Chapter 2
L ucy carefully smoothed her hands down the bodice of the heavily sequined dress that she was lucky to borrow from her sister for the charity event that evening.
The burgundy to champagne gradient color was amazing and the mermaid style fit her body as if it had been tailor made, which it kind of was, thanks to the alteration skills of Colleen Hart, the financial whiz for Soul Paws.
She was helping Lucy get ready for the ball and was advising her on everything gala related, since Savannah had to leave the previous day for the west coast. Lucy was much more comfortable with dive bars and blue-collar guys.
Fancy balls, tuxedos, and knowing which fork to use for meals was so not her thing.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”
It seemed Colleen could read her mind as she cleaned up after the whirlwind fallout from getting ready.
She had come over to Savannah’s house, where Lucy was house-sitting the dogs, in case last-minute alterations were needed, and to calm those pesky nerves.
Colleen wasn’t that much older than Lucy—only a few years—but she was more settled and had acted as a big sister to Lucy and Savannah for most of their lives.
It only seemed natural to turn to her for advice.
But it didn’t matter. Lucy was still panicking.
Lucy bit her lower lip, smudging her lipstick, and sighed. “I’m so not the right person for this.”
Colleen gripped her hand. “You’ll do fine, sweetie. You have everything under control.”
Lucy eyed the stranger in the mirror. The artfully arranged hair. The perfectly applied makeup. The amazing dress. She felt like a Disney princess. Only she knew she was a fraud underneath. She didn’t want to disappoint Alex, but worried that she somehow would, anyway.
She’d met him for the first time at a picnic at her sister’s house, right in this very backyard.
She was basically a mess, waitressing at a local dive bar, dating some loser guy, and still trying to figure out what she wanted to be when she grew up.
She was self-aware enough to know she partied and dodged many responsibilities to avoid facing tough questions about her life, especially as she found herself traveling down the same path as their mother.
Yet, when she walked out onto the patio and ran into Alex Rasmussen, spilling her plastic cup of beer all over him, she’d almost swallowed her tongue.
Alex had been completely put together. The complete opposite to her, and it was so obvious to her.
He had the self-confidence that came from knowing the world was his oyster and he was the pearl inside.
He had the perfect girlfriend on his arm, who sneered at Lucy like she was dog shit on the bottom of her shoe.
Alex had been the perfect gentleman, though he’d maintained a careful distance, a distance he’d kept up for the two years since they’d known each other.
Until that event this past summer when things took a turn.
He encouraged her to take a chance on herself, to try for the tough choices and not settle. Well, she was reaching high this time. Hopefully, she wouldn’t make a complete ass of herself.
Before she could chicken out, the doorbell rang, and Colleen headed downstairs. Damn, Alex was early. Of course he was. At least she was ready. She straightened and smoothed the crushed velvet bodice and sequined skirt. “Here goes nothing.”
She headed down the stairs, her balance steady thanks to her years of waitressing in heels.
As she got halfway down, Alex slowly turned.
His tuxedo fit as if it were custom made for him, which it probably was.
And probably cost more than her current POS car, which was almost as old as she was. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
She allowed herself a satisfied grin at his reaction. Worth the effort. Now, if she could keep from embarrassing herself the rest of the night, she’d be fine.
A lex finally understood the word poleaxed when he saw Lucy slowly descend from the upstairs in a sparkly burgundy dress that faded to a champagne color towards the floor.
Her blond hair, normally in tousled waves around her face, had been pulled up in a bun, with a few strands framing her elfin face.
Her makeup was delicate and subtle, emphasizing her large blue eyes.
Right now, those eyes stared at him uncertainly, and her full lips, slicked with deep red lipstick, made him want to kiss her.
Yeah, this is why he had run from her this summer, when he’d first realized their careful friendship was moving into a much more personal arena.
But as the sister-in-law of his friend, not to mention a woman who had her own set of issues, she was off-limits.
Thirty minutes later they stood near a Christmas tree, one of several uniquely decorated trees dotting the ballroom, and sipped the evening’s signature cocktail, a cranberry-peach schnapps drink called the Christmas Kiss.
He would have preferred a beer, but he’d learned a long time ago to wear the image the audience wanted to see.
His few teammates who remained in town for the off-season were also scattered through the ballroom, looking as uncomfortable as he felt.
He noticed several men glancing at them, specifically Lucy, and he had the overwhelming urge to block her from their gazes.
“You should stop scowling at everyone, you know. No one will come to talk to you if you’re glaring all the time,” Lucy said quietly, amusement threading through her words.
He glanced down and immediately wished he hadn’t, because it afforded him an excellent view of her cleavage, which, of course, gave him insane ideas of visions of something completely inappropriate for the venue. He gulped the rest of the drink, fixing his gaze on a point across the room.
“They shouldn’t be staring. It’s rude.”
“It’s kind of flattering, actually. Nice to know someone thinks I look nice.”
At her pointed words, he did a double take. “You look amazing. Didn’t I tell you?”
She gave a soft laugh, her head tilted up to look at him. “No. You mumbled something and hustled me out the door. I have to say, I was a bit let down. I wondered where all the famous Alex Rasmussen charm had gone.”
He’d swallowed his tongue and his blood flow had gone completely south.
That’s what had happened. He’d had to hide his reaction from her and Colleen because he felt like a teenager with a complete lack of control over himself.
When she had walked down those stairs, she looked like a true southern belle.
Her slow descent drew his eyes to her legs, then up her whole body, to the dress that swirled around her lower legs, hugged her slim waist, and accentuated all of her amazing figure.
He had reacted immediately and wanted to say to hell with the event and take her right back upstairs and pull that dress off her to get to what was underneath.
Only her friend Colleen watching him prevented him from acting on anything.
“I didn’t want any of the dogs to jump on you and wreck your dress.” The excuse was lame, but it was the only one he had.
She arched her eyebrow. “Savannah trained her dogs too well to even think about that. Besides, I gated them in the kitchen.”
He grunted, then told her the truth. “Then I was an ass. You look beautiful.”
She blushed, her color almost matching the dress. Her hand went to the skirt, smoothing it as if she were self-conscious. “Thank you.”
“I should thank you for doing this. These events are duller than extra innings in the rain and, since most of my teammates are away for the holidays, going alone would have been painful.”
She smiled impishly at him. “Well, I get to play dress up for a few hours, so I’d say we’re even.”
“Alex? Is that you?”
He stiffened and clenched the martini-style glass so hard he thought it would shatter.
The voice was like nails down a chalkboard, and he really didn’t want to turn around.
Lucy stared at him, her blue eyes wide and curious.
She leaned a bit to the side to see around him.
He let out a breath and put their glasses on the tall tray near them before he broke it.
He took Lucy’s elbow and whispered, “Play along.”
Pasting on a fake smile, he turned. “Candice. It’s been a while.”