face, she tried to be nice, “Come on, it’s the sexiest dress you have, and if you want the men to donate to a cause that benefits only women, you’re going to have to convince them it’s worth it.”
    “Gracie,” Scarlet exclaimed as she rolled her eyes. “That’s the exact type of thing I’m trying to discourage ! Women are not objects and I won’t parade myself around like one. Now, how about a pantsuit?” The bark of laughter from Gracie made her blush and she felt resignation as she looked at the red dress. No matter what Gracie said, it was red, not scarlet.
    “I’m wearing that prissy, black dress you bought me last week for this event. The deal was-”
    “I know what the damned deal was,” Scarlet muttered as she grabbed the red dress and slipped it on. She had to admit, it was cute. It accentuated her feminine curves, what little she had, and it made her look a little taller. With the right pair of heels-
    Scarlet stopped the thought and took a second look. It hugged her hips and while she exercised daily, she still felt she had a pouch in her stomach region. It had appeared about two years after she graduated college and started this organization to help women. Perhaps it was the stress, or maybe it was the donuts she offered every morning to the women who were in rehab. There wasn’t any harm in eating just one each morning with the other women, was there?
    “Stop overanalyzing yourself and put on those black shoes with the red on the bottom that look like Prada,” Gracie was already rooting around the closet for the shoes.
    “I’ll topple over and look like a murder victim spread across the floor in those,” Scarlet protested as she hurried for the closet. “What about the flesh colored ones?”
    “Ew, the ones that look like they’re an extension of your