“The Goodwill shop on Burnside.”
“The one that gets all the castoffs from the wealthy West Hills ladies?” Lisa stands up and fingers the fabric, then peers at the label. “Does this fit you?”
I shrug. “As far as I know. I haven’t gained or lost weight since I bought it. I just never wore it.”
Lisa stares at me and shakes her head in disbelief. “This is a Victoria Beckham Heavy Fluid silk wrap dress with front slit detail. It’s real silk. Do you have any idea what this retails for?”
I try to recall what I paid for it at Goodwill. “Ten bucks?”
“Try twenty-five hundred,” she says. “The tags are still attached.”
She dips a hand into the neckline and pulls up a pile of fancy-looking tags I probably would have noticed if I’d ever worn the dress. The original price is obscured by a series of clearance stickers marking it down to a cool seven hundred and fifty, but Lisa peels those back to prove her point. “See?” she says. “This dress sold out in days. It’s from last year, obviously?—”
“Obviously,” I mimic, earning myself a swat from Lisa.
“Seriously, it’s a killer dress,” she says. “Why haven’t you worn it?”
“Where was I going to wear it?”
Junie fingers the hem. “It’s soft,” she says. “Ian will like touching it.”
“That’s for sure.” Lisa’s smile turns sultry.
“And it’s yellow,” Junie adds, giving a sharp nod like this decides it all.
It pretty much does.
“Okay, okay,” I mutter. “I’ll try it on.”
“Careful with your hair,” Lisa cautions as I wriggle out of my yoga pants and cami to pull the dress around me. She hurries around behind me to help with the ties. It flows around my curves more fluidly than I remember it doing a year ago when I tried it on, and I wonder if all the sex I’ve been having has burned more calories than I realized.
“There.” Lisa straightens the hem and steps back. “Wow.” She grabs me by the shoulders and turns me to face the mirror. “A perfect fit.”
Holy shit, she’s right. I do look pretty hot. The dress slides cool and sleek around my curves, fluttering a little around my thighs.
Junie beams at me in the mirror. “You look bangin’, mama.”
“For crying out loud, Junie.” Lisa rolls her eyes. “Let me guess, Dax taught you that?”
Junie laughs, clearly pleased with herself. “He told me to say that to you the next time you wear that red dress he likes.”
A faint flush creeps into my friend’s cheeks, and I can tell she’s more pleased than annoyed. I ignore the stab of jealousy over Lisa’s loving relationship with her hot biker fiancé. That’s the kind of relationship I always thought I’d have. Or maybe what Cassie has with Simon.
But no, that’s not in the cards for me. And I’m okay with that, I really am.
“Well,” Lisa says. “You’re obviously wearing this dress.”
I survey myself in the mirror again. The dress fits like a dream. The wrap style flatters my waist, while the strappy thing going on up top shows off my shoulders. “And the color is great,” I add, turning to study myself from behind. “It doesn’t look too much like a nightgown?”
“Not a nightgown,” Lisa says. “A sexy negligée. That’s the allure.”
“You look like a fairy princess,” Junie says. “Ian will love you.”
My heart pinches tight in my chest. That’s so not the point, but I don’t have the heart to explain that to Junie. Or to anyone, for that matter.
I take a few breaths to regain my composure as Lisa fusses with my hem. “I can’t believe you had this dress right in front of you the whole time and never knew it.”
“I’m clueless sometimes,” I admit.
