Page 115 of Love Unforgettable
“That’s the same thing I said!” Kat says. She hands it to me for a moment then snatches it back. “I’m responsible for it. There’s no telling whether you can be trusted. I have to give it back to him later.”
“Open. Open. Open,” Remi says, pointing to the boxes.
I open the first box and pull out a small, champagne colored, hard case evening bag, with a thin rose-gold chain. I think it’s the prettiest purse I’ve ever seen. It’s feminine, but not dainty, and it’s big enough for my phone and lipstick plus a few other things. The women ooh and aah over it, then I set it back in the box and go for the next larger box. I lift the lid and peek inside.
“They’re Manolos!” Kat cries, jumping up and down.
I open the box all the way. Sure enough, inside are a pair of nude, strappy Manolo Blahnik’s with a stiletto heel. They are stunning. I close the box and set everything on the floor. “This is too much. I can’t take all this. Why would he do this? It’s too much money. I’ve never had shoes this expensive.”
“You haven’t even seen the dress yet,” Kat says. Remi backhands her in the stomach.
“Is that what’s in the other box?” I ask. Both girls nod.
“Is that why you didn’t bring my dress?”
Both nod again.
“What do I do?” I ask.
“Accept it graciously, just like with the award,” Remi says, picking the boxes up off the floor.
“Clearly, he can afford it.” Kat waves the AMEX around. “The man is loaded,” she sings. “You know that truck of his is like a seventy-five-thousand-dollar truck? You should have seen Brad salivating all over it when he dropped me off.”
“I didn’t know that,” I say, thinking of how careless I was the other night swinging my legs all over the place. I should have known better.
I reach my hand out for the third box, Kat hands it to me. I feel a little bit likePretty Womanright now, without the hooker part. I open the box, hesitantly. Like with the others, the contents are arranged neatly in tissue paper with a ribbon around it. I undo the ribbon, fold back the tissue paper, and get my first glimpse of the dress.
It’s exquisite.
There are no other words for it.
Sheer with a nude colored lining, covered in beads, pearls, and sparkles. Long sleeved with a deep-V in the front. Sexy as hell, but still kick-ass and youthful. In one outfit, Cole has managed to create the girl I want to be tonight. The girl that matches my makeup. How does he know me so well? And know exactly what I need? The girl in this dress deserves to win the Winemaker of the Year award, because she fucking earned it.
I can’t wait to put it on. “Did you guys tell him my size?”
“We both said different sizes,” Remi says.
“But then he did the cutest damn thing,” Kat adds. “He held his hands apart and told the girl that was how wide your hips were. And she picked the size based on that.”
She’s right. That’s just straight up adorable. I grab my phone to call him.
“You’ll never believe what I’m looking at right now,” I say when he answers the phone.
“What’s that, sweetness?”
“The most beautiful dress I have ever seen.”
“Does that mean you like it?”
“My God, Cole, it’s beyond words. Everything you’ve done today is just . . . it’s so . . . thank you. So much. I don’t even know how to repay you.”
“No repayment required.”
“How about thank you’s?”
“I like thank you’s,” he says.
“What about thank you’s in the form of actions and not words?” I lower my voice.
