Rock Chick Regret (Rock Chick #7)(35)

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“Ralphie, calm down,” Buddy said to the still dancing Ralphie.

Ralphie was in no mood to calm down. He rushed to me and grabbed my arms.

“Sweet ‘ums, your outfit is perfection. He’s wearing jeans, a shirt and a leather jacket. Thank God we didn’t go OTT with that slutty top from Bebe.”

There was no way on earth I was ever going to buy that slutty top in Bebe that Ralphie forced me to try on. Of course, I didn’t tell him that in Bebe or now.

The doorbell went, thoughts of slutty tops flew out of my head and all the breath went out of lungs in a whoosh.

Then without looking at Ralphie or Buddy, I turned on my stiletto heel, rushed to the powder room and slammed the door.

I looked at myself in the mirror.

Ralphie talked me into keeping my hair loose and giving it what he called “just a wee bit more volume” so there was tons of it falling in waves and ringlets around my face, on my shoulders and down my back.

I went light on the makeup mainly because heavy looked, well, heavy. The scar on my cheek was still too angry to hide without looking like I was trying to hide something. Anyway, my hair did the work a heavy makeup job would do (as I mentioned, there was loads of it) and I also had my signature MAC lip gloss on, a soft pink with a gentle shine.

I loved that lip gloss.

I had on a silvery-purple blouse with a mandarin collar, rows of soft, generous ruffles floating down in a V at the bodice and little ruffles making up the short sleeves. I paired this with my new Lucky jeans, a thin silver belt and silver strappy sandals. Finally, I was wearing my diamonds-in-platinum tennis bracelet and my diamond stud earrings.

I stared in the mirror thinking maybe I was still OTT.

Did one wear diamonds and platinum when one went out with the ex-DEA agent that put one’s father in prison?

Did one wear a silver belt and silver strappy sandals ever?

Was one absolutely mad that one was not climbing out the window right now?

A sharp knock came at the door and I jumped.

“Sadie! Hector’s here,” Ralphie called unnecessarily as I knew Hector was there, just two seconds ago, Ralphie was chanting it.

“Coming!” I shouted back and then realized Hector would know I was in the powder room. If I stayed in there very long Hector would wonder what I was doing. I didn’t want to go out there to have dinner with Hector but I also didn’t want Hector to wonder why I needed a long bathroom break.

“Blooming heck,” I said into the mirror. Then I pulled in a deep breath and whispered, “You can do this Sadie, it’s just dinner, a talk. You can talk to Hector. You’ve had boyfriends, you’ve had lovers. Okay. They didn’t stick around very long because your father warned them off but you aren’t a frightened little virgin. You’re a grown woman. An experienced, grown woman. An experienced grown woman who can take care of herself. You can talk to him, tell him you aren’t interested. Get him to understand and back off. You can do it. Right?” I leaned in closer and repeated, “Right?”

Another sharp rap at the door.

“Sadie!” Ralphie snapped.

“Coming!” I shouted, whirled, yanked open the door in full snit and stomped out, glaring at Ralphie. “For goodness sake, Ralphie, can a girl fix her lip gloss without her crazy, g*y roommate banging down the door?”

“No,” Ralphie shot back. “Not when Hispanic Hottie is waiting to take her out to dinner.”

“Stop calling him Hispanic Hottie, his name is Hector,” I returned.

“I call ‘em as I see ‘em. He’s Hispanic…” Ralphie lifted one hand and then continued. “And he’s hot.” He lifted the other hand then he shoved them together like he was squeezing an accordion. “Hence, Hispanic Hottie.”

“You could argue about this all night,” Buddy called from down the hall. Ralphie and my heads swung in that direction and we could see both Buddy and Hector “Oh my God now for a different reason” Chavez standing there, by the door, both of them watching The Ralphie and Sadie Show. “But Hector’s waiting and Ralphie, we’ve got a reservation,” Buddy finished.

I didn’t hear the last part of what Buddy said. I was staring at Hector who was looking like he was trying not to laugh and not succeeding very well. It was a full on, light up the room, beyond amused, glamorous smile.

Couple that with him being clean-shaven, his hair still an unruly mess but now a slightly less unruly still sexy as ever mess, wearing a black, tailored shirt, a pair of jeans, a black leather jacket, black cowboy boots and a fantastic, wide, black belt with a heavy, matte silver square buckle… well, I not only could no longer hear, I couldn’t speak or move.

I could only see.

Oh my.

The answer was yes. One could wear diamonds and platinum with the ex-DEA agent that put one’s father in prison.

I wasn’t OTT. I needed a lot more sparkle and glitter to go out with a man that was just, plain beautiful.

“You ready?” Hector asked and I jolted out of my stupefaction.

No. I was definitely not ready.

“Yes,” I lied and walked toward him.

He watched me walk and the way he did it made me acutely aware of everything about me, every tiny movement, every last hair on my head.

“Okay kids,” Ralphie said, trailing me. “Don’t be too late. Don’t do any drugs, drive smart and even if all the other kids are doing it, think twice. If you’re going to be over your curfew then make sure you call your Daddies or we’ll get worried.”