She nods, and I lay it on the pile to take to the dressing room. “Well—I heard you were—I heard you were dating Ace Kingsley.”
My cheeks go pink—I can feel it—but I force my face to stay neutral, open. “Well, that’s a rumor, if I’ve ever heard one.”
Now it’s her turn to blush. “Oh. Maybe it wasn’t you then. I saw some pictures from an exclusive nightclub—I think it was last weekend—and they’ve hit some of the…some of the blogs I follow.”
This poor girl doesn’t want to say that they’re “gossip blogs,” but who in New York City doesn’t read them? I certainly do, although it’s more as research for Rainflower Blue than anything else.
“Oh!” I exclaim, laughing a little. “I was with him there. You got me. But I wouldn’t say we’re dating.” I arch an eyebrow at her.
“No?” She runs her hands down one last dress, then turns to face me. “It looked like fun. Anyway—I heard about you—he’s been big news lately—and then one of my friends said you owned a boutique here, and I just had to check it out. Your outfit in the picture was so beautiful.”
“Thank you,” I say, keeping my tone gracious. She changes the subject on the way back to the dressing room, and we turn our attention to the clothes. She buys almost everything she tries on, and after she steps out onto the sidewalk, I lock the front door behind her and flip the “open” sign to “closed.”
Behind me, Natalie lets out a sigh of relief. When things started to slow down a little around the dinner hour, I let Sarah leave—she has a date, and I’m not one of those bitchy bosses—so it’s just the two of us.
“Unbelievable.” Natalie leans against the counter and surveys the boutique, which is more than a little rumpled, despite how hard we’ve tried to keep it in order. “That was crazy, right?”
“Are you holding out on me, Nat? Don’t tell me you don’t read the gossip sites.”
Natalie gives me a wide-eyed look. “Gossip blogs? Never!”
“I’ve been a little bit behind. So…I’ve been on them, right?” It’s true. I spent all weekend with Ace and all day yesterday…but not exactly searching for information about him. After I went for a walk, I had lunch with Jess and then I went to the gym, and then I ordered in for dinner…anything to keep my mind off the swirling, dizzy love that wouldn’t let go of its hold on me.
We both move farther into the boutique shoulder to shoulder, instinctively straightening the first items that come to our hands.
“I mean…a little bit,” she says, hanging a dress back in its place. “I think some pictures came out yesterday, so word has had a chance to get around.”
I laugh. “Well, it’s done wonders for sales, hasn’t it?”
“No kidding. Maybe you should make out with Ace Kingsley more often.”
“Who said I made out with him?”
She gives me a look from around a mannequin. “The pictures were of the two of you dancing, but it looked pretty hot, so….”
There is one issue with this, which is that the Swan generally frowns upon people posting pictures from inside its walls. My guess is that this scenario won’t play out again—they have their ways of finding out which member is the culprit—but it’s a kick in the ass for me to get on this, and soon. If everybody’s going to be talking about me….
“Maybe I did. Maybe I didn’t. I’ll never tell,” I tease.
I’m going to have to get serious about these rumors. Especially if I’m going to be dragged into the fray.
Chapter 26
Ace
After having lunch with my father—during which he harasses me endlessly about the woman I’m interested in, and I tell him virtually nothing, because I’m still not certain this won’t crash and burn, the memory of Elisa constricting my throat more than once—I rethink the idea of sending Carolyn a filthy text. The weekend was hotter than I ever could have dreamed. If she was anyone else pre-Elisa, I might not give a fuck, but with Carolyn, it matters.
It might be a good idea to think about turning the heat down a bit, as much as my cock disagrees.
We exchange a few flirty texts on Monday—nothing too heavy, and she seems a little distracted—but on Tuesday evening, I run into her in the lobby.
Her cheeks are flushed and her hair is a little disheveled—nothing compared to how it looked after we got out of bed on Saturday—and she’s got a satisfied smile on her face.
A hard knot forms in my gut before I can stop it. Is she seeing someone else? It’s not like we’ve made any commitment to each other—not really—but if some other man has had his hands on her, I’ll—