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“Justa dinner party for the Mayor? Do you even have a clue how important something like that is for a business man in this city? This is like a major deal, and he wants to takeyou. I mean, hellooooo! Wake up. He must really like you in order to invite you to something of that caliber on a first date.”
That was probably my biggest question in all the chaos flying around my head regarding this situation; why me? “Well, I’m not putting too much stock in it. Anyway, have fun and be safe tonight.” Grabbing her shoulders, I pulled her in closer. “And if I wasn’t clear enough that means no going back to his place and sleeping with him on the first date.”
Brushing me off, she started to giggle. I knew that giggle. It was the kind of giggle that told me she had already planned that exact kind of scenario for tonight. “I havezeroplans of sleeping with this man tonight.”
“Good. Keep your phone on you and location on so I know where to send the cops and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The moment I stepped out of her room, she called after me, “but you know what they say about even the best laid plans!”
Hitting my hand to my face, I continued on to my bedroom.
The one week I’d wished would have taken forever to go by seemed to have flown by. Scarlett had gone out on two more dates with Kieran, and I’d received a text this morning reminding me of our outing tomorrow night. When the message came across my screen from an unknown sender, I immediately knew it was him. How he got my number, I wouldn’t even try to guess with the way this man just seemed to know things. That day he’d given me the money to buy a dress, I’d counted it out after my conversation with Scarlett, and he had given me three thousand dollars to buy a freaking dress. Where the hell did, he think I shopped? Neiman-Marcus?
“Are you ready to go?” Scarlett asked, bursting into my room, a bundle of excitement for an event I was dreading. At least my brain was dreading it, my body on the other hand, couldn’t stop thinking about how he smelled or made it light up when he was near. I needed to remember this man had threatened not only my life but Scarlett’s life as well. He was the devil, and I did not want to dance with him.
“I’m ready. Let’s get this over with.” Shopping was my least favorite activity. It was like getting waxed for me.
Painful.
Walking into Nordstrom’s, we headed over to the formal ware and began shuffling through all the dresses. Picking out five that seemed like they could possibly work, I went and got a dressing room to try them all on. “Now make sure you come out here and model themallfor me before you trash them, I know how you are.”
She was right. I hated trying on dresses the most. “I know.” I rolled my eyes, walking into the room, shutting the door. The first one I tried on was a red one with spaghetti straps, low cut down the front and a huge slit up one leg. This dress was an automatic no for me. Too revealing.
When I walked out to show Scarlett, she whistled. “Now that is onesexydress. I would say buy it now, but I think you need a little more coverage to feel comfortable. The last thing we need is you walking around all night, covering your chest. Next.”
Grabbing the next one, it was a blue/greyish silk dress, no slit, spaghetti straps again, and not quite as low in the front. I liked it but something about the color on me made me look washed out. When I showed Scarlett, she agreed. After two more no’s, I put on the last one. This one was a delicate, pinkish cream colored, spaghetti strapped dress that had a straight cut across the chest so there was more coverage and no slit up the side. I actually liked the way I looked in this dress. When I walked out to show Scarlett, the huge smile on her face confirmed that she definitely agreed with me on this one. “Oh. My. God. Reese, you look beautiful in that dress. It’s perfect. You have to get it.”
Turning around, I gave myself another look in the mirror. “I really like it. This is definitely the one.”
Paying for the dress, that was only two-hundred and forty-eight dollars I might add, we made our way over to the food court and grabbed some lunch. “So, are you excited about tomorrow night at all?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “A little maybe.”
She leaned in closer. “Ok, seriously, what the hell is going on with you? You have a date with a guy any woman would die to get a date with, and you are acting like he’s walking you to your execution. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Little did she know she’d hit the nail on the head with the last part of her statement. “I just don’t think anything is going to come of it. We don’t have anything in common, and I really don’t like how he went about tracking me down to ask me out. The whole thing gives me stalkerish vibes.”
“So why the hell are you going out with him then?”
Realizing I’d said too much, I didn’t know how to answer that. “I don’t know.”
“Well that’s just a great answer, Reese. Do I need to worry about this date tomorrow? I can always have Kieran tell his friend that you’ve changed your mind and to back off.”
“No!” I blurted out quickly before thinking better of it. “No,” I stated more calmly. “I’m just going to give him the one date and then I’m sure he’ll move on once he sees I’m not going to sleep with him. Besides, it's a dinner with the Mayor, I could use that kind of connection later for a job or something. Like you said there will be a lot of business men there to rub elbows with and possibly score a job offer.”
She stared at me a moment, unsure whether to believe me or not, then shrugged her shoulders. “If you say so. Just make sure you keep your phone on you at all times and your location on. That way if something happens, I know where to send the cops.”
It’s what we had always told each other before we went out on dates. I smiled. “Thanks, babe.
Saturday night was here, and I stood there, staring at myself in the mirror, not recognizing the woman staring back at me. Scarlett had given me a lesson on doing my hair and make-up, and if I didn’t say so myself, I did a pretty damn good job. Hearing a whistling sound, I saw Scarlett, standing off to the side, staring at me. “You look so beautiful, Reese. Creed is not going to be able to take his eyes off of you.”
Her words stirred a thrill inside of me, I’d been trying to bury since the day I met the devil himself. “Thank you for helping me.”
“Anytime...” Hearing the doorbell, she instantly cut her words off and practically flew to the front door. “Ohhh, Reese! You have a gentlemen caller here for you,” she said in a sing-song voice.
He’shere?
He said he was sending a driver, not showing up himself. I wasn’t ready to see him yet, I needed more time to prepare my nerves for this. When I didn’t move to leave, I heard footsteps coming towards me. “Hey, didn’t you hear me?”
