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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
JERRY AND STEWART HADfreed up their afternoons to meet with Stephanie and Tia to discuss Luscious Lingerie. Waiting with Stephanie in her sewing room for Jerry and Tia to arrive, Stewart was eyeing the sexy lingerie hanging on the rolling wardrobe. Astounded at the unique designs and exquisite workmanship, he believed the combination of Tia’s fame and Stephanie’s talent had huge potential. If Jerry joined them to set up the business model, it would be the perfect marriage of brains and artistry.
“These are hot, don’t you think?” Stephanie asked, moving the leather items to one end of the rack. “I finished them this morning.”
“Hot? They’re blazing,” he remarked, trying to ignore his stiffening cock. “But I have a question. How can you produce something like this in large quantities?”
“I can’t. I want two lines. One for the mass market, and a high-end collection.”
“Ah, I see,” he murmured, moving closer. Putting his arm around her waist, he pulled her into his body. “Do you have any idea how much this is turning me on? I want to devour every inch of you right now.”
“I wish you could,” she whispered, circling her arms around his neck. But as he lowered his lips to hers the doorbell rang.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to get through this,” he said with a grin.
“I’m sure you’ll manage. Go and let them in. I’ll meet you in the living room with the rack.”
As Stewart left to answer the door, Stephanie tried to calm her nerves. If Jerry threw his support and marketing expertise behind Luscious Lingerie, success would be all but guaranteed. Taking a deep breath, she mentally prepared herself for the meeting. But wanting to make a grand entrance, she waited, giving Stewart enough time to open the champagne and fill the flutes. Finally rolling the rack from her sewing room and down the hall, she entered the living room.
“Hello, Jerry, thank you for coming. Hi, Tia.”
“The leather ones, you finished the leather ones!” Tia exclaimed excitedly, moving quickly across to check them out.
“It’s all thanks to that machine I bought. It’s worth every penny.”
“Come and look, Jerry,” Tia said urgently, waving her husband over to join her. “Aren’t they fantastic?”
Taking a sip of his drink, Jerry placed the glass on the coffee table and walked up to join them. But Stephanie took a step back, deciding to let the provocative garments do the talking for her. He studied the leather items first, then lightly ran his fingertips over a few of the shimmering, silky pieces.
“You’re certainly talented,” he began. “Do you want to work with an established brand, or set up your own chain of stores? Working with a recognized company would be far less work and the risk would be minimal, but if you go it alone, obviously the risk and effort would be far greater, but if you’re successful, the sky’s the limit.”
Though Stephanie had pondered the question endlessly, she hadn’t come up with an answer.
“Do you need more time to think about it?” he asked. “It’s understandable. There’s a great deal to consider.”
“I...uh...” but pausing, and looking at the unique lingerie she’d created, a hot lump suddenly formed in the back of her throat.
“It’s not about the money or the work involved,” she said, pushing back the unexpected emotion. “My heart is in this. It’s my dream. I’d rather have a single small boutique, than see my designs sewn in factories on the other side of the world to be sold in the major chains. Sorry Tia. I know you see it differently, at least, I think you do.”
“Actually, now that I’m looking at them, I agree,” Tia said solemnly. “They’re too beautiful to be sold just anywhere, and the quality...we can’t let it suffer.”
“I can always create a few simpler pieces for the mass market if we want to do that at some point,” Stephanie offered, “but I want our own exclusive boutiques selling lingerie like this.”
“Then I’d suggest opening three storefronts simultaneously. Manhattan, Palm Beach, and Beverly Hills. But even though it will be a while before things get off the ground, we need to start a buzz. It’s very important. You may even get some interest from people right off the bat wanting to place orders.”
“Stewart’s right,” Jerry piped up. “We want Luscious Lingerie to be as anticipated as the opening of a major motion picture. With Tia attached that will happen, but we need a big promotional event to launch the name. Luscious Lingerie is great, by the way.”
“But doing something like that...are you sure we’re not getting ahead of ourselves?” Stephanie asked.
“No, hon, pre-publicity is vitally important,” Stewart assured her. “We’ll set a series of goals and schedules to reach them, but time flies. You’ll be shocked how fast things will start to happen.”
