“Esme’s in the dress.”
Carolina left her office and checked the fitting on Esme’s dress. Esme was a very sought-after model, so to get her for the show was a big deal. She’d put Esme into the beaded gown. It fit her perfectly. Esme walked for her, and of course she did it beautifully.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“I think it’s a knockout dress,” Esme said. “I want it.”
Carolina grinned. “Thank you.”
At least something had gone right today. Esme was going to be the hit of the runway. And she hoped the dress would be, too. She’d spent hours designing it, crafting it to absolute perfection. Esme was gorgeous, with her tawny skin, tall frame, amazing body with her curves in all the right places, and those golden brown eyes of hers that were incredibly mesmerizing. The dress, with its copper and orange beading, set off Esme’s coloring perfectly. Carolina couldn’t have found a better marriage between outfit and model.
“Thank you so much for agreeing to model this for me.”
“Thank you for asking. I’m excited to wear it for you. Tierra gave me a peek at your line. I think you’re going to go big.”
Hearing those words from Esme, from a supermodel who wore the latest fashions from the biggest designers, made her heart race. “Thank you. I really hope so.”
After Esme tried on the other two outfits, she left, and Carolina huddled with her staff, making some notes and adjustments. A few other models showed up, so they spent several hours doing final fittings and discussing alterations. She and her staff grabbed lunch and ate in the main sewing room together. She didn’t get back to her office until dark. That’s when she realized she’d left her phone on her desk. She’d missed several calls, and a return text from Drew.
I have an hour or so right now. After that I’m headed out of town. Want me to come over now?
That had been seven hours ago. She scrolled through her missed calls and saw that Drew had called, too.
She tried calling him, but got his voice mail. He was likely already on a plane headed for . . . somewhere. She left him a message apologizing for missing his call, and told him to call her when he got back to town.
Dammit. She couldn’t believe she’d missed him. And now that she knew he was going to be out of town for at least a couple of days . . . she missed him already. Not just because she had deadlines to meet, but because she missed being with him. Work separated them so frequently that she could have at least spent an hour with him today.
She went home, disgusted, and warmed up a can of soup, eating in front of the television as she worked on her schedule.
There wasn’t even any decent hockey on tonight.
When her phone rang, she grabbed it, smiling when she saw it was Drew.
“Hi,” she said after she clicked the button.
“Hi yourself. Busy day?”
“Insanely. I apologize for missing your text and your phone call. I was in the workshop and left my phone on my desk. I’m clearly in idiot mode this week.”
He laughed. “That’s okay. I figured you were buried.”
“No excuse, since I’m the one who bugged you. Are you settled in wherever you are?”
“I’m in Toronto, and yeah. Cold here.”
“I’m sure it is. How long is the out-of-town trip?”
“I’ll be back Friday. Can we arrange something then?”
“Let me take a look at my schedule. Hang on.”
Her staff wasn’t due to work over the weekend, but she could handle it. She pulled up her phone. “How about Saturday? Do you have a game?”
“I do Saturday night, but we could do it in the morning.”
She chewed on her lip. She didn’t want to be pressed for time. “How about Monday?”
“That’ll work.”
“Great. Thanks for making time for this.”
“No problem. We’ll get it done.”
“I’m really sorry I didn’t get to see you today. I was sad that I missed you and would have been happy to see you for that hour.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she’d thought about them. Now they were out there, a confession of sorts. It was the first time she’d said anything even close to her feelings. She cringed, even as she said them, wondering how he’d react.
“Yeah? I miss you too, Lina. I know we haven’t been able to spend a lot of time together. Our schedules kind of suck right now, so I was looking forward to getting an hour of your time this morning before I had to fly out.”
She palmed her stomach, rubbing the ache of loss. “I’m sorry. Again. I seem to be saying those words a lot lately. My head is going in a million directions right now. Normally my phone is on me at all times. I tossed it on my desk and promptly forgot about it.”
“Babe. It’s okay,” he said, and she heard the laughter in his voice. “It’s not like we’re never going to see each other again. Monday, right?”
“Yes. Monday. But that’s five days away. Right now it seems like an eternity.”