Because in her experience nothing good happened at a wedding. (Like marrying Tony.) There were lots of weddings where good things happened, probably. Where the couple stayed happy.
Emmaline had to ditch the divorcee mentality. Her experience was not everyone’s. Her hurt was not the norm. Her marriage was not the status quo.
So good for her for facing this straight on, changing her perspective, and powering right on through.
Also, there would be an open bar. So…Emmaline was headed to the wedding. Her semi-secret boyfriend had ordered a limo to take them up the mountain.
Emmaline was meh about it. Limos weren’t her favorite. She’d lived, and left, that life.
But today, the excitement of the girls was well worth the price of admission. They were both helping her get ready. Annie was in charge of picking the perfect shade of lipstick and Fiona played shoe stylist.
“Okay, open,” Annie said, brandishing the lipstick tube.
Em did as instructed, trying not to flinch as Annie went to work. Annie took her lipstick application very seriously. Her little forehead scrunched up in concentration.
“All done,” she declared triumphantly.
Em took a look in the hand mirror. She couldn’t have done a better job herself.
“You’re really good at this,” she said.
Annie practically beamed. She was definitely a kid who thrived on compliments and helping out. Em loved having her around. Annie was a fantastic friend to Fiona—always there for her. And even Em had found that Annie wiggled right inside of her heart.
Em had become attached.
Plus, there was the added benefit of spending time with Ethan...and all the, uh,perksthat came with that.
But it wasn’t just about the physical stuff—
Ethan cleared his throat at the door to her bedroom.
Annie turned to him, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. Without a word, she hurried down the hall to the staircase, her feet thudding against the hardwood as she rushed away.
Em glanced from the mirror to Ethan and immediately appreciated the view. He’d gone with a tailored gray suit, black shirt, and matching tie with polished wingtips.
Her breath caught in her chest.
The look of Ethan in that suit?Oh, my, my, my.
Dang, but he looked good enough to lick.
She said the first thing that came to her mind: “Hi.”
“Hi,” he replied, using his bedroom voice and his bedroom eyes and that little husky note he only tuned into when he dirty talked to her while they were…you know.
He said “hi” so much better than she did.
Ethan lingered in the doorway. Likely because they avoided being in the same space with a bed whenever the kids were nearby because they tended to just, uh, go at it.
Even with the distance between them, he wasn’t subtle about the eye caress over her body, specifically pausing at her cleavage. Oh, yes. His gaze roamed over her, leaving a mess of pins and needles in its path.
Not that she was all into her appearance, but she lookedgoodtoday. Thanks to Annie, she’d taken extra care with her makeup. Her sheath dress was a midnight shade of blue with a hem that hit at her knee. The color sort of reminded her of the dark sky at night when the moon was full. There was even a silver sheen to the fabric reminiscent of stars.
This was not a dress a girl who faded into the wallpaper wore. In other words, Tony would’ve hated it.
Ethan’s gaze warmed as his eyes met hers once again, and she got more tingles. They should’ve been way past the tingles stage. But they still ran rampant whenever he gave herthatlook.
The one, right there, like he wanted to kiss her but wouldn’t because they weren’t alone in the house.
