Ashley noticed that. "Oh don't mind Ginger." She waved her hand "She's Cades go to, well used to be." She added quickly. The women had not missed the stares Cade had been directing at me all night. I swallowed and surveyed the girl more closely. It was hard to see with the night growing darker and faint lanterns putting the yard in a soft glow. She had short, layered hair, eyes rimmed with black eyeliner, big silver hoops in her ears, a short jean skirt and tight muscle top on. The ‘biker whore' look was finished with motorcycle boots. This opinion did not come from the fact I may have been a bit jealous. Which was ridiculous.
I caught Cade's stare and rolled my eyes, glaring at him. The bastard just smirked at me! Right time to go. I scanned around for Amy, who was currently dancing with Rosie.
"Well I guess I better go, got a big day tomorrow, it was so nice to meet you and I will see you at the opening right?" I said to Ashley while I stood.
She jumped up and gave me a big old hug, I return it surprised at the display.
She held me at arms length. "It was so awesome to meet you Gwen, you and Amy are the fucking shit!" I laughed. "And there is no way I'm missing your opening." She continued.
"Glad to hear." I replied. "And remember to come early" I winked at her over my shoulder as I walked away.
I approach Rosie and Amy. "Right lady" I smacked Amy's behind, which resulted in a few whistles. "I'm going to head home, you want to come or stay a bit longer?"
Rosie jumped in my face. "Don't leave Gwen!! We are doing tequila shots!" She exclaimed, sounding a little hammered.
"As much as I love tequila shots, and trust me I do, I have to rain check this time, got to get the store ready for Wednesday." I explained sadly. "But next time?"
Rosie grinned drunkenly. "You got it! Girls night!!"
"Sounds like a plan, thank you for such and awesome time, and for inviting us." I continued, genuinely glad I came, despite the male drama.
"No problem, you girls are the shit." Rosie yelled, mimicking Ashley's statement.
"Yes we are!" Amy chimed in, slurring her words slightly. "But alas, I will also have to decline on the tequila, as I don't want the boss to think I'm hung over tomorrow." She winked at me, then gave Rosie a big old smacker on the lips, earning a lot more whistles than my butt slap. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and we began to wade through people, saying our goodbyes along the way. I caught a glimpse of Cade who had his eyebrows narrowed and was striding purposefully towards us.
"Oh shit." I muttered under my breath, I so didn't want to deal with macho man bullshit right now, I wanted to go home, take a bath and get ready for my opening.
Just before he reached me his phone went off, he glanced down at the display and scowled. I watched him answer the call, bark a few responses back and then end it. He then made some kind of signal, which made all the men wearing cuts, stand up and walk towards their bikes. Cade turned back and gave me a meaningful glare before hopping on his bike and roaring off.
"That was weird." Amy proclaimed drunkenly.
"Yeah, it was." I muttered, almost to myself.
Chapter 4
I gazed around my store, smiling to myself delighted at the finished product, and amazed at what Amy and I had managed to get done. It was perfect, everything I had imagined it would be. The walls were pure white, white floors as well. As you walked in there was a freestanding mock brick wall running down a part of the store, with a rack attached, giving it a rustic look to juxtapose the stark white. To the right of the wall was a table of brightly colored sweaters and a shelf from ceiling to floor full of different colored accessories, printed wallpaper behind the shelf. The wall to the left of the free standing brick wall was free of racks but had a huge canvas with an aerial view of New York took up the wall. Looking towards the counter there was some more racks, and an old wooden table covered with candles and some jewelry. The fitting rooms had white doors and each room was carpeted with bright patterned carpet, matching the wallpaper. I loved my store, it was a mix between stylish minimalism and rustic country charm, which I hoped would be received well by the residents of Amber.
I had been so busy with the set up my mind hadn't wandered to Cade … much. I was glad I hadn't heard from him, or caught him skulking around my house in the middle of the night. Well that was what I told myself. Back to the opening.
Amy and I had set up a table full of nibbles, nothing fancy or pretentious just great wholesome food, and I had made a giant batch of my brownies, barely being able to restrain myself from eating half of them. And of course we had our contractors set up a temporary (I was thinking of keeping it) bar, stocked with ingredients for a couple of cocktails (cosmos of course) some champagne, and good old beer. Amy had decided she would be the bartender for the night, I had argued with her a bit on that one, wanting to hire someone so she was free to mingle with the guests/customers, we were going to encourage the women to have a try on, so we could hopefully make some money. Amy had replied, "Gwen, I will be serving alcohol, not only does a couple of cocktails loosen peoples wallets, but what better place to mingle with people than at the bar, where people will be guaranteed to return to?"
I couldn't fault her logic.
It was after 6, and I wondered where Amy was, I told her that we had invited Rosie and her posse to come at 630 so she better be here. I had gotten ready early, so I could put the finishing touches on everything without worrying about primping. Amy had left about an hour ago saying she had to go and ‘get hot' for the biker/hotcop man candy that may or may not be there tonight. Her words not mine. I took another quick look in the floor to ceiling mirror. I had on a bright red dress. It was skintight, with capped sleeves and a huge plunging neckline, exposing a fair bit of my not so ample breasts, but it worked for me, having being designed for small busted women (thank you Mrs Beckham). I had kick ass matching red shoes, they were high and I mean high, with a tiny stiletto heel and a pointed toe. There were tiny straps around my ankles embellished with little gold studs, giving my look a bit of edge. I had a couple of gold bangles on my wrist but otherwise wore no jewelry, the dress and shoes spoke for themselves. I had my hair up in a loose bun, with small curls escaping around my face. My makeup was not too over the top, a small amount of eyeliner, but a big amount of my absolute favorite mascara that made my lashes look lush. I had a subtle red gloss on my lips, not wanting to go too overboard with the red thing. I had to admit I looked pretty good and judging on how Amy's jaw had dropped when she saw me I guess she thought I looked okay as well.
I wondered if Luke would be here tonight, I deliberated to myself whether I could muster up the same sort of electric connection I felt with Cade, and channel it into a more sensible direction. The clinging of the bell shook me out of my thoughts and Amy strutted in. It was my turn for a jaw drop, I thought I looked okay, but she was … wow. She was dressed in pure white, donning a strapless, bustier style top, which molded to her body perfectly, showing off her more than ample chest in a tasteful way. She had paired this with a skintight white pencil skirt, skimming her knees. She had on (my) white strappy stilettos, which came up past her ankle, and made her legs look amazing. Her red hair was curled into soft waves and she had little makeup on, apart from some amazing red lipstick.
"Well??" She did a little turn.
"I think I may just turn lesbian for you, lady you look smoking." I said with a smirk on my face. "Nice shoes by the way." I continued sarcastically.
"Thanks." She flicked her hair strutting towards me, straightening clothes now and then. "I got them at the best little store, right across from my bedroom, and they didn't cost me a dime." She said with mock shock.
I laughed, "Probably similar to the store I got these bracelets from then." I held my arm up in front of her and jingled the borrowed jewelry.
"Good thing we both have such great taste." She exclaimed, not batting an eyelash at me wearing her seriously pricey accessories.
We spent the rest of our time before the girls arrived, making and drinking cocktails to loosen up a bit, I switched on my chill playlist, giving a soft melody in the background. Amy and I were sitting in my kick ass antique patterned couch, which was by the fitting rooms, sipping our cosmos when the door jingled and Rosie and the girls walked in. Rosie wore an amazing, long sleeved, fitted little black dress with black and gold sandals. Lucy was wearing skintight black, high waisted pants with a silver cropped top showing off her toned midsection, pairing it with silver sandals. Ashley had on another 1950's style dress with capped sleeves, a flower print that finished at her waist and had a powder blue full skirt. It was awesome.