Chapter Nine
Beckett circledthe casual clothing twice, looking for a shirt that wouldn’t cost him the shirt off his back. Right after he had that thought, he heard the wha-wha noise in his head … the one Vivian played when Daisy made a bad joke. Sheesh, he’d been hanging out with these two too long. They were rubbing off on him, and not in a goodway.
Daisy was talking to some guy on the other side of the floor, holding up shirts. She wasn’t flirting, just being her natural, happy self. He wondered if the guy had asked for her opinion or if she just handed it to him. He really needed to have the “stranger-danger” talk with her. Someone should have had that talk with heralready.
Vivian made her way over, her eyes on the camerascreen.
He flicked a price tag, feeling edgy and not knowing why. “Where are the clothes made?” Beckett askedVivian.
“South America.” Vivian shut down the camera and secured it in thecase.
He put up both his hands. “I’m not trying on shirts made bychildren.”
Vivian barely looked at him while she talked. Her hands moved in and out of the camera bag with practiced speed. “The company is all about improving the standard of living in areas around the factory, paying fair wages, and hiring children is against their company creed. Which is kind of an impressivedocument.”
Beckett chewed his lip. “Did Daisy know all this before we camehere?”
“Of course. That’swhywe chose this place. She worked the phones all day yesterday to get this set up. It’s a good thing she’s got a lawyer on retainer; otherwise this would have cost more to put together than we’re raising forFreeWater.”
After Kelly’s reaction to Daisy’s offer to help raise awareness and money for FreeWater, Beckett was intrigued that she’d taken her little channel to such a high level of popularity. However, the way Vivian talked,EveryDayGlam!was a business. “Lawyer?”
“Yeah—you’d be surprised how many people pirate Daisy’s videos and sell cheap versions of her lip balm … and then there’s the sponsor contracts—those are aminefield.”
“This is insane.” Beckett went to run his hands through his hair before he remembered it was back in the dreaded man bun. Daisy made a face when he’d pulled his hair back. He liked seeing her nose wrinkle. “All for makeup and hair tips to address first-worldproblems.”
“Hang on.” Vivian stepped into his personal space. Tiny lines formed around her mouth and her jaw was hard. “Daisy may not be saving the world by your definition, but it’s because of her I get to be Mom—onmyterms. Before that, I was living on my ex-husband’s terms, handing Jason over to a stranger so I could make money to pay for his online gaming.” A puddle’s worth of tears gathered on Vivian’s lower lashes, threatening to fall. Her voice grew lower. “Daisy changedmyworld. Don’t you dare say a bad word about what shedoes.”
“I wouldn’t. I—didn’t mean it like that.” Beckett swallowed the bitter taste of regret for having made light of the channel. “I was just surprised. I remember when she first started. Quinton and I used to make jokes about her channel. And now … Now she’s big-time.” And he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that. He was happy that Daisy succeeded where so many had failed, but the idea that she put herself in front of millions of people, and allowed them into her life, wasoverwhelming.
Vivian chuckled humorlessly. “I get kind of defensive. My ex used to call her Little Miss Priss. Man, I really hate that I marriedhim.”
Beckett patted her shoulder. “I hate that too.” If he had only seen the look in Jason’s eyes when he saw Beckett for the first time, Beckett could have hated him for that. But knowing that the guy made fun of Daisy gave him twice as many reasons to never want to cross paths with Vivian’sex.
A laugh burst out of Vivian. “At least we can agree on that.” She swiped under hereyes.
Daisy landed next to him. The woman bounded around like the Easter Bunny.Must be those fruit smoothies she has forbreakfast.
“Let’s set up by the green wall. Aaaaaaaand—” She spun in a circle. “I want to use that mannequin in the background and those white leather chairs for me andBeckett.”
“I think you’ll be standing most of the time. But the white will break up the green wall nicely. I’ll do a quick screen test to see if you disappear in front of thechair.”
Daisy looked down at her white, knee-length skirt and lightweight cardigan. “I’m so glad I haveyou.”
“Me too.” Vivian shot Beckett a meaningfullook.
He pretended not to notice. Being involved in Daisy’s channel rubbed him the wrong way. He’d never been a big-business kind of guy, much to his father’s disappointment. And he liked the Daisy he grew up with, a lot. He’d liked her a lot. A whole lot more than he’d ever toldQuinton.
That’s why being near her was all so difficult. Feelings from long ago continued to rise to the surface, where they mingled with feelings that were not at all innocent. Together, the concoction was lowering his inhibitions. He would never have agreed to this whole makeover thing if Daisy hadn’t beeninvolved.
Daisy picked up the mannequin she’d indicated earlier, the one wearing a pair of khaki pants and a pale gray polo shirt, and danced with him. She glanced over her shoulder at Beckett and dipped her lightweightpartner.
What aham.
Beckett debated asking to cut in. He would hold Daisy close and spin her around the clothing racks and she’d laugh—that beautiful, melodic sound that was sweeter than fresh honeycomb. Just like when they were kids and they’d link hands and spin circles to see how fast they could go before they both fellover.
He stepped forward just as Mr. Hayes appeared, his arms full of clothes on hangers. “I thought you might like to try these shirts. They’re from our Rugged Mancollection.”
Daisy set the mannequin down with a mask of seriousness—as if she hadn’t been goofing off only moments before. She fingered the fabric, asking questions about the construction and design, and Beckett watched the girl he’d known morph into a savvy businesswoman.
