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“Drusilla Marie. She’s one of the hottest French designers right now and absolutely my favorite. Her pieces are exquisite.”
“Oh. I wouldn’t know. I picked it out of the wardrobe my best friend selected for me for my birthday. Animals are more my thing than clothing.”
“I adore both. I have the most adorable little pug dog and a Himalayan cat. They’re always causing trouble, but they make me laugh. What I can’t stand are snakes and spiders. If they were annihilated from the earth yesterday, it wouldn’t have been too soon.”
I heard this sort of thing from a lot of people. When I was young, I would get so mad when people said such things, but now I was learning that gentle education was the key. I placed my hand on Jen’s shoulder. “Now, Jen, I know they do frighten some people, but snakes and spiders have their place in the world. They’re predators, and without them, the whole ecosystem would be off-kilter.”
“There you are, Lou.” Tate joined us with two glasses of orange juice in his hand. “Sorry about leaving you like that.”
“It’s fine. I’m sure whatever you needed to discuss was important.” I took the glass from him and indicated to Jen. “I made a new friend.”
“You’re kidding! You’re with Tate Rawlins, theownerof Rawlins Industries? The hottest man in the company? Well, it’s no wonder you’re wearingDrusilla Marie, you lucky cow.”
Tate’s mouth fell open. He glanced between Jen and me a few times with a quizzical expression on his face.
“Jen’s kind of outspoken.” I sipped my drink.
“I can see that.”
“She was also kind enough to take my photo and make me look like a million bucks.” I showed Tate the photograph.
“You’re worth much more.”
It didn’t matter who was around or what was going on. At that moment, I got caught up in his gaze, and it was only Tate and me. The sexiest and most powerful man in the company and the mailroom girl.
Jen cut through our moment. “Would you like me to take a photo of you together?”
“Oh, yes, please. Could you?” I handed her my phone again.
Tate moved behind me and wrapped me fully in his arms. With the tiniest of sighs, I leaned into him and smiled at Jen.
“Three, two, one. And one more. Right! Now…” Her fingers whizzed over the screen again.
“She’s an editing wizard,” I explained to Tate before I addressed Jen again. “I hope you’re going to university to do a photography course because you seem to have a knack for it.”
“I am, actually. Daddy thinks I should study something more to do with the left side of my brain, but I can’t think of anything worse than sitting at a desk for the rest of my natural life.” Jen ticked her blue eyes toward Tate. “No offense.”
Tate pushed his hands into his pockets and arched his eyebrows at the girl. “My job is a lot more than sitting behind a desk, kid.”
“I’m sure it is. Me, though? I’m going to be a fashion photographer.” Jen preened, then handed me my phone. “Anyway, here you go. It was great meeting you. Enjoy the night.”
“You, too. Stay out of trouble.” I wasn’t sure why I said that. I didn’t even know the girl, but I could tell she was the mischievous sort. My thoughts were confirmed when she gave me a sneaky wink over her shoulder.
“You make some interesting friends, Lou.”
I laughed. “I seem to, don’t I?”
“I shouldn’t be surprised.”
Turning to rest my hands on his shoulders, I asked, “Why not?”
“Because you’re you, baby.”
Tate kissed me in front of the beautiful Christmas tree with the gorgeous classical music floating through the air and the smell of appetizers I’d yet to taste. I loved how he kissed me with barely-there restraint, as though he could take me right now, and he wouldn’t care who saw. I was striving to catch my breath when he broke the kiss.
“We need to make some rounds and play nice for a while longer. But then I want to take you somewhere special.”
“Like where?”
