Page 10 of The Charmer

Fuck, was the situation that dire?

"How many clients dropped you?" I asked cautiously.

Her smile fell again. "Five of the biggest ones, so we have a lot of extra float material this year. If you know anyone who needs it, you can send them our way."

I fucking would, except I didn't know anyone—again, not caring about details and all that.

"But a win is a win,” she continued. “And who knows, maybe the rest of our clients will change their minds as well."

If they were anything like me, they probably didn't even know they'd changed suppliers. But I didn't want to ruin her mood.

"Thanks, Julian. I really, really appreciate it." She bit her bottom lip again.

I looked away, exhaling sharply. I needed to get away from this woman or I was going to become very unprofessional. Georgie was too damn attractive not to flirt with.

"Are you taking part in the parades?" I asked her.

"Are you kidding? Of course."

"I have a tradition. I call it Sazerac Day. When the first parade passes my bar, I give free Sazeracs to everyone." That typically happened very early in the Carnival season. This year, the celebrations would last two months, which was when Mardi Gras was.

"That's got to be bad for business," she said. "I wouldn't have expected it from you."

I grinned. “Believe it or not, I'm not all about numbers all the time. I like to have fun. It’s next Monday, so drop by."

What am I doing?

Oh, fuck it. I never was one to overthink, and I wasn't going to start now. I wanted to see Georgie again, and yes, I was still feeling guilty as shit for basically screwing up her business.

"I won’t say no to a free Sazerac. When does everything start?" she asked.

"No fixed schedule, but text me your phone number, and I'll text you when everything's ready to go."

"That's not how it works." She put a hand on her chest, widening her eyes theatrically. "I take Carnivals very seriously. If I'm taking part in a parade, I want to be dressed accordingly."

That made me laugh. "Didn’t realize that you actually want to be part of the parade. I'm just watching."

"I like to dress up for watching too. You can find my shop number listed online.”

"Seriously?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah. I like to be available for any and all inquiries—not that I get too many. Different approach, huh?" she said with a laugh.

"Definitely.” I looked around again. "So, your grandmother opened this place?"

"Yes, over sixty years ago. She did it all on her own." Her voice was dripping with pride. "She'd just had my mom, and no one would hire her, so she set up her own business. In the beginning, she started by selling books from her own collection. As she made money, she started buying more books and then beads. One thing led to another, and she kept adding to her inventory." She was getting more animated now. I liked that she cared so much about her grandmother. She was unlike any woman I’d ever met. "Then she got into the float business. My mom practically grew up here. Then history sort of repeated itself when Mom had me. The three of us spent a lot of time here.”

"And now you run the shop without them."

The light in her eyes dimmed a bit. "My nana passed away many years ago, but I still feel her presence every day I’m here." She pointed at a worn leather armchair. "That's been here since her time. I like to sit there and read every evening. Mom retired a while ago and moved out to Baton Rouge. But that's fine, honestly. She's worked since she was a teenager. Now she's enjoying life with her chickens and her goat."

"You know, it's funny, but my grandfathers took up fishing very seriously after they retired. My grandmothers insisted that they still wanted to have an occupation, so they opened a fragrance shop."

"Really? I didn't know that. Where is it?"

"On Dumaine."

"Oh, I think I've passed it a few times. I wanted to go in, but the prices scared me away."

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