Page 2 of Pierced Pages
“It does look nice,” Jen said. “I just mean it’s cold out.”
She was right. They might be in South Louisiana, but February was still cold, even with the mild warm front that had passed through a couple of days ago.
Morgan grabbed a black open-front sweater and held it up. “Handled.”
“How formal is this recommitment ceremony thing? Will your cousin care if you wear pants? Or a sleeveless top? I haven’t been to a wedding since I was a kid, and that wasn’t exactly a formal affair. Does it matter what you wear?”
Jen had grown up a far cry from Morgan’s upbringing. She’d been raised as a free-range kid with seven brothers and sisters, all of whom spent most of their time running barefoot through the woods behind their house.
Morgan looked down at the shiny green blouse hanging loosely from her long torso. It showed off her arms, which had seen a lot more of the gym lately. The light gray wide-leg pants she paired it with were wrinkle-free, which wasn’t something she could say about the rest of her wardrobe.
“She’d better be okay with this,” Morgan said. “It came from her boutique.”
Even if it hadn’t been from the boutique her cousin managed, she wasn’t about to let anyone tell her what she was or wasn’t allowed to wear.
Not anymore.
Jen shrugged. “I just know people can be weird about formal stuff. Especially when family’s involved.”
More than anyone, Jen knew how Morgan’s family felt about appearances. So, the question wasn’t completely off the mark.
“People being weird about weddings is not my problem, and Kim isn’t anything like my mom,” Morgan said. “Besides. This isn’t an official wedding. They separated for a little while but are back together now. It’s basically just a big party.”
“Ah, got it,” Jen said. “Then you look perfect.”
“Thank you.”
Jen sifted through the pile of castoff dresses while Morgan went back into the bathroom and left the door open.
“You can have any of those you want,” Morgan said. “I don’t plan on wearing any of them unless I have to, so I only need to keep one or two.”
Jen pulled a reddish-pink sleeveless dress from the pile and held it against her as she sat on the edge of the bed. The color looked great against her cool-toned skin and curly blonde bob. And the bold color played well with all of her tattoos.
“You sure?”
“Yes,” Morgan said. “In fact, if you don’t take that one, I’ll be offended.”
Jen smiled at her. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” She grabbed two different earrings and held one up to each of her ears. Then, she turned back to face the bedroom. “Which one?”
Jen assessed her and the choices. “The clear chandelier ones. Definitely. Mostly because I know you won’t wear them for anything else, and they deserve to see some action.”
“I don’t know what kind of action you think we’re talking about here.” Morgan removed the onyx and titanium posts from her lobes and replaced them with the dangly earrings Jen had selected. The ones she had made a couple of years back but never had the chance to wear now that she had freed herself from all formal obligations.
She made sure the rest of her jewelry was secure but left everything else in place.
“Just public adoration action,” Jen said. “They’re pretty is all I’m saying.”
“Thanks. And you’re right. I don’t wear them except for special occasions. And it isn’t like I have a lot of those.”
Which was fine with Morgan. Way better than when she had all those fancy events and had to play a role she wasn’t right for.
Now, working at the tattoo and piercing shop took up most of her days. The rest of her time was filled with spontaneousoutings with Jen, their weekly TV “date,” and couch snuggles with Reginald.
“Then make the best of this occasion,” Jen said.
Morgan laughed as she placed her regular earrings into the tiny ceramic bowl on the bathroom counter then tossed the unselected pair back into the jewelry box drawer.
