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I slid into the round booth. “I’ll have the grilled chicken wedge salad,” I told her as she lifted the last basket and placed it on her tray. “And whatever diet cola is available.”
Her eyes widened at my request. “No Macallan?”
“In a few hours, it will be a new year. I figured I’d start early on the new me.” I winked when she shook her head at me, causing her long dark ponytail to swing over her shoulder. Seeing her smile, I nodded to the food on her tray. “Add their shit to my bill.”
“No need,” she said with a smirk. “The one you got up close and personal with gave his card to start a tab.”
“Did you get the clothes I had sent over?” I asked, changing the subject when the memory of that fucker’s hand hovering over my girl’s ass replayed through my head.
“They’re beautiful. But I don’t get off until two.”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll make our own party. I just want to see you in that dress, babe.”
She studied me for a long moment before taking a step back from the table with a smile. “Grilled chicken wedge salad and diet cola. What dressing?”
“Whichever one my woman thinks is the healthiest for me.”
Cali
As soon as my shift was over, I took my time changing in the locker room. The garment bag hung from the hook inside, and I just stood there for several minutes, staring at it. I should have been wondering how Garret Hannigan knew my size, but instead, all I could think about was where he intended to take me.
It was well after two in the morning, and the club had a tiny disco ball that had dropped at midnight. All the dancers had come out onto the floor and kissed a few of the customers as “Auld Lang Syne” had played through the speakers. I’d been standing at another one of my tables, putting their drinks in front of them, when I’d felt someone come up behind me.
I’d known it was Garret before I even felt his hand on my arm. Slowly, I turned to face him as confetti had fallen around us. When he lowered his head, I’d turned to stone. Kissing was not something I’d been interested in experiencing. Not after what Manuel had done to me. For half a second, I’d wondered if it would feel good, but then the fear had started to choke me as unwanted memories assaulted me.
Garret must have seen the panic on my face, because he cupped my cheeks in his giant hands and then lowered his head, pressing his lips to my forehead. “Happy New Year, blue eyes,” he’d murmured just loud enough for me to hear over the music and buzz of the crowd’s combined voices.
“H-happy New Year,” I’d stuttered, my heart doing something funny in my chest. He gave me a reassuring smile and returned to his booth, where he picked up his second glass of diet soda of the night.
As he sat there, his green gaze had captured mine, and I’d slowly relaxed. After several long moments, I’d finally returned to reality and gotten back to work.
With fingers that trembled, I finally unzipped the bag and nearly gasped at how beautiful the dress was. It was shimmery and long-sleeved, with a high neckline, but the hem was short and would hit right above midthigh. Taking it off the hanger, I saw that the back was low-cut, going all the way to the top of my panty line. Frowning, I looked through the rest of the items and saw a nude backless, strapless bra. There were also shoes that matched the dress and a long Burberry coat.
Having grown up in luxury, I knew exactly how much the entire contents of my locker were worth. That one outfit cost more than everything in my closet back at my apartment combined, with a few thousand dollars left over. I could have paid my rent for months—fucking months—with the money spent on the shoes and coat alone.
The year before, I wouldn’t have even blinked at the expense of all the designer clothes. But I no longer had that luxury.
I hadn’t been the one to spend the money, however, and it wasn’t like I was about to explain to Garret why I was squeamish about the cost. He still hadn’t shown a single sign that he recognized me, and at this point, I could only assume he was completely clueless as to who I’d been before I became Lis Brewer. I hadn’t fully believed him when he’d said the night before that he could remember every word he read but sometimes had issues with faces.
But apparently, that wasn’t a lie. He didn’t remember me. And that made it easier for me to step into the dress and slip the thousand-dollar shoes onto my already aching feet. The feel of the Burberry coat on my back was enough to make me moan, and I wasn’t surprised to find gloves in the pockets.
If he didn’t remember me, then I wasn’t going to hold his past treatment of me over his head. It was time to let that shit go anyway. I had to stop pretending I didn’t like Garret. We were kids back then. Kids did stupid things.
Ugh. I was standing there making excuses for a guy. Which was ridiculous. I hated women who did that. Overlooked the verbal abuse a man—or anyone else—put them through, for whatever reason. Yet there I was, doing just that.
Because I was attracted to the asshole.
Grabbing my purse, I pulled out my phone and debated calling Nova. She would guide me through this without judgment. Plus, I needed to hear her voice. She’d texted me not long after Garret had left my apartment the previous morning to ask about her brother visiting the club, but I hadn’t heard from her since. She was my voice of reason, the only person to selflessly risk their own life to save me. The girl was so damn sweet and the most precious person in my life. She was also smart as fuck and wouldn’t have hesitated to let me know if I was making a mistake or not.
“Yo, Lis!”
I jerked at the sound of my name being called from the door. Turning, I saw the locker room was empty, but there was a shadow of one of the bouncers near the entrance. “Yeah?”
“Mr. Hannigan is worried about you. Everything all right with you in there?”
“I’m fine,” I called back, returning my phone to my purse and slinging the strap over my shoulder. My hair was still in a ponytail, and my makeup probably needed to be refreshed, but Garret was just going to have to take me as I was or drop me off at my apartment.
Walking over to the mirror, I examined myself in the expensive outfit. Even with a few flyaway hairs from my ponytail, I looked good. But then again, it was hard not to with the clothes I had been given. Sighing, I redid my ponytail, even though I’d told myself I wasn’t going to worry about it only moments before.
