Page 79 of Driftwood Daffodil 3

“Fine.” I hissed through my smile and headed for the bathroom.

If he wanted me to look good then I would look good. I’d look so good that everyone at this stupid dinner would be staring at me. Look out Mancini’s cause you ain’t never seen this Novalee Ford.

Forty-three minutes and twenty-seven seconds,that’s how long it took me to get ready. And let me just say, my time management skills in this case were amazing. I started with my make-up and somehow remembered every tip Veda had ever given me. If my sister could’ve seen the shit in the case in Gio’s bathroom, she would’ve lost her mind.

Everything was Chadwick Cosmetics and brand new. She used to save up for a month just to afford their lip gloss. I thought she was crazy, but after using some of it myself, I could see why she loved the stuff.

The light dusting of purple on my eyes with just a touch of gold in the center, caused the green in my hazel hue to shine through. I followed that up with some blush and touch of bronzer so the light would accentuate my cheekbones, and finally mascara and red tinted lip gloss, because there was nothing like a natural shiny lip to say kiss me. Not that I wanted Gio to kiss me or anything, but he would rue the day he told me to try and look good.

I would give him points for one thing though. He had everything I could possibly need. From a hair dryer and curling iron to lotion and perfume. And not the expensive eau de le blah blah blah, but the tropical scented body mist that I bought from the corner store. I wasn’t sure if I was disturbed by the fact that he knew what I wore, or that he liked it so much that he didn’t get a single other scent?

The dress was definitely not from the corner store. It was a white backless chiffon gown with a plunging neckline so low thatit made me glad I didn’t have cleavage. There definitely would’ve been some nip slippage if my boobs were any bigger.

The material was soft on my skin and caressed my curves as if the dress was made specifically for me. But my favorite part was the slit running up to the top point of my left thigh. I may have spent a few minutes doing poses in the mirror while kicking my leg out like a Vegas showgirl.

I finished my look off with a stylish updo with a few diamond encrusted daffodil pins, and some curls hanging down to frame my face.

Taking one more look in the mirror, I checked to see if I had missed anything, then nodded.

Damn I looked good. I looked so good that Memphis would check me out.

“Take that, Gio. Bam.” I pointed at the mirror, gave myself a wink, and did the electric slide while singing, “uh huh. Uh ha. Uh ha, uh ha, uh ha.”

“What are you doing?”

Ugh, why did Gio have to ruin all my fun?

“Don’t you knock?” I spun around and stopped cold.

Gio Mancini was the epitome of toxic hotness on a normal day. But Gio Mancini in a three piece tailored suit had me wanting to wrap myself up in all his red flags and plunge head first into the depths of the underworld. Holy hell.

He was just as awe struck by my appearance. His green eyes flared with desire as they roamed over my curves.

“Wow.”

Hold on… “Did you just say wow?”

He snapped his eyes off my breasts, up to my face, and cleared his throat. “No.”

“Yes, you did.”

“No I didn’t.” He insisted.

“Yes, you did. I heard it with these magical things called ears. Everybody has them. They are right here…” I reached up and tugged on one of my earlobes. “on the sides of our heads.”

“Yours must be broken.”

Broken ears? What the hell was that? They weren’t cars. It wasn’t like we went to the ear repair shop to get a tune up.

“Speaking of ears…” Gio walked over and placed a case on the counter. “I have some jewelry for you.”

“I don’t want to wear your jewelry.”

“Why not?” Gio asked. “Girls like jewelry.”

That was true. Most girls did like jewelry, including me. But I did not want to walk around with something that cost more than our trailer hanging off my neck. What if the clasp broke or an earring fell off? I’d spend the next three years looking for it. No thanks.

“You can’t buy me with gemstones.”

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