Chapter 16 Josie
JOSIE
The day of the party finally arrived, and I still wasn’t ready for it.
I finally found a dress after buying multiple online. Vivian and I had tried to go shopping for one but had no luck. So, I did the modern-day act of buying no less than five to try on. Thankfully, one of them fit perfectly.
Now, the other four were repackaged and ready to be returned.
I was standing in front of my full-length mirror, inspecting the dress. It was a deep emerald green that flowed to the ground. That helped me from feeling quite as self-conscious with the slit that ran halfway up my thigh. But Vivian said it looked sexy, and she would not sugarcoat anything.
Thankfully, she’d helped me with my hair, too. Being in a kitchen most of my life didn’t leave much room for curling hair or really doing much of anything with it other than throwing it in a bun.
It also didn’t leave much room for make-up, but I managed with that on my own.
“Josie?” Killian’s voice called out before I even heard the door fully shut.
“In my room!”
I heard his footsteps come closer, and as soon as they stopped in the doorway, I started to turn to him.
“I thought I was going to meet you there.”
Instead of him responding, I saw him standing there, mouth agape.
“What? Is something wrong? Does it look bad? I swear, I went through so many dresses, and this was the only one that worked.”
Killian stepped forward, reaching for my hand.
“Killian—”
He lifted my hand above my head. “Spin.”
I hesitantly did as he asked.
“What?”
“You look…”
My heart was racing, hoping he’d say anything but horrible.
“You look fucking incredible.”
“I. I do?”
“Fuck yes. A million times better than prom, and back then, I didn’t think it could get better than that.”
“You remember what I looked like at prom?”
Killian smirked. “You’ll believe me one day when I say I remember everything and paid attention to everything about you.”
“No…” I trailed off, but he’d proven multiple times already that there was at least some truth to that.
“I could fucking kiss you right now,” Killian blurted, then I watched his eyes go wide.
I tilted my head. “What was that?”
“Um, nothing.” Killian cleared his throat like that would somehow make me forget what he said. “We should get going.”
I crossed my arms and simply stared at him. “No, you said something. You just don’t want to repeat it.”
“No, I think you don’t want me to repeat it.”
“Really, now?”
“I don’t think you can handle it.”
“Try me.”
Killian took one large step, closing the distance between us. Suddenly, one hand was gripping my lower back, the other hand was on my cheek. He brought his lips to my ear. “I said,” his voice lower than I’d ever heard, “I could fucking kiss you right now.”
My breath caught, and I was frozen in place.
He pulled his face back just far enough to look at me as he brushed the pad of his thumb across my lips.
I thought for sure he would kiss me right then and there. He lingered like he was going to.
Except, he didn’t.
He stepped back, leaving me without his touch or air to breathe.
“I told you so.” He smirked.
The motherfucker fucking smirked at me.
I cleared my throat. “Told me what? I told you to try me. You did. And we’re both still standing here. So you said some words. That didn’t do anything for me,” I lied straight through my teeth.
“Okay, sure. You keep telling yourself that. Now, it’s time to go. Think you’ll be okay pretending to love me for one night?”
“Um, sure.”
The drive to the party in Plattsburgh was mostly silent beyond the music. I kept rolling the entire conversation back and forth in my mind, trying to dissect it.
I was so lost in it that I didn’t even realize we’d arrived until Killian brushed my shoulder with his hand.
He was standing on my side, having opened my door, and was holding out his hand for me to take.
“Come on, Josie. Get out of that crowded mind of yours. It’s time to go have some fun.”
I took his hand and climbed out of the car. “You have fun at a Christmas party?”
He rolled his eyes. “I meant time to have fun fucking with Tiffany until she finally leaves me alone.”
“You’re a heathen, you know that, right?”
He shrugged. “A heathen you love tonight.” He held out his arm for me to slip mine through. I begrudgingly did so, letting him lead the way in.