Page 15 of City of Sin (Men of Manhattan 1)

"Hey, are you almost done?" Kendra was standing by my desk holding the dress in her hands. There were only a few people in the office still. It was past 5 o'clock on a Friday. Most people had left exactly at five.

"No. But I should be done in a few hours."

"Is it something I could help with?"

"You're already letting me borrow your dress. You should go have fun at that bar."

"Look, Bee, I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have looked at Patrick's Facebook page. I wasn't trying to rub it in your face..."

"I know. You're just trying to help. And I am ready to get over him. But what if I don't know how? I don't even remember how to go on a date."

Kendra laughed and pulled up a chair to my desk. "Of course you know how to date. It's like riding a bike."

"A bike doesn't try to have a conversation with you."

"But you ride both a date and a bike."

"Oh, God." I rolled my eyes.

"Just be yourself, Bee. Any guy would be lucky to have you. You should try that thing where you say yes to everything."

"So, like if he says let's go have sex in my car I should say yes without even thinking about it?"

"Absolutely."

"I thought you told me to be myself."

Kendra laughed. "Well be a sexy, flirtatious version of yourself. How about I call you at nine? That way if you need an escape you can pretend there's some emergency you need to attend to."

"Now you're talking."

"Okay. I'll call at nine. But if you're already home in bed alone, I'm never speaking to you again. Our friendship is over." Kendra stood up.

"That's a little harsh."

"Tough love, Bee. And don't you dare start talking about Patrick on your date. There's nothing less sexy than talking about an ex on a date."

"Okay. I didn't realize how many rules there were to blind dates."

"You'll be fi

ne. I'll call you at nine. Have fun." She gave me a huge smile.

"When you smile like that you look like a psychopath."

"Thanks. Bye, Bee."

"Bye, Kendra."

Chapter 6

Bee

I quickly slid off my pencil skirt and unbuttoned my blouse. My elbow hit the wall of the bathroom stall and I cursed under my breath. If I knew that this was going to be how my evening would start, I never would have agreed to go. I stepped into the black cocktail dress and held my breath as I zippered up the back. It was a little tight, but it would work. And it was definitely better than my work clothes, which I would have had to wear if Kendra hadn't just picked this dress up from the drycleaners during her lunch break. I'd have to text her to thank her again for letting me borrow it. She was a life saver.

Luckily I had worn heels to work today because of the meeting. The flats I tended to wear on a daily basis would have looked comical with the fancy dress. I stepped back into my high heels and smoothed the dress down. I took a deep breath. A black dress and black heels were perfect for a first date. He probably wouldn't even be able to guess that I had gotten ready at the office.

My nerves were starting to get the better of me. I had never been on a blind date before and I hadn't been on a first date in over five years. And of course Mr. Ellington had made me stay late tonight of all nights so that I wouldn't have time to go home and get ready. I didn't know anyone else who had to stay late on a Friday.

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