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I nodded, actually excited to see everything up close and, frankly, honored I was able to participate in the presentation at all.
After Dresses set up their designs, Shirts went next, followed by Belts, and then Shoes. I squeezed Brick’s leg under the table when I saw my shoe appear next to about a dozen other choices. He sent me a wink and grinned at my anxious expression.
I glanced Ezra’s way, wanting to share my nerves with him too. He’d gotten to listen to me go on and on the night before about how worried and excited I was about my design. He must have some clue what my guts were doing right now.
When he didn’t return the glance, disappointment rose up my throat, until I noticed two fingers on the hand he was using to rest his chin on wrapped together as he crossed them, silently wishing me good luck.
A grin enveloped me. He knew. He knew how freaked out I was and he’d crossed his fingers for me.
Love swelled in my chest.
After Hayden’s team set up their portfolio, Ezra and Winston went next for the Jackets department. Then Pants, Undergarments, and finally Purses.
Brick cleared his throat when it was our turn. “We’ll have to show our designs a little differently than everyone else,” he announced as I rose from my chair. I made my way to the screen projector in the back of the room, near Lana, where I plugged in a flash drive.
As I worked, Lana demanded, “What do you mean different?”
The smile Brick sent her was narrow-eyed and brittle. “Ah, yes. That. Well, you see, Mother, we had a perfectly good portfolio finished and ready to go until it suddenly and mysteriously vanished from my office.”
Lana glanced toward Ezra, scowling. “Yes. I’d heard about that. So unfortunate.” Her gaze strayed back to her son, and the witch actually had the gall to sound hopeful when she asked, “Are you saying you don’t have any designs to show us today, then, darling?”
“Oh, on the contrary,” Brick announced with a jovial grin as I made my way to the other end of the room to pull down the projection screen from the ceiling. “We still have every single design my team created for the presentation. My assistant had enough foresight to scan the originals before they went missing, so we may not have physical copies, but we can still show you our entire portfolio.”
He sounded so smug and proud I couldn’t help but smile as I rose up on my tiptoes, trying to reach the pull-string for the screen.
Lana didn’t sound pleased
at all when she bitterly responded, “How… Resourceful of her.”
I reached for the screen string again, barely brushing it with the ends of my fingers and unable to get a good enough hold to pull the entire screen down.
“Here,” Ezra offered, since he was probably sitting closer to me than anyone else. “Let me.” He popped from his chair with a bit too much enthusiasm and reached past me so he could grab the string and pull the screen down.
When he finished, he finally looked my way, only to catch his breath, most likely realizing how close he’d stepped. And I certainly couldn’t step back. I felt paralyzed by his presence. He smelled too good for me to be physically capable of going anywhere. Memories of the night before swelled, making me wonder if he still had marks on his back from when I’d scratched him as he’d made me come for the third time in a row.
I think we realized we were both just standing there, lost in delicious memories, about the same time the rest of the room seemed to realize it. Not only that, but we had essentially spotlighted ourselves because we stood in the lighted projection of the Purse department’s portfolio.
Brick cleared his throat loudly, from somewhere behind us. “Ezra, I don’t think you’ve met my new assistant yet,” he emphasized. “This is Kaity. She only just started working for me on Monday.”
We both glanced at him as if he’d lost his mind, but then I guess we realized at the same moment he was trying to save our butts, so we turned back to each other.
“Nice to meet you,” Ezra murmured, nodding and not holding out a hand to shake with me.
I nodded back, keeping my hands to myself as well. It was way too dangerous to be touching him right now. “You too.”
Then, unable to contain my curiosity, I glanced Lana’s way as Ezra returned to his seat. Her eyes were narrowed as they shifted between us, but I don’t think she could ascertain whether that was really the first time we’d met or not.
“And, Mother,” Brick went on. “I know you’ve already met Kaity, since she’s your stepdaughter and all, ergo no introductions needed there.” While everyone who didn’t know who I was gasped and gawked at me over this surprising revelation, Brick innocently clasped his hands together, as if his duty were done, before saying, “Kait…” He lifted his eyebrows expectantly before nodding his head toward the screen.
“Oh! Sorry.” Realizing I was still standing in the way, I blushed and stepped to the side, exposing our portfolio on the screen.
Forgetting all embarrassment, pride bubbled in my chest. Each handbag outdid the other, I swear. We had excellent designs and an awesome variety. If Mabel Blanchette’s granddaughter, Camille, were here right now, I had a feeling she’d pre-order the entire collection.
Brick caught my gaze and smiled, letting me know he shared the sentiment.
As I returned to my seat, Brick expounded on the details, and my delight over our accomplishment only grew stronger.
When he finished, Ezra cleared his throat and took over, describing how the rest of the presentation would progress. Feedback was welcome from everyone on all the designs, but ultimately, the final decisions would be made by him and Lana. Finally, we were invited to browse the room to study everything all the departments had displayed.
