“Can’t a man just appreciate his beautiful girlfriend without an ulterior motive?”
“Sure…” she says, drawing out the word. “But you’ve got that look.”
“What look?”
“Like you’re plotting something.”
I try to school my features into something neutral, but it’s impossible with her watching me like that. “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”
She narrows her eyes playfully as I park by the porch. “Mysterious doesn’t suit you, Wolfe.”
“You sure? I beg to differ.”
I glance over at her, mesmerized by how the sunset paints her profile in gold, how her eyes get impossibly brighter as she looks at me.
“What?” she asks. “You’re freaking me out.”
That pulls a laugh out of me. “If I kiss you senseless, will you freak out less? Please say yes.”
Now she’s laughing. It’s music to my ears.
“I’ll never say no to that.”
forty-four
. . .
Violet
“Whitley, what are wedoing?”
I’m currently being dragged against my will through every shop in town.
“Why can’t we just stay at the house and watch movies?” I groan, my feet already aching from the three boutiques she’s dragged me through. “It’s New Year’s Eve. We should be relaxing before tonight.”
Whitley barely glances my way, her attention fixed on a display of sparkly earrings. “Because you need something fabulous to wear tonight. Your wardrobe is begging for an intervention.”
“My wardrobe is perfectly fine,” I protest, but she’s already shoving a sequined dress at me that would make a disco ball look understated.
“Try this on.”
“Whit, we’re not going to a club. We’re just having a small gathering at the house.”
She waves her hand dismissively. “Small gathering, big moment. Same difference.”
Something about her tone makes me pause. “What do youmean, ‘big moment’?”
Her eyes widen before she recovers. “It’s New Year’s Eve! The biggest night of the year! New beginnings and all that jazz.” She shoves me toward the dressing room. “Now go try this on before I physically dress you myself.”
I reluctantly step into the dressing room, clutching the sequined monstrosity that Whitley seems determined to pour me into. As I slide the dress over my head, I catch my reflection in the mirror and wince. I look like I’m auditioning for a Vegas show.
“Let me see!” Whitley calls from outside.
I step out, arms crossed over my chest. “I look ridiculous.”
She tilts her head, studying me with narrowed eyes. “Hmm, maybe a bit much for a house party. But we’re getting closer! Go back in there and get naked. I saw a few other ones I want you to try on.”
While I’m still cringing in the dressing room mirror, Whitley disappears and returns in a flash, draping more dresses over the dressing room door.
