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Chapter Ten
Today I was officially thirty years old. Honestly, I was okay with the milestone birthday. Of course, it helped that I had amazing girlfriends who’d decided to take me shopping that morning. They insisted on a new outfit for tonight’s festivities.
Now, taking a deep breath, I peered at myself in my bedroom mirror and had to blurt out, “Holy shit.” I looked, well, sexy in the fitted black dress with the bottom slightly flared. The knee-high, black silk stockings had seemed silly when Haylee had suggested them, but paired with the gorgeous high-heeled ankle boots and this dress, they gave an effect that was both sexy and sophisticated. Two words I never would have associated with myself.
Sasha had done my makeup, playing up my eyes and making my lips appear full and pouty. My still-getting-used-to-being-a-brunette hair had been straightened and was silky down my back.
Sasha smiled. “Told you. You look smoking.”
My gaze finally left my reflection and met hers. “I’ll kill myself in these boots.”
She shook her head. “Minimal walking tonight as the limo will drop us off curbside, both at the restaurant and the club.”
Right. I could do that. Maybe. After all, these women did it daily. I’d always coveted their shoes but never could quite get the hang of heels. Even with my living room practice round. Still, glancing back at my image in the mirror, I couldn’t wait until Mark saw me dressed like this.
Later, I gave a last kiss to Tristan and thanked Josh’s mother for agreeing to babysit both kids tonight while she was in town for the weekend. Then I joined my friends downstairs to get into a limo. I wobbled a bit as I stepped toward the waiting car but recovered with the help of Sasha’s arm.
“It gets easier the more you relax and drink something. The boys are already at the restaurant, by the way. So we’ll meet them there.”
The moment I stepped into the beautiful steakhouse, my heart started beating double time at the thought of seeing Mark. The floors were a dark wood and the lighting chic and modern. I barely noticed, though, instead scanning the room for him as we passed tables on our way toward the back of the restaurant.
His reaction was worth the wait. I watched his eyes skim over the group of us walking toward the table, only to back up and widen upon realizing I was amongst the ladies. Thankfully, the lighting was dim and no one seemed to notice the blush I knew was creeping up my face, put there by his heated gaze.
Of course, that all changed once Brian peeled his eyes away from his fiancée long enough to do a double take on me.
“Holy shit, Juliette, is that you?”
So much for not being a center of attention. Five sets of eyes focused on me. Sasha appeared proud and took my hand, twirling me around. “She looks great, right?”
Brian, the most charming man I’d ever met, didn’t miss a beat. “You look beautiful. You know, for a thirty-year-old.”
His sarcastic side was the reason we remained such good friends.
I scoffed. “Ha ha. Have I told you lately how much I miss your sarcasm-laced compliments?”
He laughed and gave me a hug. “Not as much as I’ve missed yours.”
I’d wondered as the night progressed how Mark would act around me in a group setting and if he would ignore me. But I was pleasantly surprised when he was friendly without being overtly obvious that something was going on between us. I was even more pleased when I received his text at the dinner table.
“You look stunning.”
I typed back, “Thank you. I was excited to see you tonight.”
“I’ve been fantasizing about you all week.”
He wasn’t the only one who’d been fantasizing, but Haylee snapped me out of typing a response. “That’s quite a smile. Who are you texting?”
“Oh, it was my mom wishing me happy birthday. She sent me a photo of myself when I was Tristan’s age.” I quickly flipped to her earlier text to flash the picture. My ability to recover quickly made me grateful, but I didn’t dare make eye contact with Mark.
After a delicious dinner, we made our way to a club downtown. I tried not to gape, but it was surreal to walk into a trendy club through the VIP doors while a line of people snaked around the block waiting to gain entrance. This might not ever be my scene, but for one night I could certainly appreciate it.
Pulsing music hit me before I had a chance to take in the large bar which seemed to glow in the blueness of the room. My gaze was pulled in every direction and my senses overloaded. Girls danced on platforms above a checkerboard-looking glass dance floor whose squares lit different colors every few seconds. I was so awestruck that it took Sasha to get me moving again.
“Come on. We reserved a table upstairs.”
The second level of the club was less noisy and separated into different seating areas. A hostess in a barely-there skirt led us to ours, which consisted of two large plush sofas and a couple of chairs surrounding a table already stocked with carafes of juices and a bottle each of Grey Goose and Patron. Clearly, Sasha and Haylee didn’t mess around when it came to a night out.
Each of us ladies took seats on the leather couches and settled into small talk while the men went to the restroom. “I thought only girls went in groups to the bathroom.”
