The sunlight streamed in, bright and perfect for Paige to get an idea of just how everything would glitter in the windows of Colson’s department stores at Christmastime. The Christmas designs took up so much of her year, because every year there was the pressure to do bigger, better, more intricate. She loved it.
They moved her wooden frame, the same size and shape of a standard Colson’s window, so that it was right in the path of the sun and she started hanging the ornaments from the top with fishing line.
They caught the light, and they glinted. But it wasn’t enough. She needed flash. She needed something no one would walk by and ignore.
She dug through her big box of sparkle, as she’d dubbed it, and produced a canister of silver glitter, one of gold and some deep purple gems. She set to it.
The finished product was much better. They caught fire when the sun hit, and beneath the display lights they would be fantastic.
She brushed her hands on her black skinny jeans and grimaced when she noticed the trail of glitter she’d put down her thighs.
“You’ve been working hard.”
She turned at the sound of Dante’s voice and ignored the fact that her heart had slammed into her chest and then started pounding hard and fast.
“Eh, you know the old joke. Hardly working and all that,” she said. She wasn’t sure why she was so quick to dismiss her work, and yet, she always did. Making light of it seemed to be her default setting. She was only just noticing it, and she didn’t like it.
“Doesn’t look that way to me,” he said, crossing the threshold and moving to her work area. “I like it.”
“There will be more. The mannequins, of course. Plus, about fifty more of these hanging at different heights. Snow. A Christmas tree. This is just for one of the side-street windows. But the main window display is going to be pretty amazing. I’m excited.”
“I can tell.”
“I put a lot of work into it,” she said, for herself more than for him. “And I work really hard.”
“Of course you do, Paige, or you would hardly still be on my payroll. This will be our third Christmas with you at the helm, and everyone has said how much higher the quality has been on the displays since then.”
“Well…thank you.”
“Tell me about the main window.”
“It’s going to be called Visions of Sugarplums. It will be a bunch of Christmas fantasies. And I think I want to have them like they’re sort of springing from a dream. So some mist and icicles and lights. Very whimsical and beautiful.”
“And all the same at each location?”
“I think each one should be slightly different,” she said. “At least the big destination stores in Paris, New York, Berlin, et cetera. So that each one is an attraction.”
“Do you have the budget for it?”
“Um, now that you mention it, I do need a slight budget increase.”
“I thought you might.”
“But you said my displays are high quality.”
“I did. How much more do you need?”
She named a sum in the several thousands and Dante didn’t bat an eye. “All right, if that’s what you need, I will make sure you have it.”
“Thank you,” she said.
She stopped and really looked at him for the first time since he’d walked in. She’d glanced at him, but she’d avoided careful study. She knew why now. Looking at him full-on was a bit like staring into the sun. He was so beautiful it made her ache. She could no more reach out and touch him, have him for her own, than she could claim a star.
It made her feel so achingly sad. Just for a moment. She didn’t have time to worry about Dante or the fact that she had the hots for him. Or the fact that, in all honesty, it felt like more than just having the hots for him.
“Ready for the couples interview?” she asked him.
“Of course,” he said, his tone sounding thoroughly unconvincing. Which was funny, because if Dante was one thing, it was certain.
“What are you worried about?”
He looked at her and arched one dark brow. “I don’t worry, cara mia.”
“About anything ever?”
“No.”
“What are you doing in business? You should be teaching self-help classes.”