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“I get it.” She told me that night how much she loves her niece.

“And my niece is attached at the hip to her best friend. Whenever they want to come over to get away from their parents, I want them to have space here.”

She’s thinking of my Ayla hanging at her house with Bron, her niece. I instinctively start to lean toward her but catch myself.

Jesus. It hasn’t even been five minutes, and I’m already trying to get closer.

Her eyes fly open, and she clears her throat. “I’m sorry. I hope that’s not inappropriate because we…you know…”

The blush that stains her cheeks is so pretty, but her words land like a gut punch because she just ripped off the Band-Aid and kicked the elephant sitting quietly in the corner. Now, it’s ready to stampede all over this meeting.

Only, I won’t let it.

“No, not at all,” I say like it’s not burning a hole through my stomach. “We both went in with our eyes open, knowing what that was and moved on as soon as the night was over.”

The second the words are out of my mouth, I regret them. It’s all a fucking lie—at least for me. Her face is now darker as she examines a painting on the wall. I sounded like a puerco. My throat goes dry. This is the worst mistake of all. Neither of us is okay with this, but she has to be the one that calls it off.

Then, her gaze is back to mine. “Right.” She points up. “On the third floor, I want my workspace. I need it arranged so I can film from different corners of it. It would have a dedicated office space, a sitting area, a luxury bathroom, and areas where I can do standing photoshoots or shoot objects in lightboxes. I also want a whole sound system.”

I clear my throat, following her lead and moving past the moment. “Got it. But why on the third floor? Most people want their workspace on the first floor.”

She shrugs. “I think I would get better lighting there than on the first two floors. There’s a rooftop, so if I want to go shoot a video there, I can.”

“I see. You’re right. Light is one of the focal points for this. Have you thought of either skylights or a moonroof over your studio space?”

Her eyes grow wide, excitement creeping up in her voice. “Like the moonroof on my Range Rover?”

Her enthusiasm makes me smile. “Same concept, but you can make it as wide as you want. You can also have different skylights in strategic places.”

She presses her hands together. “I love the sound of that. Natural light is everything. But will that ruin my patio space on the roof? I like to sit out there when I can.”

“Not necessarily. We can work around it.”

“God, I would love that. You can make that happen?”

The look she turns on me is soft, as if she is asking me if I could rope the moon and bring it to her fingertips so she can touch it.

“Yes, I can,” I say, and my chest puffs up because I can wow her with this project. I can make this place look way beyond her imagination. “And remember, that’s not necessarily too much of a problem because we have double the roof space now.”

“Yes.”

“You also have to remember, this will make the budget go up,” I warn.

“But it will be worth it. It will increase the property value, and I can take on even more work. It’s a write-off on my taxes.”

I pull out my notebook. “Now that you know what you want, let’s go floor by floor, and let’s catalog what needs to be done.”

We go through the townhouse she is already living in. The floors need immediate updating, but she used the décor to make the most out of it. The mixture of blue and green on the walls is classy and pleasing. I’ve had a couple of my clients ask for this. I know the color name by now, Venus Teal. Luciana has accomplished what they failed to do. She’s made it work with other pieces like the gold, floor-to-ceiling mirror and without painting over the Baltimoresque exposed brick wall. Even her pink looks perfectly in harmony. Shabby chic luxury if that was a thing. If I were to stage this place for sale, I wouldn’t change a thing.

She tells me what she wants, and we decide to discuss finishes later. When we get to the third floor, her face lights up.

“I can’t wait to see what you do with this place. It’s going be so inspiring. I can feel my creative juices flowing. I’ll need a makeup counter with a built-in light, like what you did for the makeup areas in Autumn Lush. I want one of those in my bedroom too.”

“Why don’t you just get one and do your makeup in one place? Do you really need two?”

Why the fuck are you asking that? It’s none of your business.

But she’s non-plussed. “I want to keep work separate from my personal life. This is why I want a sitting area. I don’t want my actual house and living room to show up in videos most times.”