Then He Kissed Me (Whispering Bay Romance 2)

“That’s your problem, Mary Margaret,” Pilar said, using Mimi’s real name for emphasis, “You’re just too damn good for politics.”

“And that’s exactly why we need her as mayor,” Frida said. “Mimi wants what’s best for Whispering Bay, not what’s best for her.”

The room erupted in more talk, but eventually they settled down to play Bunco. Lauren started off at the head table and almost immediately rolled three sixes. “Bunco!” she yelled, amidst the laughter. They continued playing, talking the entire time they rolled.

“Who has big plans for tomorrow night?” Shea asked. Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day and the girls began chatting up what they were doing and what they’d bought their husbands, and what they hoped their husbands had bought for them.

“Are you doing anything special, Lauren?” Kitty asked.

“I’m spending the night with four different men,” Lauren said casually. “Woops. I mean, five.”

The room came to a standstill.

“When I told you needed to get…you know,” Shea said, “I didn’t mean with five different guys!”

Lauren laughed. “Besides being Valentine’s Day, it’s also Henry’s birthday. Tom and Allie and I are taking him and four of his friends to Tiny’s for pizza, then the boys are coming back to my house for a sleepover. I expect they’ll be up most of the night playing with Henry’s new X-Box.”

“Ah! Yes, exactly, that’s what I meant,” Shea said, grinning.

“No big hot Valentine’s Date?” Frida said. Eleven pairs of sympathetic eyes turned to look at her. As the only single member of the Bunco Babes, the girls swore they loved to “live vicariously” through her. Too bad there was nothing exciting for her to share.

“Nope. No date.”

“What about couples Bunco? Have you thought about who you might ask to that?” Shea gave Lauren a pointed look that made her regret she’d told them about The Kiss. Of course, Shea was hinting that she should ask Nate.

She tried to act casual. “That’s still over two months away. I have time.”

“By the way, I absolutely love that dress you designed for Kitty,” Frida said, scooping up the dice.

“Thanks!” Lauren said, grateful for Frida’s change of topic. She had been pleased (well, more like ecstatic) to see Kitty come to Bunco tonight wearing the dress she’d made for her. At first, the question of what kind of fabric to use had stymied her, but she’d gone with a pale apricot and lime polka dot cotton polyester blend that stretched enough to be comfortable, but wasn’t too clingy. A perfect combo for a maternity look. Plus, it screamed Florida. It was fun and flattering, and unless you worked in an environment where you needed to dress ultra-conservatively, it could be worn for both business and pleasure.

Kitty overheard Frida’s comment from the next table. She halted their play and stood to model the dress. “Isn’t it fabulous?” She turned around to show the dress off from every angle. “I got nothing but compliments all day long. And it’s so comfortable! I might just wear it after the baby comes, too. Honestly, I could use about a dozen of these.”

“You should make them and sell them in your shop,” Shea said. “I wish I’d had something that cute to wear when I was pregnant with the girls.”

Lauren sat back and basked in their compliments. She’d designed the outfit on a whim, but ever since Nate had suggested that she sell her own designs, it had been hard to get the idea out of her head. But between work and Henry, it had taken her almost a week to complete the dress. The first dress in a pattern always took the longest, though. Now that she’d worked the kinks out, she could probably produce one faster, although not fast enough to keep up with any sort of real production value.

“I was thinking of maybe sewing up a few more to sell at my booth at the Spring Into Summer festival,” she said.

“You should totally do that,” Pilar said. “Maybe even sell some online, too.”

Online? Lauren hadn’t thought of that.

“You should get that girl in your shop, what’s her name, Dhara to help you,” Kitty said. “Doesn’t she have a degree in marketing or something? I bet she knows a lot about websites.”

“Doesn’t that all cost money?” Making a few dresses to sell at a festival was doable. But online sales and websites… The idea sounded big. She barely had any spare time now. How would she even go about doing any of that? Kitty was probably right about Dhara and her knowledge of websites. She was always showing Lauren different ideas online about the vintage clothing industry. But Dhara was looking for a job in marketing. A real job—benefits, paid vacation, and a 401K. She’d been going on two to three interviews a week. Dhara was smart and savvy. Any day now, Lauren expected her to hand in her resignation.

“You could always start small and then go big later,” Pilar suggested. “I mean, take Lilly Pulitzer. She started selling her dresses at her husband’s juice stand. And look where the company is now.”

Lauren was no Lilly Pulitzer, but Pilar had a point. Everyone had to start somewhere, right?

They finished the game and rotated to another table. Frida was partnered with Lauren for this round. “Hey,” Frida said, “Whatever happened with that building inspector?”

Lauren took a sip of her frozen margarita and shrugged. “Basically, he just went room to room and wrote a bunch of stuff down in this big note pad. Then he thanked me and left.”

Frida took this in. “You know, I think the girls have a really good idea about the online sales.” She glanced around to make sure no one else was listening. “I’m not trying to be nosy, but with our places right next to each other it’s hard not to notice things. How’s business?” She winced, like she already knew the answer to her own question.

“You’re not being nosy,” Lauren said. “I’ll be honest. Business sucks. I…guess I didn’t really take the market into consideration when I opened my shop. Just because I love vintage clothing doesn’t mean everyone else does, too. It’s a pretty high end specialty niche.” It was the first time Lauren had ever admitted that out loud.