Page 34 of Mark my Words

Sam: Are you ashamed of me?

I asked just to see if I could get a reaction, but I knew that her family was loaded, and sometimes with that came expectations of a certain caliber of suitor. Not that I was her suitor or anything. That was laughable. She’d have to let me in first.

Kristine: Don’t be such a girl.

That didn’t answer my question.

Sam: And here I was, ready to wear my sexy high heels.

Kristine: While you paint an enticing picture, let’s go with dress shoes. Please. Ones made for men.

Sam: You spoil all my fun.

Kristine: Just call me a killjoy.

Sam: I’ll be there in dress shoes, pressed slacks, and a tie.

Kristine: And I’m hoping for a shirt that buttons.

Sam: You are a joy killer.

Kristine: I need to wash my hair. Leave me alone.

Sam: Already blowing me off with clichés.

Kristine: Maybe if you play your cards right, it’ll be another variety of blowing.

Sam: Do tell. Someone told me to keep my hands to myself.

Kristine: A lady never divulges such information.

I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing, earning a raised eyebrow from Taylor, but he didn’t ask me who I was texting. Of course, he probably didn’t need to. Both my roommates had given me shit about how I’d acted around her over the weekend.

Sam: Sorry, sweetheart. You already told me you’re not a lady.

She didn’t respond, but she didn’t need to either. Tonight would test our acting skills because I wasn’t sure if I could pull off platonic, especially since she’d planted the seed of blowing things afterward.

“Wow, you do know how to listen to instructions.” Kristine had texted me her address after she’d washed her hair, surprising the shit out of me because just the other night she hadn’t wanted me to know where she lived. She still didn’t invite me inside the sleek-looking apartment building in Boston Landing.

Caleb, Tay, and I looked at the area last year, debating whether we should stay in our current building, but the $8000 rent on the three-bedroom units had been a little bit of a deterrent. The three of us made decent salaries, but they wouldn’t even cover living expenses in a place like that.

“Quit staring at my building, Sam. It’s creepy.”

“Sorry.” I shook my head, trying not to picture where she lived. I had a feeling she wouldn’t invite me up any time soon. Then, glancing back toward where she stood on the curb, my eyes widened when I took in the sleek bun she’d pinned her long hair into and her face carefully painted with sophisticated makeup.

My sister Fiona always called her makeup for going out ‘war paint,’ and I wondered what kind of battle Kristine was preparing herself for. It wasn’t that she didn’t look gorgeous, because she did, but it was much more polished than I was used to her looking.

“Wow...”

“Oh, stop it,” she hissed, smacking me in the shoulder with the back of her hand. “It’s just makeup.”

“You look...”

“I said knock it off, Langley. Don’t say another word.” Her voice rose as I scanned her from head to toe, pausing on the way the silhouette of her dress hugged her hips, tapering down to her long slim legs. “Quit staring at me like that. You’ve seen me in a dress before.”

Laughing as she swatted at my shoulder again, I caught her hand, tugging her forward until I could lean down to whisper in her ear. “The dresses you wear to the office, while rare, don’t look like this, Kris. You’re a knockout, and you know it.”

Her breath caught as I ghosted my lips down the side of her jaw, her fingers clasping the open placket of my sport coat. “You’re playing dirty, Sam. And I don’t like it.”

---