Page 29 of Love Like This

Hadley drove home with the windows down and the soft, romanticstation that took requests playing quietly from her radio. What an unexpectednight it had been! She hit her steering wheel in happy disbelief. She’d beenkissed. No! Even more shocking, she’d done the kissing, and loved how empoweredit made her feel to take what she wanted. Spencer brought out a new andexciting side of Hadley and she, for one, was more than okay with that. Anddon’t even get her started on the explosive chemistry they had. She’d neverexperienced anything like it. Unable to help herself, she dialed Isabel and puther on speakerphone in the car.

“I kissed her,” Hadley said, the second Isabel answered.

“Fuck me. You did?”

“Yes! I’m not even making it up. Best kiss of my life, and I justmissed my turn because I was thinking about that kiss. Gotta go!”

“You owe me more tomorrow. Proud of you, you little crafty minx!”

“Thanks, Iz. Bye!”

As Hadley made her way back to Seven Shores, a million and ninethoughts buzzed through her overcrowded brain. She did her best to remainlevelheaded and optimistic, which she’d deemed long ago was the best version ofherself. All the same, she smiled at the winding road as she drove, and vowedto take each moment as it came. No need to overanalyze anything at this point.

But for the first time in a long time, she felt the stirrings ofsomething important. She would tuck that feeling away and take it out when sheneeded it. It was exciting to realize that someone like Spencer was out there.That Spencer herself was.

She turned up Manilow and sang along loudly. Oh, thepossibilities.

* * *

Spencer woke up thinking about her date with Hadley, as she’d doneeach of the three mornings since they’d kissed against her car. Not an awfulway to wake up. Lying in her bed and staring up at the ceiling, Minnie upsidedown on the floor next to her, she allowed herself to relive the tantalizingmoment that Hadley, who seemed so unassuming and sweet, had taken Spencer’sdamn face in her hands and kissed her into next Tuesday. “Damn,” she muttered,shaking her head. She didn’t let herself live in the clouds on a regular basis,and today would be no different. A little reveling never hurt, though. She andHadley would see each other soon and maybe pick up where they’d left off.Spencer wasn’t someone who romanticized love and dreamt of butterflies andhappily ever after, but she wasn’t opposed to her and Hadley getting to knoweach other better and enjoying each other’s company for however long theychose.

As she showered, she ruminated further despite her ownprotestations. She liked Hadley. Hell, that was a lie, she more than liked her.She thought she was beautiful, and kind, and quirky enough to be fun and notscary. Not to mention knowledgeable about fashion, with a keen eye for detail.Spencer couldn’t quite wrap her mind around her ability to kiss, because it wasoff any chart she could have constructed. She shook her head to clear it. Whilethoughts of Hadley were fun, she had to focus on the day ahead of her.

An hour and a half later, she arrived at her meeting with DezMcBride, who’d been such an early champion of her work that he’d invested inher brand and now owned 15 percent of her business. As part of that deal, hehandled and financed all manufacturing, which had turned out to be a godsend.Dez was a wheeling, dealing businessman with plenty of high-up connections. Healso happened to know a lot about the textile industry, and she was lucky tohave fallen in with him.

“Dezzy Mac,” she said, accepting a hug and kiss on the cheek. Hewas roughly twenty years older than Spencer and well-dressed, always in a shirtand tie. Did she mention he was smart as hell? He was. “Thanks for working mein. Your assistant said your day was booked.”

“I can always make time for my favorite partner,” he said, takinga seat behind his incredibly messy desk. She didn’t let that worry her. Dezalways had a million balls in the air, and they always seemed to land, safe andsound. She trusted him immensely with her business in spite of the clutter.“How’s the spring line coming?”

“That’s actually what I stopped by to talk with you about. Do youknow Silhouette on Rodeo?”

“Everyone knows Silhouette on Rodeo.”

“Right. Of course. They want to place an order. The first of whatthey hope will be many, but have requested some minor changes.”

His eyebrows rose and he sat up, fully attentive now. “Impressivethat you’ve attracted their interest. A store with their visibility can getyour name in the high-end retail market. How do you feel about the changesthey’re asking for?”

“I’m coming around with time. You know how I can be.”

“Unbending, like a guard dog standing in front of your designs,ready to rip anyone to shreds who speaks ill of them?”

“Yes, that,” she said with a laugh. “But I’ve developed a decentworking relationship with one of the managers, who’s been placed in charge ofscouting new buys. Apparently, they’re working toward a revamp.”

“Trudy Day has agreed to a revamp? Well, call me Tulita Pepsi.Leopards can change their spots. What do you need from me? You have controllinginterest. You call the shots.”

“Expedited manufacturing once we’re a go. They want samples inthree weeks and inventory not long after.”

He whistled and stared at her. “You realize what you’re asking?”

“For a huge favor, yes. But I genuinely think if this deal goesthrough that it could be a game changer for us, Dez. I’m only sitting herebecause I want to make you very, very rich.” She smiled, knowing she’d tappedinto his weakness.

He didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow. “And what about theinventory we already have queued for production on the original designs?”

“Pull it if we’re not too late. If we are, I can still sell thepieces online and make us a killing. You know me. I’ll put in the work and makeit happen. I can slog all day and night. It’s what I do.”

He nodded and jotted a few notes on his iPad. “Understand that atsome point, Spencer, we’re going to have start outsourcing the shipping. Yourbrand is getting too big for this format. Let me start putting some numberstogether and see what’s feasible.”

“If that means I’d get my living room back without having to forkover too much cash, I’m in.”

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