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She knew it was a lie the moment she said it because Mars was, absurdly, starting to matter too.
The knowledge was uncomfortable to sit with. It sat in a knot in her stomach, burned in a lump in her throat.
It stayed with her at all times.
You pushed him away. And now he matters.
She wasn’t sure if she should call him. But then the article flashed through her mind again. The article she had come back to again and again. Displaying him with a model in a tabloid magazine.
Let’s face it, my girl,a voice spoke grimly in her head.Women are a dime a dozen for Mars Casey. He has already found someone else to charm.
That he had already moved on was a sure thing. Besides, with his wealth and importance, she wasn’t on his radar.
She doubted any lawyer that wasn’t charging a thousand bucks per thirty minutes was on his radar.
And now he mattered.
Rhiannon took several deep breaths, trying and failing to fill her lungs. The breathlessness from the dreams was following her, it seemed.
But she pushed the discomfort aside. She had a press conference to get ready for. Rhiannon had splurged on the dress and shoes she would be wearing that afternoon. Several city officials and philanthropists would be attending for the shelter project.
That was something that Ellyn had arranged. Although Rhiannon had a feeling that Gerri Wilder somehow had a hand in things.
She would be riding to the event with Gerri that evening, and Rhiannon had been avoiding her calls.
She knew there would be hell to pay for that.
Rhiannon had gone to a salon that morning for the first time in years. She wanted something different, wanted to treat herself. Wanted to look her best.
She realized her feelings about her appearance were latent emotions over Mars. But she pushed those thoughts aside too.
No time to think about him right now.
The hairstylist had trimmed half an inch off her hair and added slight highlights. They were barely noticeable until she stepped into the sun.
Then she shimmered, a halo of gold crowning her head.
“You can do this. Everything will be fine,” Rhiannon muttered to herself as she reached for the dress.
The new outfit was a result of a shopping trip with Ellyn. Her best friend had chosen it and put it in the basket before she could say anything.
She had bought it with some trepidation, especially after checking the price tag. And now she was looking at it with a lot of trepidation. It was a black and gold dress with a high neckline.
The shoulders and sleeves of the dress were black chiffon overlaying gold satin. The bodice of the dress fell in swathes of fabric to her waist. A gold, shimmery band circled her waist. Then more thin black fabric fell gracefully to her knees.
Underneath it, gold satin hugged her body.
She couldn’t help but gasp when she pulled the dress on. The black chiffon swung beautifully with every movement she made.
But when she stood perfectly still, the black fabric seemed to recede. And all that could be seen was the gold satin that revealed every curve of her body.
“Damn,” she murmured before stepping into the chunky heels which Ellyn had also chosen for her. A warm blush spread over her face as she looked at herself in the mirror. For a second, she saw a goddess dripping with gold.
Rhiannon rarely gave her looks a second thought. She liked her skin and her hair, but she had always been bigger and curvier.
Though it was never something that bothered her that much. She had spent most of her life so focused on work that she didn’t have time to dislike her body.
She had only felt self-conscious the few times she had tried going on dates. But then, things hadn’t worked out anyway, and she had happily fallen back to work, and those feelings were easily forgotten.
