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After taking her gift into the bedroom and returning with her purse and a wrap, Tiffany said she was ready.
Ivan sauntered over to her, placed his hand at the small of her back and escorted her out.
“Did I mention that you look beautiful tonight?”
She couldn’t contain her smile at remembering how he had told her. “Yes, I’d say you did.”
Ivan was wearing all black. He looked gorgeous.
“You look great yourself.”
He leaned in close. His breath tickled her ear. “You told me.”
*
Ivan took Tiffany to Spiaggia on Michigan Avenue. She had heard about the acclaimed restaurant, but had never been. While they were shown to their table, Tiffany gazed around. The space was ultraluxurious and beautifully decorated. Ivan held out her chair. Their table was right next to a massive floor-to-ceiling window, which afforded a spectacular view of Oak Street Beach.
“This place is phenomenal,” she said excitedly. “If I’d known we were coming here, I would’ve dressed up more.”
“You look beautiful.”
She beamed at the compliment and tried her best to focus on the menu, and not the man sitting across from her. It was so hard when he gazed at her like that.
Ivan had spared no expense for their first date, and she allowed herself to enjoy every decadent moment of it.
Later, while they were eating, Ivan said, “So I know you’re from Baltimore, an only child and that you moved here to a few years ago for a job, but what made you move to Chicago in the first place?”
“I needed a change. There was no room for growth at the marketing firm I worked at. I looked around for another position, but nothing seemed to excite me. I was also having difficulties with my boyfriend. I wasn’t as sure of myself—or my abilities.”
“I have a hard time believing that.”
“It’s true. I worked hard to overcome it. The decision to move here was one of the hardest I’ve ever made, but when I got an offer to work at this small boutique to head up their marketing campaign, I took that as a sign that I needed to shake things up.”
“Did your boyfriend relocate with you?”
Her smile faded. “No. His career was flourishing. Uprooting to another state wasn’t one of his long-term goals. So that was that. I should’ve seen i
t coming.”
“Why?”
“We’d been engaged for two years, but never set a date. The timing was always wrong, as far as he was concerned. It took me a while, but eventually I realized that we weren’t of the same mind. Breaking up was painful. It broke my heart, and made me doubt myself. There were times when…secretly, I hoped we would get back together. That he would call me or just show up here to say he’d made a huge mistake and that he wanted us to try again, but that never happened. He never fought for me…for us.” She glanced over at Ivan with eyes alight with unshed tears. “You must think that’s pretty silly.”
He reached for her hand. “Not at all. I understand how in love you must’ve been, and that your decision to move on even though you still loved him was extremely difficult. Not wanting the same things in life is what ripped to shreds most of the relationships I’ve had—that and my being so far away. Believe me, Tiffany, I know exactly how you feel.”
Tiffany dabbed at the corner of her eyes with her dinner napkin before taking a sip of her wine. “Okay, enough melancholy.”
“I agree. Tell me about your store. How’d you get started?”
“Well, I wasn’t fulfilled working for someone else, and when Milán opened her own interior-design company, that gave me the incentive I needed to get off my butt and make things happen. My grandmother left me a small nest egg when she died a few years ago, so that’s what I used to help get my boutique off the ground. That and a small business loan,” she added. “But I did it.”
“I commend you for taking a chance and starting a small business. You had the gumption to realize your dreams, and you went for it.”
“What about you? How did you get your company started?”
“I began consulting after I ended my last tour and got out of the army. I decided not to reinvent the wheel as far as a career, and stuck with security and protection. It expanded from there, and I soon realized it was a lucrative market. I brought a few retired buddies in with me, and the company grew exponentially. But you know what I love most about it?”
She shook her head.
