Page 76 of Guarding My Love

“Foster?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “Did you need something?”

She opened the door. “Nope. Just wanted to make sure it was you.”

“Who did you think it’d be?” he asked.

“I have no idea, but a girl can’t be too careful.” Then she shut the door in his face.

She heard him laughing and found it funny that when she first met him he was grouchy and now he almost seemed like another person altogether.

She dried off and put lotion all over her body, then applied a thin layer of makeup. She’d washed off what she’d had on earlier.

It felt good to get ready for a night out. She wanted Foster to be proud she was on his arm and then worried she was reverting back to the way she was in the past.

She touched her hair up, crunching it so that the waves were more defined, then pulled on her dark jeans. Not fitted to her body like she’d worn in the past, but a little looser on her that fell straight to the floor.

Her top was sleeveless and silky. Bright colors that made her feel happy. Jewel tones looked awesome on her and she had a light tan to go with her beach wavy hair.

She made sure everything looked perfect and opened the bathroom door.

There was Foster standing at his open suitcase, jeans on, his shirt off, his feet bare.

She wished she hadn’t just gotten ready because she wanted to get messed up.

“Don’t you look handsome,” she said.

He turned and looked at her. “And you look like someone that is ready to go out on the town.”

She frowned. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Not at all,” he said. “I know you are used to dressing up. Maybe I worried that you missed this.”

“Not really,” she said. “But I will admit this is going to be fun. It’s nice to do it now and again.”

“I should take you out more,” he said. “At least around town. You know, rather than serving you a deli meat sandwich.”

She grinned. “I might like that, but I like the sandwiches on the boat just as much.”

“I’m going to take a quick shower too and then we can get a taxi and leave. If we are early, it’s not a big deal. We’ll go to the back and get a drink.”

She sat on the bed and put her heeled sandals back on. She purposely picked out shoes that she could wear to work and out so she had less to pack.

A year ago, she wouldn’t have cared. She would have been encouraged to pack as many outfits as she wanted and then Landon would have decided what he wanted her to wear.

She liked it so much better the way it turned out tonight.

Foster came out of the bathroom ten minutes later. He had on a different pair of jeans. These were dark like hers. His shirt was a light gray in color and looked to have navy stripes in it.

“Now you do look handsome,” she said.

He pulled out shoes from his bag. Just a pair of brown ones that had sneaker soles on them. He’d combed his hair in the bathroom, and his beard was trimmed.

“Thanks,” he said. “I’m not fancy like my brothers or Jamie.”

“Jamie Wilde is going to be there?” she asked. She was afraid he was going to get more attention than the rest of them.

“Yes,” he said. “Laken wants to meet you. I figured if we got there first, we’ll be in the back when he comes in and no one will pay attention to us.”

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