See Me .(18)

The black strappy summer dress was casual enough to wear to a night out at the bar or a friendly dinner. Not that she’d done either in years. Standing in front of the mirror on the back of her bedroom door, she did two more turns. The dress was a bit low-cut, but she could wear the little knit sweater she’d bought to go to the adult Internet awards last year. It had been a great investment of her time. She’d gained a wealth of information and learned about the business. She dug in the tall chest of drawers and turned to Penelope. “Yes…maybe?”

The sweater was definitely not working. “Crap! Crap! Crap! I’m not going. This is ridiculous.” She grabbed her phone and noticed Ron had texted. She tapped the flashing icon. U R coming! Get your ass over here. She smiled and turned to the mountain of jeans on the bed.

“Okay, skinny jeans and tank with light gray sweater. I can do this. I can do this.” She tossed the phone on the bed, slipped the black dress over her head, and tossed it on the floor. When she caught a glimpse of her stomach in the mirror, she cringed. The white scar reached from the tip of one hip to her belly button. The bastard thought he’d cut deeper than he had. She shook her head to fight the shiver that still wanted to rack her body. Back to the bed, she yanked on the dark skinny jeans she’d had on before.

“What do you think?” she asked the small dog curled up on the bed among the jeans and miscellaneous shirts. The confused pooch just tucked its head and remained quiet. “I see you’re not going to help me. Way to be supportive, Penelope.” After searching in the drawer, she found a light pink tank and put it on. A couple more turns in the mirror. “If I wear the sweater, it’ll cover my fat ass and tits. I can make this work…I think.”

The ordeal she called her hair wasn’t any easier. She’d been complimented more times than she could count on the thickness and color, but it never seemed to change the image she saw in the mirror. She was a blonde under it all, but with a new life came a new hair color. All her siblings were blonde; got that from their mother. Now the dilemma was to go straight or curly. She dragged the brush through her hair again. “Well, shit. Ponytail? No. God, Ron! Why did you invite me out?” She tugged the brush over the back of her head. “I never do this. I can’t even get ready to have drinks.” The effort to smash the waves of auburn hair was in vain. “Fine, pony it is!

“Okay, Penelope,” she said down to the brown and white Welsh Corgi sitting at her feet, “you’re in charge of the fort. No boys and no parties.” The small dog perked up her big ears and gave a yelp.

She tossed a treat onto the refinished hardwood floor, and the dog scrambled to retrieve the crunchy bone. “Where’s my purse?” She could hear an Adam Lambert ringtone blaring from her bedroom. “Ron!”

Almost tripping over her flip-flops, she ran to the back bedroom to grab her phone. “Yes! Ron?”

“What in the hell are you doing? It’s after nine. I told you eight.”

“Jeez, you’re such a diva, a big, muscular, brawny diva!” She huffed when she looked down to find the hot pink nail polish on her big toe had been smudged. “Darn it.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said. “I’m on my way. Sorry, I’m hurrying.”

“Abs, I’m not kidding. Get your ass over here. Eric wants to see you.”

“Riiight…Eric. He wants to see your ass bent over the pool table, that’s what he wants to see.”

Ron snickered. “True, but we want you to come out with us. I’ll buy you a mai tai. Come on, Abs, you never go out. You stay stuck in your apartment with that mutt.”

“Hey! She’s my best friend besides you, and she’s not a mutt. She’s registered, thank you. I promised you I’d come, and I am. I’m just running late.”

“Okay, you got ten minutes to get over here. Oh, don’t forget to grab that new box of vibrators and put them in your office. I forgot when I left. You can finish up my work.”

“Right, just save me a seat. I’m on my way. Give me fifteen.”

“Will do; see you in a minute.”

As she passed through the small living room, she bent to give Penelope a scratch behind the ear. She glanced over at the coffee table. She’d been working on Sean’s profile for two days. His head shot was looking back at her. The man was ruggedly handsome. He hadn’t shaved for a couple of days, and the shadow of a beard was enough to make her cream in her panties. The thought of those rough whiskers scraping the insides of her thighs was enough to make her knees buckle. She readjusted the hem of the tank top and ran her palm down the front of her sweater. God, even his picture made her nervous. She was going to have to leave now, or she’d end up in her bed, vibrator humming.