Page 229 of The Sweetest Return

“Ah,” she said.

“Ah?”

“He told you.”

“In detail.”

“How much detail?”

“He said you called him Mr. Jones three times in one sentence.”

Her eyes closed. “I recovered.”

“Eventually.”

“I was caught off guard. He walked in asking about a private commission like a regular person, as if he is not six-two, former NFL, and wealthy enough to speak softly while other people start looking for a chair.”

I laughed.

Nia opened her eyes and pointed her pen at me. “But I was professional.”

“Were you?”

“After forty-five seconds.”

“That sounds honest.”

“It is.” Her smile softened. “He knew what he wanted, though.”

My fingers brushed the bracelet on my wrist. “Diamonds that could stand beside his and not blink.”

“That was the line,” she said. “Your face when you saw it?”

I swallowed against the memory. “Embarrassing.”

“Beautiful,” she corrected. “And good for the house, by the way. A custom Saint Aurelia piece on the woman making Saint Aurelia visible? We could not have planned cleaner symbolism.”

“Please do not turn my personal life into strategy before lunch.”

“I waited until after coffee.”

“Nia.”

She laughed again, but the tease settled into something warmer. “So how is dating Dre?”

“What makes you think we’re dating?”

The look she gave me could have raised somebody’s auntie from across town.

“Girl, me and everybody else can see it a mile away.”

I laughed because denial was not going to survive that sentence.

“We’re dating,” I admitted. “And it’s good.”

Nia’s brow lifted.

“Very good.”