Romantic Acquisition Page 0,10
he went away. We never heard from him again.”
Carlo knew she was trying to hide her feelings, but a small amount of pain still came through in her voice and the way her eyes avoided focusing on any particular thing while she talked about her father.
“How old were you at the time?” he asked quietly.
“Four years old.” She didn’t elaborate.
“What do you do when you aren’t working?” Carlo asked, changing the subject. He could tell that it was a very painful subject for her. He wanted to know more, but she obviously didn’t want to discuss it and he didn’t want to push her. He decided to come back to that subject later. He already knew that he was going to have several of these kinds of conversations with this woman. He was too fascinated and wanted to get to know her.
Kate was eager to talk about something less emotionally charged. Her eyes lit up again and she leaned forward in her seat. “Oh, different things. I shop at other stores, see what they’re selling, compare prices and quality.” She laughed, “But I usually find the more interesting items to sell at Jamison’s from my own sources so it is just a self-serving mission when I shop.”
“How so?” He liked the way her eyes revealed whatever she was feeling.
“I like to know if I’ve gotten the best deals or the best clothes. Jamison’s is known for quality and originality. We cater to the business woman, but also to the individual.”
“How did you come up with that niche idea?” he asked.
The fork froze midway to her mouth. “How did you know it was my idea?”
He smiled at her surprised expression. “I researched the trends, cross referenced when you became the buyer and figured it out.” He winked at her from across the table. “I can be a very resourceful fellow.”
Kate laughed, liking the laughter in his eyes even though he didn’t actually laugh out loud. “Okay, so it was my idea. I had a hard time convincing David to let me go in that direction. He wanted to stay with the same old boring lines, the traditional career designers. I had to argue for over a year just to do a trial of my idea. It has worked though. Jamison’s has become known for their original career clothing and great quality. I just wish David would adopt my pricing strategy.” She almost rolled her eyes but restrained herself before continuing. “We could increase the volume if he’d just lower the price point. The volume would take care of his precious margins.”
Kate shook her head as if to get the bad thoughts out. “What do you do when you’re not working?” she shot back at him.
“I play tennis and golf,” he replied.
Kate smiled at his cryptic reply. “Of course, what else?”
“Why of course?” he asked.
“You just look like the type that likes to play golf.”
Carlo wasn’t going to let her get away without explaining her comment. “What’s my ‘type’?”
She eyed him carefully, daring to look up at his face with it’s five o’clock shadow, his sharp, intelligent eyes. She wouldn’t let her eyes drop below his chin. She didn’t want to think about his incredibly gorgeous body. “Rich, driven,” she finally said. “Hard and tough on both yourself and your staff. You probably haven’t played golf in over a month, have you?”
He didn’t bother to answer but the look on his face told her she was right on target. “What else?” he asked.
“Oh, I don’t know much more. You’re a very serious person. Probably an only child?”
Carlo threw back his head and laughed, shaking his head at how far off the mark she was.
“Older brother?” Kate guessed. She was a little rattled by how wonderful his laugh sounded to her ears. It wasn’t even a rusty laugh which meant he laughed often, just not in business situations, she supposed. She felt thrilled to have initiated his laughter although she wasn’t sure what the joke was.
“I’m one of the youngest, I’ll give you that.”
Kate was instantly intrigued. “Uh oh. You must have more than one older brother. Lucky you!”
Carlo laughed again at that. “Why am I lucky?”
“First of all, tell me how many brothers you have.”
“I have one older sister who died several years ago plus four older brothers and one younger sister.”
Kate sighed and her shoulders drooped slightly. “Oh, that must have been a lot of fun,” she sighed. “What was it like living with so many siblings? Was it absolutely wonderful?