club the night before. But instead, he seemed very business-like now. Arlo appeared to have his mind set on safely tucking me into my apartment and then going on about his day. But there was also something else that I could just barely get a glimpse of brewing beneath the surface, something that felt like he was holding back. Maybe he was furious with Cai and was planning to go give him a stern lecture and didn’t want me to be there to watch it. Or maybe it was something else.
He dropped me off at my apartment with an ominous, “I’ll text you later” without even asking if I was planning to come to work today. Then, just before he pulled away, he rolled down his window and said one more thing, “Stay away from Cai.”
I went inside and tried to collect my thoughts. I took a long, hot shower and thought about all the things that were pulling at my heart. I realized that as much as I had tried to be mad at Arlo and as much as I had tried to distract myself by going out with Cai to his crazy night club parties, I really just kept wanting to come back to one thing—Arlo.
I got out of the shower and got dressed as I tried to decide what I should do today. I could stay home like Arlo had suggested and take a day to rest before starting fresh again tomorrow. I could also go into my workshop at F.I.T. and continue working on the retail line. But I knew what it was that I really wanted to do. I wanted to go to Arlo’s office at Luscious and pick up the two dresses that I would wear at the runway show in place of the missing model. I knew that it probably wasn’t the best idea for me to go barging in there right now and grabbing dresses to model when Arlo still wasn’t that fond of the idea, especially not right after last night. But, if I were going to model in the show, then the dresses would have to be altered, and there wasn’t much time left as it was. Plus, I honestly just wanted to see Arlo more today. I couldn’t explain it; I just felt like I needed to be around him. I convinced myself that this was a good idea and headed out to Manhattan.
On the subway ride, I couldn’t stop thinking about how protective Arlo always was with me. Ever since we had first met, he was always stepping in to stand up for me or checking on me to make sure I was okay. I always thought he was just acting like a good friend. I’d never really had a close guy friend before, and I thought maybe they all acted like that. But now I was starting to wonder if perhaps it was something more. I even let my thoughts wander into wondering if Arlo and I could ever be together in a way that was more than friends. By the time my commute had ended, though, I had completely talked myself out of the idea. Arlo was a drop-dead gorgeous, highly successful billionaire who was constantly surrounded by beautiful people and endless opportunities. There was no way that he would ever be interested in a quirky virgin like me.
When I walked into Luscious, his secretary gave me a friendly wave while she was talking on the phone, and I waved back as I headed toward Arlo’s office. I knocked softly on his doorframe as I peeked my head around the corner.
“Hey,” he smiled as he looked up from his desk. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, actually, I came to pick up two of the dresses. I was hoping that you would reconsider letting me step in for the missing model.”
Arlo sighed and stood up as he walked over and set his elbow on top of the garment rack. He looked especially hot today, or maybe it was just my mindset. He leaned against the rack while he looked at me.
“Okay,” he said. “You can fill in as a model at the show. But, on one condition.”
“What’s the condition?”
“The condition is that you stay away from all those other models and their drug-induced parties. I really don’t want you hanging around Cai anymore, either. I’m sorry, I know that makes me sound like an overbearing asshole, but I just think that guy is bad news.”
“Okay,” I said.