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“You’ll rock it. Try not to worry. Pete’s all bark and no bite.”
“Well, I prefer no barking or biting.”
Drew laughed. “If anyone’s doing the biting, it’ll be me.”
Visions of Drew nibbling on her ear made butterflies come to life inside her. She stared at their picture and smiled. “I miss you so much, Drew.”
“I miss you too.”
“Sweet dreams, Drew.”
“Sweet dreams, Lacey.”
Everything was falling into place. Lacey sat at her computer, creating an exciting digital presentation and turning her vision boards into reality—something that would knock Pete Carson off his feet. There was no way Zeke, or anyone else, would nail this presentation as well as she would.
For the first time since being back from vacation, she was finally able to relax. It hadn’t been very long since she’d met Drew, and since then, she felt as though she were walking on air. But despite everything that was happening in her personal life, her professional one needed to take center stage.
With a grin, Lacey added a few details to her presentation and powered off her computer. It was time to get ready for her New Year’s Eve girls’ night. She had the champagne chilling, the noisemakers and party hats on the coffee table, and the TV set to watch the ball drop. Even though it was happening not far from her apartment, she had never wanted to brave the crowds and watch it in person.
Her bell rang and she let her friends in. The aroma of various Chinese dishes wafted from the paper bag Grace was holding.
“Happy New Year!” Janine shouted, pulling Lacey into a hug.
Grace walked past them to set the bag down on the kitchen counter and began pulling out the white containers. “We got a bit of everything and extra fortune cookies.”
Every year the girls would end up swapping fortunes or opening more cookies until they got what they wanted. It really didn’t make any sense, but it was fun to have things go their way—even if just on little slips of paper.
The ladies sat on Lacey’s couch, eating dish after dish and sipping champagne. “This is the best,” Janine said, popping a piece of hunan chicken into her mouth.
Lacey nodded. “I thought you liked the shrimp better, but yeah, the chicken is extra good this time.”
Janine tilted her head and gave her an exasperated stare. “No, not the food. Us… this. There’s nothing like girl time.”
Grace set down her bowl and chopsticks. Grabbing her glass, she held it in the air. Lacey and Janine followed suit. “To us. May wealways have each other.”
“To us,” Lacey and Janine said in unison before taking a sip.
After a couple of glasses of champagne, the girls went into teenage-slumber-party mode. They nestled into the couch cushions like birds in a nest. Lacey sat in the middle between Grace and Janine as they watched musical act after musical act perform in Times Square.
A couple of minutes before the ten-second countdown was about to commence, and with full glasses of champagne, the girls stood, staring at the TV. Lacey’s phone rang, and Drew’s face appeared on her screen.
“Ooh, he’s video-calling you.” Janine squealed when she glanced down at Lacey’s phone.
“Do I look okay?”
“Just answer the call,” Grace barked. “You look fine, and if he’s as wonderful as you say he is, he won’t care.”
Lacey set her glass down and with a trembling hand picked up her phone. She plastered a wide smile on her face and accepted the call. Just seeing his face relaxed her.
“Hi, beautiful.” Drew was gorgeous in a black button-down shirt; his tousled hair looked a bit tamer, but just like when they were face-to-face, his eyes met hers. “I hope I’m not interrupting. I wanted to be with you when the ball dropped.”
“You’re not interrupting.” Grace popped her head over Lacey’s left shoulder.
Janine did the same over Lacey’s right one. “Wow, you’re super hot. Like you should have a cape with SH on it.”
Lacey could feel—and see—her face flame red. Drew chuckled. “You must be Grace and Janine. I’ve heard a lot about you both.”
“That’s us.” Grace said with extra giddiness to her tone. “Janine’s right, you do need a cape.”
