The Design(44)

“It’s perfect,” she said with a clap. “Now, c’mon. Let’s go eat.”

I took the blouse out into the living room with me so that I wouldn’t forget it. Once it was draped along the back of the couch, I followed Brooklyn into the kitchen and cracked up when I spotted Jason. His apron was completely covered in what looked to be soy sauce, and there was definitely a small piece of broccoli stuck in his hair. Clearly, LuAnne was not finished teaching him the art of cooking.

Brooklyn knocked the piece of broccoli off before reaching on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

“When do you think you’ll go back to Montana?” I asked them. “I’m sure LuLu misses you guys.”

Jason paused cooking and shot Brooklyn a sharp glance.

“You haven’t told her, Brooklyn?” he asked.

I turned in time to see my sister trying to mouth something to him.

“Told me what?” I asked, glancing between the two of them. “What are you guys keeping from me?”

Brooklyn sighed and shot me a “please don’t kill me” smile as she clasped her hands in front of her chest.

“We are actually heading back in two weeks.” Her puppy dog eyes weren’t enough to cover up that shocker.

“Are you serious? For how long?”

Jason left the stove to join Brooklyn. He wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her in close.

“Not for too long, Cammie. It’s just that Brooklyn goes on tour in a few months and we have to have the album finalized before she leaves. Montana is the best place for us to focus on our music.”

Jason. Beautiful rock star Jason with broccoli in his hair. I couldn’t be mad at him.

My sister? Now, she I could be mad at.

“How could you not have told me before now?”

She blanched. “We just finalized the details earlier this week. I know you have so much going on right now and I didn’t want to add anything to your plate before I knew what was happening.”

For a second I thought about arguing with her or maybe forcing her to stay with me in LA, but then I realized that I couldn’t truly be mad at her. I had this giant secret brewing behind the scenes. A secret that was MUCH worse than her going to write in Montana with her boyfriend.

Brooklyn had no clue that I wanted to go to Paris and if I had any hope of her continuing to speak to me after I hopped on that international flight, then I knew I needed to cut her some slack about heading to Montana. Y’know, lead by example and all that.

“You know what? Fine, you can go,” I said before pointing to where I’d set her blouse down. “But, I’m keeping that shirt.”





Chapter Fifteen





It was impossible to concentrate at work on Monday. I’d had an entire weekend to recreate, dissect, downplay, and fantasize about what had happened between Grayson and me in the stairwell. I hadn’t spoken with him since that day, but happy hour was just a few short hours away and we’d definitely face each other then. I could hardly wait. I worked through lunch, ensuring that every single task Alan put on my desk would be completed by 4:59 pm at the latest. I didn’t have time to worry about Grayson’s whereabouts in the office if I hoped to leave work on time. I even caught the scent of his aftershave a few times but I resisted the temptation to turn around. Instead, I kept my face down and pressed on, finalizing sketches and handing them off to Alan with lightning speed.

As the office clock struck 4:50 pm, I initialed the final sketches Alan had requested for the day and smiled. All done. I straightened up my desk, packed up my things, and signed out of my computer. My excitement was starting to brim over and I knew that Peter could tell. He’d shot me curious glances all day, but I just shrugged them off, feigning random cheerfulness. Was it a crime to love your job?

“All done?” Peter asked with a bemused smile.

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Some of us know how to get our work done,” I joked.

Alan perked up and glanced over at my desk. I expected a “good job” or at least a nod in my direction. Instead, he raised his brow and reached for a crate beneath his desk.

“I’m glad you finished. These sketches you completed a few days ago are all off. The measurements you used weren’t correct. I need you to redo them and have them ready for me in the morning.”

He dropped the crate onto my desk with a thud and my mouth dropped.

No. No, he couldn’t possibly do that to me.

“You gave me the measurements I was supposed to use. I double checked each sketch,” I argued, reaching for the paper at the very top of the stack, more than sure of myself.

Alan rolled his eyes. “Yes, but the measurements changed. We just got word from the engineering team. So change it. The new stats are written on a post-it note in there.”