Page 163 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
I swatted her from across the table.
“Hush,” I said. “Let’s go home, get changed, and head to the mall. You need to help me find an outfit for tonight.”
If I was going out with Cayden again, I had to make sure that I looked damn good.
* * *
Two hours later, we were rummaging through the racks at one of my favorite stores.
“What look should I go for?” I asked Mandy.
“The Fuck-Me look,” Mandy said. I playfully swatted at her.
“No,” I responded. “Not the answer I was looking for.”
She picked a hot pink dress from the rack.
“This?” she asked, holding it up. I shook my head. I could never wear something like that. For starters, the color was way too bright for me. Second, the dress was extremely short. The black one I wore the other night was as short as I was willing to go. She sighed and put the dress back on the rack.
I noticed a woman walking into the store. She looked just like Jessica, but she was too far away for me to see her face. Mandy caught me watching the woman walk to the opposite side of the store.
“Who is that?” she asked. I shook my head.
“I thought it was a co-worker,” I lied. “On second thought, let’s get this dress.” I picked up the pink dress that I had previously rejected. Although my head knew that Jessica was on the other side of the state, I also knew there was a slight possibility that she could be in town. She probably still had family and friends in Miami. If it was her, I did not want to be seen.
As the cashier was ringing up my purchase, the mystery woman left the store. She never looked my way, so I was unable to confirm if it was Jessica or not. Still, the sighting put a bad taste in my mouth. It brought up all sorts of feelings about being cheated on by someone who I thought had loved me.
“What’s wrong?” Mandy asked as we left the mall. She had noticed the sudden shift in my attitude.
“I just thought I saw someone,” I said. “The girl in the store, I thought it was Jessica.”
“Jessica Jessica?”
I nodded.
“Shit,” she said. “I wish you would have told me. I would have gone right up and punched that bitch in the face!”
Her unexpected reaction made me laugh.
“Thanks, Bestie,” I said. I shook the sighting off as nothing, just my imagination trying to self-sabotage my date with Cayden.
Later that day, I was fully prepared for my date. Since I had a few hours to kill, Mandy and I went and got spray tans, manicures, and pedicures before she had to go to work.
“Have fun,” Mandy said on her way out. “And remember, no glove, no love!”
I lightheartedly threw a magazine in the direction of her head as she left my bedroom. I turned to look at myself in the mirror. I did look good, especially with a bit of added color on my skin. Despite growing up in Miami, I had naturally light skin. The spray tan made my eyes pop.
The dress that I had been nervous about fit me great. It wasn’t as short as I had expected. It was about the same length as the black one that I wore the other night. I had decided to straighten my naturally wavy hair. It looked sleek and sexy. I hoped that Cayden would like it.
Mandy helped me with my makeup. While I could do the basics, Mandy knew how to do the perfect winged eyeliner and contouring. I looked better than I had in years. Just looking at myself in the mirror had boosted my confidence a tiny bit. But, just a tiny bit.
I still wasn’t sure what Cayden was doing with me. I didn’t care if Nikki and Mandy both said that I was a catch. They were my friends. They were supposed to say things like that. I didn’t know how this all had happened. It seemed like this whole week was on turbo drive. We had our group lunch on Monday and two days later, I was kissing Cayden. Now, we were already going on our second date. Things were moving at a rapid speed, at least for me.
I knew whatever I did tonight, there was one thing that I had to prevent from happening. No matter how much I wanted it, I could not have sex with Cayden. I could not let sexual feelings make this get more complicated. I would go out to dinner with him and come back home. We would end it with a kiss, just like last time. Even though I desperately wanted to reenact my hot dream, I could not give into him this easily.
CHAPTER 7
CAYDEN
