About Last Night (About Last Night #1)(40)

She beamed. “Music to my ears. Knowing you’re going to look fabulous in them is all I need to feel satisfied with my day’s work.” She glanced at her watch. “I have to go, but it was lovely to meet you. Send my love to Terry.” Then she was gone.

I looked down at all the bags by my feet, carefully picked them up, and then hailed a taxi. There was no way I was getting all this on a bus.




A nap seemed like a good idea at the time, but when I woke, I felt even more tired than when I got home from shopping.

Ella had sent me a text confirming we were still on for tonight. When I told her we were, she immediately responded with a ‘YAY!’ and that she would come pick me up around nine. That was when I fell asleep. I woke at 5:35 p.m. and blinked down at the bags of clothing I just bought.

Slipping out of bed, I sorted my new clothes, folding, placing, and hanging them where necessary. The mix of colors in my closet was new. Wearing black most of the time became a habit when I was bigger. Black was slimming, so I wore it always. Unfortunately, black couldn’t hide forty pounds of extra weight.

Now I had reds, pinks, blues, and greens. It made me happy. I couldn’t wait to wear these things. I even had dresses. I never wore dresses. Tonight, I would wear a dress for experimentation purposes. I wanted to see the reaction of myself in a dress from the opposite sex.

Suddenly excited about my night out, I undressed and walked to the bathroom. I needed to Nair.




At 8:59 p.m. a knock sounded at my door.

I must’ve looked like a newborn calf running over in my heels, but I didn’t care. I threw open the door to find Ella standing there with a bottle of wine in her hands. She looked down at me then shrieked, “Get the f*ck out!” She hugged me hard. “You look amazing, Mia!”

She wore a long black and white maxi dress that molded to her curves, her curls splaying down her back in a chaotic mess that looked stunning, with bright red pouting lips. Ella was one sexy woman.

The door across the hall opened and Terry spotted me. He gasped then shook his head, looking at Ella. “She does look gorgeous, doesn’t she?” Then he gloated in true Terry fashion. “It was all me. I hired the woman to help her shop, so, yeah.” He blew a kiss to me. “You’re welcome.”

The black dress I had on was lovely. It was a sweetheart cut cocktail dress that came a little too high on my thighs, but when I added the heels, I quickly realized it was beautiful. And I felt beautiful in it.

I had left my hair down, clipped back at one side, lightly applied makeup, and secretly slipped on a new pair of slightly sexy underwear. I was surprised by how great they made me feel. I knew no one could see them, but I knew they were there, and the silkiness of my panties gliding along my dress felt awesome, sensual.

Ella held out her hand, smiling. “You must be Terry.”

He took it, but gaped at me. “You’ve told people about me?”

I grinned. “Of course. You’re one of my two favorite guys.”

He smiled then and it was so tender, so un-Terry like, that my heart warmed. Then he turned. “Hi, Ella, so nice to meet you. I love your hair. It’s wild! Curls are so hot.” He spotted the wine in her hand. “Oh, bubbly. Mind if I have some?” Before Ella could answer, he was already dragging her inside his apartment.

Shaking my head with a smile, I retrieved my purse, locked my apartment, and then joined them just in time to witness Ella fall in love with Bill as I had. Then Bill looked over at me and his smile turned soft. He looked down at my dress and simply uttered a gentle, “Stunning, sweetheart,” before taking my hand and kissing my knuckles. I could have sworn I heard Ella whimper.

Before long, Ella and Terry were talking like old friends, retelling old adventure stories while Bill and I listened and laughed. We finished the bottle of wine, kissed the guys goodbye, and then caught a cab over to the bar.

Saturday night was shaping up to be one of the best I had ever had.




The bar was not as I expected it to be.

Ella and I—completely overdressed and out of place—stood by the bar as I questioned her. “I thought you said you’ve been here before. I could have worn my jeans, El!”

Unmistakably sheepish, she lifted her screwdriver to her lips and muttered apologetically, “I have…but I may have left out that it was years ago.”

A man sitting on the opposite end of the bar raised his shot glass and tried to wink, but it came off as a blink. From the way he was swaying side-to-side, I thought it was one shot too many.

I glared at Ella. “I need a drink.”

She tapped the bar to get the bartender’s attention. “We need drinks, kind sir.”

The bartender was a tall, strong man with rolled up sleeves and tattooed arms. He was attractive in his own way, and as soon as he laid eyes on Ella, he was a goner. His smile looked as though it had been hidden away too long, and Ella was bringing it out. He leaned forward to get closer to her. “And what would you girls like?”

I sat on my stool and leaned my chin on my upturned hand. “Something that doesn’t taste like alcohol, if you can manage it.”

He turned to me. “You ever have a Long Island iced tea?” I shook my head and he grinned. “I’ll set you up.”

Mike, as it turns out the bartender’s name was, indeed set us up. I was four Long Island iced teas in and feeling pretty all right. It was well past eleven pm, and there was still no sign of Ella’s beau. While Ella had relaxed some and started to flirt with Mike, I checked my phone.