mentally shook herself. Where did that thought come from?
She would stay far away from that neck. She didn’t like to mix business with pleasure. She made it a rule. She needed this job. It was helping her pay her way through school. She couldn’t afford a fling with her boss.
“Myers’ coffee is always good, but you did something special to this,” he said to her.
“Mexican coffee. My own special recipe with just a hint of vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate. When I serve it at parties, I go all out and make it with tequila, Kahlúa and melted vanilla ice cream. But I toned it down for you tonight. This bakery doesn’t have a liquor license.”
“Do you throw a lot of parties?”
“Between working here, getting my master’s and designing jewelry, I don’t have time to throw any parties. The last one I threw was for my ex’s thirty-fifth. I went through a lot for trouble for it, only to break up with him a month later. I’m kind of wishing I had broken it off before I bought him the most expensive thing I’ve ever purchased in my life.”
“Don’t tell me you bought him a car?”
“Do I look like the kind of woman that would go around buying men cars?”
“I don’t know. Women do all sorts of things for the men they love.”
He was right. She had been so much of her life leading with her heart. She had been prepared to give up a lot of things to please Steven, but in the end giving up herself seemed too big of a price to pay.
“What did you get him?”
“An original James Van Der Zee photograph. Do you know who he was?”
“A photographer. Famous for capturing the Harlem Renaissance through his lens.”
“Exactly.” She smiled at him, impressed that he knew who she was referring to. “I found a small photograph of his in a shop and thought my ex would love it. He didn’t. He was hoping for a new camera, which would have cost even more than the photograph.”
“Some men don’t know how good they have it. You must have really loved him if you gave him such a gift.”
“I thought he was the love of my life at one point. But I think I loved the potential of him.” She’d bet her ex wouldn’t say the same thing about her. He loved what she could do for him. He felt like he was a serious photo journalist, while she was just playing at her jewelry design. Jewelry making he called it. He referred to it as her hobby instead of her dream, treated it as it something that she merely liked instead of had a passion or talent for. She put up with a few years of slights and digs, with him diminishing what she did while lifting up his own work.
The truth was, they had been in the same places in their careers. He’d had one piece picked up by a national magazine the year before they met, but nothing big after. The only jobs he could get were for small local newspapers and unpaid gigs for bloggers. Amber’s business had been growing at the time; she had designed some pieces for the wealthier set and gotten her work carried in a few small boutiques. And she had supported him, too. Picking up the slack by taking on extra shifts when his jobs had all but dried up at one point, but she stuck by him, a lot longer than she should have, because she had been in love then. She’d thought with her heart instead of her head. But that was all done now.
Chase seemed similar to her ex. Serious about his work. Focused. Driven. He was being nice to her now, ordering bracelets for the women in his family, but he probably thought her jewelry design was just a hobby, too. And one man in her life like that had been too many. She never wanted to experience that again. That’s why finishing her degree and learning the business end was so important. She was ready to show the world and anyone who doubted her that she was a serious artist and that she had a lot to offer.
That’s why she was adopting a no-men policy. Chase was incredibly good-looking, heart-poundingly so, but she was going to keep her distance. Some conversation. A shared plate of sweets was just enough.
Amber couldn’t afford any entanglements in her life right now.
“What do you mean by that?” His eyes swept across her face, studying him. “Potential?”
“Everybody has potential,” she said, remembering that she had said that about her ex. “Don’t you think about a woman’s potential before you decide whether you are going to date her or not? Her potential to be a good partner. Her potential to be a wife. Her potential to be a mother. Her potential to further her career. I’d bet you’re the type of guy who has a spreadsheet with fifty-six characteristics a woman must have in order to date you. And each woman you meet is put into a column. Fling, casual partner or lifelong mate.” She thought about what Nita just told her. Amber knew she was the exact opposite of the women Chase normally dated, but that was okay. She wasn’t looking to be his potential partner and she didn’t want him to think she wanted anything else from him either.
“You think you know me so well? First you think I’m boring and now you magically know what I want in a woman.” He raised a brow at her and smiled. She found it incredibly sexy. There was a little dimple on his cheek. The urge to kiss it came over her. She wondered what he would do if she leaned over and kissed his face. How he would react? What would be his next step?
She shook her head, trying to shake off the feeling of wanting to kiss him for the second time that night.
“I just know you’re organized. I saw the business plan you constructed for this place. I’m learning how to write them for school, but yours was incredible. Beautiful, really. I’ve never seen so many colorful charts in one place. And you say you’re not artistic.”
He took a long sip of his coffee as he looked at her. She felt like blushing with the way his eyes kept passing over her face. It was silly. She was an adult, but the way he looked at her made her feel like a girl again. “How did you see our business plan?”
“Your sister showed me. I was having trouble with an assignment and I asked for her help. She showed me your work. I was incredibly impressed, but I guess I shouldn’t be. You went to one of the best business schools in the country. You’re a pro at it.”
He nodded. “I spent many years in the corporate world. If you ever need help with an assignment, you can come to me. I won’t even charge you for my time.”
“How sweet,” she said, wanting to take him up on his offer but knowing it probably wasn’t a smart idea. She was pushing the limits of her willpower by being here with him tonight. “I might take you up on that.”
He nodded and reached for a cookie. “I still want to hear about this guy with potential that you bought the Van Der Zee for.”
“He was a photographer. I met him while I was taking an art class at the local university. He was one of those people with big visions. He did what he called artistic photo journalism. Wanted to change the world with his work.”
“That sounds admirable.”
“It was, but the relationship was a little one-sided. And being with somebody who just takes can be draining. I felt like I was sacrificing what I wanted, so he could live out his dreams. I couldn’t do that. I watched my mother do that. Give up her dreams to be a wife. To raise a family. I know she loved us. And not once did she treat us like we were a burden, but I knew she wished she could have lived out her dreams. She was an illustrator. A great one.
