Like a kid on prom night.
I stood out front of the building, heartbeat fluttering, thinking she wasn’t going to show up.
Until a car pulled up right out front.
Then there she was.
CHAPTER SIX
Roe
I fretted over my outfit for an embarrassingly long time for someone who usually prided herself on knowing exactly what to wear for any function. It was just something that came along with being in and around the fashion industry. You picked up on the dressing rules.
But there was no rule I knew of for what to wear to a very fancy restaurant for anearly dinnerwith a strange man who’d bought the place out just for this date.
I settled on something that screamed ‘daytime’ but also ‘elegance.’
It was a 1930s-style sage green tulle dress, embroidered with delicate flowers that fell to calf-length, had a sweetheart neckline, wide straps, and nipped in at the waist.
I left my hair down but didn’t curl it like I did for work, went easy on the makeup, and slipped into kitten heels.
“That’s going to have to do,” I told my reflection. “It’s cute, right?” I asked, turning toward the bed where my cat lounged, watching me with her one blue eye.
I’d come across her in my first week in Atlantic City. The night before, I’d been awoken by the sound of cats shrieking as they fought. When I went to go on a run the next morning, I saw a pile of white fluff in the alley next to my apartment building.
Then there she was.
Eye messed up, half her ear missing.
I spent every dime I had getting her to a vet to get patched up and have her damaged eye removed. She’d been a pampered inside cat ever since. She even knew to stay silent and still inside my closet when the super came in to do any repairs, since I wasn’t technically allowed to have a pet.
Alley stared at me for a second, unimpressed, then started to clean her paw.
“Well, what do you know?” I said, making my way out of the bedroom and walking into the kitchen, setting up her food dish and topping off her water fountain. “You hold down the fort, okay?” I called to her as I grabbed my bag and phone and rushed downstairs to meet my rideshare.
I’d had a car when I first moved to the area. But when the engine blew, I hadn’t had the money to fix it. So I’d been hoofing it most places ever since. And ordering delivery groceries since there wasn’t a single full-service grocery store inside AC.
But I didn’t want to walk all the way to the restaurant in heels. So I spent a little of my tip money on getting a ride.
Also, it saved me a few of the minutes I wasted fretting over my clothes.
I pulled up with only one moment to spare.
And there was Milo.
In a charcoal gray suit, looking just as sexy in the daylight as he had in a dark, smoky lounge the night before.
“I was hoping you’d get my note,” he said. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks. I hope this is dressy enough,” I said, looking at the small square brick building with the black roof and awnings.
“It’s perfect. Have you ever been here before?”
“I haven’t. It’s hard to get a reservation.” Even if I had the money. “Have you?”
“To eat? No. Just to arrange this meeting.”
With that, he led me inside.
