CHAPTER38
LARISA
Brit pulled a wine-red dress off the rail in my closet and held it up in front of her, looking it up and down with a thoughtful expression on her face. Once her perusal was complete, she nodded and turned to me.
“This is the one you’re wearing tonight,” she said confidently. “It’s perfect. Don’t even think about arguing with me. You asked me to help you get ready for your date tonight, and this is me helping.”
“It’s not a date.” I scoffed. “It’s just a dinner.”
Her eyes widened. “Okay. I see what’s going on here, so let me talk some sense into you before you go into this with blinders on. It’s obviously a date, babe. When a man asks a woman he’s into out for dinner and he comes to pick her up, it’s not just having a meal together. It’s a date.”
“Sure, but that’s only if he’s into her, and Tanner isn’t into me that way.”
She stared at me for a beat, then burst out laughing. “You’re kidding, right? He’s obviously into you, and again, it’s obviously a date.”
“It can’t be a date because, if it was a date, it would’ve been very unprofessional of me to have accepted. He’s a client, Brit. I don’t date my clients.”
Her eyes rolled so hard in response to my statement that I was pretty sure she’d just gotten a good look at the inside of her brain. “You’ve already slept with him. How is a date worse than that? Plus, you’re his interior designer, not his boss. It’s not like it’s unethical for you to date him. If you want my advice, you should just accept it for what it is, relax, and have fun with him.”
I glanced at the dress on my bed and watched as she dropped to her haunches to sift through my shoes. “Even if I accept that it is a date, that dress says it’s a serious date. One that I might be expecting something from, and I’m not. Why can’t it just be a meal shared between two people to celebrate the first part of a project they’re working on together being completed?”
“You like him and he likes you,” she said. “Why are you making this more complicated than it needs to be? A date is a date and that dress says ‘I knew it was a date, and I got dressed up for it because I’m interested.’”
“Interested but scared,” I corrected, but walked over to my bed and picked up the dress. “Let’s say you’re right and I do like him. Let’s even accept that you’re also right about him liking me. Where does that leave us? Like has never been enough to get two people anywhere.”
She sat down at my dressing table once she’d selected a pair of high-heeled, strappy sandals for me to wear. Her gaze followed me as I headed to my bathroom to get dressed. “Like may not be what gets people anywhere, but it is the precursor to what does. Whether or not you want to admit it to me or to yourself, you’re into this guy. There’s nothing wrong with that and there certainly isn’t any harm in seeing where it goes. So just go on the date, get to know him better, and let whatever happens happen. Don’t overthink it, and for the love of God, don’t overcomplicate it.”
I exhaled slowly through my nostrils, letting what she’d said sink in. Then I picked up the shoes and walked past her. “I’ll do my best, but I’m not making any promises.”
“The only promise I want is that you’re going to give him a chance tonight. Don’t worry so much about what’s happened in the past that you forget to enjoy the present.”
I gave her the promise she’d asked for, and I made a silent vow to myself to actually keep it. Living in the past wouldn’t do me any good. Neither would worrying about the future.
By the time Tanner came to pick me up, I was ready and feeling confident again that I’d made the right choice by agreeing to go out with him. The spring in my step and the positivity about my decision only lasted until I saw the car waiting for me at the curb, though.
A freaking limo? Who the hell does he think I am, an heiress?
It was a stark reminder of how different we were, and it made my stomach sink until the door opened and Tanner stepped out. My jaw dropped, and I decided to take Brit’s advice to heart. I was going to relax about everything and enjoy tonight. If I couldn’t have fun on a date with a guy I genuinely liked and who happened to look like that in a suit, then it was on me.
Tanner wore a charcoal jacket and slacks, paired with a white button-down shirt. It made him look like a guy who should be on the cover of a magazine, with his light brown hair styled neatly out of his face and those blue eyes sparkling again.
He grinned when he saw me, and I swore I felt a flicker of something warm in my chest when he did. As our eyes met, the warmth spread through my entire body. That was when I knew Brit had been right. I really did like him. A lot.
“You look…” He trailed off and shook his head. Then he extended a hand toward me and brought mine to his lips to brush a kiss to my knuckles after I placed it in his. “Wow. I think you just blew my mind. You look incredible.”
“Thank you,” I said softly, not in any hurry to withdraw my hand from his after he pulled it away from his lips. “So do you, by the way. I’m not just saying it. You really do clean up quite nicely. The last time I saw you in a suit was at the auction, and then you were running away from me.”
He chuckled and wound his fingers through mine before stepping back and making a show of taking another look at me. “Well, now I feel like an idiot for not making reservations at a nice restaurant.”
“You wore a suit to go to a burger joint?” I teased. “That seems highly unlikely.”
He scoffed, motioning to his own torso, and he led me to the limo. “What? This old thing? It’s my taco suit, actually. The one I wear to burger joints is much nicer.”
An honest-to-God giggle came out of me. “What about nachos? Do you have a suit for that?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.” He winked as he helped me into the backseat, his hand never leaving mine. “I’ll give you a hint, though. It might or might not have sequins on it.”
“Now that, I’d love to see,” I replied, scooting along the seat to make space for him beside me. “I’m free on Wednesday. It’s two-for-one on nachos at this little place around the corner every Wednesday. What do you say, want to take your sequined suit out for a spin?”