The Prince’s Forbidden Lover(7)

Shantra grinned from ear to ear, her eyes lighting up with hope and excitement. “Oh, he’s hot for you, honey!” she replied. “And from the look he gave you, maybe we should just…”

“Stop!” Joline said, shaking her head. “I don’t want to hear things like that.”

Keith and Shantra stopped and looked at Joline. “What’s wrong with my brother?” Shantra asked, confused but knowing that Joline rarely dated for some reason even though many men panted after her, only to be shot down time and again.

“Nothing,” Keith mumbled with fervor, even fanning himself as if the man were too hot to handle. “But I’m willing to try and find out.”

Shantra laughed, but kept her focus on Joline.

Joline shook her head, already worried about insulting Shantra who was the nicest person she’d ever met. Shantra was sweet and kind and generous and…well a genius really. “I’m sure he’s a great guy. But you know my position on dating.”

“You don’t do it,” Shantra replied, crossing her arms across her chest and tilting her head slightly.

Joline swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Exactly.”

Keith’s eyes changed from teasing to serious, understanding that there was something going on between his two good friends. “Why is that?” Keith asked.

Shantra watched as Joline struggled to answer. And then realization fell into place, the puzzle finally formed a picture. A vivid one! “Because of her mother,” Shantra explained, her eyes softening with the knowledge and comprehension.

Joline looked down at her toes, wishing that she could just bury her past. Her mother was…well, one of a kind. It was embarrassing, but there wasn’t anything Joline could do. “Exactly,” Joline replied. “Can we get to work?”

Keith looked like he was going to argue, but the women moved down the hallway and he had no choice but to follow. Keith and Shantra were the only two people in the world that Joline had confided in. And since they were her good friends, they both understood what was going on inside of her mind at the moment. Neither pressed her to say anything more and the subject was dropped.

When they got to Shantra’s private apartment, the three of them turned serious. Joline pulled out her computer while Shantra dug through her drawers to find her latest drawings. Keith, as the resource expert, was the man who sought out the best fabrics to use for each season’s designs. He pulled the samples out of his bag and laid them all on the table.

For the next several hours, the three of them brainstormed about the next season’s release of House of Jesek designs. Jesek was really just an acronym for Joline, Shantra and Keith with the Es between each of the consonants. The Es meant nothing, but it helped to throw off anyone curious enough to try and figure out who the actual designer was, a question that was being asked more and more often lately as word of their designs started to gain traction in the fashion world.

Well past midnight, all three of them were dragging and their ideas were becoming sillier. “Okay,” Joline said, rubbing her eyes and smothering yet another yawn. “We have the New York store up and running. Plans for the London salon are almost ready and, once we get your designs, Shantra, Keith can make all the arrangements for the fabrics to be delivered to the factory in Pennsylvania.”

Shantra and Keith nodded their heads. “So what are we missing?” Keith finally asked.

Joline propped her chin up on the palm of her hand, exhaustion, jet lag and punchiness making her eyes burn. “We don’t have enough staff to fill all the time slots in the New York space, the factory in Pennsylvania probably won’t be able to keep up with any additional demand so you’re going to have to find another factory, the insurance company called last week asking questions and requesting an interview, payroll was almost late last month, profits are up dramatically, but expenses are rising as well. Customers are coming into the shop complaining that they can’t get the designs because we’ve run out of stock and…”

“Okay! Okay!” Shantra replied, covering her ears with her hands. “But these are all good problems, right?”

Joline smiled despite her exhaustion and jet lag. “Yes. Definitely good problems. I’d rather have these problems than the other kind.”

Keith started shifting papers around on the table. “I can help with searching out new factories,” Keith volunteered. “And what else can I take on? You’re working yourself ragged lately, Jo. Give more to me.”

Joline was truly grateful for his help. He’d come on board with them only as a part-time person but he’d quickly become indispensable with his sense of style and his ability to network with the people who mattered. His connections had made many of the problems they’d started to encounter much easier to resolve because Keith knew the right people in the industry.