Page 43 of Second Chance Wedding
“Only that I hadn’t mentioned it.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ana said. “I didn’t want to leave a bad impression, but instead I made it worse, didn’t I?”
“He’ll be fine,” Quinley said. “And so will you. I told him you were just embarrassed and dealing directly with the limo owners, and I was sure you’d come see him soon.”
“I will. Thank you.”
“I got you, girlie. Now, let’s go over this again.”
Analise listened as Quinley explained why she’d used certain hashtags and keywords, the timetable for recommended postings, and all the other information Ana would never have thought to consider but was all there for Cole’s perusal.
“I got it,” Ana said as the stylist came to start on her hair. Quinley had booked the appointments as a massage for herself and makeup and hair for Ana.
The conversation turned as the stylist curled Ana’s medium-length hair onto huge, heated rollers to set the top and then grabbed a gigantic round brush and a blow dryer to style the bottom. As she worked her way through, the woman gradually removed the rollers and finished the top until Analise’s hair looked sexy and alluring and totally different from the sleek twist she’d worn it in for the gala.
She’d swapped her gala dress for a figure-hugging red dress that bared one shoulder and draped over the other. The fabric of the drape hid the multi-colored bruise on her collar bone which was another reason why she’d chosen it. The last thing she wanted to do was remind Cole it was there and potentially cause him to question her once more.
She fussed with the rucking at her waist and then smoothed her hand over the high-cut split that revealed heels with sparkling wraps around her lower calves. Cole had always loved her legs, and the instant she’d seen the dress, she’d had to wear it. What girl didn’t like a little body armor when meeting an ex?
“So did you make up your mind?” Quinley asked once the blow dryer was turned off.
“About?”
“Whether you want tonight to be a date,” Quinley said.
Analise faced the mirror and watched the way the stylist pretended not to listen but captured every word as she fluffed and sprayed. “I don’t think that’s my decision to make.”
“Not your— Of course it is,” Quinley said.
“It’s not,” Ana argued, giving up all pretense of confidentiality. “I broke up with him. I ended things. The only reason he asked me to go with him tonight is because it’s some business function he needs a date for, and he…used the excuse of needing advertising advice. He feels sorry for me due to the mess Benji dragged me into.”
While the stylist had dried Ana’s hair, Quinley had slipped behind the trifold screen and changed out of the fluffy robe and back into her clothes. She now sat leaning to one side in the chair beside Ana’s, chin propped on one fist.
“Yeah, I call bull.”
“Quinley…”
“I mean it. Think about it. All those years ago, you broke it off, yes, but that was then. You’re two very different people now, and the reasons you had to break it off no longer exist. He’s no longer in the military, and you’re no longer a girl trying to figure out your life.”
That was true. All of it. “That doesn’t meanhewould ever want more with me. I hurt him, and…things are complicated enough with Benjamin acting out and me scaling my business. The last thing I need is to throw a man into the mix.”
“Technically Ben threw Cole into the mix,” Quinley said. “The question now is are you going to throw out the batter or bake a cake?”
“I don’t even knowwhatto say to that,” Ana said with an awkward sounding laugh.
“It means look in the mirror,” Quinley said.
Ana looked, suddenly more than a little awed by the magic the stylist had performed. Her eyes appeared smoky, her lips full and glistening, and her hair— Why couldn’t she ever get her hair to look so thick and luxurious when she did it herself?
“That’s not eighteen-year-old Ana,” Quinley said softly. “Thatis a woman who is young andhotwith plenty of life left, one who will have an empty nest in a few years and wonder why she worked so hard only to wake up alone.”
The stylist nodded once at Quinley’s statement, and the woman turned with an excuse to leave the room. “What about you? You have a lot to say about my love life, but whenever I ask about yours lately, I get dodged at every turn.”
Ana swiveled in the chair to fully face her friend. “Your wedding is in a matter ofweeks,and… you don’t seem excited at all. Why is that?”
Quinley’s smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“You are imagining things.”
