"I don't see why I can't wear that dress I wore to Paige's wedding to this gala tonight," I sighed as I pulled the sweater on over my head. Emma was propped upon my bed, reading a magazine and waiting for me to finish getting ready so we could go dress shopping. She sighed at my statement.
"Your bridesmaid dress? Are you kidding me? Because it's hideous," I turned and smiled at her. She leapt up from the bed and walked over to me, placing herself behind me in the mirror. She reached up and pulled my hair tie out so that my hair fell in honey brown waves around my shoulders. "Besides, there's going to be guys there. Hot, lawyer guys. So you need something that shows a bit of cleavage and hopefully some of those gorgeous long legs you've got."
I smiled and then she was pulling me out of my room, out of the apartment, and down the stairs. We were laughing when we reached the second floor landing. I was reaching into my purse for my keys and didn't notice that Emma had come to a stop in front of me. I almost ran right into her but managed to stop myself at the last minute.
"Oh," she said aloud. In front of us was the strong, bent over back of an unfamiliar man. He bent to lift a cardboard box which he then carried into the open doored apartment across from Carter's before coming back out for another. It must be the new tenant. Emma must have come to the same conclusion because she turned around to me, wide eyed. I shrugged my shoulders and we walked on ahead toward where he was laboring in the hall.
"Um, hello," Emma said as we approached. He looked up, blowing a puff of his long black hair out of his face as he did and Emma went curiously still, eyes widening as he stood and smiled at us.
"Hi," he answered. "Are you my neighbors?"
I looked to Emma who had started this conversation but my normally bubbly, confident best friend seemed frozen instead.
"We are," I told him then, sticking out a hand to shake his. He cast an amused smile over to Emma before shaking my hand. "I'm Ava Collins. My brother and I own this building."
"Ah, Aaron! Yeah, he's a cool guy. I'm Shane. Shane Miller."
I paused but Emma still seemed frozen.
"This is Emma," I told him. "She lives... directly above you actually."
He smiled. "Nice to meet you, Emma."
"I..." she started but trailed off.
"Okay! Well, we have an appointment. So I'm afraid we have to get going but it was so nice to meet you and, please, if you need anything."
"Thank you, of course, it was nice to meet you as well," he answered as I gave my friend a small push toward the door. Then he smiled and added. "Bye, Emma."
"Bye!" she finally blurted and then we were down the stairs and out on the street. She turned to me then, eyes wide and horrified. "Oh my gosh. I totally froze up."
"You totally did," I agreed, clicking the locks on my Honda Civic and climbing inside. She followed.
"That's not like me."
"It sure isn't."
"I just... he's so cute. Don't you think he's super cute?"
Both hands on the steering wheel, I face her with a smile. "Well, Miss How-Long-Has-It-Been-Ava-Let's-Make-A-Pact, why don't you go for it?"
She smiled and sat back in her seat as I pulled away from the building. "You know what? I think I will."
"There's only one problem. I think you're going to have to be able to speak to him."
Sometime later, Emma and I found ourselves standing in our favorite boutique owned by an old friend, Madison Waters. Emma had called her this morning begging for a last minute appointment and fitting for a gala we had just found out about from a guy who didn't understand how much advance notice a woman needed for this type of event and Madison had obliged. Now she swarmed us, setting dresses on racks that she thought would look good on us. Emma made me try nearly every single one on until she and Madison started gushing about one in particular and claimed I had to purchase it. Once we found the dresses, we chatted with Madison while she pinned them for alterations and put a rush on the order, promising we could pick them up that afternoon. We thanked her, kissed her on the cheek, and headed back for the car.
As arranged through a text with my brother during our shopping appointment, we headed to a nearby cafe for lunch. They had been at the site all day so we had to wait a bit for them to arrive but, when they did, every woman in the place had an eye on them. There was something, I had learned from meeting with my brother and friend in public places during the construction process, about women and a man with a toolbelt.
"What, did you shower in sawdust?" Emma asked, reaching up and brushing some of the dust from Aaron's hair as he sat next to her. Carter took the seat next to me, his hammer jabbing me in the thigh as he sat.
"Put your tool away there, Mr. Holden," I said.
"Sorry, can't help it around you," he told me with a wink and a readjustment.
"So how's the construction going?"
"Well," Aaron said. "Carter was going to take you over in the truck to take a look after lunch if you want. Meanwhile, Emma, I need to talk to you about some unexpected upgrades we're going to have to squeeze into the budget. Can I get a ride back to the office with you?"
Before she could ask, I handed her my keys.
"We met the new neighbor," I said over my menu.
"Yeah?" Carter asked, not looking up from his own. "What's he like?"
"Hot," Emma answered. That got their attention. She turned to Aaron. "Why didn't you warn me?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not exactly qualified to make that determination."
I snorted which drew Carter's attention to me.
"Did you think he was hot?" he asked curiously.
"Oh, I don't know. He was attractive. I could see why he made Emma so speechless. But he's not my type."
"Yeah?" Carter asked, amused. "And what is your type?"
"Wouldn't you like to know."
"Hold on," Aaron interrupted. "Emma? Speechless?"
His shock earned him a swat on the arm. We all laughed and our food was placed before us.
After lunch, we went our separate ways, me promising to make Carter stop at Madison's to pick up the dresses on the way home. I climbed into the pickup next to one of my oldest friends and we blasted country music the way we always did when it was just us in the car because everyone else hated it. We sang every word, bouncing in our seats, until we rolled into the driveway of our new construction and I hopped out before he came to a stop.
"Wow," I said in wonder, looking up at the unfinished house as Carter jumped from the driver's side and walked around to join me. "It's beautiful."
"It's beams and drywall," he pointed out.
"For now. But it will be beautiful."
Carter smiled at me and said. "Come on."
He led me to the house, moving aside some rubble and handing me a mask for the dust. I took it and placed it over my mouth as I entered into the wide open space.
"Whoever left this house half finished before we bought it had a strange design plan," he told me, walking toward the strange free standing wall in the center of the room. "This is the load bearing wall we were telling you about. Aaron wants to put shelves in it but I'm worried it closes off the space too much."
I nodded, considering.
"So we find another way to open it up. The best part of this house is the land. It's got great views of the mountains. Let's add some big picture windows to open up the space and add some natural light. We could ever put a breakfast nook over here, build in a nice bay window with bench seating and a table that- what?"
I looked over to find him smiling at me.
"I love that you can see something that isn't there," he told me. "That you can create something that no one else can."
I smiled back and then we moved onto the plans for the kitchen.
Sometime later, Carter waited in his truck while I ran inside and picked up mine and Emma's dresses for the night. He waited for me to hang them in the back and settle into the front before he headed home.
"So you're my date tonight?" he asked on the way.
"What?" I glanced over to him.
"Well, Aaron can't be yours. So he will be Emma's. So I assume that leaves you with me."
"Sure. We'll walk in together. But if a decent guy in a pressed suit starts making advances, I'm gonna need you to take the hint and make yourself scarce."
Carter laughed at that. "Only if you'll do the same for me."
"Deal. If a decent guy in a pressed suit starts hitting on you, I'll leave you to it."
We both laughed then as he pulled up to the curb outside of our apartment building. He helped me carry the dresses up to my room and then told me he'd see me that night and headed back to his own. I started to get myself ready, if only so that Emma did not take the task upon herself when she came up. I did my makeup first, that being the thing I did not want her to touch the most. Emma had a tendency to overapply and I preferred a light touch. Unzipping my dress for another look at it, I decided on a dark smokey eye and crimson lips to go with the jet black of my dress. I had just finished my eyeliner when Emma entered and gasped.
"Oh my gosh, you look gorgeous," she squealed, making her way to my side and leaning in for a better look at my makeup. "Girl, you have got to do a smokey eye more often. You are sexy."
I laughed.
"What about your hair?" she asked, running her fingers through my locks. "What were you thinking here? I can curl it, do a sort of waterfall curl down your back. Or-"
"I think an elegant updo is more up to speed for tonight," I told her. "A braid and a twist to the side I think?"
"Simple but elegant. I like it," she told me, eyes glowing in the excitement of getting all dolled up. For as long as I had known her, Emma had been the girliest girl I had ever met. She absolutely adored dresses and heels and makeup and hair and she did a great job on her own appearance. But I was picky with mine and much less practiced in it. When I wanted to, I could make myself up well, but it took a lot of focus and much more time. Time that I did not think it was worth very often. For that reason, Emma always got excited when I decided to put in the effort and she rarely disagreed with me, afraid that if she did I would stop the festivities.
"What bra are you going to wear with your dress?" she asked. "With the straps, you can't really wear a normal one and it's cut so low you would be able to see a strapless."
"I'm thinking no bra," I told her as I dabbed my lipstick on in the mirror.
"I like the sound of that!" someone shouted from behind me and I whirled in my seat to see Carter leaning against the doorjamb, smiling at us. Emma rolled her eyes and scoffed. I simply met his smile with one of my own.
"What are you thinking, Carter? No bra? Strapless? I have these adhesives that would really give you some lift."
He chuckled warmly. "Wes asked me to make sure you ladies will be ready by seven."
"What's at seven?" Emma asked, taking my hair in her hands and setting to work. "I thought the gala was at eight."
"It is. But Wes has a limo coming to pick us up and take us for a quick bite first."
"Ooh a limo," Emma gushed. "Mr. Gates is really pulling out all the stops, isn't he?"
"Do you think that dress has enough padding for no bra?" I asked Emma then, mind focused elsewhere. "I mean I don't want to be... you know."
Carter chuckled again and turned to walk away. "Well, you ladies are clearly busy. I'm going to get ready myself. Though there isn't much I have to do, perfect as I already am. Seven o' clock! Don't be late!"
Then I heard the door to my apartment shut and Emma and I jumped into action. She got started on my hair and we discussed the shoes we each had and what we could borrow from each other for the night. In the end, she chose some black stilettos for me. "to accentuate my legs" she said, and I chose some silver strappy heels for her. Then we chose some corresponding jewelry and, once my hair was finished, Emma set to work on her own makeup while I did her hair for her. Then we dressed in the nick of time. I glanced at the clock as she zipped me up and saw it was 6:58. We took a second to look over one another. She looked gorgeous in her deep emerald green, low cut, long sleeve and lace gown. I felt stunning in my long black dress with a slit nearly to my thigh and a diamond shaped cutout at my cleavage. I had been dreading this obligation but, as I looked over myself in the mirror, I realized that I felt sexy. And I hadn't felt that way in months.
"Come on," she squealed, grabbing my arm and leading me out of the apartment. She paused so I could lock the door and I heard her speaking behind me as I did. "Well, well, well. You don't clean up half bad, Mr. Collins."
I turned to see Aaron standing in front of her, full tuxedo and hair that actually looked combed. When he held an arm out to her, I caught a whiff of his cologne. That's right, cologne.
"You look beautiful, date for the evening," he told her with a smile as she clutched his arm. "And you, sister, are stunning."
He held out his other arm for me and I took it and we walked, together, down the stairs, chatting about our busy day as we went. Two floors down, we met Carter and Aaron passed me off to him as he stared, jaw open, directly at my chest.
"My eyes are up here," I reminded him with a roll of my eyes.
"I've seen your eyes before and they're lovely but those."
Emma laughed and I smacked him on the arm. He chuckled and dodged it as Aaron urged us on out toward the waiting car. I walked on ahead of Carter, pretending I didn't notice the way his eyes fell onto my exposed leg through the slit in my dress as I walked. I smiled to myself. It was normally fun teasing Carter but tonight, dressed like this, tonight could be fun.
The four of us headed out to the limo. The driver was waiting by the door and he opened it for us to enter. We each thanked him in turn as we climbed in. Carter even patted the guy on the shoulder. It was clear, I realized then, that we were most definitely not used to such a lavish lifestyle. Wesley was already in the back, popping champagne when we joined him. He really was intending to use tonight to celebrate to the fullest. Shrugging my shoulders, I took a glass from him. I could indulge for the evening. For Wesley.
We laughed and talked and all around enjoyed ourselves on the ride to the cafe where we ate before heading off to the gala. It was a tight fit in the back of the limo and I found myself squeezed between Aaron and Carter for most of the ride while Emma, unaware of her luck, occupied the roomier bench with Wesley. When we arrived at the gala, Wesley jumped out first and we all followed. He led us into the huge mansion, through the foyer where he greeted and was greeted by multiple well dressed men and women who nodded politely at us as we passed. Emma held her head high and tried her best to look poised and calm even though I noticed her eyes darting around the room excitedly at all of the wealthy people around us. I walked with Carter, feeling a few eyes upon me as well. I was not used to and did not enjoy being the center of attention and I started to regret allowing Emma to talk me into this dress in the first place by the time we reached our table in the ballroom. Emma immediately began begging Aaron to dance and my brother, not the dancer but never able to tell a friend no, found himself pulled onto the floor by an overzealous Emma in no time. Carter had disappeared as well and Wesley was nearby laughing with a group of guys from his office so I took the time to sit and glance around.
It was a beautiful mansion, marble floors and golden inlay surrounding rich wallpaper. It was not a modern design by any stretch and not one that any average person would ever even contemplate. Personally, I found it gaudy. Who had an actual use for a ballroom anyway?
"Jack and Coke?" Carter asked then, holding out a drink for me. "I know it's your favorite."
I smiled up at him. "Carter Holden, are you trying to get me drunk?"
He winked as he took a sip of his own drink. "Caught me."
"This doesn't seem like a Jack and Coke affair."
"No. But we're Jack and Coke people. So drink up and enjoy."
"Maybe should have just been straight whiskey if I'm going to get through this."
He laughed.
"Excuse me," someone said then and I lowered the drink and turned to see an attractive man in a polished suit. His smile showed his dimples and his eyes sparkled as he looked at me. "My name is Elijah. You're friends with Wesley, right?"
"I am," I told him.
"Ava, right?"
"I'm impressed."
"I've heard all about you."
"I wasn't aware Wesley talked about me at work."
"He doesn't. Except when he's trying to set me up with you."
I choked on my drink. The scoundrel. I felt Carter's smile without even looking over to him.
"Well, that... makes me seem pathetic," I told him.
"No!" he gasped, afraid he had offended me. "No, not at all. He just... he told me how great you were but I didn't realize that you would be so... beautiful too."
Was he blushing? Why did I find that so adorable? I blinked once and set down my drink. I might have had too much champagne in the limo.
"Thank you," I answered dumbly.
"Would you... like to dance?"
"Oh, I, well, my friend-"
"Don't worry," Carter interrupted, smiling my way and, with a wink, added. "I'll make myself scarce."
I laughed at the call back to our previous conversation and watched as he turned and made his way through the crowd toward where Emma and Aaron were dancing, off to relieve my brother undoubtedly.
"I'd love to dance," I said then, turning back to Elijah. He beamed at me before taking my hand and leading me out to the dance floor. We danced for two songs before I saw Wesley's enthusiastic thumbs up behind his back. I rolled my eyes at him. Once my feet were thoroughly worn out, we sat at a nearby table and just talked. He told me about where he was from, where he went to law school, how he ended up in Nashville, and what he did for the firm. I listened and nodded politely and told him what I did, owning and operating CountryVibes with my brother and my friends. He was thoroughly impressed with the story of someone following their dreams, making them happen, and I was proud to be that person.
By the end of the night, Elijah had given me his number and I was on the hunt for my friends. I was a bit tipsy, I realized as I nearly knocked over a cocktail waitress when I thought I saw Emma in a crowd. It wasn't her and I stood, glancing around for anyone I recognized. I saw Aaron at the bar, chatting with some guy I didn't know, and made a beeline for him.
"Aaron," I said, gripping his sleeve as I approached. He smiled at me but his eyes were glazed over in that way they did when he drank too much as well. Great. We were both tipsy. "Where's Emma?"
He nodded his head and I looked to see her laughing loudly in a group of women, gripping one of their wrists and explaining how she would absolutely die for a bracelet like that. She was loud, too loud. Drunk as well then and far more than me if her actions were any indication. Emma always got far louder when she was drunk and the more inebriated she became, the touchier as well. I needed to get her out of here. Now.
"We have to go," I told Aaron. "Where's Wes? Carter?"
"Wes said he was going to stay late, really make an impression. And Carter left with some girl half an hour ago."
"Okay. You go hail a cab. I'm going to grab Emma."
He started to object but then Emma made a loud whooping sound and twirled one of the well to do lady's scarves around her finger and he understood. Apologizing and saying his goodbyes to the man he had been speaking too, he rushed outside to hail a cab. I went to Emma and pulled her away from her audience, leading her toward the door and out into the brisk night air.
Aaron hailed a cab in no time and we were on our way back to the apartments before we knew it. Emma was restless the whole ride and clearly intoxicated. She asked the taxi driver too many questions and shouted out of the windows at passersby who undoubtedly didn't hear her. Aaron seemed amused by it but I wasn't in the mood, already beginning to feel a bit sick from my own overindulgence as well.
When we reached the curb in front of our building, I paid the driver while Aaron hauled Emma out onto the sidewalk. Then we slung each of her arms around our shoulders and walked her into the building and up the first set of stairs.
"You don't have to help me," she was whining as we ascended to the second floor. I noticed, to my horror, that our new neighbor, the one that Emma was so infatuated with, had just entered the hall with a trash bag in his hand. Wide eyed, I glanced to Aaron who just shrugged and kept moving. Ugh. Men never understood. Emma's next words finally got Shane's attention. "I can do it myself. Seriously."
"It's alright, Emma," Aaron told her softly. "Just two more flights, okay? Then we can get you into bed."
"You can get me into bed," she said then, voice turned sultry. I looked up to see her glancing back at Shane as we passed him, headed for the stairs. I felt my cheeks burn with second hand embarrassment. We had to get her up these stairs before she said anything worse, anything we couldn't argue wasn't meant for him. Too late. As her feet hit the stairs to the third floor, she added. "And maybe help me out of this dress too, eh?"
"Geez Emma," Carter sighed and we pulled her up the stairs. I noticed, as we turned to ascend, Shane simply smiled, shook his head, and walked off toward the trash chute.