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“You’re going to return all this, aren’t you?” she asked, picking up a tennis bracelet. “There has to be thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry here.”
David dismissed the question with a shake of his head. “Look at this.” He picked up a slim gold chain and wrapped it around his finger. It immediately bent and crimped. “There’s no quality. You can’t tell me people want something this cheap. It’ll break in a few weeks.”
He reached for a diamond ring. After pulling a loupe out of his jacket, he handed both to her. “Look at it. Disgusting.”
She looked through the loupe, and even her untrained eye saw the flaws. A few cracks that looked like feathers, dark spots. “They’re not perfect,” she said.
“There’s an understatement. These are worse,” he said, tossing a tennis bracelet toward her. He picked up a pair of earrings that were dangling circles. The circles were uneven and not completely attached to the stud. “And these are just plain badly made.” He shook his head. “I don’t get it. Why would anyone buy this stuff ? Sure, these earrings only cost a hundred and twenty dollars, but they won’t last or be wearable. I understand what you meant about making jewelry for everyone else. If this is all they have to choose from, then there’s a big problem.”
He looked angry and confused, and it was so completely adorable, she just wanted to grab hold of him and never let go. Which would only lead to trouble.
“I have those earrings,” she said, mostly to distract herself.
David held them up and flushed. “No way. You don’t. Tell me you don’t actually own these.” He swore. “I’m sorry.”
She risked touching his arm, ignoring the heat as her fingers brushed against his skin. “Don’t be. I’m kidding. They are really terrible.” She sat down at the table and picked up an engagement ring with a tiny stone she had a feeling was seriously flawed. “I know this isn’t the same as what someone could buy at the Worden boutique, but isn’t there a middle ground? Nice pieces, reasonably priced? I refuse to believe the only choices are spending a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or getting this.”
He sat across from her. “What do women want?”
She laughed. “A question for the ages.”
He grinned. “Fair enough. What do women want from their jewelry? I’ve spent the past twelve years finding perfect gemstones, but someone else makes the jewelry. I can look at reports that tell me what sells, but that’s just data. What makes you buy or not buy something?”
“A lot of it is about price,” she admitted. “A good sale helps. Jewelry is difficult, because we don’t want all of it to be expensive. There are fashion pieces that are fun because we can buy new ones every season. Wait here.”
She walked to her bedroom and grabbed her jewelry box. For a second, she hesitated. There wasn’t anything in there to impress David, but that wasn’t the point. She was helping him. In a way, it was kind of sweet that he’d been so affected by her freak-out at the Worden offices.
She returned to the table and sat down.
“We’ll ignore the pieces Rebecca gave me,” she said, setting a couple of pairs of earrings and a necklace aside. “They would never be in my price range.”
He grabbed an earring that swirled and curved. The thick gold twisted, catching the light. They were substantial, beautiful, and very wearable.
“If we made these in sterling,” he murmured, rubbing them. “No stones. We usually get our casting work done in Italy, but if I found a cheaper supplier…” He shook his head. “Okay, show me what you’ve got.”
“Obligatory gold chain,” she said, setting that in front of him. “I have no idea why I bought it, because I never wear it. It’s too skinny to stand out, and I wouldn’t know what kind of pendant to buy. Earrings are easiest. These are gold. I have one bangle.”
She reached for the fashion jewelry. There were colored-bead necklaces, a couple of faux-pearl necklaces, different dangling earrings in various colors.
“Changing out a wardrobe every season is impossible,” she said. “But a new pair of earrings or a chunky necklace makes me feel like I’m keeping up without spending a fortune. Most regular women don’t want to spend a fortune. We want fun and easy. Pieces that go with nearly everything in our wardrobe.” She showed him a sterling necklace with fake diamonds. “I love this one. If you hate it, I don’t want to know.”
He picked it up and studied it. “So you want choices and classic pieces with a sense of style.”
“Maybe. Everyone is different.”
He grinned. “So asking you for the definitive woman’s opinion isn’t going to work?”
As always, she found herself wanting to get lost in his dark blue eyes. He was so damned good looking. Some quirk of fate gave godlike status to a few and left the rest of the world wandering around wondering what life was like for greater mortals. A quirk with a sense of humor.
“I couldn’t stand the pressure,” she said, hoping she wasn’t drooling.
“We work with an ad agency. I could ask them about a focus group.”
“You’re serious about pursuing this?”
“Sure.”
“Then don’t go to an ad agency. I have friends I can invite over. Katie and a few others, if you want. They can bring their favorites and what didn’t work, and you can ask all the questions you want.” Assuming he was interested in her friends’ opinions, she thought, wondering if she’d just made a mistake. Maybe an ad agency would be better.
