Sabine leans back, looking at me funny. “Is everything okay?” she whispers.
I nod, feeling my head swirling. “It’s all good.”
“Can you believe this?” Wendy shouts. “Ten million dollars! We won’t have to turn away any applicants for years. We’ll be able to expand to different cities. This is going to be the best summer ever!”
I hold the phone away from my ear as she screams again.
My heart races with excitement. Ten million dollars. I can’t believe it. We’ve never had this kind of money before. Lastyear, Wendy and I worked ourselves to the bone and we only managed to raise two hundred thousand.
This kind of money… God, it’s going to change so many kids’ lives.
We chat for a little longer and then she hangs up, saying she’s going to call everyone she knows to tell them the good news.
I’m kind of stunned as I sit here with my heart pounding.
“Should we continue?” Sabine asks, holding up a lip liner.
“Yes,” I say, barely able to focus. “Please continue.”
I want to look extravagant for Adrian tonight. I want to knock his socks off.
I want to make today a day he’ll remember forever.
Because that’s what he just did for me.
When I’m all ready, I don’t even recognize the woman in the mirror. I look like a movie star. I look like a dream version of myself.
The red dress and the diamond jewelry and the professional makeup and my hair swept up into what Sabine called a sleek chignon.… It’s all so ethereal and dreamlike.
It feels odd to see myself like this and a part of me wants to take it all off and be myself. If Adrian can’t fall in love with the real me, do I even want him?
But I already know this man has fallen hard. He fell for me in my yoga pants and my old hoodie on the airplane. All of this doesn’t mean a thing.
Plus, Sabine did so much work and it would break her heart if I took it all off now.
I’ll keep it on and have fun tonight. I’ll play the princess role and then be back to myself in the morning. If he looks disappointed when I wake up without make up on and my hair a wild mess, than I’ll know for sure.
“What do you think?” Sabine asks as she stands back and appraises me like an artist critiquing their own work.
“Sabine, you outdid yourself.”
She smiles. “I think so too. You’ll be married by morning.”
I laugh and turn a little red. “I don’t know aboutthat.”
But it’s a tempting thought. And one I indulge in a little as she packs up and leaves.
“The jewelry,” I say when she leaves the large box behind.
“That is yours, Mademoiselle,” she says with a wink. “Purchased by Mr. Drake.”
I don’t even know how to deal withthat, so I just turn back to the mirror and admire the stunning red dress hanging off my body.
Jericho knocks on my door a few minutes later. His eyes bug out for a second when he sees me, but then he slips his professional mask back on and nods. “Good evening, Miss Howard. I’m here to escort you to your dinner date.”
“Where’s Adrian?” I ask with a nervous laugh. “Am I eating alone?”
“It will all make sense in a moment,” he says, offering me his arm.
