Page 8 of The Encounter
Kailynn had just returned from a trip to Italy with Chase, who she was now dating. Chase had invited her to go to Italy to meet his grandparents, who owned a vineyard. She had been gone for the last two weeks, while Maddie worked from home.
Kailynn took a sip of her coffee. “Oh my God. You are my favorite employee ever.”
“I’m your only employee.”
Kailynn shrugged. “But still my favorite! And Italy was incredible. I’m growing a food baby from how much gelato I consumed.” She rubbed her belly.
Maddie walked down the hallway of the apartment into their workspace in the spare bedroom. “Oh please. You’re as thin as ever. Was Italy as amazing as it sounds?”
Kailynn sat down in her chair and sighed. “So much better than amazing. And the wine over there is incredible. Speaking of.” She turned and grabbed a tall, thin gift bag off the desk. “Since you’re amazing and held down the fort while I was gone, I wanted to bring you this.”
“You didn’t have to do that.” Maddie peered into the bag and smiled as she pulled out a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Chase’s grandparents’ winery. “But I won’t complain.”
“Chase wasn’t lying. His grandparents do make the best wine. That one is my favorite.”
“I’m excited to try it. Thank you!” Maddie tucked the bottle back into the bag and set it aside. “So, what’s the plan today, boss?”
Kailynn settled at her sewing machine. “If you can continue to research the stores in the area, that would be helpful. Oh!” She jumped up and went to the closet, pulling out a red gown. “And I would like it if you could upload this to the site.”
Maddie walked over to the dress and picked up the bottom hem to spread it out in front of her. “Oh wow! Kailynn, this is gorgeous.”
They put it on the mannequin and stepped back. The dress was sleeveless, and she overlaid the fabric to the waist where it bunched. She accented it with several studs, adding a glittery sheen. The fabric dropped to the floor, giving a stunning look to an evening gown.
“You don’t think it’s too much?”
“No. Not at all. I would wear this in a heartbeat... if I had somewhere fancy to go.” Maddie looked over at Kailynn. “This dress is incredible. So far, it’s my favorite.”
Tears sprang to Kailynn’s eyes. “You’re the best.” She hugged Maddie and then sat back down at her sewing machine, leaving Maddie to take pictures for the website.
Maddie spent the next hour taking photos of the dress, editing them, and uploading them. When she finally finished, she switched over to research.
“Oh, hey, how was your Halloween?” Kailynn asked, briefly looking up from the sewing machine before focusing her attention back on the stitch she was working on.
Maddie flushed and hid her face from Kailynn. “Um, it was good. We just went to a bar.”
“Which one?”
“The Revolver.”
“Is that the one that rich guy owns? What’s his name...” She pulled her lip between her teeth as she thought. “Jace Locke?”
How in the world does everyone know that except for me?
Not that it would have made much of a difference. She probably wouldn’t have made the connection, regardless. But thinking about it now, she should have once they went back to his office.
“That’s the one,” Maddie said.
“Did you see him?”
Maddie almost laughed out loud. Boy, did she!
She cleared her throat and tugged at the collar of her blouse. “Yeah, I did. I didn’t know who he was until the next day, when Kayla told me.”
“Is he as gorgeous in person as he is in the magazines?”
What was gorgeous, exactly? His dick was, that was for sure. But she didn’t really get a good look at his face between the mask and the dark club. He had a beautiful smile, and his eyes were friendly, but that was all she could really see.
“He was wearing a mask. He dressed like the Phantom of the Opera.”
