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“AndIstill think it’s a task she’ll gladly cross off her list. Especially after the fun little timeline shrinker that you and Maximus dropped on her yesterday,” Kell answers with a simple shrug and elegant grin that’ll haunt my dreams for weeks to come.
“Not little andnotfun,” I grouse while trying to readjust the left side of my strapless corset. Something from it is digging into my girl flesh there, emphasizing thenot funtheme that’s dominating this morning. “Still, she wasn’t too excited when we threatened to just run away and do the deed in Vegas over Halloween. Oh, wow—” I cut into my own rambling, grabbed by a fresh revelation. “Maybe that’s where Maximus disappeared to last night.”
Kell’s mild mien gives way to a scowl. “And maybe it’s time for you to stop fixating. He calledandtexted, right? Several times? A full Alameda Literature Department brainstorming session? Which, unsurprisingly, probablydidgo all night if President McCarthy’s demanding detailed plans for catching up students after the earthquake break.”
I fling her a questioning side-eye. “You seem to know a lot about that.”
“Because you filled me in this morning.”
“I was that coherent?”
A new shrug. “The sun was out, sister.”
No better reason for me to embrace a fresh frown. “It was still six a.m.,sister.”
“Since when have I cared about the clock when it’s time to make sure you’re being a productive member of society?”
“Truth,” I mumble, though it fades into a curious hum as I follow her gaze out a wide bay window, where full cypresses are sentries for a private garden directly overlooking the Pacific in one of Santa Barbara’s exclusive enclaves. There’s a pod of dolphins leaping out in the waves, explaining her fascination—and enhancing the view that’s made the last three hours a little less stressful for me.
Can’t say I’ve reached the same conclusion about Maximus’s absence last night.Allnight. Without him wrapped around the sprout and me, my sleep was fitful at best. At the moment, it feels like a decent excuse to toss a deeper frown in Kell’s direction.
“I’d have just preferred it if you’d roused me to go lounge down on that beach instead of drowning me in chiffon.”
She accepts my nod toward the beach with a light laugh. “Perhaps we can make that a reality once we decide onthedress.”
“We?” I tug on the corset again, still worried that Twiglet might make an ill-timed appearance. “You meanyou. Because—”
“Yes, yes,” she wearily interrupts. “I know. You’d marry Maximus in a potato sack and be happy about it. But we don’t want to be responsible for a Veronica-style coronary, which means you’re wearing Madame Verocity, and this is her only free consulting day for the next three months. Since she’ll be in Europe until Thanksgiving and then Miami during the holidays, your alterations will likely be handled by a Verocity minion. But for now, we’ll get thebig lookhandled.”
“And let’s face it, darling.Nobodydoes the big looks like me.”
That perfect purr is the rightful possession of the room’s newest arrival, a diva rocking one-inch eyelashes, six-inch stilettos, and a flawless pink smile. Her hourglass figure is exquisitely defined by a short-sleeved sweater set with a wide diamond belt, matched by the jewels on her ears and neck. For all her va-va-voom femineity, she’s dragging a fully loaded dress rack like a seasoned teamster unloading a cargo container.
As she does, Kell delivers a pair of playful snaps into the air.
“As usual, Verocity delivers the veracity.” She cocks a hip, rolls back on one foot, and joins the famous designer in appraising my lingerie-clad form. “What’s our next play with this pretty girl, V?”
Madame comes forward, assessing me. “Well, we’ve officially ruled out the princess poof, as well as the subdued A-lines. So let’s streamline things.”
“Not too streamlined,” Kell objects. “It’s some zazz. Something different. YouknowVeronica.”
“Oh, Lord, do I know Veronica.” As the designer basks in our joint giggles, she also assesses the massive line of gowns on the big dolly. Most of them are zipped into wide, clear bags. From here, they all look the same. Fortunately, the designer jabs a decisive finger at a couple of low-key receptacles toward the far-left side. “If you go simpler with the overall line, the look will require a statement from another angle. I do think…perhaps a custom-embellished train and veil…might make all the difference in the world.”
The whole time she croon-chatters, the woman sweeps a gown out of a bag, gathers it around her forearms, and then lifts it over my head. The shimmering mermaid flare, along with its sparkly sheath dress, tumble effortlessly until I’m fully covered in the front.
The woman only gets to the halfway point of zipping me up before Kell grins like a loon, gasps like a giddy kid, and presses her hands to her cheeks. My own face widens with shock, wondering if she’s about to give in to tears as well. I’m unsure whether to keep gawking at her or look away, so I opt for a third option. Blushing like crazy.
“Okay, the sayingistrue,” she utters. “You really do know when you put on the right one.”
After summoning a huge breath, I dare to take her up on that and fully raise my head. I tell myself it’s no big deal, that Kell isn’t going to put me onblockandignorejust for hating the gown that brought her to tears.
Except that it does worse things to me.
Awful word choice. Notworse.
In so many ways, despite the sob that burns my throat and the fingers that fly to my lips, it’s all so much better. The feeling that I’m not even looking atmeanymore. The bright soar of realizing that I am. That this beautiful creature, gazing back from atop the high scalloped neckline with iridescent beads, is actually the woman who’s going to be Mrs. Maximus Kane. That she’s going to be beyond joyous about it.
Most of all, that the professor who took a wild chance on loving little me is going to be just as happy.
