Love Redesigned by Sloane B. Collins Page A

behavior.” He’d thrown his hands in the air.
    She’d rounded on him. “It’s one night. He asked me to accompany him to an awards banquet. I’ll have my own room. I’m not going to get involved with him, okay? My life is in Atlanta, his is in France. There’s a lot of ocean between us, not to mention a lot of years. I have to focus on getting my business up and running. I’m not going to screw that up.” She’d hugged him, but it hadn’t softened him. He held himself rigid, so she walked away.
    “I worry about you.”
    “I know you do. You’ve always been there for me, and you have no idea how much it means to me. But I need to do this. It’s a door that never closed. Not knowing what happened keeps me wondering about what if . Maybe we can sort it out and part as friends. Wouldn’t that be better in the long run?”
    Daniel had agreed, but still gave Roman the stink eye when she climbed in the car to go to the airport. He was normally a lamb, but at times like this, he was fiercely protective.
    She and Roman spent the flight talking, and she shared some of her plans for her business. Her stories from the TV competition had him laughing. She loved how his laughter rumbled out of him, low and sexy, and it was the first time she’d seen him with his guard down since her return. For the short time they had left together, she resolved to make him laugh just to hear him let loose. Like he used to.
    “And then the cake artist from New Orleans had a hissy fit when the cake layers started leaning like the Tower of Pisa. He dumped the entire bowl of icing on his assistant’s head, even though it wasn’t her fault. The poor thing stood there with bright pink frosting topping her head like a cupcake. Apparently the drama improved the ratings, I heard later on.”
    He leaned back in his seat, his eyes lighting up.
    “Another team added salt instead of sugar to the cake batter. Can you imagine the look on the judges’ faces when they took a bite of cake expecting sweet and instead got salty? The lead on that team was so upset that she lobbed fistfuls of cake at her assistant. The assistant insisted it was the lead’s fault and lobbed cake right back at her.”
    He chuckled. “Did anything happen on your team?”
    “No, thank heavens. We made it through unscathed. In fact, the host of the show took me aside later and said the judges were very impressed with our professionalism, and it went a long way toward our scores being so high.”
    “I wish I had seen the show. I am sure you were great on it.”
    “I was scared to death. I don’t like being filmed, so I had to block out the cameras. I pretended I was back in the kitchen at home with my mom, and it helped me focus on designing, baking, and decorating the cakes. It got me through the show.” She took a sip of water and changed the subject. “So how did you end up living in Milan?”
    “After I had been at the Paris design house a few more years, I had enough of my own designs ready, so I quit and launched my own label. I hadn’t been happy in Paris for some time actually, ever since you left. Everywhere I went, there were memories of you.” He leaned closer and his shoulder brushed hers.
    She froze, the crystal glass halfway to her mouth. She shifted, pulling away from him.
    “Don’t back away. I’m not blaming you. It was time to break away, to be out on my own. Just as you are getting ready to do with your career. It was a good move for me, and I learned a great deal living in Milan. My designs started reflecting the Italian culture, but I kept enough of my French heritage in the clothes that I created a niche market for consumers. Eventually, I made it as a couture designer.” He shrugged.
    She had learned long ago that when he gave one of those Gallic shrugs, it meant he was embarrassed. He’d never bragged about his achievements, and had always been self-effacing any time he succeeded.
    “You always were committed to achieving your dreams.