“I’ll text you.” Her phone rang. “It’s Justin.”
“Say no more.” She opened the car door as Savannah waved goodbye and put her phone to her ear. “Hey, babe. You won’t believe the dress I’m getting—”
Britt shut the door and went to her car. She set her purse on the empty seat and started the engine, glancing at the clock on the dash. Almost ten o’clock. She hadn’t expected to be gone that long, and she should have let Mom know she was running late. Then again, she was an adult. She didn’t need to check in with her mother all the time.
As she drove home, she thought about Hunter again. No doubt he had tons of girls interested in him. He seemed so sure of himself, she had to assume his social calendar was full. And yet he was willing to spend a lot of time with her.
Does he like me?
She slammed on her brakes, almost running a stop sign. She blew out a breath and gathered her senses, forcing herself to pay attention to driving until she arrived home. When she turned off her car, she sat for a minute. Hunter liking her? Impossible. Men like him didn’t give women like her a second look. Crazy-haired, pale-skinned, anxiety-ridden women.Don’t forget horse-faced.Ugh.
No, he was just a nice guy interested in art. That was all there was to it. And she needed to get her attraction to him under control. Just because he was gorgeous and kind didn’t mean shehadto like him. Sheshouldn’tlike him. It would be a monumental waste of time, and she had other things to focus on. Her channel, her maid of honor responsibilities, and... and...
Well, those two. But they were enough.
Only the living room light was on when she walked inside. She turned it off and headed for her room. Her mother’s room was down the hall, and she didn’t see light coming from underneath the door, so she assumed Mom was asleep. After she changed out of her shirt and pants and put on a pink Manga T-shirt and candy-striped cotton shorts, she pulled back the covers on her bed and snuggled underneath them. One last look at her channel and she’d go to sleep.
She had seven DMs. One of them was from Hunter.
I forgot one thing, and I hope it’s okay to ask this. Can I get your number? H.
Her stomach turned into a butterfly garden.He wants my number!Then she shook her head. Art lessons, remember? She tapped her number into the message.
A minute later she got a text.
Thanks. See you next Monday.
She couldn’t help but smile as she quickly deleted the DM with her number in case she got hacked.
See you then.
Chapter 12
Daniel’s jaw almost hit the floor when he read the price tag hanging from a navy blue wool suit. Almost one thousand dollars. Unbelievable. And that was less than the last suit he’d looked at.I should have just stayed in the car.
He tugged on his plain black tie—a splurge at thirty dollars from a chain department store—as Arthur strolled through the store, an attentive employee at his heels. His boss’s schedule was usually light on Fridays, and Daniel always prepared himself for Arthur’s call requesting he pick him up at work early. Today when he’d left the Picketts’ house in University Park it was a little past eleven thirty. He was promptly instructed by Arthur to bring him to Dan Hutton’s, a high-end haberdashery in downtown Dallas. Until now, he’d had no idea how high end it was.
“We have some recent Jack Victor arrivals, sir.” The haberdasher, a sixty-ish, impeccably dressed gentleman without a hair out of place and a mustache to rival Burt Reynolds, gestured to another suit display.
Arthur slowly looked them over, then selected a camel-colored one.
“Excellent choice.” The man smiled and took the jacket off the hanger. “Cashmere is always in style.”
In his several months of employ, Daniel had yet to see Arthur wear the same ensemble twice. He couldn’t imagine the moneyhis boss had spent on his wardrobe, especially if he frequently shopped here.
While Arthur continued his extravagant retail therapy, Daniel wandered through the store. He couldn’t even afford a pair of socks from here. Which was fine. He’d never been a fancy guy, and while he didn’t mind wearing a suit for his job, he did find it stifling at times. He stopped in front of an impressively displayed circle of ties fanned out on a table, a male torso stand in the middle wearing a neutral-colored shirt. He didn’t even bother looking at the prices.
Arthur appeared to be settling in, so Daniel parked himself in a leather chair near the door and pulled out his phone. He set the speaker to mute and went to YouTube. Britt hadn’t posted anything new so far this week. She’d told him that she didn’t really have a set filming or uploading schedule, just that she had to post content fairly regularly.
He clicked one of her older videos he hadn’t seen before and started to watch, immediately smiling when she showed up on screen. He turned down the volume so low it was nearly inaudible as he watched her demonstrate how to make a basket using pine needles. She filmed herself weaving it and had sped up the footage, which made it even more impressive. It amazed him how she could master any creative medium.
He was about to click on another video when a young man entered the store. He stopped a few feet from the entrance and glanced around with a wary look, as if he’d just walked into a strange new world. Daniel sure could relate.
The guy was tall with shaggy blond hair and was wearing a form-fitting white T-shirt and shorts. He was extremely fit. Daniel inwardly sighed. Once upon a time he’d been in that kind of shape.But he’d abused his body with alcohol, bad nutrition, and other horrendous personal choices. Now he was forty-eight, and middle age was having its way. He wasn’t decrepit, but he sure did feel old.
He clicked on another one of Britt’s videos while the guy walked over to the tux section of the store. A minute into Britt’s introduction, he received a text.
Arthur: I need a third opinion.
