Okay, so I wasn’t fine. I was still frustrated. Even more so because Jensen hadn’t left me alone. He’d messaged me a handful of times to try to talk to me again. I couldn’t figure out why he thought I would see him again. After our last conversation and how it had ended, I didn’t think that was a good idea.
“Yeah, but he’s still messaging you,” Heidi said.
“Then, he must like you,” Julia said. “Maybe he’s just…bad at communication.”
“Just what I want in a guy. A bad communicator.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Julia said. “I mean, what if he is scared of how he feels for you? You said he didn’t date in town. Maybe it freaked him out when he realized that you were going to live here, and he said things all wrong.”
I slid my gaze over to Julia. “Jensen Wright does not say things wrong. He is a businessman. He says what he means and takes what he wants. I feel that I have to take him at face value.”
“That seems fair,” Julia said. “But the real question is it worth always having that what-if with him?”
I shrugged. That I didn’t know. It was too much to think about.
“Just go into it with your eyes wide open,” Heidi said. “You know he has baggage and shit. He’s a Wright. He’s filthy rich and sleeps with supermodels and all that. You know his deal. If you can live with him flying to New York every holiday, then who am I to stop you from having some fun? I just want you to be happy.”
“Also, that dress is fucking hot,” Julia said to change the subject.
I glanced at my dress in the trifold mirror and smiled. It did look fucking hot. Actually, it was perfect. It was a skintight black dress with a lace front neckline that went down to almost my navel and had an open back. Paired with some stiletto heels out of Kimber’s closet, and I could even pass for a girlie girl.
“You need it,” Heidi said at once. “I mean, you really, really need it.”
I checked the price tag, and my eyes doubled in size. “It’s three hundred dollars. I don’t need it that bad.”
“Oh, but you do! And…I haven’t gotten you a Christmas present yet. So, that can be my present!” Heidi said.
“Psht! Are you insane? I’m not letting you get me a three-hundred-dollar dress for Christmas.”
“Why not?”
“Because I could never repay you for a present like that. Anyway, where would I even wear this? I live in jeans and T-shirts. I would get no use out of it.”
“Actually,” Heidi said with innocent eyes.
“Oh no,” I said with a sigh. “You’re about to tell me the real reason we’re shopping, aren’t you?”
“There’s a Christmas party I want you to come to with me and Julia on Friday night. And I thought we could all get our dresses for the party here!”
My eyes slid to Julia. “Where’s the party? I know she won’t tell me.”
“Uh…”
“Come on, Em. It’s just one party.”
“Yeah, and it was just one wedding. Look how well that worked out for me,” I told her.
“I think it worked out pretty well. You’re not thinking about Professor McJerkface, and you had a lot of sex.”
Julia snort-laughed and then covered her mouth. “Professor McJerkface?”
“It’s a long story,” I told her.
“Okay, picture this,” Heidi said. “You wear that dress. I do your hair and makeup. You borrow Kimber’s stilettos, the really fancy Louboutins that crush your pinkie toes. But how can you resist the red-lacquered bottoms?” It was as if she were reading my mind. “You walk into the party. All eyes fall on you. You’re like fucking Cinderella for a moment. And then, poof, your Prince Charming shows up, and voilà, the night has endless possibilities.”
“Oh God,” I said in horror. “You’re talking about your office Christmas party.”
Heidi bit her bottom lip. “Um…yes.”
“And, when you say endless possibilities, you mean, I trip over my feet in front of Jensen, and he’s the same jerk he was and laughs at me or something.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Yeah, really, I don’t think Jensen would ever laugh at someone like that,” Julia added. “Plus, it won’t suck because, it’s open bar, and we can all get wasted on champagne.”
“Oh, I like you,” I told her.
“See, Em?! Please, please, please,” Heidi said.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Yes!” Heidi said, as if I had relented.
“While we’re at it,” Julia said, her cheeks turning a soft shade of pink, “want to find me something that sexy? There’s a Wright brother I wouldn’t mind looking at me twice in something like that.”
“Landon?” Heidi asked at the same time as I said, “Austin?”
I glanced over at Heidi with an arched eyebrow. “Landon doesn’t even work for Wright Construction.”
“Process of elimination,” she said quickly. “So, Austin?”
“I think he’s scared of me because I work in HR. But he’s not technically my boss; Jensen is. I don’t think we could get in trouble. And I’m head of HR anyway.”