Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Stop Cerise, that’s enough. I look like a glitter bomb exploded on me.” Nadia laughed and shook her head at the image gazing back at her. Her eyelids glittered and so did her cheeks. Although the glitter on her cheeks was very subtle, it was still a little too much for Nadia to cope with.
“Oh come on, glitter lipstick will finish the look.” Cerise cajoled and waved a tube of silver lipstick in her face.
“Umm that would be a hard no. I don’t want to look like something from a sci-fi movie for goodness sake. God, I’m going to scare Mitch away the minute I open the door.”
Cerise laughed. “Okay no glitter lipstick, but you’re no fun.” She finished with a pout and rummaged around her make up bag to extract another lipstick. Nadia braced herself for what color Cerise was about to show her.
“What do you think of this?”
Nadia’s relief was palpable when her friend wave a pale pink color in front of her. “Much better. The chances of him running out now, are down to about thirty percent.”
“Girl, that man is not going to run away from you. You look sensational and I’ve only enhanced it all.” Cerise commented as she cleaned up her paraphernalia.
“I hope so,” Nadia murmured as a wave of butterflies took flight in her belly.
She was about to head out to dinner with Mitch.
Work had been absolutely crazy for her, a doctor had suddenly left and so a few of them were pulling double shifts until a replacement could be sourced.
Mitch had also been busy at the ranch and his volunteer firefighter duties.
All of that meant they hadn’t been able to see each other since their picnic on his parent’s property, almost a month ago.
But they’d texted and talked on the phone every chance they got.
Nadia cherished those phone calls. Especially the ones after he’d been to see his therapist. Mitch had had three sessions over the past couple of weeks.
In that short time she’d been able to tell they were helping him a lot.
They hadn’t talked in too much detail about what was discussed in his sessions.
It wasn’t her place to ask anyway. If anyone should understand doctor/patient confidentiality agreement it was her.
But she’d let him know if he wanted to talk she was there to listen.
They’d talked about going on a dinner date for over a week once Nadia found out she would have the next couple of days off.
She couldn’t wait to sleep in and lounge on the couch watching Hallmark movies.
The time off would also give her a chance to catch up on her emails.
She’d barely been able to keep up with the text messages from Mitch and her family.
Her mom was hounding her about applying for a job at Boston General, she’d heard through the grapevine that a position was coming up within the ER.
Nadia recalled seeing an email in her inbox about it, but she’d pushed it aside vowing to look at it when she had more than five minutes to breath.
That was her excuse and she was sticking with it.
The truth of the matter was she didn’t want to open it because she could be forced to make a decision she wasn’t ready to make.
“Okay. Now that we’ve got your make up sorted. What are you going wear?” Cerise tucked her make-up bag beneath her arm, her eyebrow rose in query.
“Umm I was thinking jeans and a shirt. I mean, I know we’re going into San Antonio, but Mitch hasn’t told me where we’re eating.
” Which she found a little annoying because she wanted to make sure she was dressed appropriately.
He’d been no help when she’d asked him in a text, his response had been you’ll look beautiful no matter what you wear.
His text had thrilled her, but still, she didn’t want to be too casual.
“Nope, jeans and a shirt won’t work. I think you need to wear the dress you wore to the community event. You’ll fit right in if you wear that.”
“Hmm I don’t think so.” Nadia screwed up her nose at the suggestion.
While she liked the dress she didn’t want to wear it to dinner.
It was a little too country for her. Sure, she was beginning to love being in Texas, but she was still a New England girl through and through.
She went over to her closet and gazed at the shirts and dresses hanging up.
“I’ll figure something out. Now you need to go rest. You’ve been on your feet too long. ”
Cerise waved off her concern. “I’m fine. The doctor gave me the all clear to go back to work next week. You can stop being my doctor at home and go back to being my roommate and friend.”
Nadia paused in her perusal of her clothes and glanced over her shoulder. “I haven’t been that bad have I?” She’d been making sure her friend rested when she’d been home, but Nadia didn’t think she’d been hovering over her.
Cerise walked over and gave her a quick hug. “No, I’m just teasing you. I’m really grateful that you care though, Nads. I know you’ve been crazy busy with work, but you always made sure I was okay and I appreciate it more than I can say.”
Nadia turned around and gave her friend a hug. “I love you, Cerise. You’re my best friend and I don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t met you.”
“I love you too, Nads.” Cerise sniffed and Nadia looked up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly so she didn’t mess up her make-up. Cerise would never forgive her if she did. After a minute they both separated and grinned at each other.
“Get back to picking an outfit. I give you permission to go New England on Mitch tonight. Knock him off his feet so he can’t resist you.”
Excitement flowed through her again. She was going to get an uninterrupted evening with her man. Mitch told her he’d arranged for someone to cover him should his team get called out to an emergency.
Nadia went back to looking through her closet, flicking through the items until she came to a wraparound dress.
It was perfect. Pulling it off the hanger she slipped off her robe and put it on.
The neckline was low, but not obscenely.
It hugged her breasts nipped in at her waist. The bright pink color complimented her hair.
And instead of looking over the top and out of place, Cerise’s make-up job completed the whole look.
“I look pretty good if I do say so myself,” she murmured.
“Girl, if you don’t leave that man speechless, then I’m not a glitter lover. You look beautiful.”
Nadia looked over her shoulder to see Cerise had returned to her room and was standing in the doorway. “Thanks. And I have to admit, I only look this good because of the make-up.”
Cerise smiled big. “See I told you, glitter makes everything better.”
Nadia laughed, which quickly died when the doorbell rang. “Oh my God, he’s here.”
Cerise rolled her eyes. “Well duh, and right on time. I’d expect nothing less from the man. I’ll go let him in so you can make a grand entrance. I want to watch his face.”
Nadia nodded grateful that she had a couple more minutes to get her nerves under control.
She had no idea why she was feeling like she was about to jump off a cliff.
It’s not as if she hadn’t spent time with Mitch before.
They’d talked so much over the last couple of weeks not to mention she’d already gone on a date with him before.
But this seemed different. Tonight seemed like a turning point in their relationship.
Picking up her purse, she checked the contents. She had everything she needed.
The low murmurs of voices drifted down the hallway from the living room. This was it. Giving herself one last glance in the mirror she smiled.
Damn, she did look hot.
The walk from her bedroom to the living room wasn’t long, but it may as well have been a mile.
She paused in the doorway, Mitch had his back to her so it gave her a moment to admire him.
Tonight he was wearing a pair of dark grey pants, they hugged his ass just a nicely as his jeans.
He wore a pale blue long sleeved shirt that stretched tightly across his broad shoulders.
As if sensing her behind him, he turned and, yep his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.
“You look very handsome tonight, Mitch.” Her voice sounded strong, in total contrast to the way her insides were jumping all around like a Mexican Jumping Bean.
Cerise stepped out from behind him, thumbs in the air and mouthed I told you so. Nadia controlled the urge to laugh out loud.
“You’re beautiful,” Mitch eventually blurted out, and she was surprised to see a slight pink hue bloom over his cheeks. The big tough volunteer firefighter blushed.
Score one for Nadia.
He took two steps toward her, then paused, canting his head to the side as he studied her features. “Is that glitter on your cheeks?”
Now it was her turn to blush. “Yeah, I promised Cerise that she could glitterfy me once she got out of hospital.”
“I have to say, I think it suits you.” He gently tapped a finger on her cheek. Her skin warmed and she wanted his hands all over her. Kissing her. She wanted to feel what it was like to be possessed by this man. She wanted everything he could give her. She wanted to make love to Mitch tonight.
“See I told you, life is nothing if you don’t have some glitter in it.” Cerise piped up and Nadia rolled her eyes again. Which caused Mitch to laugh.
“I think that’s our cue to leave. Are you ready, Boston?” And he held out his hand to her.
“Definitely.” She slipped her hand into his outstretched one, he squeezed it lightly and her nerves disappeared.
She couldn’t wait to see if her wishes were going to come true tonight. She hoped they would.