After a lovely shower with water sprays coming at me from every direction and fragrant body gels and lotions slathered all over, I got ready for the evening ahead with my usual hair and makeup routine, adding a touch more shimmer to my eyelids. I was about to put on lipstick when I jumped at a knock on the bathroom door.
“Kate,” called Colin’s muffled voice from the other side. “Just wanted to let you know I’m back. When you’re finished, I’ll freshen up.”
“I’m almost done!” I called out, applying the lipstick and then slipping into the dress I’d chosen for the rehearsal dinner.
I opened the door, and Colin, whose upper body lay on the bed while his feet remained planted on the floor, sat up on his elbows.
His eyebrows shot up, and he exclaimed, “Wow!”
My face broke into a smile. I took a step out into the room and gave a little spin.
“Looks okay?”
“More than just OK,” he said, standing up and pulling me toward him. Then he spun me around until we were both facing the full-length mirror. His hands rested on my hips, and his chin leaned on the side of my head. “Don’t you see what I see?”
“I wore this dress to my cousin’s wedding,” I said, watching his admiring gaze with interest.
“The dress is great,” he said, looking at the form-fitting purple dress and then coming back to my eyes. “Butyoumake the dress look amazing.”
“You’re too sweet,” I said. I found it hard to grasp that this was the same Colin Slade who stood at the head of boardroom tables and had people bringing him coffee and giving him presentations. The same one who’d been so formal and almost robot-like in Chicago.
“I call it like I see it. If there’s one thing I am, it’s honest,” he said.
My insides twisted.Honest?I shook my head. “Go take a shower before we’re late.”
He nodded and kissed my cheek before walking into the bathroom. I sat on the bed wondering how he was able to lie so blatantly the other day and then seem so innocent now in the mirror while he called himself honest.
By the time he’d finished showering and getting ready, I’d already had an entire conversation with Angie over the phone in which I told her about the mansion I was staying in and meeting Colin’s mother. What I didn’t share with her were my doubts,having caught Colin in a lie, and searching his room for… I had no idea what I’d been searching for exactly. But I’d know it if I saw it.
When he emerged looking like a model for a cologne commercial, I felt a hint of pride in being the one to stand by his side all night.
“What’s the smile for?” he asked, walking to a drawer and taking out a cologne bottle. If only there were a camera pointed at him, we’d have a million-dollar campaign on our hands.
I hadn’t realized I was smiling. “You are…well, you must know what you are.”
The left corner of his lip and his left eyebrow stretched upward. “I want to know what you think.”
“Well… I… If you must know…” I stammered, a heat rising within me as he slowly made his way toward me.
“Imustknow,” he said, reaching my side and sliding his hand on my hip.
What was this man doing to me? A shower and cologne, and he had my panties in a twist? I’d forgotten my main reason for coming along for this weekend, it seemed.
I was tired. Tired of being passed over, ignored, and never chosen. Tired of not fighting for what I wanted and accepting whatever came my way. Tired of letting life happen and notmakingit happen.
“You look good enough in your suit for me to take it off,” I said. My heart beat out of my chest. I’d probably never said anything like that to a man in all my life. IknewI hadn’t. But my fear of sounding silly evaporated the second I said it because of Colin’s reaction.
He shut his eyes and gripped my side where his hand had been resting.
“You can’t do this to me right as we’re about to leave the room.” He took a deep breath as if composing himself. I alsotook a deep breath, acknowledging that it was likely things might heat up in a way I wasn’t expecting.
Our mouths twisted and turned nervously until we both started laughing.
“I’m so happy you came this weekend,” he said, taking my hand and kissing it, the elation clear on his face.
I reached for the door, and we made our way down the hall. The party was down by the ocean, and all the commotion we’d seen earlier had resulted in what looked like a very elegant beach party under a large, clear-ceilinged tent.
We walked from a wooden boardwalk directly onto another wooden path that led to the luxurious tent with wooden floors. Delicate coastal features decorated the ceiling and the tops of tables. Unique porcelain plates and exotic flowers adorned the tables. Having helped Angie plan her wedding and gotten quotes for simple tents, I realized that the amount of money spent on just the entire rehearsal dinner was enough to fund all of my yearly expenses.
