I glanced down as well, wishing I’d saved the necklace until after she’d gone.
“Yeah, so?”
Her eyebrows shot into her hair, arching in sheer delight.
“Yeah, so?” she quoted. Then she threw back her head and laughed. “I seriously can’t believe you just tried to brush this off with a yeah, so.”
I bristled defensively, trying to think of something to say.
“I only meant...this is nothing to Nick. You know that.” A rather good explanation, if I did say so myself. “He drops money like this all the time. Couldn’t care less.”
Stacy’s lips curled up in a knowing smile, not taken in for a single moment by my hasty excuses. “Yeah, except it’s not about the price, it’s about the items themselves. The garter?! You said he picked these out himself? No help from the saleswomen?”
A stab of nerves hit me deep in the stomach, and I felt the sudden need to back-peddle.
“I actually might have been wrong about that,” I muttered quickly. “Come to think of it, I think there was a woman helping us. Rhonda, or Rosy, or Rudolpho—something like that.”
Stacy ignored me, trailing her fingers appreciatively over the fine silk. When she was finished, she glanced up like she was going to come at me with something else—but she stopped instantly upon seeing the look on my face. She looked twice between me and the necklace before her eyes softened. The next thing I knew, she was helping me to my feet.
“I’ve been with Nick for a long time.” Her eyes twinkled as she gave me a rather peculiar smile. “And I think this is more than an acting gig. I mean, he could’ve picked me and I could’ve played the part very well. But he chose you. And I catch him looking at you, too, and I think there is something more going on here. Your boss is seducing you.”
I chuckled. “Nah, it’s just an acting gig, nothing more.”
She laughed. “Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.”
And with that—she proceeded to help me get ready. Transforming me, as only someone like Stacy could, into a woman I hardly recognized. A woman who not only would light up whatever room she walked into, but looked as though she should be sitting on a throne. A woman who looked both beautiful and dangerous all at the same time. A woman who looked ready for whatever the world had to throw at her—come hell or high water.
Of course...that woman hadn’t taken into account the icy New York breeze.
Nick called me. “I saw the Good Morning America segment. You were brilliant. My father just called and absolutely loved it. So did the board. I can’t
thank you enough.”
“I’m glad your dad is pleased.”
“Everyone loved you. You were a hit! Social media is exploding...and all great things! Everything you said felt real and genuine. It was like you were speaking directly from your heart. Do we really have a love as soft as the dawn, as radiant as the sun, as bright as the moon?”
“I said what they wanted to hear.”
“I thought it was touching.”
“Well, you love when your women brag about you.”
He laughed. “See you soon, love.”
“Okay. See you soon.”
“Wait. I’m the one true love of your life and all I get is a “see you soon.”
“Goodbye, love of my life. I’ll be counting the seconds until our lips meet once again.”
“Now that’s more like it.”
I smiled.
The limousine pulled up to my apartment at eight o’clock sharp. As per my instructions, I was waiting down at the curb, fidgeting slightly in my new dress. There may have been a heavy trench coat draped over my shoulders, but that still didn’t mean that I didn’t feel absolutely naked underneath. I was still recovering from the initial shock of having opened the box just an hour before.
“I’m pretty sure I lost a toe!” I exclaimed as I slid into the backseat with a big smile.