Page 46 of Nerdy or Nice
He grinned. "Ido. And unless you want me to go alone, you'll do me the honor of accompanying me."
My heart melted at the old-fashioned wording. It was wonderful and gallant, just like him.
Even so, I refused to put him in the poor house, so I deliberately changed the subject even if Ididgive a tiny wistful glance at the dancers as we finally passed them by.
Chapter 25
Gwen
On the phone, my mom sounded positively giddy. "He'ssoincredible, Gwen. I can't wait for you to meet him."
I winced. "That's really great, Mom."
She giggled. "I know. Isn't it? You know what they always say. You've got to kiss a bunch of toads before you find your prince."
My mom had kissed so many toads, it was a wonder she wasn't covered in warts. As far as this new guy, whoever he was, he was like prince number thirty-two in a long line of potentials.
Still, my mom sounded so happy, I didn't have the heart to tell her what I was thinking, so I kept my replies as neutral as possible – not raining on her parade, but not offering up false hope either.
And besides, my own mind was somewhere else entirely. As my mom gushed over this latest guy, I rummaged through the dresses that I'd brought to my aunt's place.
Being on a tight budget, I didn't own many. Even so, I'd packed every single one of them because my gift-wrapping job was at a high-end department store where dressing up was strongly encouraged.
On the phone, my mom was saying, "And last night, he took me out dancing." Her tone grew dreamy as she gushed, "It wassoromantic. We danced until dawn, just like Cinderella."
Actually, Cinderella had left the ball at the stroke of midnight and had ended up walking home in rags. Plus, I knew for a fact that none of the local nightclubs were open past two o'clock in the morning, which meant that my mom's dancing had ended well before dawn.
I tried not to sigh. This was fairly typical, but there was no point in nitpicking, so instead I listened with minimal commentary as I pondered the dresses in front of me. Most of them were fairly traditional with high necklines and ankle-length hems.
But there wasonedress – the little red one – that wasn't conventional at all. Oddly enough, it was the same dress I'd almost worn on the day I'd planned to seduce Drake.
The dress still had its tags attached because I'd never worn the thing, not even once – well, except to repeatedly try it on and reject it, but that hardly counted, right?
The dress's original price had been something I would never pay, but I'd snagged it at a huge discount as a part of a year-end clearance. At the time, I'd purchased it just in case.But in case of what?If I was never going to wear the thing, what was the point?
On the phone, my mom gave another giggle. "And besides, what's the point of living if you're always playing it safe?"
Even though she was talking about herself, those words found their mark. For nearly all of my adult life, I'd been extra-careful. Afraid to mimic my mom's horrible lows, I'd also avoid those wonderful highs – those kisses at midnight and dancing until dawn – or two o'clock, as the case might be.
Just how much had I been missing, anyway?
But then, I perked up.There was still time. And besides, Iwasgoing to a ball.
Over my objections, Drake had purchased tickets, which – as he'd made a point to tell me – were non-refundable. I wasn't quite sure how he'd done it, because according to what my mom had always said, tickets had to be purchased months in advance.
The ball was tomorrow night, which didn't give me a lot of time to prepare, not that I was complaining. I gave the red dress another careful look. It wasn't just sexy. It was the color of Christmas, all red and sparkly like a holiday dream.
Oh, yeah.It was definitely time for me live a little.
I smiled.Or maybe a lot.
Chapter 26
Drake
As I stared across the threshold of her aunt's front door, I gave a low whistle. "Wow."
Gwen smiled. "So, you like it?"
