“What did you sketch?”
She blushed at the idea of sharing something so personal. Sure, they’d had sex but that had nothing to do with her dreams and ambitions. Somehow sharing her private sketches felt so much more intimate. “Nothing really, just doodles of heels and whatnot.”
“Are you any good?” he asked and she stared, incredulous at his unapologetic question. He shrugged. “Hey, that I like to sing in the shower doesn’t mean I can belt out a hit like Laci can.”
“Okay, fair point and, um, I think I might be good. Well, I don’t know, maybe I suck,” she said, blushing. “I see the lines in my head of how a shoe should conform to the foot and... Never mind, it’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid. It’s pretty cool, actually.”
“Really? You think so?”
“I wouldn’t say otherwise. One thing about me, princess, I never shoot bull for the sake of shooting it. I don’t have the time to keep lies straight.”
CoCo bit her lip to keep from smiling. She liked that Rian was honest. It was such a breath of fresh air after hanging out with so many liars. “Anyway, I stopped trying and my dad stopped asking.”
“Seems like you’re ignoring your calling.”
“Maybe. But I never really thought designing shoes was very glamorous. I mean, it’s a shoe. I love my dad and I’m very proud of him but designing shoes is just...I don’t know...a little boring.”
“No? What about Stella McCartney? She has a shoe line, right?”
“Of course.”
“Well, I don’t think anyone’s accusing her of being less than glamorous. I mean, she hangs with Gwennie, am I right?”
At that CoCo giggled. “I never took you for a name-dropper.”
“I use whatever I can get to make a point. Seriously, though. Why’d you really quit?”
She sighed, the question hitting a raw spot. “I don’t know. The pressure, I guess. You can’t fail if you don’t try, right? I mean, my dad never questioned that I would follow in his footsteps but what if I can’t handle the weight of his expectations? I mean, what if I’m not as good as him and I ruin the company?”
“It could happen,” he agreed pragmatically and she rose up to stare at him with a frown. Wasn’t he supposed to reassure her that she was being silly and that everything would be fine? Oh, that’s right, he didn’t like to lie. Well, she took back her previous thought that honesty was refreshing.
He chuckled and said, “Calm down, tigress. All I’m saying is that, true, you could fail. That’s part of the risk when you try something new. But there’s the opposite of failing, as well. You could rock and you could be better than your dad ever was. If the pendulum swings one way, it has to swing the other because the world is about balance.”
“Very Zen of you,” she said drily but he had a point. “But I don’t want to take the chance of failing my father. He worked his entire life building his company. It means everything to him.”
“And the fact that he believes in you as strongly as he does his company says a lot about how he feels about you.” She bowed her head, blinking back tears. She knew her father was nuts about her. She’d used his love for her more times than she was proud of to get what she wanted. Manipulation was a sport you medaled in in the circles she traveled. Maybe it was time for different circles?
Rian gathered her in his arms with a soft sigh. “Don’t sweat the small stuff, kid. And it’s all small stuff, right? You’re talented, so do something with it. What if Laci had listened to all the haters who’d said she was nothing but a backwater country girl with a guitar? She thumbed her nose at all of them and look at her now, racking up hit songs and taking names like a champ.”
CoCo sniffed with a watery laugh. “That’s true.” She’d love to meet Laci but that was looking too far into the future to tackle right now. She turned and Rian responded by giving her a quick but sweet kiss that melted her from the inside out. “You’re such a good kisser,” she murmured. I’m going to miss this. A sharp pang punctuated the thought and she said, “Let’s go back inside before we scare the wildlife,” if only to give herself something to do to collect herself. If she stayed in this spot, cuddled up to Rian for much longer, she’d start bawling.