Page 1 of Sassy Pants
Chapter 1
Gianna
“Ican’t believe I let you talk me into this.” Shaking my head, I snag another dress off the clearance rack.
“You need to put yourself back out there. Get back up on the saddle and ride, babe,” Jelissa tells me wearing this stupid smirk on her face.
“Nothing worthwhile ever comes from a blind date.”
“Don’t knock it till you try it. My cousin Lindee met her husband on one of those sites.”
“Whatever.” I stomp into the changing room armed with the five dresses my bestie shoved at me.
“You know I’m right,” she sings, still wearing that stupid grin no doubt. Jelissa has been trying to con me into going on a date with one of the emergency room doctors at the hospital she works at a town over. We both know a doctor is out of my league. What the hell would we even talk about? I work at a pizza place. Two completely different worlds.
I try on the blue silky slip style dress. It’s a big fat no. It reminds me of a slinky nightgown. The next one is shimmery and silver, it’s a party dress, but I’m going on a fun girl’s night out. This one doesn’t seem appropriate, but I do like it, so I think I’ll buy it to save for a special occasion. Too bad New Year’s Eve has passed.
“Get the red,” Jelissa, calls from outside the door, slinging a slinky red dress over the top.
“Get the red,” I mock under my breath.
“I can hear you.”
I smile to myself, trading the silver one for the red. Okay. I grin bigger at my reflection in the changing room mirror. The red divinely covers my cleavage enough that its sexy but not slutty. I don’t think I’ve worn a red dress since my pageant days. When I was in high school, I entered every pageant I could trying to save enough money to blow out of Drag Creek to make something of myself. I wasn’t hanging around waiting for Jesse to get his head out of his ass.
Jesse was the bad boy next door. Well he lived two trailers down from me. The boy was Bad with a capital B. We had plans, the two of us. We were going to leave our shitty upbringings. Show everyone we were more than trailer trash.
That plan changed when he was arrested for a home invasion. I was sixteen, Jesse was eighteen therefore charged as an adult.
I stuck to my plan. I never looked back until I had my heart broken by a serious asshole. I don’t know what I was thinking getting involved with the boss’s son. I knew Noah Wilkerson was out of my league, but I thought for once things were going my way. I’d been working at his father’s bank for three years.
I’d met him once at a company picnic then six months ago he came to work for his father. He’d been appointed my boss. Then he asked me out.
I thought maybe he’d be my one. I was wrong. Noah took my heart and trampled all over it.
**
Nearly two months ago
“Babe, come back. Let’s talk about this,” Noah pleaded through the speaker of my cell phone as I sped further away from his parents’ house. Further away from him and the bullshitI endured. I knew we came from two different worlds but until tonight I hadn’t realized how different they were.
I rolled my eyes heavenward. “Right. I’m sure you and Cassandra will have plenty to catch up on without me there to get in the way of you rehashing how wonderful life was when you were dating her.”
“It’s not like that. You’re overreacting. I didn’t know she would be here. I swear.”
“Your mother hung her a freaking stocking on the mantle. Did I get a stocking? Nope. But your ex-girlfriend still has an assigned bedroom there in your childhood home.”
“Noah,” I overheard Cassandra’s nasally tone in the background. “You’re standing under mistletoe.”
“I’m on the phone,” he hissed.
“You know what that means.”
“Not now, Cass.”
“But, baby.”
“Wow. Okay.” A stray tear escaped, sliding down my cheek. “You know what—don’t worry about me.” I hung up on the asshole then silenced his incoming calls so I could focus on driving. I couldn’t stay another moment in that house, or I was going to suffocate. I wasn’t about to suffer through another humiliating moment of his family doting over his ex-girlfriend as though they wished they were still a couple. Who does that in front of the current girlfriend especially at Christmas time? Her sweater even matched his mother’s. Making the situation pretty flipping obvious to me that I wasn’t welcome nor was I wanted there for the holiday.
