Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Olivia
“I can run down to Times Square and find the billboard,” Liza says, as soon as the customer is headed toward the boutique’s doors with her purchases neatly folded in tissue paper inside two peach colored Liore bags. “He must be famous. Why else would he be on a billboard?”
I’m surprised she kept it together as long as she did. After the customer mentioned Alexander Donato’s name and the billboard in Times Square, Liza wanted more details.
I changed the subject.
The woman had traveled to New York City from Texas for her birthday. The lingerie was a gift she was giving to herself. I wanted her visit to the boutique to be extra special, so I offered a birthday discount on her entire purchase.
I used my employee code and took over the checkout process myself.
My goal was for the woman to walk out with a memory of a shopping experience that far surpassed her expectations. When our boutique in Dallas opens next year, my hope is that she’ll become a regular customer who sings our praises to anyone who will listen.
I tug my phone out of the pocket of my dress. “Steph mentioned that a shipment of silk pajamas just arrived. They need to be unpacked and steamed. You can handle that, right?”
When I worked at this boutique as a sales associate, Steph did the same. She has worked her way up to the manager’s position and she loves it. She’s doing a great job, considering Liza is a handful of misplaced energy.
“I want to know more about Alexander.” She bats her long eyelashes and flips her hair over her shoulder. “He’s insanely hot and I could feel something happening between us.”
I skim my fingers over my phone’s screen. I’m silent while I scan the results of a quick search of the jerk that Liza is swooning over.
I can’t blame her. There was something alluring about him.
Apparently, a lot of women feel the same way I do based on the size of his official online fan club.
I click on his personal website.
“He was born here in New York City thirty-five-years ago,” I say as I read the bio page.
“Yum.” Liza bumps her shoulder against mine. “That makes him twelve years older than me.”
And eight years older than me.
“I have a thing for older guys.” She giggles. “They’re wise and they make the best lovers.”
I wouldn’t know. I once dated a guy who was three years older than me and the sex wasn’t spectacular. That’s the biggest age gap I’ve ever experienced. “Wisdom doesn’t always come with age, Liza.”
She nods. “You’re right. The last guy I slept with was thirty-six. He wasn’t a genius, but he did know what he was doing in bed.”
I look down at my phone. “He’s a conductor. It says that he’s won prestigious awards and has studied with some of the best classical musicians in the world. He’s guest conducting the Philharmonic starting next month.”
“Alexander is a conductor?” She fans herself. “I could tell he was sophisticated. He had that air about him. You know what I mean, Olivia. Don’t you?”
All I know is that he was stuck-up and smug. He’s good-looking, but that doesn’t make up for being demanding and unreasonable.
Still, a part of me feels a pull to do the right thing and call my cousin, Trey.
Alexander’s nephew shouldn’t miss out on his birthday gift because his uncle took a thief to bed.
“I know that your boss is looking over here and wondering what you’re doing.” I wave a hand in the air at Steph.
Liza glances over her shoulder and tosses Steph a wave herself. “As soon as my shift is over, I’m going to Times Square to see that billboard and then I’m going to buy a ticket to the Philharmonic.”
I’m going home and since my apartment isn’t anywhere near Times Square, I won’t be subjected to a larger than life size image of Alexander Donato.
I’ve seen enough of that man for one day.
“So, hypothetically speaking…”
“Olivia, every time you start a sentence with that, you’re about to ask a question about yourself.” Kate Wesley, my friend and neighbor, interrupts me. Smiling, she tosses a piece of popcorn into her mouth. “Cut the bullshit, and get to the point.”
I pull my legs up and curl them under me.
We’re sitting on my couch watching our favorite show on Netflix. It may be Friday night, but neither of us had plans, so when Kate caught sight of me sliding my key into the lock on my apartment door, she opened her door and asked if I was up for movie night.
We live directly across the hall from one another and ever since I moved in eight months ago, Kate has become a good friend to me.
What started as a bad habit of us spying on each other through the peepholes in our doors has turned into a sister-like bond.
“I already know what you’re going to tell me to do, Kate.”
“The right thing?” She arches a brow. “I always tell you to do the right thing.”
She does. Kate is my go-to if I ever need advice about anything.
I tug on the end of her blonde braid. That draws her gaze back to me from the television set. “What is it, Liv?”
I see the concern in her hazel eyes. Kate isn’t just one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met, she’s also the kindest.
“It’s not anything serious,” I reassure her with a weak smile. “I was doing some work at one of the boutiques today and a man came in with a pair of panties that a woman had left at his place.”
She crosses her legs, angling them toward me. She’s dressed in a pair of black yoga pants and an oversized red sweatshirt that’s the same hue as the T-shirt I have on. We both opted for comfortable tonight.
“I’m dying to find out what part of this you need advice on.” She laughs. “Unless you know the guy with the panties. He wasn’t an ex of yours, was he?”
I shake my head. “Hell, no.”
“So what happened?” She blinks. “What did he want?”
“The names of all the women who have bought a pair of black panties from Liore in the last few days.”
Her hand darts into the air. “I bought a pair from the Charming Collection at the boutique in Tribeca last Monday.”
Smiling, I narrow my eyes at her. “You didn’t hook up with a man last night and steal his autographed Trey Hale baseball jersey, did you?”
“I wish.” She shoots me a look. “I wish I had hooked up with a man and I don’t need to steal a Hale jersey. If I want one, all I have to do is ask you to get one from your cousin for me.”
I glance at the television. “The autographed jersey was for the guy’s nephew. It was going to be a gift for his tenth birthday, but his one-night stand took off with it and left behind her panties.”
“I get it,” she says with a jerk of her chin. “You’re wondering if you should call Trey and ask for a new jersey for the nephew’s birthday. Is that it?”
“I don’t know this man.” I sigh and lean my head back on my plush vintage blue velvet couch. “He was so arrogant and rude. He threatened to go over my head at work because I wouldn’t help him track down his one-night stand. Part of me is wondering why I’m even considering doing him a favor.”
She taps my knee to get me to look at her. I do.
“The other part of you is thinking about how that boy will feel when he opens his birthday gift and finds an autographed Hale jersey.” She turns back to face the television. “You’re not doing Mr. Arrogant a favor. You’re making a ten-year-old crazy happy on his birthday.”
She’s right. I’ll find a way to get a new jersey to Alexander Donato. He never has to know that it came from me.