Page 76 of Business or Pleasure

“Baylen and Harlee?” He held out a hand. “I’m Carson. Nice to meet you.” He smiled at me. “Though we have met before.”

“We have?” I asked as Harlee and I followed him into the building.

“I came to visit Alec one year at university,” Carson said. “I seem to recall the lot of you being extremely interested in the Gaelic Football club.”

I laughed. “Aye. Colin and Cirion chased more than one of the lasses on the team.”

“But not you?” Harlee gave me a sideways look that held equal measures of curiosity and teasing.

I shrugged. “I dated, but I wasn’t one to pursue women.” I squeezed her hand. “Until you, that is.”

She flushed. “I’m glad you did.”

I leaned over and kissed her temple. “Aye. As am I.”

Carson, who either didn’t hear us or was polite enough to pretend he didn’t, took us over to the far corner of a rather large open room. A pair of cluttered tables were shoved against the wall, covered with bits of fabric and paper and whatever else it was Carson used to do what he did. Half a dozen mannequins of various sizes and shapes stood nearby, some draped with cloth, some bare. One wore the bra.

“I’ve been going over design possibilities,” he jumped right into business, “and I think there’s a huge market, both practically and aesthetically.”

As he explained all of his ideas and the ways he could see this bra affecting the fashion world, everything took on a surreal sort of quality. I’d hoped for a good product that could provide something of quality and sustain a business well enough for me to show my parents that I’d been right. I hadn’t expected this level of enthusiasm or this many applications.

“With all that said, I have a business proposition for you.” After I nodded, he continued, “I’m currently working on a line for women with larger busts and I would love to incorporate your bra into it, both to be worn with the outfits I’m designing and as lingerie. My proposal is that, instead of a general investment, we become partners. Fifty-fifty, including me buying into half of the patent.”

I almost asked if he was serious, but the expression on his face left no doubt of it.

“I would introduce the bra with my new line at a show, and then we’d make it available to the public at the same time as the rest of my designs. You would handle the UK side of things and I’ll take care of the US launch. If it goes well, we could have them available worldwide in less than a year.”

It was a great plan.

When Alec connected me with Carson, I expected the creative side of things. I thought he would see the advantages of the bra, maybe offer some design tips to make it more attractive, then invest if he thought it was a viable idea. I hadn’t expected him to be so business savvy.

His proposal alone would have appealed to me, but knowing that he was a McCrae and, as such, I could trust him implicitly, I didn’t have to give it much thought.

“That would be brilliant.” I put out my hand. “We’ll get the paperwork drawn up to make it official, but I think we can seal it with a handshake.”

“Great!” Carson grinned as he shook my hand. “Now, I know it’s early, but what do you say we break out a bottle of my brother’s best whiskey and have a drink to celebrate?”

As he went to get the drink and Harlee pulled me down for a kiss, I felt my world settle into place. Nothing was ever perfect, but this was pretty damn close, and it promised to set the stage for what was to come. Only a few months ago, everything in my life was falling apart, and now, I had a woman I loved more than I would’ve thought possible, a business partner who not only believed in my product but who I knew I could trust, and a future that was brighter than I ever could have imagined.

THE END

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