Nina stood in front of five dresses hanging from hooks around the spacious dressing room. She had insisted she didn’t have time to try on dresses, but Grace had swooped down on her and dragged her to the bridal salon. Few people could resist Grace Torres when she was on a mission.
“They all look...average.” Nina stepped back, eyeing the gowns with a critical look.
“We’re supporting local businesses,” Grace said. “I think I like this one.”
“I want to support local businesses,” Nina said, shaking her head. “But what’s here isn’t working for me. And I don’t like that dress at all. The bodice drapes oddly.”
Kenzie agreed. Nothing about Nina was average. She needed an amazing gown. She needed a Carolina Herrera dress, or an Oscar de la Renta. She could afford any dress she wanted.
“I love the sleeves on this one,” Nina continued, “and I like the drape of this skirt and the neckline on this one. If only I could put all these elements together, then I would have the perfect dress.”
“Maybe you should buy all five dresses and let Kenzie remake them,” Grace offered.
Kenzie could see the attendant’s eyes light up at the commission this sale would give her.
“Let’s have lunch and talk it over.” Kenzie turned to the saleswoman. “I’m not promising anything, but can you hold these dresses for an hour or two while we talk about it?”
“Of course,” the woman said with a warm, practiced smile. “I can hold them until five o’clock.”
They walked down the block to a small diner. The diner had a fifties look to it, with red vinyl booths, chrome molding, a white tiled floor and a jukebox in a corner. Each booth had a small, plastic replica of the jukebox listing the songs and a slot for coins to place an order. Currently, Chubby Checker’s “Rock Around the Clock” blasted out through the loudspeakers.
“You weren’t as much help as I thought you’d be,” Nina said to Kenzie.
“Nina,” Grace objected.
“She’s my best friend, Mom. She’s been picking out her own clothes since she was six. She knows fashion better than the two of us put together.”
Kenzie grinned. “I have a lot on my mind. And I did offer to have several dresses sent from my contacts in Paris.”
“I know, but I’m the bride and it’s supposed to be all about me. Besides what bride doesn’t want the experience of trying bridal gowns?”
“Two weeks ago, you didn’t want to go near a bridal salon. You are so lucky you’re my best friend, or I’d bop you on the head.” She held up her wrist and pointed at her watch. “You can whine for ten minutes. And then you’re going to do it my way.”
A waitress placed menus down in front of them and took their drink orders.
“This wedding stuff is complicated,” Nina complained. “Maybe we should just elope.”
Grace slapped her daughter’s arm. “Not on my watch, you don’t.”
“You put together international marketing campaigns,” Kenzie said. “You’ve worked with people you hated. How can this be complicated?”
“Because I feel like the rest of my life is going to be determined by my wedding day.” The waitress brought their drinks. Nina took a long sip of her soda.
“You know it’s not,” Grace said soothingly.
“In my logical head, yes.”
“You and Scott,” Kenzie said, “are going to be just as happy if you do a drive-through wedding chapel and get married by Neptune, the sea god.”
“Or Elvis,” Nina said with a short laugh. “I can just see me now, waltzing down the aisle to the strains of ‘Jailhouse Rock.’”
“There’s some irony to that.” Kenzie stirred her vanilla malt shake and took a sip. She hadn’t had a decent shake in years and this was perfect.
“I’ve made a decision,” Nina said. “I’m going to let you order those dresses you wanted me to try on originally. So order away. I am done whining.”
“Good. But you still have six minutes left.”
Nina frowned at Kenzie. “Have you found your maid-of-honor dress? I know my sister wants to wear something strapless. But I really wanted slip dresses.”
Lola, Nina’s sister, had deferred all decisions to Kenzie, because she was busy writing the musical score for an upcoming movie and didn’t have time to shop. “We decided on midnight blue and found a Monique Lhuillier ballet-length dress that looks good on both of us. Hers is strapless and mine is the slip-dress style you wanted. We’re also coordinating with Hunter and Donovan, who will be wearing matching Armani tuxedos.”
“Good. That’s off my plate and taken care of.”
“Hendrix is taking care of the cake and Donovan has the food. The music has been decided,” Kenzie said. “By the way, how are the dance lessons going with Scott?”
“It’s a good thing I love your brother. He has three left feet, but he is trying.” Nina sighed.
The waitress brought their burgers. Kenzie didn’t realize how hungry she was until she took her first bite. “This is delicious.”
“I agree,” Grace said, digging in.
“At least Scott doesn’t confuse you,” Kenzie said.
“He’s still a mystery. That’s half the fun. Carl was never mysterious.” Nina popped a French fry into her mouth.
Carl, Nina’s ex-husband, had always been an open book to Kenzie. The question had always been, why had Nina married him? Knowing the answer would never come, Kenzie thought about Reed. She didn’t understand him, either. “I have the same problem with Reed.”
“You girls,” Grace said. “There’s nothing mysterious about love.”
“Everything is mysterious about love. I can’t interpret Reed’s body language. At times, he seems like a gawky nerd and at other times he’s so self-assured and confident.”
Grace laughed. “Men like a done deal.”
“What do you mean?” Kenzie asked curiously.
“Men,” Grace continued, “don’t mind working for things as long as they have the outcome they want. All of their lives they’re taught that if they accomplish all these things, the woman they want will just fall into place like the last piece of a puzzle. And then when the woman is too easy to get, they’re bored.”
“You mean I have to play hard to get. I don’t even know if I want to be gotten.” Kenzie stared hard at Grace.
“Sam did a number on her,” Nina explained to her mother.
“I never met Sam,” Grace said, “but from the first comment Nina made about him, I didn’t like him.”
“You ran down my boyfriend to your mother,” Kenzie cried.
“Oh no,” Grace said, patting Kenzie’s arm, “Every time she talked about him, her face would get all scrunched up like she’d eaten a bad piece of fish. I don’t think she was even aware of it.”
“I never said anything bad about Sam,” Nina put in. “I just never said anything good.”
Kenzie covered her face with her hands. “Why is boyfriend hindsight always twenty-twenty?”
“Because,” Grace said, “smart girls learn from their mistakes.”
“Being married to Carl,” Nina said, “was like being a nanny á la Mary Poppins. I always had to make magical things happen...for him. He really was a good starter husband.”
“Looking back at Sam, I can see he needed to feel more important than me. And as impressive as I was, he had to feel superior.” She didn’t consider the time spent on Sam completely wasted. She’d learned a lot about fashion from him and met a lot of knowledgeable people in the industry.
Grace tilted her head at Kenzie. “What did you like best about him?”
“He loved to shop.” Some of the best times she had with Sam were shopping. “And I could take him anywhere and he would never embarrass me. He had beautiful manners, could hold a decent
conversation and he was very charming.”
“Charming,” Grace said with a frown, “is always one of those words that make me nervous when a woman uses it to describe a man.”
“What do you mean by that?” Kenzie asked.
She sighed. “Charming is play-acting. Charming is someone who is always on a stage. Charming always seems like nothing more than a means to an end.”
“You and Miss E.,” Kenzie said, exasperated, “are always throwing out things to think about.”
Grace laughed. “That’s what old women do. We make younger women think.”
“Thanks so much, Grace.”
Nina held up her hand. “I don’t have to think about things anymore. I have the man. I’m done.”
“Oh no, honey,” Grace said, “you’re in phase one. Phase two is babies, a mortgage, minivans...and phase three...” Her voice trailed off.
“No.” Nina’s voice was firm. “There will be no minivans in my future.”
“Hunter said the same thing,” Kenzie laughed. “Five seconds after Lydia said she was pregnant, he was at the car lot looking at minivans. And now they have one.” The new baby had triggered something in Kenzie, something she never thought she’d feel.
“No. No.” Nina looked horror-struck. “I’m not going to be domesticated.”
Kenzie burst out laughing. “But domestication is going to look fabulous on you.”
Nina covered her face with her hands and groaned.
“And to get you started on the right foot, I’ll call Paris as soon as we get home and place an order for you. Trust me, you’ll look fabulous.”
* * *
A knock on the door to his suite revealed Kenzie standing in the hall with a plate of cupcakes held out in front of her. “I come bearing gifts.”
Reed grinned, delighted to see her. His heart started racing and he felt a little tongue-tied. He swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath. “You made me cupcakes?”
“We’ll go with that.”
He stepped aside and gestured her into the suite. She stepped inside, heading toward the kitchen where she unwrapped the cupcakes and set the plate on the snack bar.
Reed had his laptop set up on the counter. “I’ve been working on your software.”
“How’s it going?”
“I haven’t revolutionized the fashion industry yet, but I’m making progress.” He turned the laptop so she could see the screen. “I’ve managed to correct most of the errors in the software and simplified it. Instead of putting in a customer’s measurements, I’ve created templates for extra small, small, medium, large and extra-large. I’ve also done some research on body shapes and I’m including pear-shaped, hourglass, round, etc. I haven’t added those modules yet, but I think you’ll end up with a satisfying assortment of body shapes for your customers to choose from. My next task is to reconfigure some of the dresses to make sure they will fit properly.” He didn’t add that this whole process would be time-consuming, but he’d found himself enjoying it. “I’ve been forced to pay more attention to clothing. Men’s clothing is rather simple compared to women’s clothing.” He opened the wine cooler and pulled out a bottle. He opened it and poured them both a glass.
Kenzie sat on a bar stool and peeled the wrapper away and a took a bite of the cupcake. “Well that’s because the average man won’t spend the money, and men don’t shop the same way women do. My brothers always know what they want, pick it out and leave. They don’t browse, they don’t wander the aisles, nor do they try things on. They get what they want and get out.
“Hunter either looks like a banker or a construction worker. Scott wants to look as intimidating as possible and according to him, black doesn’t show blood. Donovan lived in Paris. When he wasn’t in his chef’s uniform he dressed pretty snappy, but that’s his own personal style.”
Reed shrugged. “I’m guilty of throwing on whatever I can find.” He couldn’t help but admire what she was wearing. “So tell me, is it casual day for you?”
She glanced down at her jeans. “I like red and skinny jeans always look good.” She plucked at her T-shirt. “And white goes with everything.”
“I heard skinny jeans are bad for your health.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I heard that they can be too tight and can interfere with the reproductive aspect of being a woman.”
She grinned provocatively. “I’ve heard the same things about men wearing tighty-whities.”
“That’s why I’m a boxer man,” he said proudly. Did that just come out of his mouth? Damn, he was so unsmooth.
Her eyebrows lifted. “Are you thinking about having children?”
He got the strangest sensation that she was picturing him in his boxers and frankly, the thought excited him. He got little tingles down his spine. He liked it. “Someday. What about you?” For a brief flash, he thought about having children with her. They would make beautiful children.
“I’m thinking about thinking about it.”
“Why are you thinking about thinking about having children?” This was not the conversation he’d picturing having with her, but he didn’t feel as uncomfortable as he thought he would. But then again he really liked her and she made him think about thinking about things. All sorts of things...like the way she would look in his bed with her eyes all sleepy after sex and her body curled around his. He took a step back from her.
“Certain things have to fall into place.”
“Such as,” he asked curiously.
“Number one, I have to find the right man.” She bit into her cupcake again and chewed, a thoughtful look on her face. “Number two, the time has to be right.”
“That’s a tall order. Nothing ever happens at the right time. You just do it.”
“Is that your new philosophy, ‘just do it’? I could have sworn you were a planner.”
“I had a vision about the near future. I worked my butt off and overcame my fear. Long-term planning is something else. You can’t really plan for that. You can have a goal, but things change as you proceed. You have to remain fluid and change with the challenges.” Listen to me, Mr. Zen Master.
She studied him. “Funny, I thought you just put your head down and worked hard...with a plan.”
“Ninety percent of the world works hard, but not everyone has a plan.” He leaned against the snack bar and thought about how delicious she looked, how tempting it was to lean over and run a hand down her arm. He pushed back before he gave in to the temptation. No matter what Miss E. had said, he had to maintain his distance with her. She was seductive and alluring. His fingers itched to touch her, to caress her, to... He had to stop thinking about her.
“What’s your next plan?” She traced a pattern on the Formica.
“I plan to seduce you.”
She looked startled, then grinned. “I’m the one who brought you cupcakes. Maybe seduction is my plan.”
“I planned for you to bring me cupcakes.”
She stared at him intently. “Really?”
“It worked. You did.” He pointed at the plate. “See? Cupcakes.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What are you planning next?”
“My near future plan is to perfect this software and win your undying gratitude.” And love. “My current plan is to eat these cupcakes...with you.”
Chapter 7
Kenzie sat in her office glancing through the bills on her desk that needed to be sent to accounting for payment. She was elated to notice that the sales of high-end items had increased over 15 percent. Not bad. She made a note to mention it at the next staff meeting. Her salespeople were doing a good job.
Reed walked in after a short knock on the door. “You have a happy look on your face.” He held a duffel bag in one hand and was dressed in
tan cargo pants, a blue shirt and windbreaker. She wondered where he was off to.
“I do! I’m happy. Sales are improving for not only the regular sales, but the high-end items.”
“What does that mean?”
“More swag for me and my sales staff because nothing says success like free stuff.” She loved swag. Nor for herself so much but for her staff. She wanted her people to feel appreciated.
“What kind of free stuff?” He sat on the edge of her desk smiling at her.
His nearness, the faint aroma of spice from his aftershave and the intensity in his blue eyes set her pulse racing. “We...um...we...scored some Michael Kors purses and some...La Perla lingerie.” The lingerie had been a bonanza.
“You mean free panties!” He looked confused.
“Lingerie and fragrances,” she supplied.
“How do you divvy up the goods?”
“Lottery. Everyone puts their business card in a fishbowl. We draw a card and the first person gets to pick from what’s been sent to us. And then the next person can choose, etc.”
“Very democratic,” he said. “What did you score?”
“Givenchy La Rouge Intense Color Lipstick in Rose Perfecto.” She loved the color and the way the lipstick performed. “I traded Fendi sunglasses for the lipstick.”
“If you get to choose what you want, why trade?”
“Sometimes you get what you want and sometimes you get what’s leftover that someone else decides they want more.” She was always willing to trade. “It’s a way to bond with my people. You bowled with your people, I share goodies.”
Technically she could keep the goodies for herself, but she wasn’t that kind of person. She believed in rewarding loyalty and making her people happy. When she’d been a buyer, she had kept a lot of stuff for herself, but she still shared with her assistants. Most of her current salespeople worked at just above minimum wage and they worked hard for her. Sharing the benefits made her feel good and allowed her staff to dress in ways they would never have dreamed. She gave them a clothing allowance and let them buy clothes at cost within reason and taught them how to encourage the customer to buy. Which was why the software Reed was fixing was so important. It would be another tool to help the staff show off the beauty of the clothing.
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