Page 116 of The Renter

“Nikola,” I scold.

“You want her to be like, ‘This sweater is ten thousand dollars and from a fair-trade alpaca housewife,’” she suggests.

“Better.”

“I’ll call my friends at Brunello.”

“Perfect. Yes, Brunello Cucinelli is the ideal brand for her.”

“What about behind-closed-doors items?” She raises an eyebrow.

“You’re doing fine with that,” I reply with a slight smile.

“Try on the suits already,” she presses, tapping her watch. I smirk, realizing I was the one who said we only had twenty minutes.

“Are these off the rack or made to measure?”

“Off the rack?” She hisses. “What do you take me for, some Nordstrom stylist?”

I laugh. “If these are already my size, I’ll trust that I’ll like all of them.”

“Smart man.” Nikola hesitates in my doorway before exiting. “Dani isn’t boring. I can’t dress her boring.”

“You will dress her however I say.”

99

Thinking about my bathroom chat with Kate, I decide to call Kelsey during her lunch hour.

“Hello, stranger,” she answers, and I deserve the sass in her tone. Between Adam and my growing workload, I’ve been terrible at timely text replies and keeping up with her.

“I know. I’m the worst. How about you come to Chicago for the weekend? You haven’t seen my apartment yet.”

“Like tomorrow? Sorry, I already have plans. What about next Saturday?”

“Perfect!”

We briefly catch up before she has to return to work, and then Adam calls me.

“Hi,” I answer.

“Hey. I’m going on a little road show all next week.”

“Road show?”

“I need to shake some money trees and see some investors in person.”

“Okay. So, when are you leaving?”

“I’ll fly out Monday and come back on Friday or Saturday.”

“That’s the longest we’ll have ever been apart.”

“You’ll survive.” He says it in a tone I wasn’t expecting, almost scolding.

“Oh, will I?” I ask, injecting extra sass since I didn’t appreciate that tone.

“I’ll make it up to you when I get back. I promise.” There it is—his regular voice.