your own research,” Dominic said. He was back to snarky, and I wished his crappy attitude would take his wow factor down a few notches. But my lady parts were steadfastly holding up their perfect ten scores.
“Humor me,” I insisted.
“Christian James is a designer who’s launching his own label. He was with one of the big fashion houses. Worked his way up the ranks. Put a new spin on the original designs that made them an industry name. And then he met my mother.”
I perked up. “She’s mentoring him?” I guessed.
Dominic nodded, glancing out the window like the conversation was boring him and he’d rather be anywhere but here. “She introduced him to the right people, the right suppliers, the right insiders. My mother believes in him. So Label is doing a spread about him, his career path, his designs.”
“She sees potential in a lot of places,” I mused.
“Not everywhere,” he said, giving me a pointed look.
I laughed. “No, not everywhere. In my case, she saw righting a wrong. But she has wonderful instincts. Buddy, for example.”
“I’m not convinced anyone named Buddy is cut out for high fashion. Even if it’s the mail room of high fashion.”
“You are such a snob,” I sighed.
He didn’t bother denying it.
“I suppose you’re going to want to tell me why this Buddy is such a great addition to Label,” he said.
“I suppose I am, even though I suppose you won’t care,” I said primly. I filled him in on the Buddy Highlight Reel. “Even Linus likes him.”
“Linus doesn’t like anyone,” Dominic argued.
“He likes Buddy. It’s impossible not to. I mean, for anyone who isn’t you. I’m sure disliking people comes very naturally to you. Buddy is the opposite. He likes everyone instantly and without requiring them to prove anything. His attitude is incredible considering what’s going on at home.”
Dominic closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the seat. “I’m going to regret this. But what’s going on in Buddy’s home?”
I told him about Buddy’s wife. Her accident. The insurance.
He didn’t say anything.
“And your mother took a chance on him. A stranger at the bus stop. It gives me goose bumps,” I admitted. “See?” I pushed up my sleeve and held my arm out to him.
His eyes skimmed my skin, and a new crop of goose bumps arose as if he’d actually touched me.
“You’re annoyingly sentimental,” he said.
“Are you adding that to your long list of my faults?”
“Maybe it would be a faster feat to start a list of things I like about you,” he mused.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be giving me so much thought,” I told him. “You might accidentally start appreciating me and enjoying my company.”
He snorted derisively and didn’t deign to comment.
Christian James Designs was located in a trendy warehouse in the meatpacking district.
We took a freight elevator up to the third floor, and the doors opened on glorious, colorful chaos.
“Please tell me we’re shooting here,” I breathed. It was an eye-catching mess of texture. The brick. The scarred wood floors. The light pouring through tall, arched windows. “It’s so beautiful I want to barf.”
“What is wrong with you?” Dominic demanded, shaking his head.
I guessed that all he saw was the chaos.
“Think about this. That dress right there,” I said, pointing to a long, slinky cocktail dress that looked as if it had been dipped in gold. “A model, dark skin so the dress pops, standing in front of one of those work tables buried in red and orange fabrics. The rough brick in the back. The sun streaming in from the side.”
He was looking at me like I’d grown a second head and asked him to make out with both of my faces.
“Oh, come on, Dom. Give me your phone so I can take some pictures.” I held out my hand.
“I’m not giving you my phone,” he said. “Use yours.”
I held up my bargain basement, pay-as-you-go, not-so-smart phone.
“What the hell is that thing?” he asked. “A calculator?”
“Oh, shut up. Hand over your phone,” I insisted. He produced it from his pocket.
“Camera,” I said.
He made a production of supreme annoyance, but he unlocked the phone and opened the camera. I took it and snapped a few shots. “You’d want to time the lighting carefully,” I said, snapping a few more. “I like the idea of fiery colors since it looks like he works in them a lot. And depending on when the article runs, you might want to play around with summer and fire and those themes. If it’s a winter