I roll my shoulders back and wonder how honest I can be tonight without frightening her. My feelings for Tessa are becoming unmanageable. Like they can’t fit in my body.
I pull out Tessa’s chair, and she beams as she sits down. She grabs the menu, flipping it over at least three times.
“How are you feeling now that the show is over?” I ask. With all the pretending, we didn’t really get a chance to discuss fashion week in Italy.
She happily sighs. “It was amazing. Obviously, I wish the end of the team meeting went differently, but I’m really hoping the experience will help my career. Maybe the design will be selected for the magazine feature next month.”
“You deserve it. Lamont mentioned he also wanted to include looks from the next collection in the feature. Maybe you can pull out that sketch you showed me a few years back—the Inspiration Era reference. The romantic silhouette evoked the decadence of the time period.”
She looks at me as though I’ve suggested burgundy as a summer palette color.
I raise an eyebrow. “What?”
“I’m just surprised. You’ve never really talked to me about my designs.”
I quirk an eyebrow, confused. “What do you mean?”
Before we can continue our conversation, a server dressed in all black greets us. “Good evening. How are we doing tonight?”
I force myself to focus back on dinner, but we will be coming back to this later. “We’re doing well, thank you. How are you?”
“Just fine,” the server replies with a smile. “What can I get for you?”
I defer to Tessa first, and she chimes in with her order.
“Hi! Can I get a glass of the vinno rosso, and the autumnal salad without pine nuts, please?”
She leans toward me. “The appetizers sound amazing, but frankly, I’m still full from your mother’s cooking.”
“That was over a day ago.”
She gives me a lopsided grin. “Exactly.”
Turning my attention toward the server, I order the steak for myself and ask for a dessert menu before he heads back to the kitchen.
“So, I kind of have… news,” Tessa says hesitantly.
I lean forward, giving her my full attention. “Tell me.”
“I ran into Simone Santerre backstage at fashion week. And she mentioned I could connect with her for networking. I take so much inspiration from Simone’s designs, and really, from her entire career.” She takes a sip of water. “I plan on sharing myportfolio with her and asking if they’ll be scouting for designers at their house. If they are, I’m going to apply.”
“I’m happy for you, Cara.” And I mean it. If she gets the position, it’ll be difficult not to see her at work, but she deserves to grow her career at a faster pace. “Have you spoken with your family about it?”
“Yeah, I told them everything. They advised me to follow my gut. And while there are things I’ll miss about working atLamont, if I get an offer atSanterre, I’ll take it.”
I wonder how much damage control I’ll have to do with Tessa’s family now that our relationship has shifted, especially since Dan mentioned she’s complained about me in the past. “I’d love to meet your mom and Grace one day soon. You said they live in Ohio?”
“You’d come to Ohio to meet my family?” Her tone implies it’d be a major inconvenience.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“It’s a plane ride away. It’s kind of a hassle.”
“Meeting your family where they live is the bare minimum. And you’ve already done it for me.”
She smiles, and I reach out to touch her bare shoulder. I stroke it gently, feeling the rush I always do whenever my fingers meet her skin.
“You look really good tonight, Gio. You always look so good,” she murmurs.
