Page 113 of Just One Kiss

“Here I go,” Quinn said.

Carly moved back as her sister stepped up on a small platform, admiring her reflection for several seconds before spinning around. “It reallyisbeautiful.”

“You’rebeautiful,” Carly said. “The dress is just icing.”

Quinn smiled. “It’s going to be hard to beat such a knock-out dress.”

“And to think, I thought it was truly hideous before you put it on.”

Quinn gasped. “Mean!”

Carly laughed.

“Get up here.” Quinn stepped off the platform and motioned toward it, as if Carly should be overjoyed to take a turn peering at a future that would never be.

She groaned. “This is so incredibly silly.”

“Well, you might’ve given up on finding Mr. Right, but I sure haven’t.” Quinn tugged Carly’s arm. “He’s out there, and when you find him, you’re going to be a stunning bride, even in that plain old boring dress—”

Carly gasped as Quinn pushed her up onto the platform.

“That you somehow turn into something only royalty would wear.”

Carly faced the mirror.

“One more thing.” Quinn pulled the hair tie out of Carly’s hair and her long, chocolate waves tumbled over her shoulders. Quinn stood behind her, eyes shining. “You’re like something out of a fairy tale.”

Carly stared at the way the dress showed off her curves, the way it cinched at the waist, making her look slender and small. It was simple and maybe a little plain, but to her, it was perfect.

Inexplicable tears sprang to her eyes, and she willed them away with sheer stubbornness, same as she’d done a thousand times before. She knew the truth about fairy tales, after all.

They didn’t come true.

I will not cry. I am strong. I am independent.

“It’s okay to dream, big sister,” Quinn whispered.

Carly’s eyes found Quinn’s in the mirror, and she did a quick about-face. “Sorry, kiddo. This is just not my cup of tea. You know me, jeans and tanks and ponytails.” She stepped off the platform, still willing away the emotion that had formed a tight ball at the back of her throat.

It wasn’t fair for her to feel this way, not when she had so much going on. Not when so many things in her life didn’t make sense. She had no room in her life for fairy tales.

“I’ll stick to the bridesmaid’s dress—and only because you’re forcing me to.” She spun around and faced the front of the boutique, wholly unprepared to see Josh staring at her, the leggy blonde at his side.

“Carly?” His face turned pale.

She raced into the solace of the changing room, cheeks hot with humiliation, and one word echoed at the back of her mind.

Always.

28

Josh took a step back and nearly ran into Rebecca.

Why was Carly wearing a wedding dress? Were she and the doctor more serious than she’d let on?

He looked up and found Quinn staring at him. She glanced at Rebecca, then spun around and disappeared into a dressing room.

Carly in a wedding dress. A dress that hugged her body in a way that sent his mind straight to places it shouldn’t go.

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