Stand-In Saturday (Love For Days #2) - Kirsty Moseley Page 0,80

you’re interested?”

Theo’s eyebrows knit together in a frown. “I’m not interested. I’ve got my eye on someone already.”

My stomach squeezes for some unknown reason. Must be the sushi I ate at lunch. “Ah, but she’s married now.” I send him a knowing smile.

“I wasn’t talking about Amy, Luce.”

He’s met someone else? Ugh. The knowledge stings.

We end up speaking for over an hour. I don’t even get to read my book. By the time we hang up, my battery is almost dead on my phone, and my eyes are heavy.

I sleep well that night, dreaming about Theo’s smile and the way his breath blew across the top of my head as I snuggled in his arms. It’s the nicest dream I’ve had in years.

My week passes incredibly quickly. Work is indeed busy, as I thought it would be. Some days, I barely have time to break for lunch. The best part about my week by far? Theo FaceTimes me twice more, and we end up chatting and laughing well into the night on both occasions. It’s nice, and when I hang up, it leaves me with a happy feeling simmering inside.

When Saturday comes around, I have a strange mix of excitement and trepidation in my stomach. Part of me doesn’t want to go to the party and see the man who broke my heart; I don’t want to watch him parading around with his pert, skinny, young gym bunny while eating my parents’ food and drinking their wine. The other part of me does want to go. I desperately want to see Theo again. And if I must see Lucas, I want him to see me clinging to someone else. I want it to hurt him; even just the tiniest bit would suffice. He deserves it.

Several times over the week, I’ve thought about cancelling and making up some excuse, pretend I’m ill with the flu and I can’t get out of bed, but each time, I think about how much it will mean to my dad to have me there. I’m his only child, and this party is a big deal for him. He’s been working hard his whole life, built up his business with his best friend from scratch, brick by brick, into the massive corporation it is today. He deserves to celebrate his achievements and retire. He and my mother plan on cruising around the world for the next couple of months, soaking up the sun and spending time together. This has always been their life plan.

So, I don’t cancel. Instead, I spend Saturday with Aubrey in the salon, having my hair styled into a cute up-do with a few loose curls framing my face. I have my nails done and get waxed, plucked, and buffed, primping myself until I look in the mirror and an almost stranger looks back at me.

The dress I chose for tonight is an off-the-shoulder red bodycon dress that falls just below the knee. It moulds around my shape, showing off everything, and I must admit, it makes my bum and cleavage look killer. Lucas will both love and hate that I’m wearing this dress. He’s only seen me in it once. I purchased it a year or so ago for a work dinner I was attending with him. When I walked out of our bedroom in it, he did a double take and then refused to let me leave the apartment, wearing it, because it was too provocative. He ordered me to change, citing I looked like a cheap escort and that I’d embarrass him if I walked in, wearing this. But before I could take it off, he frantically fucked me up against the wall. I want to remind him of that night. How he couldn’t resist me, how he gripped my hair and wrapped his hand around my throat and was almost manic as he told me I was never to wear anything this tight in front of other men, how no one got to look at me but him, how I was his and always would be.

If ever there was a dress to get Lucas’s attention, this is it.

I head to the bottom of my wardrobe and look at my shoes. I’ve picked out two pairs for tonight, both gold and strappy, but one of them has a sexy three-inch stiletto heel, and the other is a more conservative one-inch. I prefer higher shoes, always have. I’m a bit of a shoe snob. My dream is to one day own