Page 71 of Manhattan Bossholes

“Test?” I sputtered. “What kind?”

“Chemistry,” Darcy replied. She gripped my arm and started walking me through the crowd. “She probably wants to know if the three of us vibe.”

I glanced over to where Vincent was posing in front of the flower wall with none other than Maya, and my pulse triple-timed.

No, it was fine. This was business. I knew how he really felt about her.

Right?

I gave them one last look and noticed that his arm was draped casually over her shoulder. He’d barely touched me tonight.

I needed to focus. I’d helped Summit achieve victory in every way I’d promised, but now it was time to concentrate on my own dreams. I needed to be prepared for my future.

And Mercedes was the key.

“Ready?” Darcy met my eyes.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Let’s do this.”

We found Mercedes chatting to some tech bro about his social media app. When she spotted us, her face lit up.

“Can you excuse me, Declan? I see some VIPs I need to chat with.”

Mercedes rolled her eyes as she walked away from him. She was dressed to attract attention, as usual, in a neon pink pantsuit and gigantic heels that didn’t give her that much of a boost.

“Ladies, hello,” she said warmly as she shook our hands. “Are we having fun yet?”

Darcy laughed. “I know I am! I just got a retinol serum hookup from Denny Jones.”

Mercedes craned her neck to look around. “Point me in her direction, this old face needs all the help it can get.”

“Please, you look amazing,” I said.

She wagged her finger at me. “Don’t you dare say ‘for your age.’”

“Never!” I laughed.

I couldn’t quite comprehend that we were cracking jokes with none other than the great Mercedes Horan. And she called us VIPs! My night was looking up.

“Why don’t we sit?” Mercedes asked. She pointed to a cluster of chairs in a quieter section of the deck.

Darcy grabbed my hand and squeezed it as we followed behind her.

“I want to begin by saying how impressed I am with the two of you. Darcy, your projections are based on well-researched industry trends, and Piper, your creative vision is unmatched.”

My heart dropped. There was a “but” coming.

“I’d be crazy not to invest in Strapped, but⁠—”

And there it was.

“I’d need a one hundred percent commitment from the two of you before agreeing to anything,” Mercedes continued. “Right now, you’re both working full-time jobs, which means you can’t give Strapped the attention it needs in order to grow. If you want to work with me, you have to focus all of your attention on the business. It can’t be halfhearted. And if we’re committing to this, it has to be soon. Leather prices are set to shift in the next month, so I’d want to place a big enough order to cover your operating expenses for the first six months of production.”

Her cheerful expression had downshifted to deadly serious, but given how much money we were seeking, it made sense. Mercedes didn’t play around when it came to her resources.

“Say no more.” Darcy pulled her phone out of her bag and held it up. “I’m calling my boss to give my notice right now.”

Mercedes chuckled. “Okay, okay, I get it, Darcy. You’re in.” She turned to face me. “Now, Piper. You’re very enmeshed in Summit. In more ways than one, if I may be so bold.”