Page 23 of Deal Breaker
Autumn sucked in her lips. “I’m sorry my brother’s an ass. And I’m sorry he was an ass to you.” She pulled me up and gathered me into a hug. “You’re my best friend, and you deserve better.” A huge grin lit up her face as she pulled away. “And we’re going to make sure you get better. Come on, let’s go and work some magic. Let’s make him good and jealous.”
Twenty minutes later, I sat at the dressing table in Jodie’s and my room, with Autumn working on my hair. I’d planned on keeping it loose, but she’d swept it into a half-up, half-down style. She created soft tousled curls which cascaded at the back, with a twist at the crown, secured by a jeweled hair clip. I looked like a movie star.
“Wow! Soph, you look incredible,” breathed Jodie, as she came into the room. “Autumn, will you do my hair too?” She unwrapped her dark mane from the towel around her head.
“I can try, but I’m not sure I’m a miracle worker.” She winked at me in the mirror.
“Hey!” Jodie threw her towel at Autumn and hit me square in the back, almost knocking the hair clip from its grip. “Whoops, sorry!” She frowned. “Why’s Sophie getting all the special treatment anyway? I thought we were all doing our own thing?”
I shot Autumn a look, silently begging her not to say anything about Max.
“It’s not special treatment.” Autumn tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, concentrating on my reflection in the mirror. “But come on, Sophie needs to snag herself a man. What better time to start flirting with eligible prospects than at a wedding? There’s all the romance, the emotions, not to mention the wine and champagne!”
“Exactly my thoughts. There must be some of Joshua’s family and friends we haven’t met yet. Sophie’s not the only one who needs to snag herself a man.” Jodie pulled on her dress over a matching lingerie set.
“Sophie and I probably haven’t met them, but you, Jodie, have already dated most of them.” Autumn rolled her eyes. Jodie’s propensity to serial date meant she hadn’t settled down either. It wouldn’t surprise either of us if she were the only one to come away from today’s wedding with a phone full of numbers.
“Don’t be so rude. I just haven’t found the right guy yet.” Jodie pouted.
“But you don’t have to date every single guy in the world,” I pointed out.
“Nor do you need to knock back everyone who asks you out because they don’t compare to your childhood crush.”
Both Autumn and I froze at Jodie’s throwaway comment. She couldn’t possibly know about me spending the night in Max’s room—an eye mask and ability to sleep through an earthquake would have meant she didn’t miss me at all.
“Don’t be ridiculous, I date.” I forced a laugh. I didn’t want to let on that she was closer to the mark than she realized.
“When was the last time you got further than two dates with the same person?” challenged Jodie, hands on her hips.
I couldn’t believe we were having this conversation on Brianna’s wedding day.
“Does it matter? Maybe today is the day I decide to find someone I truly like and want to settle down with.” Now that I had realized that person wasn’t likely to be Max, my resolve strengthened. Like Autumn had said, I needed to make Max see what he was missing out on.
Once Autumn had finished with my hair, I turned my attention to my makeup while she helped Jodie. A muted eyeshadow with mascara to make my eyes look bigger, a swipe of blush to give my cheeks a gently flushed look, then a strong red lip. With my movie star hair and more makeup than I usually wore, I almost didn’t recognize myself.
Straightening my shoulders and taking a look at the reflection in the mirror, I was satisfied with the result. Now to get dressed and complete the overall picture. I went to the wardrobe where my dress for the day hung. The burgundy embroidered dress was fitted around the bodice and flared into a dip hem, the front of which fell just below my knee and to mid-calf at the back. It had a Bardot neckline with scalloped edging and clung to my curves in all the right places. I’d paired it with simple suede pumps in the same color and had a cream wrap to keep me warm. A cute little burgundy velvet evening bag, big enough for makeup, some cash, and my phone, completed the outfit. When I’d bought the dress, I might have had Max in mind, but after everything that had happened, I wasn’t sure he was the one I wanted to impress.
“Geez, Sophie, what happened to your leg?” exclaimed Jodie, as I slipped off my robe to get dressed. “That’s one hell of a bruise.”
“Bumped into the dressing table when I got up during the night,” I improvised. “This room issosmall. I’m surprised you haven’t done the same.”
“I’m surprised I didn’t hear you.” She seemed to accept the explanation without any issues, then giggled. “Matches your dress though.”
We carried on getting dressed and made up, chatting about all the people we were looking forward to catching up with. People we hadn’t seen since school or college.
A small pang of jealousy caught in my chest. Brianna really was living the dream, marrying her childhood sweetheart. If things had been different, maybe that could have been me.
Before we headed off to the ceremony, the three of us stood in the living area of the cabin.
“There are going to be plenty of eligible men here today. We need to find you one.” Autumn gripped my hands tightly.
“Looking like that, you’re not going to have any problems at all,” agreed Jodie.
I only hoped they were right.
Chapter Ten
Max
