Page 22 of The Deadbeat Next Door

Lance showed up an hour later than he said he would, just as we were ready to head out. He brought sandwiches, so we stayed in and ate. And then we went shopping. My first step in my life make-over was to spend a good chunk of the money I’d been saving for new furniture on new clothes. I got three outfits for going out, a slinky, sparkly racer-back top and skinny jeans, a lacy, sheer top and a pair of black pants, and a nearly sheer, low-cut blouse paired with a short, flouncy skirt, as well as two new outfits for work with a closer, more modern fit. I also get my hair done in a more modern, chunkier style, and I even bought my first pair of sky-high heels. I’d probably kill myself in them, but I had great life insurance, so Harrison would benefit.

We got home in time for a late dinner of take-out pizza. Lance and Dilly had also gotten new clothes, so we all dressed and got ready at my place. Dilly talked me into wearing my most daring new outfit, the sheer lacy top. It was long-sleeved and high-necked, but it revealed my midriff and the black bra I wore under it was entirely visible. I fought the urge to cross my arms over my middle and slid on the black pants and my new heels. I looked in the mirror and wasn’t sure I knew who the woman looking back at me was. I swallowed hard. I was a healthy, active twenty-eight-year-old who deserved a night out, who deserved to have fun. I put on the cute, dangly earrings I’d gotten and went out to the living room to wait for Dilly with Lance.

“You look gorgeous,” Lance said. I swear he had tears in his perfect green eyes. “I always knew you could be this beautiful.”

I scowled. “The appropriate thing to say, Lance, is that I’ve always been this beautiful.”

He didn’t back down an inch. “You were hiding all your beauty under those granny clothes and that uber-responsible attitude. You’re lucky I looked beyond skin-deep or I might never have bothered giving you the time of day.”

“I appreciate your sacrifice.”

“And now it’s all been worth it. You are going to kill it tonight, Miss Carrie.”

“As are you, Sir Lance.” He was looking very fine in a button-down shirt that fit him just so, and tailored pants. “I hear you deserve this night out as much as I do.”

He waved a hand. “I’ve seen it before, but it never gets easier, you know?”

Lance had stumbled upon a tenth-grade girl giving an eleventh-grade boy a blow job. He’d had to haul them both to the principal’s office. It wasn’t anything we all didn’t know went on, but it was never easy seeing it firsthand. As much as those kids thought of themselves as adults, they were children to us. “I do know. Liza said the girl is Edie Woods. She’s creating quite a reputation for herself.”

Lance frowned. “Liza will talk to her, of course, but I get the impression things aren’t so good for Edie outside of school. We can’t go home with them, you know.”

“Sometimes I wish I could just adopt them all.”

“In happier news,” he said. “Shane is doing great. He’s really found his niche giving guitar lessons to freshmen and leading the brand-new rock and rollers club.”

It was a dorky name, but it seemed to be drawing quite the interest. Shane was an eleventh-grade boy who’d been bullied for being gay by several older kids in the school. He was in a dark place, but Lance had stepped in and helped him find ways to make school a more enjoyable experience. Of course, the bullies had been punished, but that was no guarantee they’d leave Shane alone. The guitar lessons and the club had elevated Shane’s self-confidence and he seemed like a much happier kid.

“You did good, Lance.” I stepped over and gave him a hug. “All the kids are lucky to have you.”

“How’s Kayla doing?”

“Not good.”

“I’m ready to go,” Dilly shouted. She stepped into the living room in four-inch stilettos and a skin-tight dress that barely covered her ass and put her cleavage on full-display.

“You do know we’re just going to Philistine’s, right?” Lance said. Philistine’s was a nice club near the college, but it was more laid-back than Dilly’s outfit.

“That just means everyone will be looking at me.”

Lance rolled his eyes at me. “Of course. What was I thinking?”

“I’ll just run next door and tell Cody we’re ready to go,” Dilly said.

“Okay,” I said, before her words sank in. She was halfway to the door, when I grabbed her elbow and pulled her back. “What did you just say?”

Her lips curled up in what Lance called her evil witch smile, and I knew she was up to something. “I bumped into him when I carried your trash out after lunch. He said he would love to join us tonight.”

My heart flipped and my stomach roiled with nerves. The last time I’d seen him, I’d been running away as fast as I could after I’d woken up clinging to him like a sex-starved spinster. My cheeks heated at the memory and I just couldn’t…I couldn’t face him. In large part, because it had felt beyond good to wake up wrapped around him, a very important part of his anatomy hard and heavy against my thigh. “He’s a jerk,” I said. “Why let him ruin our night?”

Dilly waved her hand. “You want to have fun? That man has fun written all over him in big letters. Seriously, if you don’t want him I’d be more than happy to take him off your hands.”

Something bright and white hot flashed through me and I had a sudden vision of just how happy he’d be to see Dilly in that revealing outfit on his porch. My stomach roiled again and I felt worse at that idea than I’d felt at the mention of him joining us. Was I actually jealous? Oh, no. No, no, no. Carrie Matilda Harrison had better control of her emotions than that. Carrie Matilda Harrison would not let emotions get involved with the deadbeat Neanderthal next door. “I’ll go tell him we’re ready,” I said, my mouth disagreeing with my brain.

Dilly frowned. “Don’t you dare un-invite him, Carrie.”

“I would never do something so rude.” I marched out the front door, down the porch steps and over to Cody’s door before Dilly could stop me.

I rang the bell and waited, tapping my toe on his wraparound porch. He really did have the best porch. Cody flung the door open and froze, his eyes raked over me with a heat that made me tingly all over. I was also frozen because he looked amazing. He was wearing his typical t-shirt and jeans, but the shirt was a little more fitted than usual and his jeans were dark and had a bit of a shine to them. His rugged belt did not match his equally rugged boots, but it didn’t matter, the whole package was mouth-watering.

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