head, pulling a few strands loose around my face. “What do you think?” I asked Chase. “Passable?”
He looked up from the tray of jewelry he’d been sorting through. “Perfect. You just need this.” He held up a strand of chunky turquoise pearls, motioning for me to turn around so he could secure the clasp around my neck.
“Seriously? Can I keep?”
“Like I said, no one will miss anything from in here.” He turned me around, hands on either shoulder. “There. Now you really are perfect.”
I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
Chase grabbed the coffee-stained dress before turning toward the door. “I’m getting this cleaned for you.”
“You don’t have to do that.” I reached for it. “I’ll drop it off on my way home.”
He waved my hand away. “Whatever. I want to. Plus, I know a guy. It’ll look as good as the day you made it.”
“You’re too good to me.”
“Speaking of how wonderful I am,” Chase said, tossing me a grin, “I almost forgot. Darius asked me to give this to you.” He pulled a thumb drive out of his pocket and handed it over. “He said you’d know what it was and would probably scream the second it was in your hands.”
My eyes went wide. “Seriously? It’s done?”
Chase threw up his hands, the dress draped over his wrist bumping into my side. “I have no idea. Darius told me nothing.”
“Oh my word. It’s done, it’s done, it’s done!” It was all I could do not to actually jump up and down with excitement.
“Why are we so excited?!” Chase whisper yelled.
I took a deep, calming breath. “It’s Elliott Hart’s new album. Darius did the sound mixing and he told me he would sneak me a copy as soon as it was finished. I thought I still had weeks to wait.”
“Elliott Hart. Is that the piano guy you love so much?”
“Yes!” I followed Chase to the sample room door. “And it’s been forever since he released any new stuff. I guess he got married and had a kid or whatever. But this!” I held up the thumb drive. “This feels like gold in my hands.”
“That Darius,” Chase said. “He’s quite the charmer, isn’t he?” He opened the door and led the way to the elevator where he pushed the button to take us back up to the fifth floor.
“Oh, he’s my favorite,” I said, my face serious. “No question. I mean, I know I technically met you first and that maybe you deserve some sort of loyalty for that, but really. Darius is special.”
Chase thrust the dress back at me. “I take it back. You can take care of your own dry cleaning.”
I sniffed primly. “Maybe I’ll ask Darius to do it.”
Chase chuckled. “He’d probably do it. I’m the nicest person in New York City and he still makes me look like the kitten-kicking uncle no one wants at Christmas dinner.”
The man Chase had married five years ago really was embodied perfection. He was gorgeous, for one, tall and suave, with beautiful brown skin and this velvet voice that sounded like music even when he was saying the most basic things. But he also had the best heart—better than anyone I’d ever known. He was gentle and forgiving and always gave everyone the benefit of the doubt.
His relationship with Chase kept me hoping I’d eventually be in love again myself. They effortlessly supported each other with this quiet, steady devotion; it was the kind of relationship I might not have believed was actually real if I hadn’t known them both so well, if I hadn’t witnessed it firsthand on an almost daily basis.
It was also the kind of relationship that might have made me burn with jealousy if I hadn’t loved them both as much as I did.
The elevator doors dinged open and Chase and I stepped inside. “You’re going to get him fired if you don’t stop begging for advance copies,” Chase said. “You know he’ll never tell you no.”
“Darius is the best sound engineer Blaze Records has. They won’t fire him. Plus, I don’t beg. This is the only album I’ve ever asked him for.”
“If we don’t count the Jenna Fields album he gave you last Christmas.”
My mouth dropped open. “That was a gift!”
Chase laughed. “Right. And you didn’t drop any hints that you wanted it.”
I smiled sheepishly and shrugged my shoulders, the thumb drive held tightly in my hands. “Please tell Darius thank you and I love him dearly.”
Two hours later, I was back at my desk,