“Are… Are you two doing okay?” I asked. I didn’t know if I detected something in his tone, or if I was just projecting my own hopes onto their relationship.
“Sure,” he replied defensively. “Of course we are. Why wouldn’t we be?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “I haven’t heard you two talk since you got here. And every time she calls, you ignore it.”
His movie-star smile returned. “I ignored it because I’m busy enjoying a glass ofreallybad champagne with my friend slash business partner.”
He’s prioritizing me over his fiancée.My heart soared with glee. It was a trivial thing to be happy about, but it made me feel like I was the most important woman in his life.
“I’ll call Carmen back when the bottle’s empty.” He reached for the bottle, but when he turned it over, only a few drops spilled into his glass.
“Guess you’re calling her back now,” I said. “Unless you have a second, evenworsebottle in the garage…?”
Hunter smiled sadly at me. “You think I can affordtwobottles of ten-dollar champagne? Christ, Erica, I’m not made of money!”
I laughed and held out my glass. “I’ll share the rest of mine, if you want.”
“You just don’t want to finish it yourself,” he accused.
“It tastes like Sprite!”
He closed his laptop, leaning close to me again. “When you make your first sale, I’ll splurge on thetwenty-dollar bottle to celebrate.”
“You mean whenwemake our first sale,” I corrected.
“Right.” He flashed a grin, lingering in front of me. For a moment, I saw a storm of emotion in his dark eyes. It made me wonder if everything he had just said about his fiancée was true, or if he was hiding something from me. Because if I didn’t know any better…
He looks like he wants to kiss me.
Iwantedhim to kiss me, to crush his lips against mine the way he did in the garage all those years ago, giving in to the electric chemistry between us. Iachedfor him in a way that left me breathless and scared. And then suddenly Hunterwasleaning in, face drawing closer and closer to mine, his dark eyes closing, and I shut my eyes and pursed my lips for him…
His cheek brushed against mine as he gave me a hug. A stupid, platonic hug.
“Goodnight, partner,” he said, then went upstairs.
I didn’t exhale until I heard his door close upstairs.
22
Erica
I spent the next few days focusing on gettingYours Forever Gemstonesup and running. That involved calling every local jeweler in Columbus and asking them to add my line of custom gems as an option for their customers. Many declined because they already had exclusive contracts with The De Beers Group, the largest seller of rough diamonds in the world. Those phone calls were usually short. “Sorry, we work with De Beers,” they would say, and I would thank them for their time and hang up.
Several jewelers already sold lab-created diamonds, offering them as options alongside “natural” diamonds. Among that group, seven jewelry companieslovedmy idea for custom diamonds based on a person—or animal’s—unique carbon signature. Within three days, I had a network of local stores who were willing to work with me.
Then I broadened my contact list and began reaching out to larger chains of jewelry stores. Most of them wouldn’t even return my calls, but I scored a conference call with the sourcing director of a huge Midwestern chain.
“We aren’t ready to work with you at your current level,” she told me, “but once you’ve secured five hundred sales, we’ll be interested in the idea.”
I considered that a huge win. Working with jewelry chains wasn’t strictly necessary, because I would also be selling gemstones and jewelry directly on my website—at a higher profit, too. But the more buzz I could generate, the better.
The entire process of reaching out to existing businesses and pitching my idea was nerve-wracking, but I had a huge confidence boost by knowing Hunter was backing me up. He was successful in a way I could only aspire to be, and ifhewas financially investing in me, then it must have meant that I had a solid idea. It made me feel like I was walking on solid ground rather than sand.
Hunter spruced up my website, and just like he promised, it lookedmuchsnazzier. The website was sleek, but minimalistic. Flashy, but subdued. It made me feel like a professional, rather than someone stumbling along, trying to figure it out on her own.
Aside from the website, Hunter focused on making videos for his YouTube channel. He usually drove around town recording videos in the morning, and then spent the afternoon editing and answering comments on his channel. For a few days, we didn’t see each other much: he left in the morning, and by the time he got back I was already at the brewery.
One evening, I got home from work and went into the garage to get a beer. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone in there, so I practically jumped out of my socks when I saw two legs sticking out from underneath Dad’s old Mustang.