“Why would I be brooding?” I stepped back, creating some distance between us.
Camila and I had been together a few times, but when the boutique took off, we decided it was best to not mix business with pleasure. That didn’t mean she didn’t try on occasion, but once I started seeing Sable, she respected my boundaries.
“I ran into Sable downstairs.” She unbuttoned her coat and removed it. “She looked like a homeless person dressed in those ratty clothes. A hoodie, really? I don’t know what she could have been thinking coming here dressed like that.”
“The term you’re looking for is unhoused,” I said. “Which Sable is not.”
When she rolled her eyes while she draped her coat on the back of the chair across from my desk, something inside me snapped.
“And the fact that you would use someone’s misfortune to describe them, when you know how many women my mother’s charity has helped over the years, is quite offensive to me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t?—”
“I’m not finished,” I said. “It wasn’t that long ago that I took you out of your cheap clothes and put you in designer dresses. I gave you a fucking boutique to run as you see fit because I saw potential in you.”
“I know.” She moved to stand in front of me. “I’m very grateful."
She caught me on the wrong day because I needed a punching bag and she was in my path.
“Weren’t you living in a one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx when we met? Now you’re in a high-rise overlooking Manhattan. Do you have anything else to say?”
“I didn’t mean to set you off.” She came toward me and smoothed her hands along my tense shoulders. “Obviously, you’re upset about what happened between you and Sable.”
“You know nothing about me and Sable.”
The rage that had consumed me over that bracelet being in my pocket and not on Sable’s wrist was off the charts. If I didn’t find an outlet to diffuse my anger, I was going to do something I would regret.
“I can help you sort this all out.” She leaned into my ear and whispered, “Like I always do.”
That is not the outlet I need.
“I don’t think so.” I grabbed her arm and forced her into the chair. “That’s not what I want.”
“Do you want to play rough?” She smirked. “Because you know I like that too.”
“I’m going to say this as clearly as I possibly can so there is no misunderstanding.” I pointed at her. “You and I have a history. I can’t deny that.”
“You don’t have to.” She sat up straight and crossed her legs. “It can be like before.”
“No.” I leaned on the edge of my desk. “I’m not looking for that. I want you to understand that we are business partners. If you want to continue that relationship, you need to back off. I’m not fucking around with you.”
“Fine.” She sighed. “But promise me something.”
“What?”
“If you decide you do need to relieve your tension, promise it will be me you turn to.” She pushed her hair from her face. “I know you better than you think, and I can get you through those dark moods of yours. You can brood as much as you want. Be as rough as you want with me.”
“I appreciate the offer, but no.” The thought of being with anyone other than Sable sickened me.Maybe I am in love.“I have work to do, so why don’t you tell me what was so important that you had to come here in person?”
“I don’t think you’re going to want to hear why I came.”
“Try me.”
“That dress you ordered from Italy arrived yesterday.”
Of course it did.
“I wanted to get Sable in for a fitting,” she said. “I’m trying to coordinate with the seamstress.”
