“It’s a thank-you for all your hard work getting this company off the ground.”
“You worked hard, too.”
“I might have treated myself to the odd thing.” Paige grinned and Eva balanced on the edge of Frankie’s desk, her blue skater skirt riding up her thighs.
“Open them. We tried to compromise between what you feel comfortable in and what we think you’d look great in.”
“Is this a makeover?”
“It’s a thank-you.” Eva pushed the bags toward her. “I was feeling really crappy the other night and you helped me. I know you hate deciding what to wear, so I hope I’ve made it easy for you. There’s an outfit for traveling, which can be easily smartened up when you go to see your client. Then there’s something to wear to the wedding and something to wear on the beach
.”
“I hadn’t decided what to wear to the wedding.” Frankie wrestled through tissue paper and extracted a feather-light length of slippery emerald green silk. “It’s a dress? I don’t—”
“It’s not a dress. It’s a jumpsuit and it’s going to look stunning on you. It might be windy and you don’t want to spend your whole time trying to stop the other guests seeing your underwear. And on that note I took the liberty of buying you a few more personal things.”
“You bought me lingerie?”
“If you have an accident and you’re taken into the emergency department I don’t want your mismatching underwear to distract them from saving you. And as I was the one who threw away that gray abomination you called a nightdress, I figured I owed you.”
Lingerie.
She wasn’t stupid. She knew why Eva had bought her lingerie, and it wasn’t because she wanted her to look good in the event of an encounter with the emergency services.
She wanted her to look good in the event of an encounter with Matt.
Although that might be a total car crash, too.
If anything, the kiss had made things more terrifying, not less, because now she had further to fall. The ultimate disappointment when they finally made it to bed would be crushing.
She tucked the silk jumpsuit back into the bag and peered into the others. “You two have spent a fortune.”
“Doing something scary is always easier if you’re looking good. I also bought you a new sweater.”
“Are we bankrupt?”
“No, we’re doing well.” Paige handed her a small bag. “I know you hate lipstick, but this is so neutral it barely counts. It will look good with the jumpsuit for the wedding. Summery and light.” She paused. “We’re proud of you.”
Frankie felt like a fraud. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“You’re the one who is doing it, and we think you’re incredible. You’re strong and fearless.” Paige gave her a hug and then pulled away as Frankie’s phone rang. “You’d better get that.”
Fearless?
They had no idea.
She’d never been more scared of anything in her life, but whether it was the thought of being with Matt or the thought of returning to Puffin Island, she didn’t know. The whole thing was now a tangled mess of stress in her head.
Needing to escape, Frankie snatched up her phone and walked out of the office.
Paige flopped into her chair. “Do you think she’s going to wear it?”
“I don’t know. I hope so because Matt is going to need therapy if she wears something like that gray T-shirt to bed.”
“He’s so crazy about her, I have a feeling he wouldn’t care.”
Eva gave her a dark look. “You didn’t see the T-shirt. Even Marilyn Monroe couldn’t have carried that off.”