Adrienne snorted.“Definitely not a problem.But also, I didn’t shave my legs this morning.That’s kind of weird.”
“Not for those of us who are single.Are you getting lazy as a kept woman?”I teased.
“Maybe.”
“They’ll shave the area and I promise you they don’t care, but if you’re worried about it, bicep is probably your best bet.”
Adrienne crossed her arms and sank lower in her seat.“I don’t know.Why can’t I make up my mind?Maybe when I get there I’ll flip a coin?”
I could tell her that was a bad idea, but I’d done worse.“Do you want me to pick for you?”
“No.But maybe.But yes.Okay.”
“Then do your bicep.”I didn’t care if she rejected the idea.I expected she would since she’d had so much resistance to it up to this point.
She puffed out a long breath.“Okay.Outside of my calf it is.”
She was just the right level of indecisive.Decisive?Either way, I loved it.
We got to the tattoo parlor, and I introduced her to the woman who’d done most of my ink.
Adrienne rolled up the leg of her jeans.“Sorry about the fuzz.”
“I promise you, I’ve seen worse.”Etta snapped on a pair of gloves.“Let’s get started.”She walked through setting everything up while she explained to Adrienne how the process would work.When she leaned in and turned on the needle, Adrienne gripped my hand tightly.
“Ouch.”Adrienne whimpered.
Etta laughed.“I haven’t started.Low pain threshold?”
“We’re about to find out,” Adrienne said.
Etta touched the needle to Adrienne’s leg, and earned a wince in return, but Adrienne sat without squirming or complaining through the entire thing.
When the work was done, Adrienne admired it both from above and in the mirror, and grinned.“I love it.The guys at work are wimps.”
“As is frequently the case.”While Etta cleaned up and wrapped the tattoo in plastic, she ran Adrienne through caring for the ink while it healed.
Adrienne was tentative when she put more weight on her leg, and then she was fine.We headed back to my Jeep.“Dresses next,” she said.
I tried to hide my wince, but it slipped out anyway.I didn’t have money for a new evening gown, but I could hit the discount racks and make something work.Mom had taught me a lot about building a gorgeous outfit from thrift store chic, I just didn’t expect to still be needing the knowledge all these years later.
“Sure.Dresses next.”It was why she told Phillip and Dustin we were taking this trip; she needed to come back with something.
Dustin had planned their company Christmas party this year, and for some reason decided it should be a formal affair.Since I hadn’t seen this group do anything like this in the past, I assumed Adrienne, and possibly Luna, had some influence on that decision.
When I happily agreed to be Adrienne’s date, I hadn’t realizedfancy dresswas on the play list.
Adrienne squeezed my hand, though not as hard as she had in the tattoo parlor.“I get it.It hasn’t been that long since I was strapped for cash.You can drop me off if you’d rather, but I’d love your opinion.”
Damn it.I wanted to go dress shopping, even if I couldn’t afford it.“Let’s go.Point me in a direction.”
She gave me directions to a little boutique tucked away from downtown traffic.When we stepped inside, my bank account whimpered and I hadPretty Womanflashbacks.Not the scene where Richard Gere gave Julia Roberts the necklace, but the one where she tried to go shopping on Rodeo Drive and the salespeople snobbed her out of the store.
I wouldn’t be finding any clearance racks in here.But I did help Adrienne pick out a few styles and colors.
Adrienne tried on several dresses, but the one that looked best on her had a strap on one shoulder and left the other bare.The bodice hugged her torso, in a gradient of white to gold, and flowed into a black skirt that just brushed the ground when she was in heels.
“You look amazing,” I said.