She pouts a little but squeezes my hand. “It’s okay, babes. Baby steps, right?”
She turns away and immediately starts pulling gowns from different racks. I follow behind her and trust that she’ll find the best options for me. When the dresses are piled so high in her arm that I can barely see her face, she calls over the clerk.
“Please get these set up in the change room.”
Stella tries to hand the dresses off but the woman looks down her nose at us.
“Do you have any idea of the costs of these gowns, miss?” She asks in a condescending tone that has Stella’s inner she-cat roaring to the surface and me cringing back.
“Check your attitude and watch your tone. This isn’t Pretty Woman and if it was, she wouldn’t be the hooker, she’d be Richard Gere. That girl right there could buy this entire city block and not even notice the dent in her bank balance. Now…put these in a dressing room and bring us some fucking champagne.”
I turn away as my anxiety flares hard so I don’t see the woman’s response. I know Stella means well and she can be really protective of me but I don’t play that card…ever. Just because I inherited all of my father’s billions doesn’t mean that I feel like it’s mine. Celeste and Vanessa do that enough for me to not want anyone to know and assume I’m like them. I’m not even registered in school under my father’s name. I chose to apply using my mother’s maiden name, St. James, and get in on my scholastic merit, much to my Uncle Mark’s amusement. I wanted to be free to be me when I started university, not the girl whose last name was on two buildings on campus. I didn’t want that kind of attention.
Stella drags me to the next rack and shoots me a guilt-filled look.
“Sorry, I know you don’t want people to know. She just pissed me off thinking you don’t belong in here.”
I rest my head on her shoulder briefly and mutter, “Love you, anyway,” Making her grin and wink at me before pulling another dress.
Stella’s the only person who knows who I am or where I come from. She was so good to me when we first got hired at Masks. She helped me with no judgment and so much support, putting together my butterfly persona that I trusted her with everything. She truly is my only friend.
She decides we have enough options and pushes me into a change room with the first three gowns to try on while she settles into a fancy velvet chair and sips at the crystal flute filled with golden liquid that a new clerk brought to her. As I strap myself into the first dress, a deep purple strapless thing, we talk through the velvet curtain separating us.
“So, what’s the dress for? You have something going on with the company you need to go to?”
I struggle to reach the zipper on the back of the dress so just give up and push the curtain aside. Stella does a quick scan and shakes her head. “Next.”
“No, it’s for a booster dinner later this week. I…I’m…” I sigh deeply and just spit it out. “I’m fake dating Tate Valor and going as his date.”
Stella rears back in her seat almost spilling her champagne with an exaggerated gasp of shock, making me laugh. I go back into the changing area and reach for the next dress as Stella demands all the details of something so out of character for me. I make it through four more rejected dresses as I fill her in on everything that’s happened since Tate kissed me in the library in front of my stepmother and sister.
“So, you’re telling me that you spent the last two days locked away with four stacked men, one of which is hot as fuck bar boyfriend? Quarterback gets you off with his million-dollar throwing hand, and you make a Savy sandwich with two of the others?”
I chew on my bottom lip and nod as I turn to show her the back of the black gown I’m wearing. She swipes a hand through the air to reject it too and shakes her head at me.
“Now tell me why, why are you not picking the reddest, hottest dress in this place and flinging your mask in the trash? Show them who you really are, babe!”
I sigh and reach for a satin blue A-line dress that matches my eyes and turn away from her.
“Because they don’t want me. Not really. Tate’s just using me for what he needs right now and the other two were just playing games with me to pass the time. This will all come to a head soon enough and then Tate will drop me like he never met me before. It’s better that I just disappear again once he’s done with me. It’s easier that way.”
She screeches a frustrated noise but I’m struck by my reflection in the mirror. This is the dress. It’s beautiful, classy, and understated. The color exactly matches my eyes. It has a sweetheart neckline that only shows a hint of my cleavage and the three-quarter-length sleeves are perfect. The waist is fitted with delicate, understated silver ivy embroidered to look like a low belt and then the A-line skirt flows smoothly to compliment my bigger hips and ends just below my knees. I give my hips a swivel and the hem swirls in a pretty way. I’m smiling when I pull back the curtain and Stella’s finger comes up to point at me like a gun.
“There it is. Now take down your hair.”
I scrunch up my nose but do as she says.
“Uh-huh, you need to wear your contacts that night, Savy. We’ll do pin curls to create that sweet retro wave look. A jeweled comb to lift one side above your ear. Winged liner, fake lashes, and blood-red lips.”
I’m already shaking my head. “You had me right up to the makeup, Stells. You can’t paint me like the Butterfly! They don’t know and I don’t want them to. I don’t know if Ash will be there as he’s not a football player but he’s been watching me for the last two years. Paint me like her and he will know right away.”
She purses her lips and rolls her eyes. “Fine! Soft, barely-there eye makeup, natural lashes with just a touch of mascara, and baby pink lips.” She looks down at my feet. “You can’t say no to heels, though. That dress was made for them. I’d say, silver and strappy.”
I nod in agreement and pass my black card over to the clerk with only a hint of a blush.
JUDE
We’re hanging out in the kitchen catching up on our day as I search the pantry for a snack. Finding exactly nothing that appeals to me, I kick the door closed and look around the area with a frown.
