Serves Me Wright (Wright #9) - K.A. Linde Page 0,53
we most certainly don’t have bad taste.”
“We do not,” Sutton agreed easily.
I nearly choked on their words. Tears came to my eyes, unbidden, and I laughed as I swiped at them. “I love y’all.”
“We love you, too,” Annie said, pulling us in for a group hug.
“Now,” Sutton said as we broke apart, “have a margarita and tell us everything.”
I took the margarita glass out of her hand and tugged off my cover-up. “Well, first things first. I’m going with Julian to a gala on Friday, and I need a kick-ass dress.”
“I thought you already had a dress,” Annie said.
“I did. But…that was when I was going with him as a fake date. If I’m going as his girlfriend, then I want to show up Ashleigh.”
Annie cackled. “There’s my Jennifer.”
Sutton smiled mischievously. “I think we can handle that.”
When Friday rolled around, I still wasn’t completely satisfied with my dress situation. I’d tried on the most incredible dress with Annie. Until I saw the price tag and nearly threw up. I couldn’t get the gorgeous thing off of me fast enough. I’d worried that I might even sweat on the thing. No event was worth the price tag on that thing…even if it was as close to perfect as I could get. So, Blaire had called in some favors, and we had a dress, but it still didn’t feel like the dress.
Piper spent a solid hour blowing out and styling my hair. By the time she was done, I hardly recognized myself.
“You should do this for a living,” I told her.
She beamed. “You know, I actually considered cosmetology out of high school because I found it fun. But then I remembered it would be a job and not just something I enjoyed, so I went into business to help run Sinclair Cellars with my dad.”
“Practical,” I said softly. “My parents wanted me to do something practical like that. I even got the correct degree and then never went to pharmacy school. I pursued photography instead.”
“Seems to have worked out,” Piper said.
I smiled. “I guess it has.”
Blaire hip-checked Piper. “Allow me access to the canvas.”
Piper rolled her eyes and got out of Blaire’s way for her to work her makeup magic. I was halfway through makeup when the doorbell rang.
“That can’t be Julian yet, can it?” Blaire asked.
“No way,” I said, checking the time.
“I’ll get it,” Piper said. She hopped up from her seat and headed out to the living room.
Blaire went back to work on my face but stopped a few minutes later when Piper still hadn’t returned.
“Pipes?” Blaire called.
“Uh,” she said from the living room, “y’all might want to see this.”
Blaire and I exchanged a look of confusion. Then I hopped off the seat, and we headed into the living room.
What we found made my brow furrow in confusion. Piper had draped a black garment bag over the dining table, and in her hand was a shoebox.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“They were just delivered.” Her eyes were glued to the shoebox. “They’re for you.”
“Me?” I asked in confusion.
She passed me the shoebox, and I realized why she was in awe. Written in beautiful white letters across the top was one word—Louboutin.
“Oh my God,” I whispered. “Who…who are they from?”
Piper handed me the card that had come with it. I flipped it open.
For my real girlfriend.
—Julian
Tears sprang to my eyes as emotion washed over me.
“No crying!” Blaire said, waving her hands at my eyes. “You’ll ruin all my work.”
I laughed at her ridiculousness. “He sent me a dress and shoes.”
“Two-thousand-dollar shoes,” Piper said pragmatically. “He must really like you.”
“Well, open it already! We’re dying here,” Blaire said.
I popped the box on the shoes and felt as if I were having a full-blown Cinderella moment. The shoes appeared to be glass-encrusted with rhinestones that made them glitter in the light. And of course, the signature red-lacquered bottom brought the entire shoe together.
Blaire and Piper oohed and aahed at them.
“Damn,” Blaire said. “Boy did good!”
Piper nodded. “Damn good.”
I set the shoebox down, unable to process my feelings about the most beautiful shoes I’d ever seen in my life. Then I pulled the zipper on the garment bag. And inside was the designer dress that I’d tried on with Annie in Malouf’s. It was the dress. And here it was, in all of its glory.
My throat closed up. “I can’t believe he did this.”
“I can,” Piper said. “He adores you. Don’t you see the way he looks at you?”