Breaking up with My Boss - Alexis Winter Page 0,72

office so he doesn’t see the dress before the big day.

Someone knocks on the door and I answer it, watching and laughing as he rushes to his office to get out of the way. The moment I open the door, people are lined up outside in the hallway, and they begin pushing in rack after rack. I stand back, watching in awe as the living room transforms into a bridal store.

With a deep breath, I start going through the dresses. When I find one I like, I hang it on an empty rack. Each time I’m done going through a rack, someone wheels it out. Slowly but surely, I manage to get everything down to one rack—the one that has every dress I like. There are only 10 dresses on it, and even that seems overwhelming. The men leave the room and the women stay to help me dress. There’s a long fold-out mirror against the wall and another behind me, so I can see every angle of the dresses I try on.

The first one is too much—too puffy, too glittery. It’s pretty, but not timeless and not meant to see sand and ocean water. I take it off and they take it away, bringing in another dress. I never thought I’d be a bridezilla, but I manage to find something wrong with every dress I’d picked out. Every single one . . . except one. The last one. I put it on and it’s made of a crisp white statin material. It’s thin and form-fitting. The sleeves are small, only hanging off my shoulders instead of sitting on them, and the back is cut low, almost to my ass. It hugs my breasts, dipping low between them and giving just enough of a peek to be sexy, but not enough to look overdone. It fits my upper body like a second skin, but it flows down to my feet in a soft flare. It doesn’t have a massively long train either. It’s simple. Elegant. Timeless. I know when I look back at pictures of me in this dress, I won’t think, “Oh my God, what was I thinking?” And that’s the most important part.

When all the dresses are gone, I go into his office and he looks up at me with surprise.

“Did you find something you liked?”

I nod and smile. “I did. I think you’ll love it.”

He smiles wide. “I’ll love anything you choose.”

I slip into his lap. “What have you been doing in here?”

“Oh, just going over some files. Hey, there’s an event we’ve been invited to this weekend. I thought it would be nice to get our minds off the wedding for a while and just have fun. What do you think?” He looks up at me, hopeful.

“What kind of event is it?” I ask, unsure.

“It’s just an engagement party for an old friend.”

“So your father won’t be there?” I ask.

He frowns. “I’m not sure. He may be there. It’s sort of a mutual friend, but we can’t let him dictate our lives. If there’s something we want to do, we should do it without a second thought.”

I let out a long breath. “I don’t know, Matthew. I’m just worried that something will be said and a fight will break out, ruining the party.”

“My father is nothing but polite in public. I promise he won’t say anything about us if other people are around. Come on. What do you say?” he asks, shaking me against his chest in a playful way.

I can’t help but laugh. His smile is infectious. “All right. I’ll go.”

“Good! You’ll need a dress.”

“Oh no. Not that again.”

He chuckles. “I’ll order one for you. You won’t have to do anything but put it on.”

“Now you’re talking my language,” I laugh out.

Twenty-Six

Matthew

The weekend quickly approaches, as it always does when I’m spending time with her. I’m actually looking forward to this party. It’s been a long time since I saw and hung out with the guys I grew up with, and for once, I feel like my life is going according to plan. Before, I’d avoid these type of things, not wanting to show up because everyone but me would be talking about their amazing life. But finally, my life is great. I have a beautiful woman on my arm who’s about to be my wife, and we’re about to start a wonderful life together. I have nothing to hide.

I dress in my tux and slick back my hair, applying a squirt of cologne before