“So I’ve heard,” he said, looking only at me.
Then he leaned forward and whispered so quietly that only I could hear him.
“You, you, you.”
He said it in that breathless tone that had come out of my mouth.
Our conversation on the floor of his suite came back to me vividly. I’d thought it was foreplay. Dorian needed me. I wanted him. Only him. But now I saw in his eyes that I’d read him wrong. Itwasn’ta game.
Behind Dorian, the usher who’d tried to lead him away before was now sweating bullets. Even Dorian sensed it. He gave Tyler a very brief smile, then glanced at me pointedly before walking away without another word. I saw him pull out his phone, then lost track of him through the crowd.
I was still trying to organize my thoughts, avoiding Tyler’s gaze, when I felt a presence behind me. Omar.
“When you’re done here, I’m to take you back upstairs,” he said.
Suddenly it was too hot in here. I saw everything so clearly that I would never have guessed it was only happening in my head: Dorian and I, in love. Serious. The world watching.Knowing. So many doors burst open, my career on a rocket ship. Carly Wolf fading into the background, dragged down by regrets over letting me go. How she’d misjudged me.
Dorian knew things I didn’t. He’d been in this business long enough. A young stylist like me didn’t have the resources of my previous boss. I couldn’t handle too many clients at the same time, and definitely not clients like him. Maybe he wanted me all to himself, or maybe he was just looking out for me. Letting me enjoy the benefits of his experience. Eitherway I wanted this, too. Like I said, I chose him.
“I’ll be just a minute,” I said to Omar.
He nodded and took a few steps back.
“You’rereallybusy,” Tyler said.
It sounded light, but there was hurt underneath.
I had to do it.
“I’m sorry, Tyler, but things have changed…”
I wished I could get away with that. He should get it, no? It was business.
He only looked puzzled.
“I feel like an asshole for saying this, but I’m going to anyway. Didn’t you say I was your first big client? That you’d dedicate yourself to me like no other stylist would? Geez, thatdidmake me sound like an asshole.”
We were really going to do this. In public. And not just any public. In the middle of the Martinez.
“You’re not an asshole. And I’m so grateful to you for giving me the opportunity.”
I felt the tension in every part of my body, wondering what Omar might hear, what he might repeat back to Dorian.
“But,” Tyler said.
His whole face had clammed up. I pretended not to notice. Some people recognized him as they walked past. There was a flurry of “Hey Tyler! Love your work, Tyler!”
Tyler waved and smiled. When he focused back on me, his demeanor was stern.
I needed to end this. There was no point in dragging out the misery.
“I can’t pass up working with Dorian Fisher.”
“I get that.”
“And I need to focus my attention on him.”
Tyler raised an eyebrow. “So what, other stylists only have one client?”
