“No sexy. It’s not like that,” I said.
She glared at me over her shoulder. “If there’s no sexy, LaMont might get suspicious. Every bride not only wants to look pretty, but she wants her man to lust after her.”
“You’ve given this a lot of thought,” I quipped.
She shrugged, looked over a couple of dresses and then pulled one off the rack. “Too bad you don’t have more time. You could have something custom made. But with Ryan’s money, you should be able to have something altered quickly. How about this one?”
I tried on several dresses feeling a bit foolish at taking this so seriously when it was all a fake wedding. But one dress had my breath stalling in my lungs and thinking about the day I finally really got married. The ivory lace dress was sleeveless with tulle straps that were nearly invisible. Lace applique decorated the tulle giving it an ethereal, fairy type quality It’s V-neck was a little low in front, and it scooped down the back, but it didn’t give off a too sexy vibe.
“Oh wow. That’s the one,” Andi said as she popped into the dressing room. Her smile was wide. “You’re beautiful.”
I couldn’t help but smile too, until I saw the price tag. “Twenty grand? For a dress worn one day?” I was disappointed, but there was no way I was going to spend that on a dress for a fake wedding. I started looking back through the other dresses.
“You have to get this dress,” Andi said, pulling the lacy fairy dress off the hook again.
“I can’t spend that. Not for this situation.” Or any situation. I couldn’t imagine ever spending twenty grand on anything except maybe a car.
“Did you forget your boss is rich? Filthy rich. He can afford this.”
I shook my head. “I need to be sensible.”
She pursed her lips at me. “Why are you doing this? To get a business deal, right? So, you have to look the part. That includes wearing a dress that makes Ryan look good. He’d spare no expense to please his fiancé. And you can’t wear a two-hundred-dollar dress to an expensive Italian wedding.”
Was she right? Did I need to make sure I dressed the part? Would he agree?
“Plus, it’s the one you not only looked the best in, but also the only one where your face lit up. Trust me. I know about this stuff. This is the dress.” She held it up.
“I do love it.”
She opened the door and walked out with it. “I’ll tell them you’re going to buy it. Now get dressed and we’ll go have lunch.”
We found a nice bistro-like restaurant on the bay and sat outside to enjoy the lovely weather.
“I hear they have pretty good weather in Italy too,” Andi said after we ordered lunch.
“I guess so. I don’t know. I never thought I’d be someone who had the opportunity to travel.” Or buy a twenty-thousand-dollar dress. Geez. I wouldn’t be surprised if he fired me for that.
“What does Natalie think of all this?” Andi sat back as the waitress put water on the table for us.
“She thinks I should go. I
wish she could come. She’d love the art, I bet.”
“Maybe you could ask Ryan to bring her. I mean it is a wedding. Family should be there.”
I shook my head. “This is already getting too much out of hand.”
“Have you ever thought about the wedding you’d want? When you really get married, that is.” She squeezed lemon into her water and then sipped it.
“Sometimes, sure. I don’t have a book or magazines or anything like that, but I suppose like most women, I’ve thought about it.”
“What did you think?” she asked.
“I always thought it would be nice to get married on the beach. He’d be in shirt and slacks, but the sleeves are rolled up. So are the pant legs and he’s barefoot. I’d be barefoot too in a lovely flowy dress. It just seems so romantic.”
Andi sighed. “That does sound nice.”
“What about you? Have you thought about your wedding day?” I asked.