Page 54 of Hello Single Dad

Rubbing my arm, I sat on the bed. “You know what it’s like to try to dress up as a big girl. Straight sizes are too small and plus sizes are too big. It’s harder to shop for professional looks that aren’t too revealing or skirts that are long enough to go over my ass or prints that aren’t too loud.”

“Okay, I will admit shopping a size eighteen sucks—which is why I wear leggings all the time—but there has to be more than this.”

I shrugged. “I’ve sworn off buying jeans, so it’s athleisure or dress clothes.”

Mara’s frown grew deeper—how that was even possible, I had no idea.

“Okay, now I’m feeling hopeless.”

“No, it’s not that. I’m sure he’d adore you in all of this.” She gestured at my closet. “I’m just wondering how I’ve never noticed it...”

Her gaze on me saw way too much. “What?”

“Your clothes are a reflection of you,” Mara said.

“So you’re stretchy?” I asked with a wry smile.

She snorted. “Comfortable, relaxed. And you’re...” She gestured. “You’re in mourning!”

“What would I be mourning?” I asked.

“That’s for you to find out.” She shut the closet door. “In the meantime, I got the cutest dress last weekend. You should wear it.”

I tried arguing with her at first. The tag wasn’t even off the flirty floral dress yet, but she insisted, and I had to admit, I looked pretty cute. The colors even brought out the natural flush in my cheeks and the blue in my eyes.

We decided on stylish sneakers to match, then I’d worked one of Mara’s bandanas through my curly hair as a headband. I’d never worn anything like this, but I realized I’d never felt more like myself. It made me want to go back to the store and find more dresses like the one Cohen had bought me.

It was silly, really. I should have been wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants to quell this sexual tension that lingered between Cohen and me. But just like that first night, I imagined his fingers playing with the hem of my dress, his knee parting my legs, his... I shivered. “Are you sure about this outfit?” I asked Mara.

“It’s perfect. Not too casual, but also not too dressy,” Mara said. “If he’s not going to tell you where you’re going, you have to be ready for anything. Speaking of, did you wear cute underwear?”

I turned to her and raised my eyebrows. “Absolutely not. Wearing cute panties would be like begging him to lift my skirt up and take me in the bathroom.” Which gave me new ideas all together.

She bit her lip. “Now there’s a date worth going on.”

We were so on the same page it was scary, but we both needed to remember what could never be. “Mara, for the millionth time, I can’t date him. The school—”

“—code of conduct expressly forbids it,” she finished for me, mimicking my voice. “But do they say anything about one-night stands and banging it out with the hot barkeep?”

I shook my head, laughing, and walked toward the living room. Cohen could be here any moment, and I wanted to spare him a suggestive conversation with my overzealous best friend. I picked up my purse. “I’m going to wait for him outside.”

“Uh huh. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“What’s that?” I teased. “Anal?”

She cackled as I walked outside and shut the door.

Maybe Mara was right about ‘banging one out.’ I did want to fulfil my fantasy from that first night. If I wasn’t such a chicken, we could have already had sex, and Cohen Bardot would be out of my system. But instead, I’d backed out and now here I was in not-dating purgatory with the hottest guy I’d ever met.

His car pulled into the driveway, and I could practically feel Mara’s eyeballs on me as I walked to meet him.

He got out of the car, wearing fitted jeans and an olive-toned T-shirt that showed off his arms. I wondered when he worked out—if he got up early to do it or made time in the evening. But then I realized he was looking at me, and oh god, had he already said hello and I’d missed it?

“Hi,” I said with an embarrassed smile. I still couldn’t believe I’d almost called him sexy the night before when I was still trying to be his friend.

There was a twinkle in his eyes as he came and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

My skin felt hot where his lips had been, and I wished he could have kissed me longer. Could have moved his mouth just inches over so we could have that kiss I’d longed for the week before.

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