Page 31 of Shameless
As we walked down the stairs to the limo, she brushed against me then stared at my backside. “Well, I knew you had a cute ass the second we met, and even when we aren’t talking much, you have a gentleness about you that is a little addicting.”
My heart beat faster as we climbed inside the limo. “That’s what you think of me as?”
Once we were both settled, she stared at me. “Did I offend you?”
I acted like I had a speech impediment, but it wasn’t that bad—I was just feeling some nerves. When we headed home, I said, “No woman wants gentle.”
She laughed and yawned. “Oh, you’d be surprised. I definitely don’t date alpha jerks and pretty much don’t want anyone like that in my life.”
But the bad boys got the girl—that was a lifelong rule.
When we stopped at her place, I asked, “Because you handle it all on your own?”
Her face crumpled. “Oh goodness. We’re both bringing each other down.”
I took her hand and said, “Or maybe we’re both seeing what we need to do.”
As we headed up to her small one bedroom in the elevator, she asked, “What’s that?”
I didn’t blink. “Maybe one day, you’ll trust me to make a decision and trust yourself to go along with it.”
When we stepped off, she smiled at me. “Maybe after the wedding, darling.”
My heart lifted. She was beautiful.
“You liked the hamburger, then,” I said.
She winked and let me inside. “I like everything you cook.”
We took off our shoes, and I stared at her gorgeous body, which was changing daily.
Though I ached for her, she waved and ran off, saying, “Good night.”
And I headed to the guest shower because I needed to cool off.
Chapter Eleven
Britney
* * *
My heart thundered as I raced to a bridal shop in a limo I’d ordered.
Michael had been devastatingly handsome earlier that morning, cooking breakfast in the boxers he’d slept in and singing.
The day of the fake wedding had come, and I got the ring that matched my princess-cut diamond, which was a ring of little diamonds in the same gold design.
On the kitchen counter, I spotted a diamond necklace and earrings modeled after crown jewels that were actually sapphires surrounded by gold. I’d seen photos of the original pieces in a magazine recently.
Michael hugged me and said, “For our wedding, my darling.”
Tears came from my eyes.
He was a sweetheart. I was lucky that, in faking it, I had somehow gotten him as a partner.
However, as I walked into the bridal shop full of white dresses on Fifth Avenue, I swiped my face again. For once in my life, I would be the dramatic Carrie though Michael was way less dramatic than any TV guy ever had been.
As I stepped farther into the room, my friends stepped forward from one side and hugged me.
