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“How does that amount to me finding someone else?” I pressed and his soft laugh sent a shiver down my spine.

“I know models are supposed to be dumb, but I’m not. You haven’t denied it.”

“Denied what?”

“Amore!” he sighed, exasperation thick on his tongue, curling the edges of his accent. “You haven’t told me you don’t have someone else. I’d better prepare for a heartbreak, no?”

A rush of fear shot through me, paralyzing me in my chair for a heartbeat.

No, no, there was no one else.

I reached up and wound my fingers through his and brought his hand to my lips, pressing a kiss to his palm.

“Darling, I don’t have time for that,” I said, forcing my lips into a smile. Whether or not it fooled him, I didn’t care. “You’re still the only one I care to bed.”

“How flattering,” he said with an exaggerated eye roll.

I laughed and shooed him off my desk. “Let me get back to work,” I said, hoping the panic didn’t seep into my voice. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

“Perfect,” he gushed, swooping in and pressing a kiss to my temple. “I’ll bring dinner!”

And with that, he disappeared.

And I…

I needed air.

I strolled up and down the aisles at Ivey’s, my iPad in hand to make notes as they came to me.

It was livelier than usual, with a steady stream of customers milling about and chattering. Toward the front I heard Vanessa’s full-bellied laughter, and a smile tugged at my lips. Frankie had, as usual, disappeared the moment I set foot in the store.

I tried not to focus on the twinge of disappointment nestled in my chest, turning to the social media notes I’d compiled.

“Need a hand, boss?”

I turned to find Vanessa standing in the aisle, looking at me with a friendly smile.

“Actually, yeah,” I said, returning her smile. “If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” she said, and she sounded genuine.

“I wanted to get to know you,” I began, flipping the cover on my iPad to give her my undivided attention.

She blinked in surprise. “Me?” She chuckled. “There’s not much here.”

“I doubt that,” I told her. The beads in her hair were different again, pretty ocean blues mixed with pastel pink. “Frankie trusts you the most, and I can see that you’d been the driving force behind management before Frankie stepped into the role. Perhaps even after.”

“Oh, uh, wow, I don’t really know what to say to that.”

“Tell me about the beads in your hair,” I said, hoping to steer the conversation to calmer waters.

“These?” she asked, pointing at the beads with a warm smile. I nodded. “My kids put them there. I taught them that the beads carried a special power to keep whoever wore them safe. I always put them in the kids’ hair before they leave for school.”

She winced slightly, and I wondered if there was more to the story of those beads.

“My babies were bullied about their hair, and asked me to cut all of it off,” she admitted, and my heart sank. I knew what that felt like. “I felt like my soul had been torn to shreds. So I came up with the beads to help them accept their natural hair.”

“Were they still bullied after that?” I asked, my chest aching at the idea of two young kids being bullied so much that they’d resort to that.