Page 167 of Tangled with the Tight End

“I will. Believe me. I will. Right after I kill him for making me keep this secret.”

She honestly looks like she’s in pain.

“Wait. Him? Is this Declan?”

“No?”

“Cass. What are you and Declan up to?”

“Nothing?”

“Cass.”

“Win. Please. One day you might marry this man. I want him to like me. He already watched my emotional meltdown in front of Jaxon Pierce. I don’t have a lot of street cred left with Declan. Give me this. Pretend you’re in the dark.”

All I heard her say was One day you might marry this man and then it was like my brain shorted out.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“I am. But you really think we might get that far?”

“He really likes you.”

“I really like him.”

“You’re going to like him even more …” She slaps her hand over her own mouth and from behind it says, “Shut it, Cass.”

I just laugh.

I walk back to the front room and sit on the couch, where I attempt to read our book club selection. But I’m really glancing out the front windows approximately one thousand times every minute.

A car pulls up in front of our house about a half hour later. Someone I don’t recognize gets out of the driver’s seat. She looks like she could be named Sapphire or Cardamom. Very beautiful. Elegant even though she’s wearing jeans and a sweater that has a belt wrapped around it.

What on earth is going on?

She knocks on the door, but I’m already opening it.

“Hi. I’m Winona. And you are?”

“Hi, Winona. I’m Ann. Nice to meet you.”

“Ann?” I ask.

Ann. Not Marjoram or Emerald.

“Yes. I’m the stylist Declan sent over.”

“Stylist?”

I turn to find Cass practically bouncing in place in the doorway that leads from the hallway into our living room. Her hands are clasped at her chest and her smile is twice as big as usual.

“Surprise!” she shouts.

“Declan wants me to have a new wardrobe?” I’m so confused.

Cass and Ann laugh.

“No,” Ann says. “He wants to be the one to tell you. Call him now that I’m here. Trust me, he’s happy with your wardrobe.”