Fear jumped inside of her, and her blood pressure skyrocketed. “No, Tom. That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Sounded like it to me.”
She blew out an exhausted breath. Already she was tired of this argument. “We’ll talk about it tonight. I’ll see you at six.”
“Fine.” He ended the phone call.
Frowning, she replaced her phone on the receiver. She’d pissed him off, and being with Tom when he was angry was not a good thing. Perhaps the only good thing about tonight would be that she wouldn’t be thinking about Brad and wondering if he was at a bar getting drunk.
* * * *
BREANNA BLINKED HERteary eyes and shut the door. Tom had just left her apartment, angrier than she’d ever seen him before.
Just as she thought, he didn’t like her new look. His first reaction was accusing her of being with another guy. Guilt had nearly choked her, but she couldn’t confess who had really instigated her transformation.
When Tom began throwing insults her way and calling her degrading names, she knew it was time to put her foot down. It scared her half to death, but she told him to leave her apartment if he couldn’t calm down. He’d shouted out a few more degrading names before storming out the door.
This wasn’t how she wanted things between them to go. It was hard not to remember what Brad had said about Tom. Could Brad have been right all this time? Because of Tom’s reaction, she could see that he was trying to control her. All these years, he’d been suffocating her, and she hadn’t even realized it.
She wandered into her bedroom and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Sad, lonely eyes stared back at her. She threaded her fingers through her new hairstyle, grateful that Brad had talked her into getting it cut. She really did like it. She even liked her new clothes.
Her heart ached again, not knowing if it was over Tom’s mental abuse or because of the way she and Brad had ended things on Sunday. How many times had she felt that Tom was stringing her along? How many times was she upset at him because he never put her above his friends? And how many times had her heart been broken by that man? Too many to count.
For years, she’d wanted to have a boyfriend, but Tom wasn’t exactly what she wanted. She’d accepted him because he was the only man to show any interest in her bookworm personality and her plain looks. It wasn’t enough to tell people she had a boyfriend. She wanted toshowpeople that she was in love. Unfortunately, she couldn’t do that with Tom. At times, she thought he was embarrassed to be seen with her.
She blew out an irritated breath. Had she wanted to change her appearance for him or her? As she thought back on the day with Brad, she realized she had wanted to do it for her. She hadn’t thought of Tom while shopping with Brad. Well, not that much, anyway.
Was Brad right after all? Did she deserve better than what Tom could offer?
Through the reflection, the new baby-blue dress Brad had helped her pick out hanging in her closet had grabbed her attention. It was the most elegant dress she’d ever owned. Brad liked it because it showed her legs. He’d called them hershapelylegs. Although she’d laughed at his description, she enjoyed his compliments. Tom certainly never gave them to her.
Perhaps she shouldn’t have let Brad buy it for her. Where would she wear it? At the magazine’s Christmas party? That was several months away. She could wear it to a New Year’s Eve dance, but Tom never did like to go out in public.
The more she thought about what Tom didn’t do with her, the angrier she became. How had she put up with his treatment all of those years? Yet in two days, Brad Montgomery had shown her that shewasspecial. She wasn’t a nobody any longer.
The more she stared at the dress, the more she thought about the dinner party at Brad’s parents’ house. That was tonight! He’d invited her so he wouldn’t get bored. She chuckled. Should she show up and be Brad’s entertainment?
She didn’t dare just show up, especially after the way they’d parted ways on Sunday evening. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, found Brad’s number and called. It immediately went to voice mail. Her heart dropped in sadness. Perhaps she shouldn’t see him this soon after what happened with Tom. She didn’t want to be on the rebound. Then again, she wanted to see Brad and explain things to him.
She dialed information and requested the search for Todd Montgomery. The call was placed and as it rang, the palms of her hand moistened with nervousness. On the third ring it was answered by a woman.
“Montgomery residence,” the woman said sweetly.
“Hi. Could I speak with Brad?”
“I’m sorry. He’s stepped out. He should be back shortly. May I take a message?”
The rhythm of Breanna’s heart had kicked into overdrive. “Yes. Tell Brad that Breanna Loveland will be coming to his parents’ dinner party tonight.”
“I will tell him.”
Breanna thanked the woman, and then threw her cell on the bed as she rushed into the bathroom to shower before she talked herself out of going tonight. The party was only a few hours away and she didn’t want to be late.
Although she tried to make her hair as pretty as Lance had done, she failed miserably. Yet, it still looked much better than before she had it cut.
When she slipped into the baby-blue dress, the memory of how Brad looked at her when she’d modeled the dress for him in the store, made her smile. He’d looked at her as though he’d never seen anything so pretty. He probably wasn’t thinking those very words, but that’s the impression she received. Her heart had fluttered with happiness. In fact, most of the day her heart had been skipping with joy.
This was definitely a feeling she wasn’t used to. Breanna tried to convince herself that Brad acted like this with all women, and yet, she’d felt so special. She didn’t want the happiness inside of her to go away.
