When We Met

I straightened on shaky knees and brushed off my skirt. “What do you mean?”

“Aunt Jaclyn called,” he said. “She said you were down a male model and could use some help today.”

I sca

My gaze darted to the number ten rack that we had pushed to the side last night. The clothing I had pulled to dress that model still hung there and I pumped out a breath. I could definitely make this work.

As soon as the initial shock of seeing Blake wore off, I went into action mode. “Fit him in at the end of the lineup,” I threw over my shoulder to Julie. “Amanda can dress number three, but I’m dressing number ten.”

I led Blake to the tenth rack and pulled it from against the back wall.

“I was going to skip this number, but since you’re here . . . ,” I said, gri

He didn’t even bat an eyelash as he tugged his shirt over his head and then pushed his pants down so that he now faced me in his gray boxer briefs. Yep, he’d certainly done this modeling thing before. Hot damn.

I caught my breath as he slid on the pair of designer jeans I held out for him, which, of course, fit like a glove.

When he had them zipped up, I finally looked him in the eye, but I couldn’t help gaping at his lean chest and stomach.

His gaze stayed fixed on mine as he pulled on the tailored shirt and fastened all but the top three remaining buttons.

“Chloe.” He stepped into my personal space and I tried to act professional, but I struggled to manage any bit of self-control.

My fingers were trembling; that was how badly I wanted to touch him. “I . . . I’ve missed you, too.”

His thumb brushed over my cheek and I closed my eyes to revel in the feel of his skin coming in contact with mine. “So, does that mean yes?”

Now both hands held my face as he forced me to look at him. “Because not talking to you or seeing you really sucked,” he said. “And I wasn’t exactly sure where we stood . . . after all this was said and done.”

I swallowed roughly. “Is everything okay at home?”

A flash of pain registered in his eyes. “It’s getting there. Mom’s back in treatment. I’ll explain more later, because I just want to make today about Fibers and you.”

“I’m sorry.”

Oblivious to the swirl and chaos around us, we were trapped in our own little bubble. My fingers skimmed around his waist, and his fingers tu

“Yes,” I breathed out.

“Ah hell.” His lips stretched across the space between us to press against mine. “I’ve been miserable without you.”

He kissed me again, this time more firmly. His fingers grasped the back of my hair securely as if he was unwilling to let me go.

“God, Blake,” I mumbled, nibbling at his bottom lip. “I’ve been miserable, too.”

He groaned, deepening the kiss, his tongue licking over my lips and then dipping fully into my mouth. Everything happening around us faded into the background as my fingers fisted the back of his shirt and tugged him nearer.

For the first time in ever, I didn’t care what anybody else thought. The only thing that mattered was that Blake was here and he wanted to be with me as badly as I wanted to be with him.

I tore my lips away from his, realizing just how unproductive I’d been in the last several minutes. Especially before a huge event. It was so unlike me.

I needed to call out the model order. I had a grade to earn and people were counting on me. My stomach tensed, taut with familiar panic, as I attempted to break his hold and smooth down his designer shirt. But Blake tugged me back against him for a final tender kiss.

Just then I heard a whoop from the middle of the room, and when I looked up, my three roommates, Courtney, Misha, and Indy, were standing there gri

Taking a deep breath, I turned and called the lineup. This was the easy part. The timing and the dress changes were the chaotic parts. But I felt good, like I had this in the bag. I walked up and down the row to be sure clothes were straight and hair was in place on each model.

When I got to number ten, Blake gri

The show went off without a hitch and I was on a high—feeling so alive and confident in my own skin as I took a bow at the end of the set to roaring applause.

As the models filtered off the stage and headed to the back room to change, I was surrounded by my roommates and other design students, who had wanted to congratulate me on a job well done.

The storefront was empty when I walked back inside, but I could still hear the buzz of the crowd from the street and customers combing through the racks that had been brought outside.

“The show was a hit. Fantastic job,” Jaclyn said, rounding the corner from the dressing area, and my cheeks lifted with the swell of pride. “And what you’ve done to this space is simply amazing.”

“Thank you,” I said, heading toward her. I heard the door swing open and chatter from customers behind me, but I was riveted by the serious look in Jaclyn’s eyes. There was something else she wanted to say.

“I know your plan is to move to New York City after you graduate, Chloe. But I want you to know that you have another option, too,” she said, fixing a rack of dresses near the back wall. “I’m willing to offer you the job of managing this store. It belongs to you anyway and I’d like to see if this location takes off.”

Hearing her offer unleashed a swirling kaleidoscope of emotions inside me. It’d been the first time I’d ever allowed the possibility of having this job as a career inhabit my brain. I really enjoyed the merchandising aspect of ru

“That’s an incredible compliment,” my mother’s voice rang out from across the room, and my shoulders immediately hunched up. It was the tight, professional sound I’d come to recognize all too well, when she was holding herself back from being something other than polite. “I agree what she did was amazing.”

She took a deep breath and I knew what was coming next. “But Chloe has classes and schoolwork and will eventually have résumés to fill out with my contacts in New York. I wouldn’t want her to get bogged down with the idea of having to manage an entire store when that’s not what she’s been working toward.”

“Chloe is excellent on the business side of things,” Jaclyn said, essentially shutting my mother down. Watching two strong women going toe-to-toe was like waiting for the outcome of a tense te

For a brief moment I was too dumbfounded to move. But I quickly got my wits about me, because I couldn’t allow Jaclyn to fight my battles for me. If Blake could face the crisis in his family head-on, it was time for me to do the same.

“Mom, we need to talk,” I said, effectively ending their conversation. I had to face up to my own truths, and now was the perfect opportunity to do it.

I spun to confront my own mother. The woman who made me my heart tremble and soar at the same time. I always had so much respect for her, but lately she’d become too overbearing. She needed to hear how I felt about how she’d been treating me. I had allowed it to continue for far too long. That blame was all mine.