“So what made you wear a dress today, Daisy?”

Daisy blushed at the attention. She figured Taylor would notice, but after all day bustling about the store together, moving paint splattered tarps and scooting ladders from here to there, her sexy boss hadn’t said word one about her fashion choice.

Until now.

“I wasn’t going to,” Daisy admitted, fibbing slightly. “But walking home last night, I got to thinking how free and easy it felt with no black jeans or studded belt to tie me down or chafe my, well ... you know. It was kind of ... freeing.”

Their eyes met as Daisy scrubbed the last of the paintbrushes free of the day’s vibrant colors and long, hard work. “Maybe because this one ... fits better?” Taylor admired, her soft green eyes roving over the clingy grey dress appreciatively.

Daisy blushed, feeling seen and, what’s more, coveted. Admired. Perhaps even ... desired? She hoped she wasn’t imagining things. Again. “I ... I got up early. Couldn’t sleep much, actually. And drove across town to the Save Mart in Bristol. Got a few of these babies in different colors, just in case I got paint on one of them.”

Taylor nodded, tracing a spot just above one hip with a hesitant, almost hovering fingertip. “You did,” she murmured, almost to herself. “Get a spot on this one, I mean.”

Daisy struggled not to shiver with the way Taylor let her fingertip linger atop the purple paint splatter just a moment longer than it should have. “Lucky I have five more just like it then.”

Taylor nodded, rolling her neck around on her shoulders after the long day. While Daisy had made good progress on the mural she’d been hired to create, covering half of the first wall with the outline portion, Taylor had worked the phones, setting up distribution channels and haggling over delivery times for her first few shipments of goods. Over and over and over again.

To say it had been a long day for both of them would have been an understatement and, still, standing to stretch her back after wrapping the last brush in a mineral spirit bath for the next day, she’d never felt more energized.

Taylor watched her stretch, dragging her eyes away at the last moment to nod toward the work she’d done that day. They both turned, side by side, to stare at it together. Daisy steeled herself for the inevitable constructive criticism to come. “This is really beautiful,” Taylor admired in a warm, almost tender tone instead. “I knew it would be, but ... this far exceeds my expectations.”

“Really?” Daisy was used to compliment sandwiches from her clients, a kind word at first, then the inevitable complaints, gripes, suggestions, then another kind word to soften the blow. But pure praise was rare indeed, especially on such an intimate, personal project like the one for Retro Active.

“I’m not sure about the eyes on Space Ape,” Daisy hemmed, inching closer to show her meaning.

“They’re lovely,” Taylor admired, staying put. “Really, Daisy, I ... you know, when I decided on hiring an artist instead of simply papering the walls like everyone else suggested, I didn’t really think it through all the way.”

“Which part?” Daisy returned to her side, noting the way she missed standing next to her new friend.

“The part where, every time I look at this, I’m going to think of you. I’m going to think of you and the time we spent together, working side by side. And last night, too. The beers, the snacks, the walk home ...”

Daisy stood close, peering slightly up at her gently taller boss lady. She struggled to keep the moisture from her eyes, not used to such compliments, to say nothing of genuine familiarity. “I guess ... I never thought of it that way, either.”

“No?”

Daisy shook her head, belly fluttering and hands too as she swallowed, hard, before adding, “No, Taylor. Mostly I just do jobs. Gigs. Assignments. For strangers. Then move on. I do them well, and they’re happy and pay me well, but ... from the moment I walked in here yesterday, this has all felt, different.”

“How so?”

“I can’t explain it, actually.”

Taylor paused, nibbling her lip gently. The soft silence in the retail space grew longer until she finally asked, “Maybe over ... dinner?”

Daisy smiled, already nodding. “Taphouse again?”

Taylor shook her head instead, nodding toward the spiral staircase at the back of the store. Daisy had glanced at it several times throughout the day, casual glances while cleaning out a brush or stretching her neck. Until that very moment, she’d thought it was just another prop, like the giant jack in the box or bubble gum machine. “I thought, something maybe a bit more ... casual?”