Page 16 of In the Works

I forced words out of my throat. “Yeah, maybe we should do it again sometime?”

“Please.” Bri nodded, “You know I’ll answer your calls day or night.” With that, Bri grabbed the handle of the car door and opened it for me.

Blushing, I hopped into the minivan. “Thanks again. Text or call me when you have an answer.”

Bri shook her head, a charming smile teasing her cheeks as she shut the door behind me. She backed away from the car as the ignition turned on.

A part of me didn’t want to pull away. A part of me wanted to stay right there, have some more lemonade, and watch the sun sink in the sky.

But instead, I put my foot on the gas and made my way back down the mountain. I had a meeting that I couldn’t miss.

Ten minutes later, my car rolled to a stop in the back parking lot of my studio. Victoria’s bright red Carrera waited in the visitor spot to the left.

As soon as I opened my minivan door, Victoria climbed out of her sports car. She looked fresh and put together. Her tailoredjeans swayed around her ankles while hugging her thighs as she walked toward me.

“Hey.” I smiled at her, balancing my keys in my hand along with my metal water bottle.

Vic’s eyes pierced mine. “Good to see you.”

It took everything in me to keep my smile at a normal wattage. “You too.”

As I led us to the front of the studio, I struggled to juggle the mess of items in my arms. Smirking, Vic reached into the jumble and pulled the keys. With one guess, she grabbed the correct key and unlocked the shop’s doors, holding the door for me.

I brushed past her, her cologne filling my nose again. Once the door was closed, I reached my free hand back to flip the shop sign to “Open”. But before I could, Victoria’s soft, slender hand gently pulled mine back.

“Leave that. I don’t want any interruptions.” Vic looked down at me, a few inches taller in her heels.

Without thinking too hard, I nodded and dropped my hand. After all, she was paying far more for my time. If she didn’t want anyone walking in on our session, who was I to argue?

I cleared my throat and headed to my desk, booting up my computer as Victoria wandered around the studio. Every few feet, she stopped to look at one of the photos of my work. Despite knowing that she was intimately aware of my portfolio, I felt my body tense under her gaze.

As she moved, her tucked in blouse flowed. She was elegant. I couldn’t be sure I’d ever seen a woman so captivating.

Just as I was getting lost in the thought, Victoria whipped around and smirked at me. “So, what do you have for me?”

11

VICTORIA

I watched closelyas Sarah tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear. She grabbed a thick binder from her desk drawer that thudded when she set it on the worktable at the studio’s center.

Taking a seat at the high table, she gestured toward the stool next to her.

It would be easy to take directions from such a beautiful woman.

I sauntered toward her. But instead of sitting, I rested my palms against the wood countertop and leaned forward, feeling a light stretch in the muscles of my forearms. I watched Sarah swallow hard, trying to let her nerves go.

She opened the binder. “I made a physical copy so you have it while moving through the house, but I’ve already emailed you a digital version.”

“Thank you.” I tried to stop the corners of my lips from rising as I watched her fiddle with the page’s edge.

Flipping to the first section, Sarah pointed to a paint swatch at the top of the laminated sheet. “I’ve picked some bold colors. The last thing we want is to renovate this gorgeous house andend up with a thousand white walls. The foyer opens up to a deep blue that immediately calms.”

I nodded as I looked at the color. It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but she was right: it was inviting and brought a sense of calm to a chaotic space. “I like it.”

“Great.” Sarah chuckled. Warming at my encouragement, she moved through her plan room by room with a bit more confidence in her voice. In a matter of moments, she’d painted a beautiful picture of my future home, taking inspiration from my taste to create professional designs that were entirely her own. Each room had its own distinct identity, but all of them tied back into the overall style of the house.

Most surprisingly of all, it was somewhere I was truly excited to live. Since I createdPop, everything moved so quickly. Suddenly, I was making millions a year. It was easy to get carried away with the expensive purchases and fast lifestyle. But all of this felt… easy.

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