right. Nothing felt right. I was overdressed. I was underdressed. It was too short. It wasn’t short enough. I didn’t want to lead him on and think we would sleep together, but I didn’t want to rule it out either in case—well, in case things went really well and I wanted to.
“Do men have this problem?” I surveyed my room with dismay.
“Gregory says yes,” Jenna chuckled down the phone. “He says he changed fifteen times before our first date. Oh my god, really?” Her voice got distant as she moved her mouth away from the phone to coo over Gregory.
“Jenna, focus with me!”
“Sorry, I’m back. Okay, so what about the red velvet dress? That always looks great on you.”
I shook my head, staring at the offending article on the floor. “It has a stain on it. I think it’s wine, but I don’t even know how because I don’t drink wine.”
“Oh, that will be when we went out for your birthday last year and that woman bumped into you and spilled her drink. I was going to take that to be cleaned, but then you moved out.”
I groaned, remembering the incident. “Ughhh, great, well now I need to drop it off to be cleaned, but it’s probably ruined now.”
“I’ll do it. Bring it to work with you tomorrow. Okay, so what about those cute black shorts and a lacy camisole top?”
“The silk ones?”
“Yes, they would show off your legs and your shoulders, but they’re not too short and the camisole isn’t too low but will definitely give a good view of the girls”—she chuckled—“and it’s casual but datey.”
I fumbled through the clothes to find the shorts and white cami top. “I don’t think ‘datey’ is a word,” I mumbled as I pulled on the shorts. They did look cute on, I decided. “Wait a minute,” I said, putting the phone down so I could pull on the silk cami top. I had to go braless in it, but it wasn’t really noticeable unless I got cold.
I picked the cell back up, staring at my reflection with a satisfied smile. “This is the one, thank you!” I beamed.
“You’re welcome. Have fun, sweetheart. Be safe.” I could practically hear her smile.
“I will. And I’ll text you when I get in.” I twisted my hair up onto my head but then decided to leave it loose. The waves had come out really great after blow-drying, and it would make a change since I rarely had it down these days.
“You sure you don’t want me to take care of Beast tomorrow?” she asked, but I could already hear Gregory saying something in the background.
“I’ve got it, but thanks. It’s on the way so it’s no big deal. In fact, I better go so I can do my makeup and head there or I’ll be late for both men,” I laughed.
“It’s nearly over, sweetheart. Shooter gave me a call and said they’d be moving Beast back to the clubhouse in the next week or two. Then it’s back to normal,” she sighed happily. I think the whole thing had been a bigger pressure on her than me in some ways. Little did she know her happiness would be short-lived, because my mom would be coming to stay.
I really needed to tell her soon.
Tomorrow, I decided.
“Okay, I’ve gotta go. Thanks for the help, talk to you later. I love you.”
“Love you too, Belle. And remember, own it.”
I smiled at her words and hung up, and I spent the next twenty minutes applying a little makeup and putting on some heels and jewelry. I gave myself a spritz of my favorite perfume before leaving the trailer and climbing into my car, and then I headed to the hospital to give Beast his meds and apply a little cream to his skin. His needs had become less and less over the past couple of weeks, but he was still needy like a toddler at times. I really hoped he wasn’t in one of those moods tonight. I found I was looking forward to my date with Lorenzo. And the more I thought about it, the more I decided we were actually a good match. We were both independent. We both loved cooking. That was probably it, but I was sure I’d find out more that we had in common tonight.
I pulled up to the hospital and headed to Beast’s room. As usual, a prospect sat outside of it. He stood up when he saw me, looking me up