Page 45 of Too Good to Be True

“Great. Stacy, you in?” asked Kelsey.

How could she say no? It sounded like a harmless Friday night, spending time with a group of people at Kelsey’s brother’s place. It was either that or go home to an empty house and curl up with her book or a movie.

“Sure. Why not?” she said.

Kelsey and Nick both beamed at her, and Nick’s smile gave her a thrill. After all, he’d turned down beauty pageant Britney to go out with her, a woman nearing forty!

Why not, indeed! Then she scolded herself for thinking his decision had anything to do with her. Obviously, he was anxious to meet some guys his age and probably would have said yes to Kelsey whether Stacy had agreed to go or not.

As for Britney, he didn’t seem the least bit interested, which was both surprising and a bit disconcerting. What single man turned down a sure thing with a young, beautiful woman? Cole hadn’t, and he’d been married, for Pete’s sake. She shook her head at the memory and looked up to see Kelsey and Nick staring at her.

“Everything okay?” Kelsey asked.

“Yes. Fine. Everything’s fine,” Stacy repeated.

“Okay. I’ll meet you guys at Jared’s apartment around seven.” Then Kelsey rattled off the building and unit number for Nick’s benefit since Stacy had been there before.

“See you then,” Nick said as Kelsey turned and breezed back out.

See You Then. How many times was he going to quote the book title? Of course, he had no idea that was what he’d been doing. To him, it was simply another way of saying goodbye. Thank goodness he’d never find out about the book she was reading; otherwise, he might think she’d selected it because of him. What a strange twist of fate…

As they strolled back to her office, Nick nudged her with his elbow. “I hope you didn’t feel roped into going tonight. I’m glad you said yes, but I didn’t want you to feel like you had to.”

His list of attributes was growing by the minute: attentive, passionate, warm, polite, and considerate. Did he have any idea how appealing he was? Maybe he thought she was immune to his charm because of their age gap. Then again, he was the one who’d said, “Age is just a number.”

She waited until they were in the relative privacy of her office before responding. “I’m the one who should feel bad. I don’t want to infringe on your social time, since I already take up enough of your time as it is.”

“You won’t be infringing. Besides, I like spending time with you. I thought we covered that already.”

She smiled. “Okay, then. I guess I’ll see you tonight.”

“It’s a date.”

She knew he hadn’t meant it like that, but still, it made her feel warm and tingly inside. Afterward, she could hardly concentrate on his training, and she was relieved when their time was up.

Nick stood and gathered his belongings. “Seven o’clock. Don’t forget,” he said.

Like that was even possible! “I won’t.”

She watched him saunter out of the office, and then she heaved a sigh. This would be the second weekend in a row that they’d be spending time together. How had this happened? She ruminated over it for some time until she realized there was a more pressing question.

What on earth am I going to wear?

Twelve

Stacy’s stomach fluttered when she pulled into the parking lot of Jared’s apartment building. She scanned the area, looking for Nick’s car, but didn’t see it. Of course, she was ten minutes early, so that was probably why. Knowing him, he’d show up exactly on time.

She flipped down the visor and took one last look at herself before going inside. She’d spent entirely too much time on her hair and makeup, not to mention trying on countless outfits until she’d settled on one.

Her blonde hair lay soft and shiny on her shoulders, and though she didn’t wear much makeup, she’d skillfully applied it to complement her blue eyes and fair skin. She’d watched a few tutorials on the best way to apply blush to make her cheeks appear rosy and contoured without looking like a clown. She’d also swiped on a peachy lip gloss since she’d yet to make the transition to lipstick. To do so would make her feel like her mom and grandma, who never went anywhere without it. She figured she still had ten years or so before she’d make that transition.

As for her clothes, she’d settled on a loose, flowery top, her best-fitting jeans, and low-heeled ankle boots. She wore gold hoop earrings and a bracelet watch she’d recently bought at Macy’s. Altogether, she felt satisfied with the results; however, she still questioned her decision to come tonight. She’d considered calling Kelsey to cancel, but her friend had called first.

“Can you come early and help me put out some snacks?”

“How many people are coming?” Stacy had asked.

“Just a few.”