“What!”
Eli had been tugging me down the street,pulling on my arm, but he stopped suddenly, bringing me to a screeching halt.He turned to use the window of a store as a makeshift mirror. “I don’t havewrinkles or gray hairs!”
I shrugged and gave him an exaggerated nodlike I was willing to humor the crazy person. “Of course you don’t.”
His face scrunched up, and he tilted hishead back and forth trying to see behind him. It was so funny. Fighting to holdin my laughter helped to distract me from the nerves that had been plaguing mefor hours.
Finally, he straightened and gave me adeath stare. “That’s just mean. I look fine.”
I wasn’t ready to let it go yet. “There’snothing wrong with going gray. Everyone does eventually. And fine lines addcharacter.”
“Eventuallybeing the key word. Ihave a long time beforeeventuallycomes. And you can go fuck yourcharacter.”His gaze darted back to the window.
Laughter burst out of me, startling a fewpeople walking by. The fact that the laughing loon was wearing a skirt andheels probably didn’t help any.
No, I wasn’t going to let myself go downthat path.
Aside from a few long looks, and oneslightly confused tween boy who’d lookedreallysurprised, there hadn’tbeen that many reactions. Certainly not as many as I’d pictured…or hadnightmares about. Not that I’d told Eli or Wilder about them.
“You’re just trying to distract me.” Elistarted pulling me back down the street, shooting daggers at me. “If you’regoing to do that, it should be with a dirty joke or a sexy story, not somethinghorrific and mean. I don’t distract you by telling you that you look fat inthat skirt, do I?”
“I don’t look fat!”
Okay, that came out a bit too loud.
Several girls walking past us startedgiggling and shaking their heads, agreeing with me. And one older lady comingout of the used book store we were getting ready to pass made a frustratedsound but glared at Eli, not me.
Then she gave me a smile. “Don’t let yourboyfriend tease you, dearie. You look beautiful.”
As she walked away, we both stared afterher. “Did she think I was a woman?”
Eli shrugged, completely distracted fromthe hair comments. “No idea. Maybe?”
Then, tugging me onward, he shrugged again.“That’s not the point. But she was right about you looking great.”
“You’re just saying that because you won.”I hadn’t exactly lost a bet, but the skirt definitely hadn’t been my firstchoice for outfits. Somehow, Eli had just wormed his way in, and by the time Irealized what he’d done, it was time to leave the house, and I was dressed inthe damned skirt.
He grinned wickedly but was smart enoughnot to gloat too boldly. “You came to work last week in a couple of your fun,pretty outfits. This is basically the same thing.”
No, it wasn’t.
Going from my apartment to work or Wilder’shouse in something feminine wasn’t the same thing as heading out in public tovisit him at work. One was baby steps. The other was a marathon I wasn’t sure Iwas ready for, no matter what Eli said.
I had to admit that I was trying, but thisfelt huge. In the weeks since I’d first taken Wilder to work, I’d felt moreconfident. Not sure enough of myself to go home dressed up as the real me, butI was trying to figure out what felt right. I’d also told my mother no moreblind dates because I’d found someone I was falling for. She just immediatelyswitched to wanting to know everything about him and planning on when she couldmeet him.
Wilder just beamed with pride every time Itook a step outside my comfort zone. He made me feel ten feet tall and wasactually looking forward to meeting my family.
“You and I live in completely differentworlds sometimes.”
Eli put a little wiggle in his step and gaveme a coy, teasing look over his shoulder. “But you’re coming over to my sidenow. Don’t worry, we have sexy lingerie and glitter in all the right places.”
“There is no right place for glitter. God,I still remember that insane shoot. Don’t even say that word around me.”
It’ll be fun, he said.
It’ll be sexy, he said.
It won’t be that messy, he said.
