A Private Affair - A.C. Arthur Page 0,37
neat earlier was still mostly straight at the top but curling on the ends. Chaz recalled how soft those curls were when he’d run his fingers through them. He wanted to do so again.
“I wasn’t frigid in bed,” she said in a huff.
“I can attest to that.” He leaned over and nudged her shoulder with his.
She looked up at him with a semismile.
“Anyway, on the business end everything went very well. Stonemill Apparel was going to cut our distributing costs in half because of their global reach. At the time we had contracts with a US and UK distributor locked down. However, we’d entered into intense negotiations with Canada and China. Stonemill had warehouses and networks all over the globe. It made sense to combine all our distributing to one company. The process would be streamlined, contracts, payments, shipments would all be the same across the board instead of our production department having to navigate the different logistics of each separate company.”
Chaz agreed. “A very smart idea.”
“And because we were also combining our families, the company names, our brands, it was going to be a huge slam dunk in the industry.”
“I remember.” His uncle had been beside himself with worry over how the Gold/Stone joining was going to affect his distributing.
“And I didn’t want to mess that up. I wanted RGF to not only remain on top, but to be so far ahead of the other fashion houses that they could only dream of catching up.” She sighed and shook her head. “But I messed up.”
Chaz rubbed a hand over her back and ignored the quick jolt of tenseness he felt in her with the touch. “You didn’t mess up. You made a choice. A very good one, I would say.”
She drank the rest of the whiskey, setting the glass down with another loud clunk when she was finished. “He cheated on me. I mean, I suspected all along that he had someone else but I’m not the type to hunt for clues to bust some guy. I was, however, the type to think once the wedding was over, it would stop. But there’s something about having proof slap you in the face. That was a defining moment for me.”
“And for Stone. It defined him as a jackass.”
She nodded and turned so that she was now leaning her back against the bar just like him. “And it made me the Ice Princess. But I’m fine with that as long as RGF stays on top. As long as I continue to do a good job for our company. Next week will be another defining moment for me. The launch of our new lines, the marketing plans, the promotion, the sales, all that success will hopefully erase the whole Ice Princess title and all the negative energy that goes with it. But then this goofy reporter throws it right back into the mix and I begin to shatter like a piece of glass.”
Chaz stepped in front of her. He cupped her face in his hands and tilted her head up slightly to stare into her eyes.
“There’s nothing fragile about you, Riley. You are the strongest, most goal-oriented and beautiful—on the inside and out—woman I know. No matter what that reporter or any other reporter says, I know who and what you are. But more important is that you know who you are and your family—the people who love and care about you—know. Everyone else, all those people who believe what’s printed on those blogs and in the papers, are idiots and don’t warrant a second of your time.”
Her full smile came slowly. The light it ignited in her eyes shone brightly. And the warmth that speared straight through Chaz’s heart spread wildly.
“You’re great for my ego.”
“Oh, really? Well, I’m glad I could be of some use.”
She eased her arms around his waist and pulled him closer. “I know of another way you can be useful.”
Chaz grinned. He let his hands slide away from her face, moving them down to her waist, where he planted them and lifted her up to sit on the bar. “You’re not the only smart one in this room, Ms. Riley Gold. I can think of more useful things I can do, as well.”
“Oh, really?” She reached behind her back and undid the snap at the back of her blouse before lifting it up and over her head. After tossing it to the floor she cupped a hand behind his head and pulled his face close to hers