“The only downside,” I said with a playful puppy dog eyes, “ is that it’ll cut into our fucking, sleeping, and eating time.” I sighed in a faux-dramatic groan. “But I suppose I can swing it for now.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you,” he promised, leaning across the bed and planting a soft kiss on my lips. And then, he pulled back and looked into my eyes.
I knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth, but it didn’t matter. I knew it, one way or another, since the very first time I’d laid eyes on him. But we still hadn’t said those three little words. I’d never shared this kind of feeling with anyone before, and I was always worried about coming across as too forward or needy or desperate. But, this morning, in the light of the early sunshine, it was time.
“I love you,” he murmured and leaned forward to kiss me before I could respond.
The thrill of hearing him say it made my head spin, and I closed my eyes and smiled into the kiss. When he pulled back, I touched his cheek with one finger gently and repeated the words back to him.
“I love you, too.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Six Months Later
Elliott
“I’ll take care of the last minute details before the opening and you rest up. You haven’t slept for the last month.”
Aria broke away from me to answer her phone, one of the hundreds of calls she fielded every day.
Neptune Coast’s grand opening was in two days. I had to keep reminding myself of that. After the time and effort spent putting everything together, we were only a matter of hours from making our dream a reality. We’d already had a few critics come through for a soft opening, and they seemed to love what we were doing with the place, which was a good sign. I was nervous as hell about the grand opening but all this had been even harder on Aria.
She’d worked day and night for months, overseeing every detail of her boutique. Aria had creativity coming out of every pore. As talented as she was on the screen and stage, she had an equal genius for creating a beautiful collection of sportswear and evening gowns, as well as merchandising the store to attract a young, moneyed crowd.
But it was taking a toll, as evident from the deep yawn that greeted my embrace.
“Elliott, I’m so sorry, but just let me get the shop opened and then I promise you’ll have my full attention again.”
My heart started to melt as I looked into her beautiful eyes and saw the fatigue and worry that had carved dark circles beneath her lashes. “Promise me you’ll take a break after the opening. I’m starting to worry about you.”
A big smile suddenly brightened her face and she gave me a sly smile. “I have a surprise for you. I’ve been so busy I forgot to tell you; I have an assistant.”
A fist tightened around my guts. We were cutting it so close budget wise. “Aria! We talked about this. We don’t have money for . . .”
She laughed and gave me a quick kiss before she explained. “Trust me, I’m counting every penny. She’s sort of an unpaid intern.”
“No, Aria. You know how I feel about unpaid workers. That’s like slave labor.”
Again, she stopped me before I could continue my rant about the practice of taking advantage of trainees learning a business without pay.
“You know I wouldn’t do that. But this woman came to me and insisted. She said she’s always wanted to learn retail and if the store is a success, I can pay her retroactively. She’ll even take her pay in a hefty store discount.
“What is she doing for you?” I didn’t like the sound of this, having an amateur getting her fingers in our business.
“She’s basically a go-fer. Running errands, helping set up the displays. She’ll do anything I ask really. She’s amazing. You’ll meet her later.”
“Okay, if you trust her. Anything to take some of the pressure off you.”
“Speaking of pressure, you’ve had your share.”
“That’s true, but I’m not running the restaurant all by myself. I have other cooks, servers and dishwashers to help me. You’re carrying your whole boutique on your back.”
“Me and Starr.”
“Starr? That’s her name?”
“Yes and remember it. I don’t want you to mess up and insult her and push her away.”
“Okay, I’ll be on my best behavior. Now I’m going to run down to the shop and do our last check, okay? You nap while I’m gone.”
Aria put her hands on her hips and tossed her red curls over her shoulder. When she took that “You’re not the boss of me,” stance, I knew it was time to back off.
“I have the rest of my life to nap. I only have one chance to open my boutique. I’m going with you. No if, ands, or buts, mister.”
She said it with a twinkle in her eye that I couldn’t resist. I swept her up in a hug and if she hadn’t pushed me away and tapped her watch, I would have carried her off to the bedroom.
“Later for that. Let’s get going.”
***
“Aria, where’s the sign?”
I pointed in horror to the space where the Neptune Coast sign should have been.
“Don’t worry. Mr. Orca has it handled.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, adding that to my long punch list. “How will everything get done in time?”
“I’ll have Starr check it out with him. Don’t worry.”
And then we walked into the space, workers falling over one another putting the last touches on painting, shelving, and unpacking Aria’s inventory.
“Oh, here she is,” Aria gushed. “My new assistant. Starr, this is Elliott my partner.”
The woman standing before me looked familiar but I couldn’t quite place her. She held out her hand and I returned the shake, but when she said, “Pleased to meet you,” I recognized her voice.
“Didn’t you come by a few months ago when we first started the renovations?” I asked.
“Guilty,” she said, smiling, and then she came into focus. She wore less makeup, actually, none at all, as I looked closer. Also, she hid her body in coveralls so she didn’t have the upscale look of one of Aria’s fans.
“Thank you for all you’ve done to help the place come together,” I said. “Aria tells me you’ve been invaluable.”
Her face broke out in a big smile and something about her looked familiar. I’d seen her before, but I wasn’t thinking of the day we met several months ago.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she said. “I have a fire to put out in the showroom.”
“Oh, of course. Don’t let me stop you.”
I turned to the crew just arriving with the sign and went outside to oversee it’s hanging.
A few minutes later I heard Aria laugh behind me. “Hey, babe, what do you think,” I said and turned for her opinion.
But Aria wasn’t standing there. Starr was. My brain did a jig as if I’d been hit in the head and it was trying to get back on track. Something was wrong here, and slowly it came to me.
“Hey, fellas,” I said to the signage crew. “Can you give me a minute? I need to take care of some business here.”