Chapter 9
DREW
The day was almost over, which meant I’d survived it. It had been a long one. I had not spent a lot of time in the fashion world. I knew Hollywood but from an arm’s length. It was chaos. I admired my cousins for living in this world and maintaining their cool. I needed a stiff drink and a nap.
My eyes found Kensey just like I had been tracking her all day. She was standing beside the main rack. She was talking to one of the male models. I wasn’t jealous. I couldn’t be. She was just my friend.
She looked up at the seamstress and said something that made the woman laugh. I had no idea what she said. I just watched the seamstress put her hand over her mouth and shake with it.
“The black jacket,” Annika said. “Are you listening to me?”
“The black jacket,” I repeated.
“You’ve looked over there more than you’ve looked at me.”
“I’m listening.”
“How long have the two of you been together?”
I looked back at her. “We’re not. She’s my best friend. We’ve known each other since we were teenagers.”
“I see.”
“Just friends,” I repeated.
“Of course,” Annika said. It was very clear she didn’t believe it.
“I mean it. She’s doing me a favor, filling in for the summer. We’re not—there’s nothing like that.”
Annika tilted her head slightly without looking up. “The best couples are friends first. In my experience.”
“That’s a nice thought.”
“It is not a thought. It is an observation.” She clicked her pen. “I have been in this business for twenty years. I have watched more than one Blackwell fall in love.” She finally looked up at me. “You have that look.”
“I’ve known her forever,” I said.
“Your cousin Sebastian had the look when I met his wife. Adrian had it too. Like you are trying very hard not to look at someone and failing completely.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that.
She held up a hand. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. Just making an observation.”
I looked across the room again. “She’s a great girl,” I said. Which was not a denial of anything, really, but it was all I had.
Annika smiled at her clipboard. “Yes. She seems like she is.”
An idea popped into my head. “Actually. That gives me an idea. Can I ask you something?”
She looked up.
“The party,” I said. “Kensey doesn’t have anything to wear.
She packed for a summer at her parents’ house.
Not for a Blackwell event.” I kept my voice even, like it was a totally normal ask.
“I’d like her to have something. Something nice.
Could you find something in the collection that would work for her and fit it properly before you head back? ”
Annika’s expression shifted into something I could only describe as quietly satisfied. Like a woman who knew something I didn’t.
“Of course,” she said.
“Nothing over the top,” I added. “She’ll push back if it’s too much. Something that suits her.”
“I know what suits her,” Annika said, clearly offended by the idea she wouldn’t. It was her particular superpower.
We walked over together. Kensey looked up when she heard us coming and straightened slightly.
“Everything okay?” she asked. “Please don’t tell me I screwed up something else.”
“Everything’s great,” I said. “Annika wants to fit you for something to wear to the party.”
She blinked. “What? No. That’s—there’s no need for that. I have things at home. I can find something.”
“You said yourself you didn’t pack for this.”
“I’ll go shopping.”
“Let her do it,” I said. “You’re coming to my event. You should have something from the collection. It makes sense. Free advertisement.”
She looked at Annika, then back at me. I could see her working through the argument she wanted to make. She’d say she didn’t need anything. It was too much. The scholarship kid still talking herself out of things that were being freely offered.
She gnawed her lower lip. “Are you sure?” she asked Annika.
“I am already thinking of something,” Annika said and turned toward the racks with purpose. “It’s going to be perfect for you and your coloring. Come with me.”
Kensey turned to look at me, and there it was. That smile. The one that reached all the way up. She pointed at me like she was trying to compose herself. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know.”
“Drew.”
“Go,” I said. “Let her do her thing.”
She pressed her lips together and I could tell she was trying very hard not to be as happy as she was, for reasons I didn’t fully understand but recognized as very Kensey. She turned and followed Annika toward the racks. I stood there watching her go for just a moment too long.
Annika glanced back over her shoulder at me. “It is not polite to watch a woman being measured,” she said. “Go to your office.”
I walked into my office and dropped into my chair. Was I looking at Kensey like Sebastian looked at Bernadette? Or Callum looked at Victoria?
I thought about what Annika said. And Micah the other night. Maybe you already found the right girl.
I opened my emails and started working, determined not to think about Kensey and what might or might not be. I didn’t get much done in the twenty minutes that followed.
There was a soft knock on the door and then it was opening. Kensey came in with a bright smile.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Did something happen?”
I would slay dragons for her.
“Nothing happened.” She dropped her hands and gestured at herself.
“She put me in a gorgeous gown. I don’t have words.
I’ve never had anything like that. I’m an off-the-rack girl—obviously.
Annika took all my measurements and said she was going to make sure it fit perfect. I’ve never worn tailored anything!”
I was smiling before I could stop it. “So it’s good?”
“I looked like I belonged, Drew.”
“Of course you did,” I said. “You do belong.”
“You don’t understand.” She sat down on the couch, suddenly deflated.
“I have spent my entire life being the person who almost fits. Almost the right school. Almost the right neighborhood. Almost the right clothes. I’m always one thing off.
” She looked at me. “I put that dress on and I wasn’t almost anything. I just was.”
I wished I could have been there to see her face. I wanted to see how special she felt.
“Annika’s the best there is,” I said finally.
“I know that now.” She exhaled slowly. “Thank you. I mean it. That was so nice. You didn’t have to do that.”
“It was a dress, Kensey.”
“It wasn’t just a dress and you know it.”
I held her gaze for a second and then looked away, reaching for my phone. “Are you hungry?”
She blinked at the subject change. “Starving, actually.”
“Good.” I pulled up the app I used when I didn’t want to think about cooking, which was often these days. “What do you want? Thai? Sushi? There’s a place two blocks over that does the best spicy tuna roll I’ve ever had in my life.”
“Sushi,” she said immediately. “Absolutely sushi.”
I ordered enough for four people. I always ordered too much and then ate leftovers at midnight. Alone. For a brief moment, I imagined what it might be like to not eat alone.
We both sat on the couch, the food spread out in front of us on the table. Our knees bumped as I leaned forward to put more on my plate.
“Tell me about New Jersey,” I said, pulling apart a pair of chopsticks.
“It’s Jersey.”
“That bad?”
“It’s not bad. It’s just different. I miss the sun.”
“I’ve spent time in New York. I know the vibe.”
“And cold. Not just temperature cold. The vibe is cold. Everyone’s got somewhere to be and nobody’s making eye contact.
” She took a bite. “My apartment is fine. My kids are genuinely great, most of them. Teaching is management, which I’m apparently built for.
” She gestured around the office. “As evidenced.”
I laughed. “You’re built for it.”
“The garment thing notwithstanding. Why didn’t they look at what they were putting on?”
I laughed. “They’re not used to asking questions. They put on what they’re told.”
We ate more and I couldn’t help but remember the many other sushi dinners we had.
She looked at me. “Do you get lonely here?”
“Sometimes,” I said honestly. “I’ve got the family and the store now and it’s nonstop, but yeah. At the end of the day, I go home to a very nice house that’s very quiet.”
“The beautiful prison.”
“Something like that.”
She was quiet for a moment, pulling a piece of avocado off the edge of a roll.
“I thought about you a lot this year,” she said.
“When things were hard or weird or I needed someone to talk to. I’d think Drew would know what to say about this.
And then I wouldn’t call because it was late or you were busy or I didn’t want to be a pest.”
“You could never be a pest.”
“Needy. I didn’t want to be needy.”
I set my chopsticks down and looked at her. “You can always call me. That has never had an expiration date. I don’t care if it’s two o’clock in the morning.”
“I appreciate that.”
“New rule,” I said. “You call when you need to talk. I don’t care what time it is.”
Her blue eyes gazed into mine. “Okay,” she said.
“Okay.”
We ate for a while without talking. Yeah, this is good. Our hands touched when we both reached for the same roll. An electric charge whipped through me.
I took a deep breath and thought about what would happen if I touched her. Not a friend touch. A real touch. My heart pounded.
But I didn’t want to ruin anything. I pulled my hand away.
“I should probably get home. Help my mom with her puzzle.”
I nodded, realizing I might have made things weird.
She started gathering the containers. I helped her consolidate everything back into the bag.
And then we were both standing there staring at each other.
Close enough that I could see the small crease at the corner of her eye when she smiled.
Close enough that I was suddenly very aware of the vanilla scent I’d been smelling all day.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said.
“Tomorrow,” I agreed.
She held my gaze for exactly one second longer than necessary, and then she was gone.
That was not in my head. I had not just imagined that. There was a spark. She felt it. I had to believe that.
I grabbed my wallet, keys, and phone and left. A few staff were still closing up when I headed downstairs.
The drive up the PCH at night was the one thing that could reliably empty my head. The traffic wasn’t horrible. Unfortunately, there was nothing to stop me from thinking about her. More about what happened if I tried to cross that line.
I pulled into my driveway, staring up at the dark house. I’d bought this place because of the deck and the unobstructed view of the water. Most nights I stood out there for a few minutes before bed just to decompress. It was the best thing I’d ever spent money on.
I went inside, changed out of the suit, poured two fingers of bourbon I didn’t particularly want, and went out on the deck.
It wasn’t just me feeling the shift between Kensey and me. I knew it but would either of us ever act on it?