The phone rustled. When Grace spoke again, Dakota wasn’t entirely sure she was talking to her. “I’m so sorry, but I have to leave. I have a situation at work that requires my immediate attention. No, it can’t wait. It was a pleasure meeting you, though.”
Dakota heard a voice she didn’t recognize. A woman’s voice. “Thanks for coming today,” the voice said faintly. “What did you decide about dinner next Friday?”
“I’ll get back to you,” Grace said.
Dakota smiled to herself as she slowly realized what was going on. “Did you just use me as your emergency bailout to extricate you from a bad date?”
“Guilty as charged. Thank you for calling me so fast. I was this close to gnawing off my arm in order to get away.”
“Was it that bad?”
“I’ve been out with women who were hung up on their old girlfriends before, but this one tops them all.”
“How so?”
“She and her ex aren’t a couple anymore, but they’re locked in a weird codependent relationship. Get this. She wanted the three of us to get together next week so the ex could meet me.”
“Maybe she was trying to make the ex jealous to see if there’s still a chance they could pick up where they left off.”
“Good point. I hadn’t thought about it like that. I was so busy trying to figure out how I could leave without being rude. Oh, God, I just realized what time it is. It’s almost noon here, but Belize is two hours behind New York. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“I wish. I’ve been up since five.”
“That means you’re probably working. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
“You’re not,” Dakota said hurriedly so Grace wouldn’t end the call. “I’m in the middle of a wardrobe change. I have twenty more minutes before I have to be anywhere.”
“In that case, do you want to keep me company on my cab ride back to Brooklyn?”
“I’d love to.” Dakota longed to grab a seat and make herself comfortable while she and Grace talked, but if she wrinkled her suit, it might result in a delay she couldn’t afford. Not with only an hour between the scheduled end of this photo shoot and the beginning of the next one. She leaned against the wall as she listened to Grace hail a taxi and give the cabbie her address. “Did you know your date was a walking caution sign before you agreed to go out with her or after?” she asked after she heard the cab door close.
“She’s a teacher, so I assumed—incorrectly, it turns out—that I wouldn’t have anything to worry about in that regard. She didn’t raise any red flags when we talked on the phone yesterday. If I’d known it was all an act, I never would have agreed to meet her in the first place.”
“Perhaps you should find someone else to play matchmaker for you. I’m starting to detect a theme.”
“So am I,” Grace said with a sexy chuckle that made Dakota’s stomach turn flips. “But you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your princess, right? I have the warts to show for it.” She groaned. “That sounded a lot better in my head than it did when it came out of my mouth.”
“It’s okay,” Dakota said. “I know what you mean.”
“May I ask you a question? A personal question.”
“Uh-oh. That can’t be good.”
“Not necessarily. It’s just—I had a conversation recently that made me realize I’ve been making an assumption about you that might not be accurate, and I want to make sure I get it right.”
Grace sounded so serious Dakota couldn’t tell which direction she was trying to steer the conversation. “What do you want to know?” she asked, pushing herself upright.
“Of the myriad available pronouns, which one do you prefer to be called?”
Dakota’s mounting sense of dread evaporated. “Ah, you’ve been talking to Austin, I see. He called me after your meeting and told me he persuaded you to update your website. Thank you for following through on your promise instead of simply offering lip service to appease a customer.” She had checked the site after she ended the call with Austin and was surprised to see the changes Austin had suggested had already been implemented. Talk about a rapid response time. “To answer your question, I’m not into labels. Designer or otherwise. I’m just Dakota.”
Grace was quiet for a moment as if she were trying to absorb what Dakota had said. “If you’re not into labels, what are you into?”
Dakota heard what sounded like a flirtatious note in Grace’s voice. “That’s not a question I can answer in twenty minutes or less,” she said, responding in kind. “Do you like baseball?”
“That’s a random question.”
“Not really. I ask because a very beautiful woman once told me nothing says spring and summer in New York like walking in the park with a hot dog in your hand and the sun on your face. Grabbing a dog at a baseball game comes a close second. I have to throw out the first pitch at the Mets game Friday night. It’s my agent’s idea of good publicity, but he doesn’t seem to realize the person making the pitch never gets any media coverage unless the throw goes wrong.”
“Maybe he’s secretly hoping you’ll roll the ball into the plate or uncork a wild pitch that beans an unsuspecting fan in the stands.”
“I wouldn’t put it past him to root for either scenario. That’s why I could use some moral support. Can I count on you?”
“After the situation you just bailed me out of, there’s no way I can say no, is there?”
“You don’t have to say yes out of obligation.” Dakota didn’t quite manage to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She didn’t want Grace to accompany her to the game because she felt like she had to but because she wanted to. “You don’t owe me anything. I was happy to help. If baseball isn’t your thing, then—”
“Dakota, I was kidding. I would love to go to the game with you.”
Dakota felt like a kid who had gotten every gift she’d included on her Christmas list when she’d expected to receive only socks and underwear. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Just let me know the details, and I’ll be there.”
“Awesome.” Mike stuck his head in the door and tapped on his watch. Dakota nodded to let him know she was on her way. “I’ve got to go back to work, but tell me something first.”
“What?”
“Out of all the people you could have asked to give you a helping hand today, why did you choose me? Because you don’t know me well or because you’d like to get to know me better?”
“I don’t know.” Grace sounded as if the admission came at a cost. A steep one. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since we met, but I don’t know why.”
“That’s okay,” Dakota said, feeling almost giddy with anticipation. “We can figure it out together.”
* * *
Since Grace had used work as an excuse to bring her calamitous date with Karin to a premature end, she decided it might be good karma if she headed to the office and got some actual work done. When she reached the building, she disabled the alarm, locked the door behind her, and headed upstairs.
The building was quiet, devoid of its usual hustle and bustle. Despite the encroachment into her scheduled downtime, the solitude was Grace’s favorite part of working weekends. She could concentrate on one task at a time instead of trying to put out fifty fires at once.
She familiarized herself with the design she had drawn for the suit she was due to craft next, then headed to the fabric room to retrieve the heavy bolt of cloth that matched the swatch the client had selected. She dropped the bolt on the cutting table and went to work, humming to herself as she made slow but steady progress.
“This morning might have been a bust, but at least I’m managing to get something accomplished today.”
After the company was officially hers, days like this would either become more frequent or increasingly rare. There were only twenty-four hours in a day and seven days in a week. As much as she might like to, she couldn’t add more time to either. She needed to find a way t
o strike the perfect work balance so she could give both the operational and creative sides of the business equal attention without burning herself out in the process. Sometimes she put one side on the back burner in order to concentrate on the other. She wouldn’t be able to do that when her father wasn’t around to pick up the slack.
She could always hire another full-time employee. If she went that route, she needed to find someone now so they’d be up to speed when she needed to rely on them. Bringing in a partner was another possible solution, though an unlikely one. Henderson Custom Suits had always been a family business. That’s what it was always meant to be. Selling a portion of the company to an outsider was out of the question. Her job—among many—was to keep the company intact until she entrusted it to the next generation. Whether the kids turned out to be hers or her sisters’ remained to be seen. But one thing was clear: she needed to start figuring things out now before her father put his measuring tape down for good. Otherwise, the only place she’d be running the family business was into the ground.
She sighed and stepped back from the table to take a hard look at what she had accomplished so far. “I’ll start making plans soon, but not today.”
Today, she was finding it hard to concentrate on the backlog of orders, the future of the company, or anything else work-related. Today, all she could think about was Dakota Lane.
“We’ll figure it out together,” Dakota had said after Grace voiced her doubts about embarking on any kind of relationship with Dakota except a professional one. But what was there to figure out? Attending a baseball game together as friends was one thing, but starting a relationship with her was a line she couldn’t cross.
As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t deny she was attracted to Dakota. But what was she supposed to do about it? Ignoring the attraction felt like a copout. Giving in to it to see where it might lead felt like a challenge. A challenge she wasn’t sure she was willing to accept.
She had never denied being a lesbian, but she had never advertised it either. In some settings, it was safer to blend in than stand out. Being with Dakota would be like coming out all over again. Not just to her friends and family, but to everyone they came across. She didn’t want to walk around with a target on her back. She just wanted to live her life. And since Dakota Lane had walked into it, her life had become a lot more interesting. And complicated.
What had she been thinking when she had agreed to go out with Dakota Friday night? Not only was it a conflict of interest, but Dakota wasn’t even her type.
“Tell that to my hormones.”
The little buggers started surging whenever she thought about Dakota. And when she talked to her on the phone or saw her in person, she could barely hold back the tide. If she didn’t get a grip soon, she was in danger of being swept away.
She set her scissors down because her hands were shaking too badly to perform a precise cut. Then the downstairs buzzer rang, preventing her from doing any serious damage to her work in progress.
“Who is it?” she asked cautiously. She wasn’t expecting a customer or a delivery, which meant she had little incentive to let anyone inside.
“It’s me.”
Lynette’s voice was as familiar to Grace as her own. “I didn’t know you were in the market for a suit.”
“I’m not, smart-ass,” Lynette said. “Karin called me after you hightailed it from her niece’s soccer game. I’m here to find out what went wrong this morning.”
“Seriously? You dragged yourself all the way from the Bronx to ask me why I bailed on a bad date?”
“Surely you’re not surprised. I’ve traveled longer distances for less. Now are you going to let me in, or are you going to make me stand on the street, dishing the details of your love life for every Tom, Dick, and Harry passing by?”
Grace pressed the lock release long enough for Lynette to enter the building. After the elevator rattled to a stop, she heard Lynette’s heavy footsteps echoing in the tiled hallway. Lynette entered the room as she did most things: at full speed.
Lynette was of average height, but everything else about her was extraordinary. From her passion for old-school hip-hop to her unwavering devotion to her friends. She had a degree in social work and had been toiling in the trying field for several years. Unlike some of her jaded coworkers, who left their cases at the office, she often took her job home with her. If she had her way, she would probably adopt most of the kids in her care rather than allow them to remain in the foster system, but her partner Monica wasn’t having it. Monica, a corrections officer at Rikers Island, had borne witness to so many examples of both the foster and justice systems’ failures that she was reluctant to take a child into her home—or her heart. Lynette kept trying to convince her to change her mind, but Monica was standing firm.
Grace didn’t know if Lynette would eventually get her way, but she knew from experience that Lynette wouldn’t stop trying. Lynette was like a mama bird in many ways, but with one big difference: once she took you under her wing, she didn’t try to kick you out of the nest.
Lynette glanced at the various pieces of cloth scattered across the cutting table. “You really are working.” She came over for a closer inspection. “Looks like a regular suit to me. What’s so important about the order that it couldn’t wait? Karin was beside herself when she called. She thinks she might have done or said something to drive you away.”
“She did.”
Lynette put her hands on her hips and spread her legs like she was preparing to mete out a little discipline on one of her wayward charges. “What did she do?”
“She’s fixated on her ex.”
Lynette’s bluster faded like a balloon that had sprung a leak. “Oh, that.”
“Is that really all you have to say? You could have given me a heads-up about that, you know. Or were you waiting for me to discover that juicy little nugget of information on my own?”
Lynette set her purse down. “You’re not making it easy for me to find someone for you, Grace. I’m running out of options. You haven’t given anyone I’ve tried to hook you up with a second chance. I was starting to think you’d already found someone and were trying to keep it on the down low. Then I come here and find you working on a Saturday. That shoots my theory all to hell.”
“If I were seeing someone, you’d be the first to know.”
Lynette picked up a fabric remnant, gave it a quick once-over, and set it aside. “Fat chance of that happening if the only places you go are work and church. You’re not interested in any of the ballers that come through here. That leaves the holy rollers, and I can’t see you hooking up with any of them unless you’re looking to get saved instead of laid.”
Grace nearly told her about her plans to accompany Dakota to the Mets game Friday night. At the last possible second, she decided to keep the news to herself. If she didn’t call it a date, maybe the night wouldn’t end up going sideways like all the others that had preceded it. “I’ll be fine, Lynette.”
“Are you sure? I thought you said you were tired of waking up alone.”
“I am, but I’m not going to fall into bed with the next woman who crosses my path just so I can have company when I open my eyes the next day.”
“Girl, you need to lower your standards and your drawers. How will you know when the right woman comes along if you keep telling everyone no?”
“Because when I finally meet her, I firmly believe my heart won’t allow me to say anything but yes.”
Chapter Ten
The Mets comped Dakota four tickets for Friday night’s game and left them for her at the Will Call window. They were great seats, too. In the front row right behind the home team’s dugout. There was only one problem. Like most kids in Georgia, Dakota had grown up a Braves fan. Even though she was a transplanted New Yorker and the Braves were one of the worst teams in the major leagues, she still held a special place in her heart for the Atlanta-based team.
She felt like a traitor after she stopped by th
e Mets’ public relations office to pick up a fitted team cap and commemorative jersey with her last name stitched on the back. When she was younger, her favorite baseball player was Chipper Jones, the left fielder who spent his entire nineteen-year career in Atlanta and was known for his success against the Mets. Now she was wearing the opposition’s team colors. Seeing the Braves position players stretching in the outfield and the starting pitcher warming up in the bullpen made the betrayal complete. If her brother and parents were watching the game, which they most likely were, they would never let her hear the end of it.
“All set?” Joey asked after Dakota joined her, Whitney, and Grace in the tunnel under the stands in Citi Field.
Dakota had given one of her three spare tickets to Grace. She had given the other two to Joey and Whitney in the hopes that their presence would make tonight seem more like a group outing and less like a date. Grace was obviously freaked out about the idea of going out with her in an official capacity, so she wanted to make sure Grace felt as comfortable as possible while she got used to the idea.
Usually when Dakota met someone she was attracted to, the race to bed began as soon as she said hello. She didn’t feel that same sense of urgency with Grace. In fact, she was enjoying taking it slow. The thrill of pursuit, she now realized, was magnified when the object of her affection proved harder to catch. Grace could take all the time she needed. Dakota suspected she was worth the wait.
“Almost,” Dakota said. “I need to warm up my pitching arm first so I don’t end up looking like a complete idiot out there. You guys can grab your seats if you like. I’ll join you as soon as I can.”
“Good luck, dude. Go out there and represent.” Joey gave her a high five. “Just don’t embarrass me, okay?”
“Babe, cut it out.” Whitney smacked Joey on her arm. “Can’t you see she’s already nervous as it is?” She gave Dakota a much-needed hug. “Don’t let her psych you out, D. You got this.”
“Thanks, Whit. You’re a good friend.”
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