Page 5 of Kai
"It would not be the first time." Forcing herself to be patient, she crossed the room. "Is anyone seeing to the client?"
"Marge took over when I started towards her." There was a pout on her lips as she trailed beside Maxie. "As if I don't know how to handle an important client."
Maxie touched her arm briefly to stop her. "All our clients are important. Please bear that in mind."
"Of course. But—"
"Marie Sato." The recognition was instant and before she could recover, she saw him. He was standing just inside the doorway, a phone glued to his ear, a frown touching his brow.
"Wait! Isn't that—"
"Kai Tanaka."
Marjorie's eyes went wide. "He's even more gorgeous than his photos," she whispered.
Turning to the woman, Maxie took the time to compose herself and had to get rid of the urge to just rush back to her office and slam the door shut. What are the damn odds? she thought dazedly.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes. I need you to start taking the pocketbooks from the top shelves and put them inside the glass case. We're going to need the space."
Even though she looked disappointed, Marjorie nodded. With one last lingering look at the man standing by the door, she left.
Squaring her shoulders, Maxie went forward to greet the actress who was sighing over a navy-blue dress with red, green, and purple flowers cleverly stitched into the bodice. Giving the petite woman an assessing look and calling on all of herprofessionalism, Maxie took over while Marge went to deal with two more customers.
"I think it would look great on you," she told the woman sincerely, hating the fall of straight black hair and creamy complexion. There was no doubt she was beautiful. Her almond-shaped dark eyes dominated her exotic face and her makeup was flawless. One delicate hand with blush red nails, drifted over the fabric reverently.
"I agree with you." She looked towards the man who was still talking on his phone.
"If only he would finish the call." There was a note of exasperation in her soft husky voice. "Darling."
Keeping her back turned, Maxie felt her muscles tensing and knew instinctively that he was coming towards them. She waited until the last minute to turn around and was glad she had the advantage. His steps faltered, eyes narrowing as he stared at her.
"Maxie?"
"Kai. How are you?" She hoped her voice was neutral and her expression did not reveal how much her insides were trembling.
"What—" He looked around for a minute as if noticing where he was for the first time. "This is your place."
"Yes."
The woman who had been admiring the dress sensed instinctively that something was happening, something she was not a part of. Moving forward, she linked her hand through his arm and snuggled.
"You two know each other."
"Yes," Maxie murmured hastily before he could respond. "We went to high school together."
She did not miss the tightness of his lips as she downplayed what they had shared. Turning to Marie, she offered a friendly, professional smile.
"If you would like to try the dress on—"
"I'm not certain I'm still interested." The light of excitement had been replaced by speculation as she studied Maxie. Apparently what she saw did not please her at all. Turning to the man she was clinging to, she declared that she wanted to leave. "We have the reservation—"
"Wait for me in the car."
"Darling—"
The look he sliced her with had the desired effect. Giving Maxie a hateful look, she flounced away.
