He pulled back, his brows lowered over doubtful eyes. “Yes,” he answered slowly.
“How do you feel about being my date to the charity gala?”
“Do I have to buy a corsage?”
I laughed. “Maybe.”
“Then I’m definitely in. I love a good flower accessory. How can I say no?”
15
Hanna
Turning this way and that, I examine the blue lace stretched too tight across my chest in the full-length mirror. I’d gone back and forth with how I felt about my cleavage. Boasted about it in high school, loving the attention. Then I hated it and would have done anything to have them gone. Then I’d pretended to be okay with them in the years after. But it wasn’t until our last night at Voyeur that I’d truly appreciated them.
I saw them through Daniel’s eyes. I saw them through my own. Another part of my body I reclaimed as mine.
“Let’s see it,” Olivia shouted from the other side of the curtain.
“I’m about to Incredible Hulk out of this dress.”
“Well, then you better hurry up. We promised to show everyone.”
I stepped out, and everyone oohed and aahed over the dress, but agreed it clung a little too tightly.
“Where’s Oaklyn?” I asked.
“Oaklyn, don’t make me drag you out,” Olivia threatened.
The curtain next to mine flung open, and the light-haired brunette stomped out, staring daggers at Olivia. I tried to purse my lips together to hold the laugh back, but one slipped out, and it broke everyone else down too. All of us were in a fit of giggles.
“It’s not that bad,” Olivia defended around her smile.
Oaklyn flung her hands up, the bulky floral fabric rustling around her wrists. “I look like I got my hand stuck in a bush.”
I couldn’t help it, I laughed again.
Oaklyn grumbled and made her way back behind the curtain.
“I like that one, Carina,” I said, watching her twist and turn. The black lace clung to her curvaceous body. “The long sleeves give it a demure look, but the off the shoulder is sexy.”
“Also, it clings to my ass like glue.” She bobbed her brows before turning to Audrey munching on Puffs in her stroller. “Yes, it does, baby girl. Not that you will have anything that clings to you. Nope. Not with your daddy.”
Audrey smiled a four-tooth smile and reach for Carina. “Ma-ma.”
Carina pressed a kiss to her fat cheek and went to get undressed.
“Next one,” Alex demanded. “This gray is washing me out.”
I shed the dress and put on my favorite, an emerald green gown. The sweetheart neckline pushed my breasts up but covered enough to remain decent. The top fitted me until it hit my waist, where the heavy satin flared out.
“You’ve been busy lately, Hanna,” Carina called from outside.
“Yeah. Work,” I answered lamely, opening the curtain. She held Audrey in her arms, giving me a deadpanned stare, unimpressed with my answer. “I’m taking a new self-defense class, too.”
Alex came out just in time to say, “With Daniel.”
Carina’s brows rose high.
“Daniel, Daniel? My Uncle Daniel?” Olivia asked, joining the group.
“Yeah. It’s nothing.”
“He’s her date to the charity gala,” Alex added, and I glared at her making a bigger deal about it than it was.
“Wow,” Oaklyn added. “Daniel doesn’t do dates.”
“We’re friends. It’s not a date. It’s nothing.”
Alex crossed her arms, and I did my best attempt at telepathy to not say anything else. She did one back and said tough shit.
“Why don’t you tell them what else he’s helping you with,” she suggested, smirking.
Olivia waved her hand like she was swatting a bug. “We already know about Voyeur. Duh. Old news.”
“Oh, it’s way more than that.”
I almost stomped my foot. Almost. “It’s not. It’s nothing.” Alex’s stare called bullshit. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Spill,” Carina demanded, looking way too good for a woman currently bouncing a baby chewing on her hair.
“It’s nothing,” I tried again. “He’s just a friend helping a friend.”
“With sex,” Alex added.
“I’m out,” Olivia said, throwing her hands up and turning back to her room. “He’s like my dad, and that’s nasty. Ugh. Now I know how he feels about Kent and me.”
Alex turned to Oaklyn, who looked stunning in a silver dress. “You know Daniel. Has he ever helped anyone?”
“I mean, yeah. He’s not a monster. He helps people, but they’re more like acquaintances. He doesn’t have many close friends.”
“What do you mean, ‘sex’?” Carina asked. “Are you sleeping with him?”
“Ew,” came from behind the curtain.
“No,” I said over Olivia’s gagging sounds.
“Not yet,” Alex muttered.
I grabbed the closest thing I could find, one of Audrey’s stuffed animals, and chucked it at Alex. She easily deflected the rabbit. “What? I said I wouldn’t tell Erik. It’s good to talk this stuff out with friends.”
“Yeah, and now Carina will tell Ian.”
“Not my monkeys, not my circus. My lips are sealed.”
The attendant snuck up on us all standing in a circle in a standoff. “More champagne, ladies?”