Page 48 of A Whim and a Prayer

“I know, I know.” Winnie wiped the lipstick off her lips and her teeth, then tried again with a quivering hand, thinking she’d be better off letting Abby do it. Which … was obviously Abby’s assessment too.

“Here, give me that—you’re making a mess.” Abby grabbed another tissue and cleaned Winnie’s lips once more before bending to carefully reapply. “Goodness, this Crimson Kiss sure is messy if you smear it …”

Crimson Kiss. Winnie winced at the name, which brought her right back to her frustration.

Kissing Beck. Her lashes drifted closed like the curtain on the stage.

One last time.

“There! Mmm … great job if I say so myself.” Abby blotted Winnie’s lips several times to press the lipstick more firmly in, then nudged her back in the chair. “Lean your head back, Win—I have to apply the setting powder so our boy doesn’t get it all over during the big kiss.”

The big kiss. Winnie gulped as Abby laid a tissue over Winnie’s mouth before dusting it with the translucent powder that Mrs. C had brought from The Footlight Club. “Boy, Beck is really lucky Mrs. C is a professional who knows all the Hollywood tricks, because as drooly as that boy is, he sure wouldn’t look good in clown lips.”

Abby stepped back with a squint, then broke into an ear-to-ear grin. “Gorgeous—absolutely gorgeous!” She checked her watch once more. “And in record time too—three minutes to spare. But … before you go, I want to know one thing that I’ve been dying to ask.”

Winnie gave her a thin look. “What?”

Glancing around, Abby bent close with a sparkle in her eyes. “So … is Beck a good kisser?”

Hot blood gorged Winnie’s face, and Abby giggled like a little girl.

“I knew it!” she shouted with a little bounce. “Somebody as good-looking as Beck just has to be a good kisser.” She leaned in, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “So … did you like it?”

More heat blasted, not only Winnie’s face this time, but her entire body as she jumped to her feet. “Abigail Lorraine McGuire—you are utterly impossible!” She snatched her cowboy hat from the back of the chair, frantically fanning her face before she put it on. “I swear, you love to beat a dead horse, don’t you! I’ve told you before, I am not interested in Beck that way.”

“I know, I know,” Abby said with a bit of the devil in her eyes, “but since your face is as red as your lipstick right now, I just figured there had to be some tingles and toe-curling going on because I know there sure would have been with me.”

“Well, there weren’t, okay?” Winnie fibbed, not willing to classify glazed eyes and weak knees as “tingles and toe-curling.” She all but ripped her beaded vest off the back of the chair with an onslaught of palpitations. “If anything, it was … it was …” Winnie struggled to find the right words that would silence Abby once and for all.

“It … was … what?” Abby grinned with an annoying tilt of her head.

With a low growl, Winnie threw her hands up in frustration. “It was weird and very strange, okay? And downright awkward, if you want to know the truth,” she said with a thrust of her chin, figuring that wasn’t a lie because she did feel all those things.

At least before he kissed her.

Abby lifted her palms. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I’ll let it go.”

“Sure you will,” Winnie said as she tucked her blouse in tighter with a flat smile. “I think I’ll start pushing Beck to date you to get you off my back about this.”

Abby caught her breath, hand to her chest. “Oh … would you?” she whispered, eyes wide with hope.

Winnie laughed out loud. “Looks like you should be the one doing the kissing scene, Abs, because I guarantee I wouldn’t have to ask Beck to take you out if you did. The man would be putty in your hands.”

Eyes suddenly dreamy, Abby released a lovesick sigh. “Oh, I just love playing with putty …”

“Well, I’ll see what I can do, Cuz.” Winnie chuckled as she hooked her arm through Abby’s on the way out the door. Once outside, they parted ways, with Abs hurrying to join her family in the audience while Winnie waited backstage with the others for the curtain.

The orchestra out front began to play the entr’acte, a shorter instrumental piece that reprised the songs from Act 1, and Winnie drew in a deep breath, slowly exhaling it again. After laughing with Abby, she was feeling worlds better, almost no anxiety over the impending kiss at all. This wouldn’t be so bad, she decided as she closed her eyes to sway with the music, looking forward to Beck and her getting back to their friendship.

A strong and solid friendship that could weather any storm, including these pesky feelings this play had ignited. Soon, those feelings would be gone, and they could go back to their comfortably platonic relationship like always. Her mouth pinched in a stubborn line of resolve. And Winnie intended to make good and sure by dousing any sparks that remained.

Squaring her shoulders, she waited for the rise of the curtain, where her first number would be, “I Got Lost in His Arms,” a romantic ballad about falling in love—something Winnie fully intended to do ... but not with Beckett Campbell. Her lips sealed tightly as she made up her mind.

With Brayden McCarthy.

Chapter Thirty-One

“Promise or not, kiddo, I’m going to enjoy every one of those kisses as much as I can.”