Then I slide back into the car.
“The Barrington, please,” I say, then add, “as slowly as possible.”
His mouth curves. “How scenic do you want? I can take you by way of the Jersey Shore.”
I smirk, settling back into the seat. “So tempting.”
Travis gestures as he drives. “That’s the Chrysler Building. And over there is the New York Public Library. Let me know if you have any questions.”
I smile and nod, but my attention drifts.
Something about the skyline sinks. The lines. The symmetry. The quiet way all the buildings fall into place.
Art deco.
That’s it.
A solid structure framed by memorable elegance.
For the next forty minutes, my hands move with the fabric, and for once, it cooperates.
“Is that what you do for work?” Travis asks as we crawl through traffic, nodding toward the dress.
I shrug. “More of a passion project.”
“Where’d you learn to sew like that?”
“I grew up doing alterations in my family’s shop. Hemlines, darts, last-minute wedding saves.”
“Weddings?”
I nod, knot a stitch, then shift to the bodice. “Mostly bridal. But as my abuela likes to say, the women in our family need a challenge.”
I lift the gown so he can see it. “Challenge accepted.”
He whistles softly. “You’re talented. Whoever ends up wearing that will command the room.”
I wish Lumberjack were in that room.
Traffic finally breaks, and the city starts moving again. Travis points ahead. “Your hotel is right over there.”
It’s tall. Polished. Ridiculously expensive looking.
And exactly the kind of place Lumberjack could probably leap over in a single bound. Shirtless. Obviously.
Would he hate a place like that? I wonder what he’s really like.
I bet Travis knows.
Would it be weird to ask if his boss does this often? Plays knight in rugged flannel for every woman he meets?
Does he have a name, or am I supposed to keep calling him Lumberjack in my head for the rest of my life?
And while we’re at it, is enormous his actual shoe size?
Because that feels like relevant information.
But before I can ask anything, we’re suddenly pulling into the hotel’s drop-off.
