What Lies Beneath

Adrienne handed Darlene one of her newly minted business cards with her cell phone number on it. “This is where you can reach me while I’m here.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” she said. “Go out on the town and party tonight. You earned it.”

She watched Darlene walk away. Once the fashion editor had disappeared around a corner, Adrienne flopped into one of the chairs at the makeup station. She was emotionally and physically spent, but she didn’t care. She did have the talent to make it. Sometimes she wasn’t certain, but validation couldn’t come from a better source than Darlene. She didn’t strike her as the kind to say great things when they weren’t true. She wanted to sell magazines.

This might really turn things around for her. There was no way she could afford to open another shop, but maybe she could vamp up her website and send pieces to stylists who might actually use them in photo shoots for a change. Then maybe, just maybe, she could consider moving back and opening a storefront. Perhaps Gwen would be interested in sharing a two-bedroom place somewhere. Splitting rent would make life more livable.

“Are you planning on opening up a shop in Manhattan any time soon?” a familiar man’s voice called to her, the deep tones echoing off the large empty space and concrete floors.

Her mind was playing tricks on her again. First she saw Will in the audience and then she heard his voice. It was going to take longer to get over him than she’d hoped. With a shake of her head, she turned in her chair and opened her mouth to answer, then stopped.

She wasn’t crazy. Will was standing about ten feet away. He was looking more devastatingly handsome than ever, wearing jeans and a button-down shirt with a leather jacket over it instead of his standard suit. The angry expression she’d last seen on his face was gone, a bouquet of pink roses clutched in his hands.

Adrienne wouldn’t allow herself to speculate on what his arrival, with flowers no less, meant. She’d survived a plane crash and managed to fulfill a lifelong dream. Certainly her string of luck was running out, especially where love was concerned. “No,” she finally answered, standing to face him head-on. “As nice as this exposure is, I won’t earn a dime off it if it doesn’t build demand. I can’t afford a store.”

“That’s a shame,” he said. “I know a guy who has the perfect space for rent. He’d probably give you a great deal on it if you were interested.”

Had he really come all the way down here to give her a tip on a real-estate opportunity? Apparently the roses meant very little. Just a gesture for her debut, she supposed. One of the other designers got flowers, too.

No matter how good the deal, she couldn’t afford it, but she had to ask. “How great?”

“Free.”

Adrienne shook her head and looked down at the square toes of her brown leather boots. “Nothing is free.”

“Absolutely free,” he insisted. “No strings attached.”

He was just toying with her now, and it brought a surge of irritation through her body. The anger she couldn’t express when he’d cast her aside rose to the surface, her cheeks getting warm and flush. “Why would he do that?”

“He doesn’t need the money. And I think the owner feels badly about how things worked out for you.”

Adrienne scoffed, crossing her arms protectively across her chest. “Things worked out great for me. I just had my first fashion show. I’m going to be featured in Trend Now magazine. My career is doing great. And you can tell ‘him’ I don’t need his pity offering. I’ll get a place when I can afford to do it on my own.”

Will’s eyes widened at her angry outburst, and his brow furrowed in thought. This conversation obviously wasn’t going the way he’d hoped. If he thought he could just march in here, offer her real estate and some roses and everything would be better between them, he was wrong. He’d broken her heart. Sent her out the door like a pesky vacuum salesman without a dollar in her pocket. She couldn’t allow herself to trust someone who could turn on her so quickly. And there was no hope for love without trust. So what did they have left?

Nothing, it pained her to admit.

“When you came out before the show, you said that over the past few months you’d fallen in love. And out of it,” he added with a slightly pained expression.

Adrienne had made that statement without thinking for a minute that Will would be in the audience. In truth, she did still love him. She ached to reach out and brush a stray strand of his hair from his forehead. She wanted to bury her face in his neck and cling to him so tightly he could never leave her again. But she wasn’t stupid. The last time she was honest with him, he stomped on her heart. Will was a strategist, a businessman. She couldn’t let him have the upper hand this time.