“Are you wooing me, kind sir?”
“How can you tell?” he asked.
“You have that alpha thing going on.”
He chuckled in a way that made my body tingle. “You’re right. Did you relax at least?”
“Definitely. One of the reasons I like to watch plays is that they require my full concentration and then block out any other thoughts.” Except those of Rob, it seemed. “How was your day?”
“Still not over. I’m on a break, which is just about to end.”
“Wow. I’ll leave you, then. Don’t work too hard.”
“Skye, I’m glad you called.”
I squirmed in my bed, my body feeling almost a physical ache at his voice.
“Have fun for the rest of the evening.”
“You too. Dream about me. Good night.”
Oh yeah... I was definitely going to dream about him.
I fell asleep with Rob on my mind and woke up the same way. How was this sexy man hijacking my thoughts all the time? That was a feat no one before him had succeeded in doing.
“You’ve got an important meeting ahead,” I told myself in the mirror while I smeared body oil with an orange aroma on my legs. I had a system for almost everything. Relaxing lavender body oil before going to bed and invigorating orange oil before going out of the house in the morning. “You need to focus. Don’t let anyone hijack your thoughts again.”
I didn’t go directly to the store. I was meeting our website designer downtown to discuss some budget changes. Since we updated products routinely and ran sales on older merchandise, she had to make changes on the go all the time, and the costs were adding up.
I loved handling this, and so did Tess. Every day was a new day, nothing mundane about retail. She always said whenever we needed to break some news to our business partners, “You do it, you’re more efficient. When the dragon side of you shows, no one dares contradict you.”
Our website designer, Maisie, was waiting for me in our go-to coffee shop in Bryant Park, sitting outside on the comfy couches. If given the choice, I always preferred a spot in the sun as opposed to inside.
“Morning, Skye,” Maisie greeted. “Already ordered your favorite.”
“Thanks, Maisie, you didn’t have to. How are you, good?”
“Fine, things are okay. Let’s get straight to business, okay?” Maisie smiled, but she was less bubbly than usual. She seemed a little pale too.
“I like your efficiency.”
I got out my laptop, opening the budget spreadsheet. “Okay, so I know Tess and I wanted each sale to have a different layout on the website, but making those changes costs so much. Can we just get a template we can use for every sale?”
“Theoretically, yes... but it’s all going to look the same.”
“Big retailers do that too, so I think consumers are used to it. And we really want to cut costs.”
“Okay.” She sighed, writing a few notes on her iPad. Something was definitely off. I kept my voice firm, but I wasn’t inconsiderate or mean, so I didn’t think her mood was just because of our conversation. No, something was wrong before I got here.
“Maisie, are you okay? You seem a little out of sorts.”
“Oh, it’s that obvious?” Biting her lip, she added, “I’ve just broken up with my boyfriend.”
I winced. “Awww, girl. I’m so sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Hell no. Don’t have time to talk. Or even breathe.”
“But you won’t say no to an ice caramel Frappuccino with extra topping, will you? I’m buying.”