Romantic Acquisition Page 0,33
well. Nancy’s two teenage daughters were out for the evening so it was just Nancy and her husband entertaining Kate and Carlo. They ate out on their patio, the men standing over the grill with a beer in their hands while discussing football and grilling methods. Kate and Nancy sat down on patio chairs and talked about the fashions coming out for the spring, the ones that had already been ordered for the store and the ones that they didn’t dare buy for their customers because of their outrageous designs.
Kate and Carlo got back to the hotel late, almost midnight. He didn’t make any moves, understanding that she was exhausted. He simply took her key and unlocked her door for her, then turned and entered his own, right next door.
Kate didn’t have the energy to stay up worrying about the fact that he was only a wall away. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Carlo woke her at six o’clock the next morning. He was already downstairs having coffee as he called her on the hotel phone.
Kate muttered about slave drivers and cruelty towards inferiors as she hung up the phone. The shower woke her up slightly and she dressed quickly, pulling on a pair of simple black slacks and a purple, fuzzy sweater that hugged her figure. She didn’t have the energy to do anything fancy with her hair so she left it hanging down her back in waves.
Entering the dining room, Kate instantly saw Carlo. Again, he was being waited on by a very attentive and very buxom blond woman. Kate slid into the chair on the opposite side of the table, ignoring the glare from the waitress.
Carlo thanked the waitress and she left but not before another jealous glare towards Kate. “So why so early again this morning? Aren’t we doing the Dallas store today?”
“Yep, but we need to head out early since we can’t fly there.”
Kate was extremely grateful to him. She knew that it would only take a short flight to get to the Dallas store but he was willing to drive the four hours to get there because of her concerns with the small plane.
They drove out to the store after a large breakfast. On the drive, Kate talked about the differences between the two stores, or at least the ones she knew about. She traveled to all the stores each year but maintained sales figures and fashion trends from the headquarters in Washington, D.C. She knew more about the Houston store because of her friendship with Nancy. The two of them e-mailed back and forth with Nancy talking about the problems she was having as the manager. Kate also was more in touch with the Houston shoppers because of Nancy’s input into the purchasing.
The Dallas store was more modern than the Houston one but the same size in relative square footage. The trends weren’t dramatically different though but there were some variations. Houston was slightly more laid back than the Dallas shoppers who demanded more business suits whereas the Houston store stocked more casual clothes and less business attire.
Kate and Carlo went through the store and Kate started to understand the pattern Carlo implemented as he toured. It wasn’t exactly the same since they arrived after the store opened so he had to work around the shoppers, but he needed to know basically the same information. This time, Kate worked with the department managers to get the data she suspected he’d need while he took an initial walk through the store. They met back up with each other and Carlo asked her questions. If she didn’t know the answer, she’d confer with the manager and they would both find the answers for him. The Dallas manager, Brian Armstrong, was a very competent manager with a strong southern accent and a friendly manner. The employees were relatively happy but still wanted the benefits back that they’d lost.
They stayed the night in Dallas and Kate found out over dinner that night that they would be going to all the stores Jamison controlled. “You’re kidding!” she said, dropping her fork onto her plate. “But I only brought one change of clothes.” She bit her lower lip. “You didn’t mention that we’d be gone for a long period of time.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be a huge issue,” he laughed. “We’re going to be in stores. Why don’t you just pick up what you need each day and charge it to ATI?”
Kate