Page 84 of State of Grace

“Girls,” Sophia shook her head, “that Saint Laurent only got here from Paris yesterday.”

“And Alexis would be the perfect model for it.”

“Oh, please,” Alexis scoffed. “There is no way a dress fit for her is ever going to fit all of this.” She waved a hand over her body in frustration. Alexis could only wish she’d had Sophia’s slender frame instead of her curvy one. Sophia could make any dress look stunning, while Alexis would pull at the fabric around her waist to hide her curves.

“Stop that.” Another pinch on the arm from Emily.

“Actually,” Sophia put a finger up to her chin. “I do have something that might work. Come on.” Motioning them to follow her, they headed up the stairs and into the bedroom behind Sophia. Sophia opened the French door to her closet as Emily and Alexis sat on the edge of the bed. After rooting around for a few moments, Sophia emerged with a dress bag and unzipped it slowly before turning it around to show them.

It was a stunning sky blue, deep V-neck dress with an angled hem that stole the breath right out of Alexis’s lungs. Taking it out of the bag, Sophia held the hanger out to Alexis as she reached out and took it.

“Here. Try it on.”

“It’s not going to fit me.” Alexis ran her hands over the fabric.

“It will.” Looking up at Sophia, she saw a sparkle in her eyes that hadn’t been there before. “I purchased it for you a while ago knowing that someday, a moment would come you’d need something nice to wear, and you wouldn’t let me buy it for you unless you were in a bind. It turns out, I was right.”

“Soph, you didn’t have to do this.”

“I know; I wanted to.” Her sweet smile spread on her lips. “Now try it on.”

Stepping into the bathroom, Alexis took off the robe and slipped into the dress. It fit her like a glove. The dress hit above her knees at the lowest part of the angle, and the blue color extenuated her sun-kissed skin perfectly. Alexis felt mildly insecure over the fact that she was not only not wearing a bra, but the deep V-neck of the dress came to below her breast.

“I don’t know about this.”

“Come out here and let us see,” Emily called after her as Alexis stepped out of the bathroom. Both Emily and Sophia gasped at the sight of her, and she instantly felt self-conscious. The dress was more revealing than anything Alexis had worn in years, and she nervously pulled at the V-neck to cover up her breasts more.

“Don’t you dare cover those girls up.” Sophia walked over to her and pulled her hands away from the dress. Holding up Alexis’s arm, Sophia motioned for her to twirl, which Alexis reluctantly did. Emily let out a catcall, which made Alexis blush. “You look magnifique.”

“Are you sure it’s not too much? I mean, I’m a mom.”

“So, what?” Emily stood beside Sophia and cupped her breasts in her hands. “You have amazing breasts, and this dress shows off enough to drive Blake crazy.”

“She’s going to rip this dress off you at some point tonight.”

“Sophia!” Alexis playfully swatted at her as Sophia took hold of her shoulders and spun her around to the full-length mirror. She adjusted the dress as Alexis stood like a model. “It does look gorgeous.”

“Love, get me those silver shoes in the closet, please.”

Emily did as Sophia asked and handed over the shoes. They helped Alexis with her balance as she put them on and stood back in front of the mirror. She had to admit that the heels made her calves look stellar, and Alexis couldn’t wait for Blake to see them. Running her hand through her hair, Alexis marveled at herself in the mirror as Emily gasped beside her.

“What?”

“We have to do something with your hair.”

Leading Alexis back into the bathroom, Emily sat her down at Sophia’s make-up station as they both went to work on getting her ready for the date. Emily worked on curling her hair while Sophia applied more makeup to her face than Alexis had ever worn. She finished off the look with a red lip gloss before stepping back and looking at her handiwork. Emily stood beside her and proudly nodded as she put an arm around Sophia’s waist.

“We did good.”

“Better than the fairy godmother herself, I do believe.”

Alexis stood and took in her reflection in the mirror. She did look good; she’d give them that. Nervously, she twirled the end of her hair around her finger as Emily swatted her hand away. Sophia adjusted the dress one more time and flipped Alexis’s hair over her shoulder in an attempt to finish off the look. Her long locks fell in soft curls around her face as she moved her head from side to side to see each view.

“I don’t know.” Sighing, Alexis fiddled with the V-neck once more before moving to her hips. She pulled the fabric out and watched as it fell back into place around her hips. “I haven’t worn anything like this in years.”

“Which is why you need to tonight.” Sophia swatted Alexis’s hands away from the dress. Gritting her teeth, Alexis shook her head. If she wasn’t comfortable in the dress at home, how would she ever be comfortable in it out in public? “No,” Sophia shook her head, “you’re not doing this.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Alexis said defensively.

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